Today is Day 3 of the Flats and Handwashing Challenge, hosted by Dirty Diaper Laundry. This year, there are over 450 participants from around the world.
I have to be honest, I’m already a fan of flats. They make a super trim diaper when used flat in a velcro wrap and they make amazing, quick-drying inserts for pocket diapers. They’re not prone to the odor issues associated with synthetics and you can bleach or boil them if needed without damaging the fabric. I’ve been switching most of my pocket diapers over to using them in the past year.
I’ve been using flats for awhile now, but I’ve never tried them overnight. I had the option of using a fitted for nighttime with this challenge but that hardly seemed fair, given that one of the primary purposes of this challenge is to show how easy it is to diaper on a budget. (It’s also the reason I’m not stuffing them into pocket diapers this week.)
Fortunately, I’m enough of a geek that some simple math was able to reassure me of their soaking power. Did you know that two OsoCozy flat diapers absorb more than a toddler-sized Bummis prefold, and more than most other commonly-used pocket diapers? Wow! Two of them together even absorbs more than a Kiwi Pie bamboo fitted with both inserts. Colour me impressed, given the low price point and the ease of washing and drying!
Clearly two of them would stand up to my overnight needs. I folded one in a narrower pad and laid it into the Rumparooz wrap with the second flat folded to provide more coverage on the top. It wasn’t as trim as my usual overnight solutions, but it also wasn’t horrendously bulky.
Here is a picture of him wearing the two flats inside his Rumparooz wrap:
See? Not too bulky, at all, though it gives him a bit more of a flat bum than I’m used to seeing. 
I would love to try the osocozy’s too! Maybe next year!
Hey Melissa,
Due to our awfully hard water and a really lousy washing machine, we have had to put our cloth diapers in the attic for the last year. It literally took me 36hrs (1-2 overnight/day soaks) to clean our microfibre Fuzzibunz, which burnt & stressed me out. We also have Bummis too, which we had issues with as well, but nearly as bad as the microfibre.
However, I am tempted to see if I can’t do a trial run to see if I can’t fill our Fuzzibunz with a flat and use them that way.
Would the Bummis toddler flats work in our Fuzzibunz?
Thanks,
Sarah xoxo
The toddler prefolds may be a bit big — could fit in a large, but nothing smaller and not in the one-size. Two flats could easily fit in a medium or a large, as you can customize your folding to control where the bulk lands, and two flats absorb more than one toddler prefold.
Microfiber is just evil. I have hardly any of it left in my stash (just my Rumparooz OS insert, actually), as I’ve ditched it in favor of natural fibers in my pockets.
Ahhh.
I am starting to agree that microfibre is evil, also.
So in my situation, what would be worth trying out? (If anything)
Thanks so much,
Me
Absolutely the flats, IMO. Buy a 6pk — they’re inexpensive ($16/6pk), and are pretty much indestructible. Where they’re only one layer, they will wash well in even the least optimal of washing scenarios (like me, washing them in my hillbilly washing machine!) and versatile enough that you can fold them to fit the same baby at any size — just double up when you need the extra absorbancy. I can pick up a pack for you and bring it to BSNBB, if you’d like — I’ll be your cloth diaper mule anytime!
SWEET! Yes, pick up 2 packs then. Then I can fold them up and try them out in the Fuzzibunz.
Thanks so much,
Sarah xoxox
Will do.