At the time I’m writing this, I’ve been in the cloth community for over eight years. That’s quite a long stretch of time that I’ve had to really learn the lingo. And not just the lingo, but the shorthand and acronyms so widely used on social media, blogs, and even the cloth diaper companies themselves! If you’re new, returning, or just simply want a refresher, because you’ve had a brain fart, this is a list of the more common cloth diaper acronyms that you will find being used.
A
AIO - All in One An All in One Cloth Diaper has all absorbent materials attached to the waterproof layer as once single piece. This type of cloth diaper, while a bit more expensive, is incredibly convenient and one of the easiest cloth diaper systems to use.
AI2 - All in Two - An All in Two Cloth Diaper consists of two different pieces being used together. A waterproof cover and Insert. The insert snaps directly into the cover and heads straight over to babies bum. All in Two cloth diapers are more economical as the shell can be used multiple times with a clean insert until it is soiled. The All in Two cloth diaper is space saving and great for the diaper bag!
AWJ - Athletic Wicking Jersey. The cool mesh, breathable material inside the Lighthouse Kids Company cloth diapers. AWJ feels cool to the touch and feels stay-dry to baby.
B
BFP - Big Fat Positive - A positive pregnancy test.
BST - Buy Sell Trade - You may already be familiar with this acronym and it also applies in the cloth diapering community.
C
CD - Cloth Diaper
CS - Customer Service
D
DD/DS - Dearest Daughter/Son
E
EBF - Exclusively Breast Fed - You’ll usually see this pop up when people are talking about poop and for good reason! Exclusively breast fed babies poop is water soluble and doesn’t need to be rinsed off of cloth diapers.
F
FIL - Father in Law
FST - Flour Sack Towel - A large single layer of absorbent cotton often found in the kitchen/dining section of your favorite big box store.
FTM - First Time Mom
L
LO - Little One
M
MF - Microfiber - A synthetic material that is quick to absorb and one that should never directly touch skin.
MIL - Mother in Law
N
NB - Newborn
NCDR - Not Cloth Diaper Related
O
OP - Original Poster
OS - One Size (Cloth Diaper)
OT - Off Topic OTB - On the Bum/Baby The “true” meaning of this one is still up for debate! Personally, I read it as “On the Baby”
P
PT - Potty Train
PUL - Polyurethane Laminate - A waterproof material that makes up cloth diapers, wet bags, and many other reusable products.
S
SAHM/D - Stay at Home Mom/Dad
SIL - Sister in Law
STTN - Sleep Through the Night
T
TPU - Thermoplastic Polyurethane - This is the waterproof lining attached to the PUL.
TTC - Trying to Conceive
W
WAHM/D - Work at Home Mom/Dad
WB - Wet Bag
While some of these acronyms may at some point retire or change, we feel confident that this list will help you make some sense of posts in our Facebook group and everywhere else you are involved in cloth diapering!
