Review of Thirsties Diaper Covers

Cloth diapering can be a lot of fun, but sometimes daunting. I have spent hours browsing website after website trying to decide what I want to buy. One recent addition to my stash was Thirsties diaper covers for my newborn son.

Thirsties diaper covers run in the range of $10-$11 and are a single layer of polyester laminate. They have double leg gussets and come in a variety of vibrant solid colors (or white) with white trim around the legs and waist. Thirsties come in four sizes: X-Small (6-12lbs), Small (12-18lbs), Medium (18-28lbs), and Large (28-40lbs) and have Aplix closures with laundry tabs. The x-small also has an umbilical cord cut-out.

Now the number one concern about diapers and covers - do they leak? Not during the day. I used Thirsties diaper covers with prefolds and Kissaluvs fitted diapers and never had a problem with leaking even when the diaper was completely soaked. The double leg gussets really hold everything in very well. At night I didn't find Thirsties as effective. My son was sleeping in 4-5 hour stretches by 6 weeks and I woke up to find the bed soaked. Thirsties are very trim which makes them difficult to impossible to double stuff at night as well.

Many other diapers covers that I have I need to pull out the next size of clothing just to cover the bulky diaper, but a Thirsties cover is very thin. Using a Thirsties cover over a Kissaluvs fitted diaper or a prefold diaper was not much thicker than a disposable diaper. Their trimness also makes it easy to stash one in the diaper bag just to make sure you always have one ready to grab.

My husband loved Thirsties! I've had other diapers that he has told me he refuses to use or that I am never to order again, but Thirsties met his approval. If you're looking for a diaper cover to leave with the babysitter or grandma look no further as anyone should be able to pick up a Thirsties cover and use it immediately.

The size on Thirsties seems to run a little large. I had the x-small which says it goes to 12 lbs, but I was able to use them up to around 15 lbs. I will say though that at that point I made sure to avoid using the Thirsties when we hadn't had a dirty diaper in a while because they were getting short in the back. I learned that lesson after a bad blow-out that created a pile of dirty laundry. On the other hand it was $10 for a cover that only lasted me about 3 months because my son outgrew the Thirsties very quickly even when I pushed it to 15 lbs.

Thirsties diaper covers can be used several times before they need to be laundered. I would usually rotate 2 Thirsties covers over the course of a day and toss them in the dirty diaper bag at the end of the day by which time I did find they were starting to smell a little bit. Washing Thirsties was very easy. I sometimes hung them to dry and sometimes tossed them in the dryer. The laundry tabs worked well for me and I never found the Thirsties stuck to something else coming out of the washer or the dryer.

Overall I wouldn't recommend Thirsties diaper covers for nighttime use and I wouldn't recommend buying very many of them because the baby will likely outgrow them very quickly. Newborn diapers and covers are always tricky because the baby grows out of things so quickly, but other diaper covers, while bulkier, will work for a longer period of time than Thirsties. I would recommend buying 1 or 2 Thirsties diaper covers for daytime use for a newborn. I really liked having them because of their trim fit and good performance. Thirsties ease-of-use makes them a great choice for anyone who might be diapering the baby and isn't used to cloth diapers. So go check out Thirsties diaper covers today and see about adding them to your diaper stash.