I’m not joking. The day I got my first cloth diaper with a fold down rise I thought it was broken. It had SO MANY SNAPS. That couldn’t be right. I thought it must have been a mistake. A quick email to the WAHM (work at home mom) I purchased from totally cleared it up. I actually felt silly because they turned out to be super easy to use. Oh well, new mom brain right? Ok, so I’m going to share an easy how- to use tutorial below and I hope it helps you as much as that Mom helped me.
As you can see a cloth diaper with a fold down rise looks a lot like any other cloth diaper on the outside. This type of rise as opposed to a snap down rise is actually much more customizable. Most snap down rise cloth diapers only have 3-4 settings. With this, you just fold to the height you need so there is never that weird in between, not quite fitting size.
That is a HumBird fitted above and I’m using a Twinkie Tush Fusion for demonstration below. Both are absorbent, well-made fitted options if you need one or a few!
If you want to use the cloth diaper on the largest rise setting then you just leave it unfolded. There are snaps on the outside to close it with.
To change the rise setting to fit smaller babies, all you do is fold it down to where you need it and snap closed.
Allow me to demonstrate on my willing friend…Minnie. I don’t currently have a child that is willing to stay still so Minnie helps me out instead!
- Place the back of the diaper under the child. I use the butt crack as a landmark. The back of the diaper should sit just above it.
2. Now bring the front of the diaper up and fold down to where you need it. Minnie is a petite little girl. So you can see that I needed to fold it down quite a bit. Obviously, it is a little high on poor Minnie. I hope she grows into this one size fitted soon ;) Now you smooth and tuck the front of the diaper down along the hips. Bring up one side and snap at a comfortable place for little one. Then repeat on the other side.
3. That’s it! You are done!
A few more thoughts…
There is a little bit of learning curve with this type of rise. But it’s worth it because you get that super nice fit. You won’t find this option all over the place. It’s mostly WAHMs although not exclusively.
While fold down rises do provide a super customizable fit, they can tend to be a little bulkier due to the folding down of the fabric. But nothing out of control. Below is a picture of just the outside of a fitted not including any inserts.
Who has tried a cloth diaper with a fold down rise? Do you think it was hard to use?
Jenn is a long-time cloth diaper educator and a passionate small business advocate. She has worked in the reusable diaper industry for over a decade, helping millions of families via her websites All About Cloth Diapers, Thinking About Cloth Diapers and Cloth Diaper Geek as well as hundreds of small businesses during that time. Her goal always to provide simple, reliable information.
Rachel Huhta says
I have a petite baby and am struggling with leg gap on the fold down rise… Any thoughts /suggestions?
Jennifer Reinhardt says
Pull it up as high as you can in the front before folding down to snap.
Amber Ludwig says
“What’s with all these snaps” <— lol!! my thoughts exactly!! thanks so much for explaining it!! minnie was such a great model ;)
—>Dandi D says
These are kind of confusing at first, but totally easy once you get the hang of it!
gloria patterson says
I am finding so much great information…….. my niece is pregnant with her first child and just not sure what way to go with diapers…. me I am all for cloth but she is just not thinking about that. So I getting information for her to decide with.
Edna says
This look so pretty! I’m starting to think this is the best option, will mix in disposable for when we are not home tho. I know my mom had to use cloth because I was allergic to every brand she tried, so is a concern.
Jessica C. says
I’ve never of a fold down rise until now! Love that beautiful print.
Rachel Martin says
Just learned of this diaper from this posting! I thought I basically saw them all. Well…being bew to cloth diapering, guess I need to be ready. Haha. There is so much to learn!!! I’m so nervous and excited at the same time. Baby is due June 8th.
Katie Park says
Interesting, I’ve never seen a diaper like that before.
Deborah D says
Wish my sister would use cloth diapers.
katie says
I’ve never used it but now that I know how to use it I want to try one out on my daughter.
Katy Baird says
I’ve never used a fold down rise, but with that pretty print, I think.I need to! Would this, hypothetically, be better for boys since it seems there’s more diaper up front?
Kayla McFarland says
All of my homemade diapers have fold down rise. I don’t feel like messing with rise snaps. ?
Jennifer Reinhardt says
Kayla, It just shows you different strokes for different folks, right? I’m glad you have something that you love!