One Size (OS) Cloth Diapers are an amazing concept. Marketed towards us, the consumer, as being useable from 8-35lbs+, these provide the answer to only needing one stash of diapers. But can you actually use one size cloth diapers on an itty bitty newborn? OS diapers look amazing on bigger babies and toddlers, but what about those smaller babies? Can you actually get a cloth diaper to fit around tiny thighs? Let’s talk about it below. 

Disclosure: Not all posts on this blog are sponsored; this one isn’t. But I do use comissioned links in this post. Purchases from these link are no extra cost. If  you have any questions please contact me. 

At the end of February, I had a tiny newborn. Well, an average sized newborn. Born at 7lbs 15 oz, and weighing in at 9lbs 2oz, Anna is a great model for my OS cloth diaper stash. She’s not the smallest of newborns, but she’ll give you an idea about how those one-size diapers might fit. Curious about how these diapers might fit 20 pounds later check out these posts on one size pocket and cover cloth diapers on a 30 pound toddler, and how all in one cloth diapers fit at 30 pounds. 

Initial Thoughts & Challenges

One size cloth diapers come in a variety of different shapes and sizes. It would be naive to say all one size cloth diapers would fit a small baby because some jsut dont.

Some of the challenges about OS Cloth Diapers

• Thighs: Skinny tiny newborn thighs on my little girl posed one of my bigger challenges.
  • I could get her waist to fit, but her little legs would give major leg gaps on some OS Cloth diapers (Blueberry Simplex for example). Chunkier thigh’d babies might experience a different fit.
• Inserts: Some inserts that come provided with a pocket diapers are too bulky for newborns and thus give the diaper a poor fit.
  • Easy Peasies OS Pocket Diaper bamboo inserts fold up too bulky for example.
• Bulk: Since the diaper needs to fit a toddler, there is a lot of extra bulk when squeezed onto a newborn.
  • one size cloth diapers often required a larger sleeper or pair of pants. 
• Diaper Rise & Umbilical Stump: For the most part, OS diapers have a higher rise on the belly of the tiny baby. Lucky for me, we lost our umbilical stump early on and this was not an issue.
  • If you want to use Alvas from birth, check out this great hack from im.nurse.liz on YouTube. 

OS Cloth Diapers on my Newborn

So lets check out how some of my OS diapers fit on my Newborn… this will mostly just be photos with the occasional commentary. <3 Because I’m also trying out a beautiful stash of newborn cloth diapers, I only ever tried this on once and moved them back to my son’s stash, so there isn’t any reliable data being provided for long-term use.

AMP

OS Pocket Diaper

The AMP OS Pocket Diaper (7-35lbs) is already a smaller fitting pocket diaper as uncovered in a previous post comparing it to similar diapers. . It was no surprise it would fit little newborns just right. I find that the rise snaps are a little widely placed on the crotch to allow for a smooth laying crotch on a tiny newborn crotch, but meh, not a deal breaker. A trim insert would make this fit even better and offer ultimate absorbency, but all in a nice fit on smaller babes.

Try to find AMP at these Canadian retailers:  Lagoon Baby – CAN

Applecheeks

OS Pocket Diaper

You might already know that the Applecheeks OS Pocket Diaper isn’t my favourite, but since I had one, I gave it a try and it did fit my little girl! If she was smaller it would probably still fit (probably because its rated 6-35lbs). Theres room to shrink on the waist, and with the infamous AppleCheeks Wing Lift you could easily get it tighter on the thighs (but seriously, I don’t like wing lifts, and wouldn’t ever use a diaper on a day-to-day basis that I needed to ‘wing lift’).  Just like other pocket diapers, getting the right sized insert will make the diaper fit better.

Additional comment: I don’t like how this diaper looks on her. It fits okay, it just doesn’t look attractive in my opinion.

Blueberry

Capri

The OS Capri (12-35lbs) is definitely too big for a newborn. This diaper cover is over a newborn GMD fitted diaper on little miss. While it did not leak after the fitted was saturated, leg gaps and an insufficient tightness could cause potential problems down the road. We’ll stick the Size 1 Capri in the meanwhile.

Simplex

On my newborn OS Simplex (10-35lbs) diaper is TOO BIG. Her thighs were not nearly chunky enough. It’s pretty much a miracle I happened to be holding her upright and the poop stayed in the diaper. I’m guessing this diaper won’t fit till at least 12lbs, I do remember it fitting my chunkier first baby around then. 

bumGenius

Elemental 3

You already know that I love the bumGenius Elemental 3 (8-35lbs). On my newborn this diaper was adorably beautiful, but slightly bulky and I didn’t trust the seal along the legs to hold in a poop. I will hold off on using this a little longer.  its a little wide in the crotch. 

Flip

I didn’t suspect the Flip Cover (8-35lbs) to feel SO VERY BIG on my newborn. But as I laid her down on it, and began to fold it up onto her tummy, I realized how MASSIVE these covers are. I folded up a Flip Daytime Organic Insert into this diaper and she kept herself leak free for 2 hours. The Organic Flat was nicely trim, met her crazy pee output, and the diaper was not a bad fit for her little body. It just looks a little crazy because of how high up on her it is. Check out how the Flip compares to the Smart Bottoms Too Smart.

