TeamDavis

This is a follow up post to Part 1.

Now we are entering a new phase. At six months and almost 18 lbs, Josiah has pretty much grown out (I think more length than anything) the Fuzzi Bunz diapers I had.  It is also MUCH harder to do the prefolds on him as we had been doing because he has started to want to be up on all fours on the changing table, and I was some days having to change him upside down.  That phase has passed for the most part (for now) and he’s letting me put him on his back again.  But two major changes now have made me want to take the next step in diapering.

First of all, he’s about to crawl, and he is so much more mobile on his belly.  Some wraps that someone had given us, the velcro tabs are kind of curling and they keep getting caught on the rug we put Josiah down on!  On top of that, he also is moving his hands around a lot and messing with the velcro and I have this image of him pulling the diaper cover right off.  So, I’ve decided to look into another snaps option and for things that will fit this next stage of a bigger baby.

I did some research and was considering buying some all-in-one diapers or some diapers made by folks on Etsy.com (a new favorite website of crafters, artists, and such).  I found later that Etsy has a special blog section dedicated to cloth diaper vendors here. I actually even put in an order for a flannel diaper and cover that were home made to give them a try. I had particularly chosen a diaper and cover from Little Moose Diapers. I’m partial to things with “moose”. I actually decided to try my own diaper making, though.  Although haven’t tackled the diaper covers yet.  Glad to have bought some of those.

I started researching making my own.  They looked pretty simple, and as Scott recommended, this would be a good project to get back into sewing because they’re on Josiah’s bum and they’re going to get pooped and peed on….thus they do not have to be perfect!

I did extensive research, and like many good people of my generation, I wanted a pattern that was FREE!  Of course there are tons of patterns out there, and tons of opinions on patterns, and kinds of diapers to make, etc.  Buying a good pattern is certainly worth it at $8-10, since you’re getting your money’s worth in making your own diapers.  I did a lot of research and am happy to share any specifics with people.  But what I ended up going with a free pattern called Rita’s Rump Pocket.  I actually first tried the Celtic Cloth free “Medium” Diaper pattern. I did make one this way without the waterproof layer.  And then I tried the Rita’s pattern.

Basically, the Rita’s wings are a little longer, and I think it will grow with him a little longer.  Making a fitted minus the waterproof layer allows you to do this.  What I’ve actually ended up making is somewhere in between, and somewhat my own style because I actually made a pocket diaper from just looking at lots of tips and such on diaper making in general, and slightly adjusted the Rita’s pattern.  Celtic Cloth and Very Baby were two websites where I learned a lot about making diapers from, and have ordered materials from each. I have heard very good things about the Very Baby diaper patterns, but since the one I had used seemed to work, I just went ahead with it.

So the diapers…I ended up going with fitted diapers made with one layer on the inside of fleece, and one layer of flannel.  The fleece layer just wicks the water away to the soaker inside the pocket (see info later in this post) and the flannel layer.  So this diaper requires a waterproof cover (wool or fleece soaker or a PUL cover).

I found this VERY helpful tutorial on youtube for the Rita’s Rump diaper.  There are several other videos available if you just do some searching.

Some other helpful websites with patterns and ideas on making fitted diapers and other styles:

• Diana’s on the cheap, Mock Fuzzi Bunz, about making gussets (which are nice, but I have not attempted yet), Ottubre design, Fern and Faerie’s Fitted, Pocket Diaper tutorial, make your own pattern, more patterns, Chloe Toes, and this site.
• You can even make your own prefolds from t-shirts!
• A glossary of cloth diapering & cloth diaper sewing.

Directions to more cloth patterns and info:

• Nappy network, Little for Now, Diaper Hyena, Cloth Diaper Pattern Review, and Diaper Jungle.  The Diaper Pin website is a great resource for information on cloth diapering in general, with many reviews, including for patterns.  Also good to check out.

