Why do disposable diapers have more size options than one-size cloth?

Question by abc123: Why do disposable diapers have more size options than one-size cloth?
One-size cloth diapers with snap fasteners seem to have only 3 size options, while disposables have so many different sizes. Do the one-size diapers really fit baby from newborn to potty training?

Best answer:

Answer by tamara k
In part it is because children in cloth usually toilet train between the ages of 18 months and two years, children in disposables are usually still in disposables by the age of 3 years!
However if you look at the CHEAPER brands of disposables you will find they have about the same size options as the sized cloth ones do.
As to the one size cloth fitting from newborn to potty training, if you have a newborn of the average weight range (3kg and over) they DO actually fit the newborns! They ARE a bit bulky on a newborn but they do fit. My son is in one size cloth and has worn these from the age of 6 weeks (I used flat folds before that) and the nappies he wears fits both his three year old cousin AND fit his now 6 month old cousin when she was a newborn (2.8kg at birth)

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• shadowbaby4 says:
  My friend tried one brand of one-size cloth diapers on her 18 month old and they were way too small, but other kinds fit him fine. I think it depends on which brand you use. I know that, in terms of absorbency, the one-size diapers work fine because you can just tuck an extra liner in.
  Oh, and the diapers my friend uses for her toddler are the three-snap kind.