How To Use A Stretchy Preflat

You may have heard of different styles of diapers like pocket diapers, fitted diapers, good 'ol diaper covers, prefolds etc. But have you ever heard of a preflat? I have to confess I didn't know what these diapers were myself for quite some time after we began our cloth diapering journey over 14 years ago.

If you've been hearing about preflats and you're curious about what they are and how to use them, you're in the right place.

A preflat is a modification on a flat cloth diaper. So to backup one step, a flat diaper is a large single layer piece of fabric (usually cotton, hemp or bamboo) that you can fold different ways before putting on baby. It functions as the absorbency and you need a waterproof diaper cover on top.

A preflat removes some of the folding from the equation. It is shaped in a way that reduces and simplifies the amount of folding required before putting the diaper on the baby. Preflats can be a single layer of fabric, but are more likely double or more layers and they can be made with fabrics that may or may not be a bit stretchy for a better fit.

A prefold can be used as is, or additional absorbency can be added into the centre as needed before it's put on baby. Like a flat, it can be held on by tucking in the ends at the waist, or by using diaper pins or a Snappi. Similar to a flat it also requires a cover on top to be waterproof.

If a video demo helps, have a look at my YouTube Preflat Demo here.