Best Bottom

The Best Bottom shell is an awesome fit over a flat or prefold on my little girl. I should have tried this earlier, and I think I’m going to rotate this into her stash. It looks really good on her, easy to put on, and kept it all in (everything you really want in a OS cloth diaper). At the time of this photo she had hit 10lbs, but I definitely believe it would fit her earlier too.

Bummi’s

AIO

I’m seriously impressed with the nice fit of the OS Bummi’s AIO  (8-35lbs) on my newborn. I loved it so much I tried it a couple of times. Check out my updated OS Bummi’s AIO post for all the details. Next time skip the AIO and try the Bummis Pure. 

Easy Peasies

OS Pocket Diaper

The Easy Peasies OS Pocket diaper is rated from 6-40lbs. I tried it on with an Easy Peasies Bamboo Trifold and found the fit to be very bulky initially. I tried a different fold (Burrito) fold in Emma and was much more impressed with the fit. The four rise snaps, and cross over snaps definitely allow this diaper to get small enough. I think this diaper will help us transition from tiny baby newborns into OS diapers. . The Easy Peasy Little Squish is mighty absorbent and you should just buy all of those until your baby chunks up #enabler. 

Ready Use AIO

The Easy Peasies Ready Use cloth diaper is an AIO diaper rated from 6-40lbs. It definitely does fit a smaller baby nicely. I struggled with folding the bulky inners of the diaper. When the diaper is snapped down to the smallest rise the inner absorbency pad sticks up above the top and needs to be folded slightly to fit.

While the diaper did fit and I was pleased with the overall fit and sizing of this diaper, she was quickly changed because of leaks. I’m not sure if I didn’t get the legs tight, or the ruffles out, but it wasn’t quite a star success. Perhaps we will try again and work on tighter thighs!

Grovia

Shells (Hook & Loop AND Snaps)

I love GroVia Shells (8-35lbs) on my toddler, and was surprised the love on my newborn. The Hook & Loop gave a much trimmer and snugger fit. The Snaps also fit, but not as sleek around the belly as the H&L. These were tight around her thighs and belly. They never leaked on me, and fit under her clothes. All together not as trim as the beautiful GroVia Newborn, but if your looking for a OS diaper cover to last thru the ages and stages, I would definitely recommend the Hook & Loop.

O.NE.

First off, I’ll admit I should have gone and found the H&L snaps for the GroVia O.N.E. (10-35lbs) as it would have for sure given us a better fit. That said, even with the snaps it was a decent fit. We have the smallest insert in there, and she soaked this system within an hour or so, but no leaks! Which I was skeptical because the rise snap/waist fold was a little iffy to me.

AIO

I’m honestly surprised the GroVia AIO (10-35lbs) didn’t fit my newborn better since it was a trim narrow crotch cloth diaper. I thought it would be small enough, but it wasn’t. There were thigh gaps. I trust this will fit her better as soon as her thighs chunk up. It was tight enough on the waist on the smallest side snaps, but we need a couple more pounds on her legs before we can trust this diaper out and about.

Funky Fluff

Funky Fluff OS cloth diaper (7-35lbs) is an amazing fit on my newborn. With the small hemp/bamboo insert, I have these included in my newborn cloth diaper stash. This four rise setting diaper snaps down small for a tight thigh seal, and the cross over snaps allow for tiny tummy’s to be snug! The already trim crotch makes for a great all over fit. Please note her tummy is probably too tight in this photo illustrated below.

Rumparooz

The Rumparooz OS Diaper cover is rated 6-35lbs and I was able to fit it on her with a nice tight seal. It also kept in one of her biggest poops on record, but at 10lbs, the fit just looks sloppy. And trust me, I really did try to make it look cleaner, and neater. But compared to the newborn size, this just feels not right on her little body.

Smart Bottoms

OS 3.1 AIO

The Smart Bottoms 3.1 is a surprisingly nice fit on my newborn. Rated 10-35lbs, I’ve seen some creative strategies for getting this diaper to fit smaller babies. One of the things to do is to use the male waist snaps in a wing lift to help keep the thighs tight. I was thoroughly impressed with the overall trimness of this OS diaper on my newborn and didn’t mind the wing lift since the back of the top inch of the 3.1 is PUL (not fleece like the AppleCheeks). [and finally enough absorbency for a newborn unlike other newborn cloth diapers]. I have reviewed the Smart Bottoms Dream Diaper. 

OS Too Smart Covers

The Too Smart cover (10-35lbs) from Smart Bottoms is a little wide in the crotch when putting it on. I used this overtop of a small Smart Bottoms Smart Fold and while it did the job, the fit wasn’t gorgeous. It worked, but I’m not trying it again until she’s bigger. thats just where I stand on this cover. 

Tots Bot

Tots Bot is a nice fit on my sweet girl because Hook & Loop! Hook & Loop always gives a nice fit on tiny babies and I found the legs nice and tight and trim. She did soak it, but it didn’t leak thru her diaper shirt.

How did one size cloth diapers fit your newborn. Was this a good choice for your family?