Cloth Diapering

Mother-ease One Size Fitted Diaper Review: Eight Years Later

This is part 2 in my series of long-term reviews about diapers in my stash. I’ve been reviewing these older diapers to see how they’ve held up over time, both in terms of appearance and in performance.

long-term diaper reviews

Today I’ll be talking about the Mother-ease One Size fitted diaper. These diapers have been around, essentially unchanged, for almost 20 years. When my sister-in-law had a baby in 2005, my mother-in-law bought eight Mother-ease One Size diapers for her. I inherited these diapers when my first baby was born in 2010. In the last eight years, they’ve been worn by three babies and gone through several years in storage as well. How do they perform today?

Anatomy of a Mother-ease One Size Fitted Diaper

Mother-ease One Size diapers are made in Canada from cotton-polyester terry. Currently they come in four fabrics: cotton terry, organic cotton terry, bamboo terry, and stay dry (stay dry lining over cotton terry). They’re available in white, unbleached, and six solid colours. Mine are the white cotton terry with stay dry lining.

This diaper has six snaps on the outside and four snaps on the inside front edge. When the rise is folded over, the inside snaps are now on the outside. That’s where the wings snap in for smaller babies. Each wing has two snaps, and there is a crossover snap for skinny minnies.

Mother-ease One Size Fitted Diaper - outside

There is an extra layer of fabric sandwiched down the middle of the diaper, and Mother-ease sells inserts that snap onto the inside snaps for added absorbency. As these snaps are on the outside when the rise is folded down, you can’t use the snap-in inserts until baby is bigger and doesn’t need the lower rise.

Mother-ease One Size Fitted Diaper - Inside

According to the videos on the Mother-ease website, to size this diaper for newborns (small), fold the rise down and snap the waist to fit. For infants 10-20 lbs. (medium), keep the rise folded down and snap the waist larger. For bigger babies 20-35 lbs. (large), unfold the rise and snap the waist to fit. So really, the extent of this diaper’s adjustability is whether the front is folded down or left up. Here’s how the three sizes compare. You’ll notice that the small and medium sizes have exactly the same rise.

Mother-ease One Size Fitted Diaper sizes

Nobody remembers how much my mother-in-law paid for them back in 2005, but Mother-ease One Size Fitted Diapers with the stay dry lining are currently listed at $15.75 on the Mother-ease website. Basic white and unbleached cotton terry fitteds are $12.95, and colours are a little more at $13.45. Keep in mind that these do require a cover to make them waterproof and you’ll need to factor that into your start-up cost. You can reuse covers until they get too stinky or get poop on them, so think roughly one cover for every 4 diapers.

Diaper Fit & Performance

My sister-in-law used her Mother-ease One Size fitteds on her daughter from about six months through to potty training at age three. I used these for overnights on my oldest for about the same age range, and I’m currently using these on my youngest, again for overnights. Kay is currently one year old and 21 pounds. Personally, I don’t find these diapers that adjustable, and I wouldn’t use them on newborns or babies under three or four months old. The fold down rise gets quite bulky, and I found it difficult to get a proper fit around Kay’s thighs until she was a bit bigger. Because of its bulk, you need a generously-cut wrap to cover this diaper. I use Mother-ease Air Flow covers because they’re designed to fit these diapers.

Mother-ease One Size Fitted Diaper

However, where these diapers really shine is at nighttime. On their own, they aren’t absorbent enough to last through the night, but they’re generously cut enough to provide lots of room for one, two, and even three inserts for added absorbency. When paired with a matching Mother-ease Air Flow cover, I honestly can’t remember the last time I had a leak with one of these.

Because there’s no PUL, these can be washed in hot water and put in the dryer as needed. They are sturdy enough to survive repeated washings and even occasional bleaching, a blessing with overnight diapers which can develop ammonia problems over time. The elastics around the waist and legs are encased in rib-knit binding and are very gentle on chubby baby thighs – no red marks here!

Mother-ease One Size Fitted Diaper close-up

Nobody’s Perfect

I’ll be honest. These are not particularly cute diapers. They’re bulky, especially on smaller babies, and don’t fit under the vast majority of my kids’ pants or jeans. I don’t usually use these during the day for that reason. Their full cut makes them kind of the granny panties of diapers, and they really do need to be paired with Mother-ease Air Flow covers. In a pinch, I can use Bummis Whisper Wraps a size up, but I have to be very careful to make sure all of the diaper is tucked in or it’ll leak. It would be nice if I could use some of my other covers or wraps with these diapers, but they just can’t cover all that diaper.

As I mentioned before, these diapers don’t seem to fit smaller babies all that well, though they fit my niece and oldest daughter comfortably until age three. To be fair, very few one size diapers actually fit from newborn to potty training. These are simply on the larger side.

Did They Last?

