Category Archives: Cloth Diapers

Well, Jessica’s heat rash has come back with a vengeance this year…even with the use of our Bumgenius cloth diapers! She has been potty trained around the house for a while now, with only the occasional accident. However, since her verbal skills are still pretty minimal (although growing daily), I have avoided letting her wear training pants when out and about. This latest round of heat rash though has convinced me otherwise, and I have come up with a brilliant solution to “Potty Training on the Go Without the Puddles!” I found a free pattern for fleece shorties that I can put over the training pants to give us a few more minutes to find a bathroom without leaving a trail behind us!

Fleece is very breathable, but it will also keep any accidents from leaking through….at least for a little while! Although the pattern was intended to be worn over a cloth diaper, I have been very pleased with using it over training pants while out and about! The large size seems to work just perfectly with the size 2T training pants! We gave this a test run last night while we were out and about for 2 hours, and she managed to hold it until we got home! Now to make some more for backups when we have accidents…

Wow! It is going to take me all week to tell you about what has been going on around our house this past week!! We’ve gotten a lot done; unfortunately, that didn’t really include dishes, laundry, etc… Recently, a friend of mine (who lives out of town) broke her foot, and she has been having trouble getting out and about because her toes get cold and she can’t risk getting her cast wet! So….this weekend I took all I had learned from the cloth diapering industry and made her some “cast covers!” From what I have been able to tell, the only things available are little sock footies (which do not insulate well from the cold) and some plastic bag looking things that can be submerged a few times before wearing out. (There was also one that looked kind of like rubber gloves, but it didn’t last very long either.) The ones I made are pink (She loves pink), washable, and adorable (in my opinion)!

First up we have the double lined fleece footies! As we know from cloth diapering, fleece is warm and repels moisture to an extent!! I made two of them so they don’t have to be washed every day! I just cut out four semi-circles, sewed them together, turned them inside out so the seam was on the inside with two piece on each side, and sewed a casing for the elastic. I knotted the elastic very loosely and left it hanging out so that it could be adjusted since I didn’t actually have her here to try them on!

Next up we have the waterproof cover. I had wanted to use PUL fabric like is used by many of the cloth diapering companies, but you have to mail order it. Instead, I bought cotton knit fabric, shrunk it in the wash and dryer, and had my husband spray it with Silicone Water-Guard. (The can didn’t say whether or not it was safe during pregnancy.) He did on application on each side, hung it up to dry outside for the afternoon, and it worked great!!!! I poured water on top of the fabric and watched it roll around on top of the fabric as my hand moved! The fabric did not even get damp and still felt like regular cotton knit fabric! I think the fabric can still be put in the washer and dryer, but I haven’t tested it.

I cut out a very loose “Christmas stocking” because I wanted to make sure it fit over the entire cast. I then “sewed” it together using Sewing In a Tube. It is basically fabric glue. It works really well, survives both washing and drying, and allowed me to avoid poking tiny needle holes in the fabric! After turning it right side out, I applied the soft side of velcro, again using Sewing In a Tube. There is a detachable piece of the rough side of velcro so the closure can be adjusted to as tight as necessary. This should keep water completely away from the cast no matter what the weather! However, as a back-up we have….

The wool stocking! As we know from the cloth diapering industry, wool is also good about repelling moisture and can be quite warm. This outer layer will serve to reinforce both of the previous two layers. For this layer, I took an old dance legging, cut off one end, and sewed it closed. It will also help to hold everything together in the event that the waterproof cover is a little loose.

Not only are the covers pink and adorable, but they are also machine washable, light weight, breathable, adjustable, and flexible (meaning you don’t have to wear all three layers at once)…..all things I have come to love about the cloth diapering industry! I just hope they work as well as the cloth diapers do!

I am not sure what this says about me, but I was totally excited to strip all of our cloth diapers and hang them on the line to dry outside!

I have done both line drying and dryer drying, and I have to say, line drying is definitely best for your diapers. However, I have heard an occasional tumble in the dryer can reset your waterproof layer from time to time as it breaks down!

We LOVE our bumgenius diapers! They really help with Jessica’s heat rash. Babysitters are willing to use them!!!! They save us tons of money, and they are just so darn cute!!!! What is cuter than a little baby tottering around with an enormous caboose??? (Most especially if the enormous caboose comes in all different sorts of colors!!!)

I was so excited this weekend to find a place online that sells used bumgenius diapers at half the price! Unfortunately, it looks like they do not have any available currently! However, all of the reviews stated that they were in very good condition and only some of them needed minor repair work done! Perhaps I will find a deal like that again soon from Cotton Babies!

Ok, so boys are allowed, they just might want to skip this post! This post is about feminine hygeine. Specifically reusable pads and tampons.

