Cloth diapers, sometimes stuffed with an absorbent material such as wool, moss, cattail, or the soft inner bark of some trees.

The name (traditionally) comes from "cloth d'Ypres", as Flanders is well-known for linen production, and linen is a good fabric for everything human (especially baby butts) because it wicks moisture well, preventing rash and chafing.

This blog post has some good images and medieval sources for more information.

Kathleen Staples in Clothing Through American History: British Era describes 18th c women using diapers and clouts made of linen, along with other items of a baby's wardrobe based on a will inventory and a period diary.

Personal note on the cattail fluff stuffing- it's what my great-gran used to do with my grandad in late 1940's rural Appalachia. Apparently it's wonderful.

Follow up: I've heard that indigenous American's (Cree tribes in particular) used peat (sphagnum) moss for this purpose and the results were suprisingly odorless. Is there a historical source for this practice and is it found in other regions/cultures where peat moss is abundant?

We get it, babies pooped the same way, biologically speaking.

Further people shit-posting, literally, will be temp'd.