We used cloth diapers from the start with my son Finn, but only had a few size small diapers and so I found myself doing diaper laundry every day... not so great for the environment or my water bill. For baby #2 I was determined that we would have enough cloth diapers so that I would only have to wash them every few days. And, since near the end of my pregnancy I was doing a lot of nesting-crafting in hopes that it would bring on her arrival, we now have plenty of diapers!
I had never thought to make my own diaper inserts until reading soulemama's Handmade Home. Then I realized it was in fact fairly simple. Her book gives detailed instructions, but you basically sew a couple of pieces of fabric together with an extra layer sewn into the middle. Only takes about 10 minutes per diaper. So, I headed into my garage to look through our old-clothes-stash, where I keep old clothes to be re-purposed into new things. I had some old baby blankets and old t-shirts that would otherwise have been destined for the landfill and I turned them into 10 new diaper inserts... and the only thing that it cost me was my time. Not to mention that my baby is probably one of the only ones who has an "Obama" diaper!
As I said, I made these a few months ago, but wanted to give them a whirl before writing about them. They have worked fabulously. They can't hold quite as much as a Chinese pre-fold, but so far so good. Once I find some more time, I will probably make another 10 or so (the more I have, the less often I have to do laundry!!). Check out Soulemama's book for step by step instructions on how to make your own!
awesome!
ReplyDeletep.s. I wanna see Phoebe, I bet she has changed so much!
ReplyDeleteI have considered making our own too but we were blessed with the gift of $ for Kian's baby shower and since he was our 3rd and we didn't need much, we got a full stash of one size pocket diapers. Though I've wanted to try my hand at it, I really don't need more. When we started, I was washing every day too but now, with only one in dipes, I can go a full week and do only one wash. I like that bc it saves on the laundry water usage since after a week, its a full load. Its pushing it though bc of the amonia smell and all but we have a lidded hamper that locks that all in. :) Great job Mama! Maybe I'll try my hand at a few tiny ones if we have another newbie one day so s/he can wear them straight from the womb.
ReplyDeleteWow, and I was proud of myself for considering replacing the elastic in our diapers.
ReplyDeleteI will HAVE to try this.
And I want an Obama diaper...although, I'm not sure that that would communicate the message that I would like: I generally like him...and letting my child poo on him might not show that. Haha.