Yes! My Mother-ease One Size fitteds are in great shape! They certainly don’t look like they’ve been peed and pooped in by three different babies over the course of eight years. The stitching is all intact, and all the snaps remain securely attached. The stay dry material on the inside doesn’t pill, and I didn’t notice staining on any of the eight diapers. It’s possible they may have yellowed, but I can’t tell because they’re all the same off white colour.

The only sign of wear I can see is the terry material has worn bare on a few small areas that get rubbed against the most. The edges around the leg holes and the corners of the sewn in soaker region show the most wear. Keep in mind I had to examine the diaper carefully to find this. It’s not obvious to the casual eye. I think that’s pretty good for how much use they’ve been put through!

Mother-ease One Size Fitted Diaper - Worn Areas

My Recommendations

Mother-ease One Size fitted diapers are definitely a workhorse diaper. They’re not pretty and they’re too bulky to wear under jeans, but they are perfect for overnight use and will keep your baby’s sheets dry. And at the end of the day (like at bedtime – LOL), isn’t that the most important thing? Keep in mind I found it difficult to fit these diapers properly on my babies when they were smaller, so I wouldn’t recommend these for the first few months. On the plus side, these will most likely last you right through to potty training, unlike some other one size diapers. Bottom line, if you’re having trouble with leaks at night, these are definitely worth a try.

Disclosure: This is not a sponsored post. I have no relationship with Mother-ease or its retailers, and I did not receive any compensation financially or in kind. I inherited these diapers from my sister-in-law. All opinions expressed are completely honest and my own, based on my personal experience. Your experience may differ.

Leave a Comment

27 Comments

  • Where was all this info when my kids were in diapers??? I wish I had known about them then..they seem like a great sturdy brand that would’ve lasted through all three of them!

    • All my covers are boring white with tiny pictures (I have the Asia, Wetlands, whales, and pawprints). I just looked after reading your comment and saw they have colours now. About time! The blue fish one is pretty cute too.

  • Im glad i came across your website. I have been looking for a new overnight diaper scine i wasn’t too impressed by the Sloomb OBF, what everyone seems to believe is the BEST overnight diaper. I found it stiff, ill fitting and for some reason it is my only diaper that has a smell to it after washing. I dont mind their happy little cloud velour but those are 29.00 dollars! thanks again!

    • Glad you found this helpful! I haven’t tried Sloomb, though like you I’ve heard all the rave reviews. These Mother-ease One Size work really well for us though (as do Mother-Ease Sandy’s – check those out too).

  • Wow! I need to get some of these! I have always been wondering how long diapers will last given they are washed so frequently, and I have been wanting to try Motherease! Thanks for the review

  • I keep seeing these and wondering if they are good! I may have to try them since we are still trying to get a good night routine!

  • Thanks for the review! We use mostly prefolds and covers on our one month old twins, but just ordered a small stash of Mother Ease Toddle Ease for our big 2 year old.

    I’m also looking at ME for night time solutions once the twins stop popping at night. How do you find the one size and the Sandy’s compare to each other? We really like the one Toddle Ease we have (can’t wait for the rest to arrive!)

  • I’ve been looking for a fitted diaper for nighttime and I’ve come close to buying one of these several times. I’m so glad I read this because I don’t think I would have liked it since it’s on the larger side. My daughter is TINY (17 lbs at 16 months) and it looks like my little boy (due in December) won’t be much different!

    • Look at the size small Motherease Sandys. They fit my tiny daughter until she potty trained at 25 lbs and are just as great of a diaper. They also come in bamboo.

  • This is one of the styles that we used for our children and I agree that it is a well-made diaper. We got ours second hand and they have been used by two of our children. Soon they will be used for another one!

  • Thank yo for the long term reviews! If I’m going to shell out $for diapers, nice to know the Laster several children and possibly even have some resell value in the future .

  • I’m so glad that I found this review! I just found somebody selling 24 of these bad boys, with 5 covers and 13 inserts for 30 bucks in excellent used condition. I am not due for a few months but it’s nice to know that I have these in my pocket for when she is old enough. Thanks for the the thorough review!

  • I am always on the look out for fitted diapers, since my grandson is a heavy wetter. A fitted seems to work really well for him, but bulk is a problem for daytime use. I’ve heard of Motherease but have not really checked them out before reading this review. It’s amazing that these diapers withstood the wear and tear of 8 years & 3 babies…especially the elastic! What a great value! Thank you for an honest review.

  • No kids yet – but I’m thinking about cloth diapering when I do have them someday.
    What type of diaper did you use during the day?

    Thank you!

  • I used 99% with oldest from newb o rn til he potty trained at 4 yrs old, my next 3 2 being f inters I used about 50%. Then I sold them and still looked new and snaps were perfect. Kids now ha v ing grandkids and would not hesitate to buy for them if chose cloth diapers.

    • 2 fosters and myv2nd bio was not 8 pounds til 3 months old. Truly work from 5 pounds to 35 pounds no problem at all.