A Guide to Diapering for 3 - 12 Months

3 – 5 months

• Your baby will still be producing a lot of wet diapers and having multiple bowel movements a day, yet could very possibly be sleeping for longer stretches of time at night. If your little one is leaking through his or her clothes, try overnight diapers for more absorbency.
• As your baby’s bowel movements diminish and become less explosive, now might be an easier time to switch to cloth diapers.
• Some find that cloth diapers fit better and are more absorbent, while others still prefer overnight disposables for night-time leaking. This is going to be a trial-and-error period in finding what works best.
• If you’re already sick of using diapers, look into the method called”elimination communication” which requires you to be in tune with your baby’s bathroom cues and basically anticipate when he or she needs to urinate or pass a bowel movement. It might sound intense and overwhelming but a lot of families find it to be very successful.

6 – 12 months

• Once your baby starts solids, you’ll find that everything changes down there. On the plus side, stools eventually become more solid, which means less liquid mess with cloth diapers. On the downside, there’s definitely a more offensive, human-like odour and larger loads.
• Your baby is also more prone to diaper rash as more foods are introduced into his or her system, so really keep on top of changing your little one.
• And as your baby starts to become more mobile — creeping, crawling and cruising — you’ll want a more flexible diaper with strong tabs.
• Some will warn that potty training before the 12-month mark can cause a harder potty training yet others believe that all babies should be potty trained by the time they are one year old. With all of the contradictory information out there, it’s obvious that both potty training methods will work depending on your approach, commitment and most importantly child.