Materials for Diapers can be found at:

• Very Baby & Celtic Cloth as mentioned above Wazoodle, A Cut Above, Kids in the Garden, Nature’s Fabrics and snaps at the SnapSource (or at Very Baby or Celtic Cloth.  Very Baby actually has a list of folks who will put snaps on for you under their resources).  Celtic Cloth has a very helpful glossary about fabrics, as well.
• I also found the “Fleece Lady” who sells lots of fleece, but also has bargains and remnant bags.  If I had found this earlier I may have gotten a bunch of fleece from her. Since most of it is inside the diaper, it wouldn’t matter what it looked like.
• There are probably many other places that sell diaper fabric that I have not listed, and some that sell fabrics you can certainly use for diapering, and look for remnants, and such, too!

For the “soaker/insert,” the absorbent insert to put into the pocket, I found some micro-fiber cloths in the automotive section at Target on a great sale.  I took these and trifolded them and stitched a border around them to make them a little more compact to insert into my pockets.

After making diapers, I was trying to make a cost-conscious choice of the diaper covers.  I had wanted to go with snaps, but after some research was hesitant to get into getting a snap press and buying snaps in bulk.

PUL is the waterproof layer found on many pre-made all-in-one diapers (like Bum Genius, Fuzzi Bunz, and the wraps that I had used before were made out of it).  PUL seems to be a little tricky to work with, and it’s kind of pricy per yard. I don’t think the covers would be THAT hard to make, and I found some good resources for getting the PUL.  Some shops sell pre-cut sizes.  Wazoodle sells a pack with 4 already cut pieces that would be plenty to make 4 covers.  A Cut Above also sells diaper cuts, and some other places seemed to also have these available.

I thought doing some searching I might find some gently used covers and save $$, and I did. We’ll see how they work out! I chose Mommy’s Touch One-Size diaper covers. We’ll see!

Also, I gave a try making some soakers with fleece.  I had purchased a couple of wool soakers on Etsy when a shop was going out of business.  Also a friend had given me a couple of wool soakers that she had bought and used.  I won’t go on about wool because you can read about it online a lot of places, and here for one on why it’s good and how to take care of it.

Wool Soakers

There are some ways to recycle used sweaters (like thrift store finds, or the ones that are packed away because you’ve been living in Florida for 6 years!) to make little soaker/diaper covers. And then there are ways to sew your own with fleece. I haven’t tried the recycled sweater method yet, but I had scraps and remnants of fleece I got at Joanne’s for a good price, so I gave it a try.  Oh and by the way, “longies” are long pants that are made to be a diaper cover out of wool or fleece.

Fleece Soakers and a pair of "Longies"

Plenty of folks out there make and sell soakers and wool wraps. They tend to be expensive (the wool ones) but they will last forever, and you only need a couple, really.  You can ask me about this, but there is a ton of research and convo out there for you if you’re interested. I won’t go into detail on these.

• Wool wrap, good soaker patterns, wool soaker from recycled sweater, fleece soaker, making your own longies.

So that’s about the summation of my experience so far. I love the fitteds I made for Josiah this far along.  The Aplix has been a really good choice for getting them on quickly on a squirmy baby.  What I love about the fleece is that he really does stay dry.  We were having issues with diaper rash (this blasted summer heat!) and I just wanted something to change where he wouldn’t be wet all the time.  Even the disposables that are good at wicking still seemed to cause the rash.  So far, knock on wood, we haven’t had a rash since I started using the fitteds that I made.

I do have a little bit of a hard time with thinking about this little guy in fleece and flannel in the dead of summer, but as folks promised, it seems to be pretty breathable, actually.  I may still play around with some different elements as I make another set of diapers.  But it’s been an interesting journey so far!

Wheeew. I’m kind of overwhelmed by my big post here! ha. I’ll have to read it again later and make sure it makes sense. Let me know if you are interested in anything else, or have questions.  I know I haven’t discussed diaper cleaning yet.  I can make that another post!