I use prefolds and they are bulky. I think my daughter is a little bit behind as far as rolling, crawling, etc. but she’s getting there eventually and I’m not sure if it’s due to the diapers or just her own developmental schedule. Babies, until the very recent invention of disposable diapers, were all in cloth and our species has managed to learn to roll, crawl and walk, so I think it’s okay. Stay with cloth-- it is still considered “unusual” to use cloth diapers, which is unfortunate. They are better in SO many ways! We’ve saved a bundle of money, there are no weird gel chemicals next to baby’s skin, no trash in the landfill (which is NOT the place for human waste, anyway) and we never run out of diapers… we just run a load of laundry.

It could just be the bulkiness of the BG’s.  Have you tested his mobility in other diaps, particularly sized one’s like FuzziBunz?  I found that it took a while for us to pin point which cloth diapers were the right “fit” for us.  We never had any mobility issues with our FuzziBunz ... they’re SO trim and just an all around great diaper!

Huh.... How much “stuffing” are you putting in?  My daughter is 6 months, and started rolling over sometime in the 4 month range.  She’s been in BG’s since birth, and I didn’t find it inhibited her rolling abilities.  But she’s a bigger baby, too (like 21 lbs at 4 months, now 23...) so maybe that’s why we didn’t have a problem.  I do only use the regular insert, folded over, and that’s it. 

Maybe you could try just using the newborn insert/doubler for “playtime”?  I wouldn’t think that would add much bulk at all. 

Hmm… yup, that’s all I’ve got.  Never even considered it’d be a possible problem (only finding pants that fit.  :)

For my BGs, we are just using the one pad folded over.  As he is getting older, he is doing better with rolling, but he definitely can’t get his toes to his mouth and has trouble sitting.  I tried putting the folded over part of the pad in the back, but then he was leaking out of his diaper. :( The only more fitted diapers we have are two Dry-bees, but he leaks a lot in those so they are our “we are out of everything else” diapers.

As Rachel said, I think we are just going to deal with it knowing all of the other advantages.  Just frustrating…

I have used a combination of cloth and disposable diapers for both of my kids.  My youngest is nearly 10 months and her pocket diapers are not causing her to miss a beat.  When she was 5 months and her activity consisted of rolling and sitting up tripod style, I too, was concerned that her diaper was getting in her way, but that stage passed so quickly and I can say with certainty that she has reached all her gross motor skill developments in a timely manner (and in some cases earlier than expected).  Having her in a disposable from time to time has confirmed that she is minimally burdened by her bulky pocket diapers.  I also think “naked time” is a great idea, not only to unburden them from the shackles of clothing, but to let that precious skin breathe...and may be even more valuable for those babies whose skin is perpetually bound up in a non-breathable disposable diaper.

Remember, not too long ago, babies all over America lived their entire babyhoods in cloth diapers bulkier than anything our kids have to put up with and were no worse for the wear!

If you think the bulk is really getting in the way, I highly recommend Fuzzi Buns. We’ve used a bunch of types of cloth diaper options and I think that the Fuzzi Buns have the smallest profile and the most flex of all the ones we’ve tried.

Also, I agree with some of the previous comments that your kid will get used to whatever you do - very, very quickly. If you leave him in the bulky bum-genius, I bet he’ll quit caring in a week or two!

My daughter was cloth diapered from birth using pre-folds and covers and she was off the charts as far as motor skills go (rolling both ways at 3 weeks, crawling at 5 months, walking at 10). I personally see no correlation in development and cloth diapering. However it all could depend on the child as well. She is one determined little bugger and probably could have learned to do all those things even if she had a paper weight taped to her butt :) :)

I tried cloth and it didn’t work. They were way to bulky. I switched to gdiapers. Love them. I use the flushable inserts but a lot of people use cloth prefolds in them. I have used cloth in them when I ran out of inserts. They are less bulky by far.

Like Jess, I have a bigger baby (18lbs at 6months), and the bulk of the cloth diapers may have slowed her rolling down by a week or so, but no more than that.

Remember, babies were learning these skills long before disposable diapers existed :) And if it takes longer to learn, that doesn’t mean they’ll always be behind - in fact, my girl learned to sit up before her peers.

I have a chunker who has slowed in his chunk at little as he approached a year (25 pounds at 12 months) and use BG 3.0s. I love them, but I would agree they seem to hamper movement a little. But rest assured, that won’t necessarily slow down a little one. My son is as determined as Jessica S’s daughter and was rolling over before 3 months, crawling before 5 and walking before 10.

Also, I think the cloth diapers are great for falls once they start toddling and decide that right before bed (when balance is bad) is the best time to take on the world.

We do a fair amount of Elimination Communication, too, which allows for lots of naked time because I am more aware of his elimination habits. You should try it.