Diaper/nappy sizing puzzle

Hi all, I wonder if anyone can shed some light on what appears to be a massive discrepancy, or explain where I'm going wrong. Below are two diaper/nappy size guides, both for flat squares. One from Purity, and the other from arizona care... which ironically appears to be a British company.

https://www.adultclothdiaper.com/Adult-Flat-Diapers-Gauze-Purity

Two Layer 36" Square 36" x 36" inches

fits up to 56"

Two Layer 44" Square 44" x 44" inches

fits up to 69"

http://www.arizona.free-online.co.uk/folding.htm

Waist / Hip size

Arizona terry nappy size

Up to 22 Inches 36 x 36 Inches

Up to 32 Inches 42 x 42 Inches

Up to 42 Inches 48 x 48 Inches

Up to 52 Inches 54 x 54 Inches

Up to 57 Inches 60 x 60 Inches

Now if I read this right, the purity guide is saying that for a 56" waste you only need a 36" square nappy, but Arizona are saying that the same size nappy will only fit upto a 22" waist, and that you need a 54" square nappy for a 52" waste. So is this a baffling contradiction, or is there some explanation of it, or am I misunderstanding something?

One point I have noted is that the purity nappies are 'flat fold gauze', and the arizona ones are 'terry squares'. Does this make a difference? If this should be blindingly obvious I can only apologize, still very new to the subject.

Thank you in advance for any thoughts.

It gets down to the Fold.

Arizona sizing is for a Kite Fold, The Geometry of it creates a much shorter waist band and thus the requirement for a bigger diaper.

Adult diaper company is a 4 layer diaper which can be used flat, They are just pulled up between the legs and pinned around the waist

@weewetone Ah, I see... at least I think I do haha. Many thanks.

Hi its the Arizona figures that make sense and agree with everything else I've heard. For example I have 36" waist / hips and I use the 48 x 48" size. I cannot understand the Adult Cloth Diaper Co figures, how can a piece of material only 36" wide go round a 56" waist? its impossible. Unless when they say 2 layers, they are meaning its a piece of material 72" x 36" folded over to give a 2 layer 36" square. If it is rectangular , its a different kettle of fish and not British style so I wouldn't have a clue about what size fits what waist!

I hope this will clear thing up with regards to Adult Cloth Diaper CO SIzing of their custom prefold.

Below is their Sizing table

Size Range Table (Un-Washed Size)

RANGE NUMBER ---WIDTH (inches) FROM/TO — LENGTH (inches) FROM/TO

RANGE 1------------ 2O TO 26 ---------------------- 20 TO 30

RANGE 2------------ 2O TO 26 ---------------------- 31 TO 40

RANGE 3------------ 2O TO 26 ---------------------- 41 TO 50

RANGE 4------------ 27 TO 34 ---------------------- 27 TO 40

RANGE 5------------ 27 TO 34 ---------------------- 41 TO 50

RANGE 6------------ 27 TO 34 ---------------------- 51 TO 58

RANGE 7------------ 35 TO 40 ---------------------- 35 TO 44

RANGE 8------------ 35 TO 40 ---------------------- 45 TO 54

RANGE 9------------ 35 TO 40 ---------------------- 55 TO 60

RANGE 10----------- 41 TO 44 --------------------- 41 TO 50

RANGE 11----------- 41 TO 44 ---------------------- 51 TO 60

They are using a flat prefold that has 3 bands of material. The two outside bands would be the lower number of layers and the center band has the higher number of layer. Each band is one third the width of the diaper.

If you ordered a range 8 diaper you would have a rectangle diaper that was between 35 and 40 inches wide and 45 to 54 inches long. the range is provide to allow for shrinkage which varies buy the different martials you may choose from.

If the diaper shrunk down to 36 inches wide and 50 inches long you would have a diaper the had 2 12 inch wide bands on the outside with the low number of layers and a 12 center band that had the high number of layer. The bands would be 50 inches long.

When you fold a diaper what you are trying to do is get the most material located where it is most useful. That is what the Kite fold does to a plain diaper. The Adult Cloth Diaper CO diaper is called a prefold because all the required folding to get the material in the right location has been done already during the construction of the diaper. Their Diaper are meant to be used with a single fold that crosses all the bands and in effect double the number of layers in each band.

If a range 8 diaper was folded at the halfway mark you would be able to fit the diaper on a baby that had a waist to waist measurement through the crotch of 25 inches.

If the 25 inches was a little short you could offset the fold enough to create a longer distance or pick a range that has a longer length.

You would place the diaper under the baby with the center band oriented back to front. This center band would then be pulled up between the legs.

The end of the Diaper that has the most material would be placed on front for males and female tummy sleepers, in the back for the female back sleeper.

Using a range 8 diaper the two edges of the diaper that are on the the waist line would be 36 inches wide. Since you have 36 inches on the back and 36 inches on the front you could in theory could wrap the diaper around someone with a 72 inch waist.

In practice you need a overlap on the hips to ensure nothing escapes out the side. As well there is pull that result from bring the diaper up between the legs and being bunched up that has a impact the waist size . You will have to adjust you overlap to compensate for the pull.

The if the overlap required was 8 inches you would lose 16 inches (8 inches on each side) from the maximum waist size of 72 inches and you would be limited to a 56 inch waist.

If you baby has a waist size other than 56 inches or you want more overlap than pick a range that works for you. Just use the following formula when picking the width. Width = (Baby Waist Size / 2) + desired overlap

32 inch waist 10 inch overlap 32 /2 +10= 26 Width 26 or range 2 or 3

58 inch waist 12 inch overlap 58/2+12 = 41 Width 41 or range 10 or 11

Hope this helps

My oh my, this is the reason why I use disposable diapers. It's bad enough with all the different sizes of disposable. I don't need another headache. Sorry I can't help, good luck!

DIsposable

Now there is a headache that comes with a big cost to figure out the right size

Some manufacture will list the size based on the total length of the waist band,

Tranquility does that, if the say waist size 32 inch they mean 32 inches with no over lap.

Some will list based on what waist size works best.

ID slips appears to be doing that.

Mean while Tena is all over the place.

when they say 42 inches to 64 inches, you can't get enough overlap to make it fit on a 42 inch waist.

Or Tena goes the other way when they say 32 to 44 you can you do not have enough to reach the 42 inch waist.

it all depends on which version of Tena diaper you buy.

And every time you get it wrong you just blew $50 bucks

And once you figure it out, after a couple of years they come up with a new improved version for you to start all over again.

Try not to overthink sizing when it comes to cloth prefold diapers. I find size large fits easily for me and my waist tends to vary between 38" and 41". I have plenty of room to pin my diapers on and much less confusion in sizing and fit than disposables.