Wednesday, September 19, 2012

Bean's Diapers

When G and I found out that we had a little Bean in the oven, we started all kinds of  discussions. Where to live, what to name the Bean, how we felt about "parenting", and how much rock 'n' roll was necessary to make sure a Bean listened to good music upon arrival. But one thing that we agreed upon very early on was the fact that we were going to use cloth diapers. I've always hated disposable diapers. When I was a babysitter - for a very short time when I was in junior high - I felt like no matter what, diapers always smelled. The diapers themselves just had this terrible smell when they came out of the package. And on top of that, they are so terrible for the environment, and for the babies that wear them. Here's just a few facts about that.....But! I think the most appealing thing about cloth diapers is that they are CHEAP! Especially for a seamstress. My Mom bought us a few of the Flip diapers, from BumGenius and they are simple and work for all sizes, 8-35 lbs. This system is basically a cover and an insert, and the inserts are just a big 15" square with some seams for folding. So, all I did was pick up some flannel sheets for $8, a couple of cute flannel receiving blankets for $1 a piece and some old towels and terrycloth yardage that was just laying around. Cut 2 squares of flannel and one of towel. Sandwich towel between flannel. Stitch two rows, 5" apart, then serge around the edges. So simple. I made a new stack of diapers for my little Bean to roam around in. It's actually kind of funny how much fuss we put into something that a little baby is going to poop in, but it's important none the less. I'm more concerned about absorbency and long lasting dryness, and less concerned about fit or "trimness". A baby is supposed to have the silly looking diaper butt ; )

I also bought a pattern for Little Half Moon diapers, which are the "fitted" style. They look just like a disposable diaper, but, obviously, are a bunch of layers of flannel and towel. These are a lot more complicated to make and take more materials, so I have fewer of them. They are also made up of less fabric, so I often opt for the other flat/folded ones because they can absorb more.

So here's some pictures of our diapers.


neatly stacked, ready for action.


The animals, stars and green stripes were receiving blankets, the solid blue and white stripes, flannel sheets. 


here is one, unfolded. you can see the two seams that act as fold lines. 


I decided I didn't care if they matched on both sides. Makes life a little more fun!


These are the fitted ones. I found this sock monkey flannel at the fabric store and flipped out. It's so cute and extra soft. Bean has possession of my sock monkey, Sheldon (after Big Bang Theory Sheldon) and I just love finding more sock monkeys for him.


You can see, these just velcro like a real diaper, and have elastic in the legs for leak protection. 


And lastly, these are our covers. I bought the for a little less then $15 each from amazon.com and they will last the whole time Bean is in diapers. We have 7 covers, 30 diapers and about 2 dozen cloth wipes and only have to do one extra load of laundry every 3rd day. It's so super simple. And you never run out! No emergency trips to the quicky mart, no $20 a week, nothing. Just a little extra laundry and done!




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