I wash cloth diapers all the time now that my daughter breaks out in a horrible rash in the summer if we use disposable diapers. So the other day I got to thinking, “Why in the world am I buying disposable pads if I am already washing cloth diapers?!?!” So today I took the leap! I took a couple extra cloth diapers I had laying around, cut them in half across the middle, serged the cut edges, and safety pinned them into my underwear using the outer sides as wings and a safety pin!

I also took a trashcan with a lid that I had around the house and filled it most of the way with water and set it by the toilet (with a Do Not Open sign on it for my husband!). This is where I am putting the used ones to soak. My plan is to rinse out the trashcan and toss the “pads” in with the washer with the bucket of dirty diapers for a rinse cycle or two before washing.

I have heard that you can make your own using flannel and such, but I just wanted something quick and easy to try. It seems to be working really well for me, but I also tend to have long, light cycle so this method might not work as well for the person with a heavy cycle. I have also heard that you can make a tampon using a baby sock rolled up. I must say I find the idea interesting but have not tried it yet. For anyone who is interested, there are websites Link out there that sell pre-made reusable pads that may work better for those with heavier cycles.

Ok, so maybe not on a dime, but how does $25 total investment sound? After my daughter, Jessica, was born I started noticing that she would develop a diaper rash particularly during the summer when it was so hot outside. Disposable diapers do NOT breathe! One option was to use diaper rash cream and powder. However, I have very sensitive skin, and I did not want to introduce anything unnecessary to her skin. (Turns out it didn’t work anyways!) This was when I first considered cloth diapering.

Previously we had also had problems with baby wipes breaking her out as well. Even the sensitive skin wipes seemed to cause her some trouble so at that point I started making our own baby wipes. My husband would take a roll of Bounty paper towels and cut them in half on his band saw. Then I would place one half in a plastic container, pour about 2 cups of water and a dropper of Tea Tree Oil down the cardboard center, put the lid on, and let the liquid completely soak into the paper towels. Then I would pull the cardboard center out of the paper towels, and I was ready to pull my own homemade baby wipes out of the center. It saved us approximately $4 a week on wipes. It was not free like using rags, but it had the advantage of being disposable.

After seeing how well the homemade baby wipes worked and how much money they saved us, I began to consider cloth diapering. However, a lot of the equipment they sell for cloth diapering is rather pricey. I found a pattern online for homemade cloth diapers, but I had problems with them leaking. I also discovered that prefolds leak really bad….unless you have a good cover! I ended up buying 2 packages of 12 prefold cloth diapers and a bag of microfiber rags at Wal-Mart of $25. Then I took some of our old t-shirts, sat down at my serger and made inserts for the prefolds. First I took the microfiber rags and folded them into thirds (like a prefold cloth diaper). Then I cut out two pieces that size from the t-shirt. Then I layed my insert: piece of t-shirt, folded microfiber rag, piece of t-shirt. Finally I serged around the edges. Now I had an absorbant cloth diaper insert! You could also use old towels instead of the microfiber rags and just cut them to fit in the center section of the prefold, but I have found that the microfiber is the most absorbant.

I also made covers using old t-shirts; however, I found that the ones I liked best were the ones I made out of ribbed tank tops. I cut out one piece that was as wide as the center section of the prefold and about a foot long. Then I cut out two long straps a couple inches wide. I serged all the cut edges (or you could use fray check) and then sewed the straps together. I then attached the center piece to the middle of the strap. It kind of looks like a “T.”

To diaper the baby, lay out your prefold with the insert centered on top. (When I am putting her to sleep I use two inserts.)

Then put the baby on her back on top of the insert. Then pull the front up to her belly button. Take the loose ends on each side and saftey pin them together tightly. They make cloth diaper pins, but I just use quilting pins. If the baby is very young you may have to fold the top or bottom of the prefold a little.

Then take the cover and lay it like a “T” over her diaper.

Now roll her over and pull the center piece up over the diaper in the back.

Now wrap the straps around her back and bring them to the front. Tie a knot with the straps.

Pull the center piece in the back tight (like you are giving her a wedgy).

Now you see how you can cloth diaper your baby for $25 total investment!

I don’t count washing the diapers into that cost because I don’t think it costs me anything extra. What I do is after shaking the poop into the toilet, I put the dirty diapers into a large pail in the laundry room full of water with a little borax. When I do the next load of laundry, I first dump the bucket (however many diapers are in there) in the washing machine and let it spin out. Then I add whatever clothes I am washing and some detergent. I have never had trouble getting them clean washing them in cold water with mild detergent. Then I line dry them outside.

We have not always been as consistent about using the cloth diapers, but with summer fast approaching, I am trying to use our cloth diapers more consistently and possibly start using rags instead of wipes. I just have to remember to put a Wal-Mart bag in the diaper bag for the dirty diapers or sew “dirty and clean bags” to keep in the diaper bag. I have also heard that cloth diapering helps with toilet training as a wet cloth diaper is more uncomfortable than a wet disposible diaper!