How to Put on Cloth Diapers Using Pins

Many safety pins don't have a locking clip, so purchase a pin that's specifically for cloth diapers.

Parents use cloth diapers to save money and make less trash. The most inexpensive type of diaper is a prefold diaper, and to keep prefolds secure, you need to fasten them. Using traditional diaper pins is economical and also aesthetically pleasing. However, fastening a cloth diaper with pins does take practice.

Things You'll Need

• Two diaper pins
• Prefold diaper

Instructions

Using a Cloth Diaper with Pins

1. Lay the prefold cloth diaper flat.

2. Place the baby on the diaper. The baby should be positioned so that the top of the prefold is just covering his buttocks. This will ensure that you have enough diaper left to fold the rest of the diaper over the baby's crotch area.

3. Fold the part of the diaper that the baby isn't lying on -- the part that's between his legs -- into thirds so that there is one fold to cover his crotch area.

4. Hold one side of the crotch fold and make sure your hand is between the fabric and your baby's skin.

5. Tightly pull the wing --- the part that's still lying on the table and covering the baby's back area --- over to the part of the crotch fold that you're holding.

6. Push the open pin through the two pieces of fabric in an upward motion. When you feel the pressure of the sharp end against your fingers, push the pin through and fasten it.

7. Repeat on the other side.

Tips & Warnings

• Before using the pin, Kids Health recommends lubricating the tip by pointing it in a bar of soap. This will help the pin slide through the fabric easily.

• If you'd like to try an alternative to traditional diaper pins, consider purchasing a Snappi. These fasteners come in many colors and are made of stretchy polyurethane. A Snappi has three areas of teeth-like plastic that grab onto a prefold diaper to hold it in place. After the diaper is folded, use the two long ends to hold the sides in place and the short end in the middle to hold the crotch area. One Snappi can last from birth to potty training, though sometimes the polyurethane does become too stretchy.

• Your choice of diaper pins affects your baby's safety, particularly if you're diapering a mobile baby or toddler who can reach the pins when they're not in use. A plain safety pin doesn't have a baby-safe feature, so an older child could play with the pin and potentially poke himself if the sharp edge falls out of its casing. Choose a pin specifically made for cloth diapers that has a slide lock over the pointed end to protect your baby.

References

• Kids Health: Cloth Diapers