Try these cloth diaper boosters to help beef up absorbency
Whether it’s for a car ride or naptime, you may find your cloth diapers needing the occasional boost. That’s where these “booster” inserts come in to play. Most brands offer some sort of cloth diaper booster option and they come in many different sizes, ply thickness and materials.
Are your Cloth Diapers Leaking?
While these won’t help you with Fit or Wash Routine related leaks (I’ll be writing about those on my blog shortly!), Boosters can help with leaks caused by a lack of Absorbency. If your daytime cloth diaper inserts are completely soaked through in less than 1.5/2 hours, and causing leaks, you may be blessed with a “Heavy Wetter” and can add some of these boosters to help the diaper out.
And if you can’t get through a nap or car ride without soaking your inserts, you can also add a booster then too!
How do I use my Cloth Diaper Boosters?
Stuffed in a pocket, laid on top of an insert or tucked in a prefold, these little cloth diaper boosters are incredibly versatile and customizable.
Simply choose your size and material based on need and add it to your existing cloth diaper. I have no qualms about mixing brands or materials, and I interchange these boosters with any of my cloth diaper systems.
I often throw an AMP 3 ply hemp booster on top of my Best Bottom hemp insert if it’s naptime
Bamboo Boosters
Bamboo Rayon is a popular cloth diapering material. It’s been heavily processed, so it’s technically a synthetic fibre at this point, but often gets marketed as a natural fibre. It’s often blended with cotton, so that’s not a total lie. Either way, it is heaps more absorbent than Microfibre, which is the cheapest cloth diaper material. The bonus of using Bamboo over Microfibre, is that it can go against baby’s skin safely and comfortably.
AMP Bamboo Boosters
I have pictured on the far left an AMP Bamboo Booster. It is not as absorbent as my other options shown, but it’s very trim and so I feel it’s important to mention here. They are just under $4 each, and contain 2 layers of Organic Bamboo Rayon blended with Organic Cotton. These boosters are soft, and trim- meaning you can put them anywhere.
No matter the diaper, these boosters can be tucked neatly inside without added any bulk at all. So for those tight fitting outfits, where trimness is essential, consider these boosters.
Hemp Boosters
My favourite type of material for cloth diaper boosters (and inserts in general) is Hemp. I have pictured 3 different types of hemp boosters in my graphic: Thirsties, AMP and Funky Fluff.
Thirsties Small Hemp Inserts
While technically these are an actual insert, your baby will likely outgrow them around 15lbs or sooner if they are a heavy wetter. This makes these Thirsties Small Hemp Inserts perfect candidates to continue their usefulness as a booster! They contain 6 layers of Hemp Jersey: a blend of 55% hemp and 45% cotton, and made right nearby in the USA. They are available in 2 sizes, and the Small inserts are 12″ x 5″ but they shrink a lot. Sold in packs of two for about $10, these are an affordable insert and booster option.
These inserts are my go-to overnight booster. I tuck them right inside my Imagine or Grovia Bamboo prefolds and can usually get a full night out of this combo, under a wool cover or PUL cover. My Littlest is a heavy wetter, and these provide good boosting for us.
AMP 3 Ply Hemp Booster
This is one of the most popular boosters on the cloth diaper market, for a reason. The AMP 3 Ply Hemp Booster is affordable at less than $4 each, and boy can they hold a lot! 3 layers of super-absorbent Hemp Cotton blend, in a convenient size, that can (once again) be tucked into any cloth diaper when needed. I own more of this booster than any other, simply because it is so effective.
While bulkier than the Bamboo option above, it is still reasonably trim. I lay them against baby’s skin, and even though they technically offer no Stay Dry capability like Fleece, for some reason my baby’s skin isn’t overly wet when I use these boosters. I think that’s because they really hold SO much pee and seem to lock it in better. They also fit great inside my Pocket diapers on top of existing inserts.
Funky Fluff Hemp Booster
I love the contoured shape of these Funky Fluff Hemp Boosters. They work great with the shape of my Best Bottom inserts and of course with Funky Fluff inserts as well. These have no snaps, and can be laid on top or underneath any brand of inserts. I usually lay them on top because I like to use the insert snaps on my Best Bottom and Funky Fluff diapers. I should note that for my Best Bottom stay dry inserts, I forego the snaps and lay these boosters underneath, to allow baby the benefits of the Stay Dry against his skin.
Sold in packs of 2 for $13.95, these are the most expensive boosters listed here but still pretty good value. They are also 3 layers and use a 55% hemp/45% organic cotton fleece blend. Like I mentioned with the AMP boosters, I feel like these offer a mild stay-dry effect. Perhaps the cotton fleece is responsible, but that’s just an uneducated guess.
Boosters: A recommended tool for your Cloth Diapering Journey
There you have it, folks. 4 Great Cloth Diaper Boosters that you can try out and fit into any existing Cloth Diaper. Many moms with leak issues, due to lack of absorbency, have been able to cost effectively continue using their existing cloth diapers by adding one of these boosters.
Do you use boosters? Have they helped you in nap-time, overnight or car trip situations? Share your experiences below.
great to find all the brands compared in one place, i need to make a shopping list.
My little grandson is a major heavy wetter and can soak anything almost in less than 2 hours, so I am always searching for the magic combo to help him go longer between diaper changes. It’s good to see someone else need to boost Best Bottoms & other snap diapers. We had high hopes they would work for us because they are so easy, but they have sat mostly unused because he quickly leaks in them. I have not used AMP or Funky Fluff before, but will give them a look to see if they could help us get some use from our snap diapers.