Imagine Baby Flats and Diaper Cover Review

Happy Summer Solstice! I hope everyone got to do something summery this past weekend. My husband and I went kayaking at a local state park while Harper got to visit her grandmother for a few hours. Then we all went swimming in the pool and grilled veggie burgers (Matt eats meat but sparingly and we don’t eat it at home, it inspires us to be a bit creative with our cuisine). I hope this entire season is as much fun as the weekend was.

Today I’m reviewing the Imagine Baby flats and diaper covers, I got quite a lot of use out of these during the Flats and Handwashing Challenge and became so comfortable with them I’ve mixed them into my regular rotation. My favorite feature of these flats is the pattern, they come in fantastic prints that are absolutely adorable!

I am definitely a beginner when it comes to using flats, and I clearly remember feeling amazed and overwhelmed when my good friend Tara showed me how to fold a receiving blanket into a diaper in emergencies. I thought, “I’ll never remember how to do that, it looks so complicated”. It was just a few months later I found myself researching flat fold videos and practicing with dish towels to try and recreate her effortless passes.

Any newbie will probably feel anxious about folding flats the first few times. Until muscle memory kicks in you question every fold and turn… “Did I do this right?” and when you add a squirming baby to the mix who kicks every time you try to perfect a jelly roll it can add to the feeling of hopelessness.

It doesn’t have to be so hard. After a couple frustrating attempts to mimic a complex fold I took a deep breath and did a simple pad fold. It’s just like it sounds, just fold it into a rectangle and tuck it in the cover. Done. It really doesn’t get any easier than that.

I kept practicing and after a few tries I got pretty good at the origami fold, this particular flat seems to work really well for that fold on my eight month old.

The cover is what makes all the difference if you ask me. This Imagine cover has excellent gussets and a very trim fit, it contained everything no matter how my folds held up. There were a couple failed folds where I ended up just sort of shoving the excess edges of material up under the gussets and counted on the cover to keep everything together. I wasn’t disappointed. In heavy rotation, this cover has never blown out on me.

Flats and covers are by far the most economical choice. I love that you can reuse a cover several times until it gets soiled or you’re ready to wash your diapers. Flats are an excellent choice for moms on a budget or diapering a newborn, as well as anyone looking for a natural and breathable option for their baby. At NickisDiapers.com you can pick up a six pack of these adorable printed diapers for 14.95 and a one-size diaper cover (with snaps or hook and loop) for 8.95. This is a great way to put your baby in fun colorful diapers that don’t break the bank, especially since two covers rotated can generally last you until it’s time to do laundry.

These birdseye cotton flats are super absorbent and I love natural fibers on my baby’s skin. The cover is thin and trim but has held up to abuse (hello handwashing!) really well, I think it will last a long time. I had a hard time with over night for Harper, she still has several night feedings and we don’t change her after 8 o’clock so she soaks her diapers thoroughly. If I doubled up I was usually just able to make it until sunrise before she started having compression leaks. A baby who isn’t a heavy wetter or who doesn’t have multiple night time feeds probably wouldn’t have an issue.

Most people will likely choose these flats for their whimsical prints, it’s a standout feature for sure. The prints do fade, especially on the unbleached cotton, and the more intricate design details become a blur. The website does make sure to advise you of this and provide visual examples to make sure no one will be blindsided, the company doesn’t use harsh dyes so you can expect a loss of color. If you want a brighter print, go for one of the bleached cotton options (butterflies or dinosaurs) as they retain their designs better than the insanely charming unbleached print of little woodland animals. You can still see the design, of course, and it’s a really fun mood lifter when you’re tackling a diaper change to see such a whimsical print hidden under a solid cover.

These flats are smaller than others I’ve used, and after several washes have shrunk down to about 25” on one side, while remaining 27” on the other side. They are not quite square once prepped, and if you hang them to dry as I do they can get pulled out of shape a bit. Some folds on some babies may not work. I wasn’t able to do the Jo fold or Kite fold with Harper, though someone with a younger/smaller baby might not have that issue. I stuck to the origami fold and the pad fold and had no issue, in fact I’d say this is an excellent diaper for the pad fold because it isn’t overly bulky and tends to sit trimly in the diaper without wadding up or shifting.

We really enjoyed using these Imagine flats and cover, the colors of the covers are bright and modern, and the prints are a great surprise, quite a switch from the standard bleached or unbleached plain cotton flats (and yes, Imagine offers both). The breathable nature of flats appeals to me and while I use them every week I’m especially excited to bring them with me on vacation (not that we’re going anywhere soon, but planning is half the fun, right?) because they are so light and easy to store. Anyone looking to try flats for the first time or interested in expanding their flat collection to include some fun patterns should check them out.