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“Big Box” stores like Target and Walmart have a little bit of everything, but their selection of cloth diapers leaves a lot to be desired. I was yearning to add to my stash so I went on a little shopping trip for cloth diapers at Target.

Amazon is a breath of fresh air in contrast to Target and Walmart. I searched “cloth diapers” on amazon.com, and was treated to seven pages of results, as seen here

 
The iPlay cloth swim diaper was the only cloth diaper option available, in contrast to a wide variety of disposables. It’s lightweight and snug-fitting, ensuring easy maneuverability in the pool. With playful designs and bright colors, the iPlay diaper looks like a fun option for swimwear. While this is a great product, it’s unfortunate that the only choice of cloth diapers at Target, a popular big-box store, is a swim diaper.
 

 
I asked a friend in another state about the cloth diapers at Target in her local area; she reported that it was slightly better than at my local Target, but hardly robust. The same iPlay cloth swim diaper products were stocked on the shelves. In addition, my friend’s Target offered two other products: organic birdseye prefold cloth diapers from Gerber, and a wool knit diaper cover with an adorable unicorn aesthetic.
 

 
Gerber’s birdseye prefold cloth diapers are made from 100% natural organic cotton fibers. They are naturally soft and comfortable, and machine washable.

The wool knit diaper cover is more of a diaper accessory or garment, but pretty cool nonetheless.
 

 

I was disappointed in the cloth diapers at Target in my area, and not impressed by the offerings at my friend’s Target in a different state, either. I decided to check things out online to see if the cloth diaper options were any better. I searched for “cloth diapers” on Target’s website, and got two pages of results. Looking at the results with a little more of a discerning eye, many of the listed products are simply different quantities of the same cloth diapers. Gerber, Thirsties, and Charlie Banana are the only three brands represented.
 

 
Online, Target lists 5-packs and 10-packs of a few different cloth diaper options from Gerber: prefold, flatfold, and prefold gauze. There is a also a 10-pack of a prefold gauze sponge diaper. They are all a plain and simple white color. The selection of Thirsties cloth diaper products is a touch more diverse, and considerably more colorful. From Thirsties, there is the All-In-One Snap Diaper, the All-In-One Snap Diaper for newborns, a line of swim diapers, and their Duo Hemp prefold cloth diapers. You can visit Target.com’s cloth diaper section by clicking here.

The All-In-One Snap diapers are equipped with a microfleece liner to ensure dryness, and they are available in several different attractive patterns. The Duo Hemp line is a great product from Thirsties. It is a blend of natural hemp and cotton, and there are also Duo Hemp liner inserts available. Also, Charlie Banana is represented on target.com through its line of one-size reusable cloth snap diapers.

Though the products on Target’s website are of an estimable quality, the selection is definitely underwhelming. I decided to browse Walmart’s online retail listings to compare the availability of cloth diapers. On its website, Walmart offers every product found on Target’s website, plus some additional cloth diaper brands like Best Bottom, as well as a small selection of accessories like diaper pins and diaper sprayers. While Walmart trumps Target as an online marketplace for cloth diapers and accessories, it is not an extensive destination. Walmarts cloth diaper selection can be found here.
 

 
Amazon is a breath of fresh air in contrast to Target and Walmart. I searched “cloth diapers” on amazon.com, and was treated to seven pages of results, as seen here. Sorting through these results, I was able to discard a dozen or so listings for adult cloth diapers and a few other products falling outside of the scope of my research. I was left with a genuinely diverse wealth of cloth baby diapers and related products.

The breadth of high-caliber cloth diapers available on Amazon is easily a cut above Target and Walmart. I was truly impressed with products like the EcoAble Baby Charcoal Bamboo All-In-One cloth diaper, the GroVia O.N.E. Reusable cloth baby diaper, and the Luludew All-In-One cloth diaper for newborns. For parents, there is a lot to pick from, while shopping with ease from the comfort of home.

In addition to the vast assortment of actual diapers, Amazon boasts cloth diaper covers, swim diapers, wet and dry cloth diaper bags and bins, and other related products like fasteners and diaper sprayers. Niche cloth diaper manufacturers were well-represented, as opposed to the online listings of Target and Walmart that mostly displayed products from industry giants.

An independent, esteemed vendor, thenaturalbabyco.com, carries a variety of cloth diaper products from GroVia and Buttah. From GroVia, they offer fitted diapers, prefolds, hybrids and swim diapers. They carry a wonderful line of velour diapers from Buttah, as well. These products are well-reviewed and championed by many parents who choose cloth diapers.

Specialized vendors like thenaturalbabyco.com and charliebanana.com. are a great resource for parents.
 

 
I saw firsthand how limited the selection was at my local Target, and my friend did not report a much better situation at her local Target in a different state. Browsing online for cloth diapers on Target’s website and Walmart’s website did not yield much better results. The proliferation of big chain stores like Target and Walmart led me to believe that they would carry at least a decent offering of an increasingly popular product like cloth diapers. I was a bit disappointed to see such a limited selection in person, as well as online.

Amazon yielded the most plentiful results in shopping for cloth diapers and accessories, while smaller, more niche vendors like The Natural Baby Company and Charlie Banana had good options despite a more modest quantity of options.

The results of my modest research helped inform my conclusion: Big Box stores have a little of everything, indeed, but for cloth diapers, I consider Amazon the best option, with independent vendors like The Natural Baby Company and Charlie Banana as strong secondary options.
 

If your new to cloth diapering, start with our Cloth Diapering 101 article.