While many of us appreciate the cuteness of a fluffy bum, sometimes the fluff is not so cute. For instance, when shopping for your toddler’s jeans, a fluffy bum literally gets in the way of things. You may find a brand of clothes that cater to a larger rump or perhaps you size your child’s clothes up sometimes, perhaps avoiding the more confining materials in favor of stretch. Another option is to evaluate how you can streamline the actual diaper.

Any diaper can become trimmer by replacing microfiber with natural fibers. Hemp and bamboo especially trim down the size of any insert by offering the same or more absorption in less material compared to microfiber. Natural fibers are why some diapers, from the get-go, appear trimmer. GroVia, Smart Bottoms, Bottom Bumpers, Simplex, Thirsties, and bumGenius (Elemental) all include hemp or bamboo in their diaper styles. While this is an investment, as most pocket diapers come with microfiber inserts, you can minimize this cost by getting just a few trim inserts to use when needed.

Sized systems also offer more trim options as they remove some of the extra PUL/TPU exterior material and using sized inserts, offering a more custom fit. Bummis offers a variety of sizes. Two-step systems are more common, with size one fitting as little as six or seven to eighteen pounds and size two fitting fifteen to as much as forty pounds, with some variance in size range depending on each brand.

Even among one-size systems some have a slimmer cut. Best Bottoms and GroVia cut trim. SoftBums offer elastic modification of their diapers, allowing you to tighten the elastic for very small babies. The end result may be trimmer as their one-size diaper distributes the extra material across the entire diaper area instead of bunching it in the front beneath the rise-snap system of many one-size diapers.

If you can’t change the brand or type of diaper you have, you aren’t stuck with a too-fluffy bum. By changing the diaper more often you can remove some of the, then unnecessary, absorption. Depending on your particular baby’s age, sleep schedule, and potty habits you may currently change a diaper every one to four hours (or after part or all of the night). If you are waiting until baby urinates more than once you could change after each void, requiring less absorption (and possibly providing more comfort for babe).

Also consider your inserts. Pre-folds are notoriously bulky but by using sized pre-folds instead of one-size you can get a trimmer fit (though this costs more as you’d need more than one set of diapers to get from birth to potty training). Other inserts are cut in a contoured fashion, trimmer between the legs. Length of insert can also contribute to bulk. A large insert on a tiny baby will need to fold down somewhere, adding bulk.

Ultimately babies can rock the fluff, but if you want to invest your time or money into a trimmer bum there are numerous ways to do so. That said, a fluffy bum will likely never be as trim as a sposie bum. But that’s not necessarily a bad thing.

Lynette is a mom of three children from 4 months to age four. She has cloth diapered all three since birth and enjoys all things eco-friendly and mindful living.