Before disposable diapers became a normal part of American parenting, most families relied on cloth diapers. Long before the name Pampers appeared on store shelves, babies were changed with folded pieces of cotton cloth, fastened with safety pins, covered with rubber or plastic pants, then washed and reused again and again.
Name: These were commonly called cloth diapers, and many families used flat diapers or later prefold diapers. A flat diaper was a simple square or rectangle of absorbent cloth. A prefold diaper was stitched with a thicker center section to make it easier to fold and more absorbent.
When Were They Used? Cloth diapers were widely used in American homes throughout the late 1800s and much of the 1900s, especially before disposable diapers became popular in the 1960s and 1970s. For parents and grandparents who raised babies before or during that time, cloth diapers were not a trend. They were simply the way things were done.
What Were They Used For? Their purpose was the same as today’s diapers: to absorb urine and contain messes, keeping babies cleaner and more comfortable. But unlike modern disposable diapers, cloth diapers had to be rinsed, soaked, washed, dried, folded, and used again.
