All I want for Chrsitmas

Tuli has been out growing the last batch of fitted diapers I made her so I just finished 8 larger ones. Brian told me that my fitteds are his favorites... Thanks!

My design was the same this time except I used a organic bamboo/cotton fabric for the inside and the soaker material. Bamboo is supposed to be more absorbent than cotton and has anti-fungal properties. I have used it as a soaker in a few of my earlier diapers. I still don't think it is as absorbent as my bath mat soakers (they were almost night worthy) but they are way trimmer and dry much much faster. The trade off I think is worth it. I did put a layer of fleece on top of the soaker inside the diaper to help with pulling moisture away from the skin since I did not use fleece right against the skin. We will see how that turns out. These are my leaving the house diapers. I know I usually can get at least 2 hours out of them unless she poops.

One Size Pockets & Prefolds For Sale

8 EUC one size pockets. Brand is Cloth Diapers Wholesale. http://www.clothdiaperwholesale.com/page/page/6292069.htm There is a small amount of staining for Butt Paste Diaper creame (now I know not to use it.) One has a little EBF staining. Probably will come off with some scrubbing. Doesn't effect usage. $8.00/ diaper. All of them for $60.00. Includes Shipping. No Inserts.

Dozen New – never been washed Premium prefolds. I bought the wrong size. They are off-white (which means they were processed once with Hydrogen Peroxide (not bleach) instead of twice (which would give you white), resulting in a creamy ivory color. 14.5"x21" Fits 15-30 pounds. $35.00 for all.

My Favorite Diaper

We have been cd-ing for 3 and 1/2 months now and by far my most favorite diaper is BumGenius One Size 3.0 http://www.bumgenius.com/. We only have 3 and use them as night time diapers. I had bought some other One Size Pockets for a good deal but they do not compare. The design is so similar I can't possibly tell you what is different about it but they leak and the BumGenius do not. I wish I could have wrapped my brain around spending $18.00 for a diaper but it for sure would have been the way to go. Brian says he likes them because they are so easy to use. I like them because they never leak. Tuli has been one for 12 hours and still no leaking.

Secondly I love my homemade fitted diapers. They fit Tuli very well and are very absorbent. I love fitted diapers because they catch the poop before it gets on the diaper cover. I always reach for my homemade fitted diapers when we go out because I know the fleece wicks the moister away and they are really absorbent so if we have lots of errands to run I am not changing diapers every few stops. I have also found that Tuli has pretty sensitive skin so if I do use a prefold I have to put a piece of fleece in the diaper to help wick away the wetness. I really need to make more but I am afraid that may not happen till after Xmas.... sigh! I have used organic bamboo batting bought at Joann Fabrics as soakers and as diapers and really like it. It is not quite as absorbent as 3 layers of bath mat terry cloth but still can soak up a lot of pee. They make the diapers much less bulky too. I think I will just stick to using the bamboo as a soaker because the fleece inside and flannel outside work great and it is much for economical, which is frankly one of the main reasons I started cd-ing

My favorite diaper cover is Thristies. They fit Tuli good and hardly ever leak (and when they do it is my fault for not getting to them sooner). I feel like them are the less bulky of the diaper covers I have tried. I have bought several used through the bargain basement at http://www.babycottonbottoms.com/ and have been so happy with them.

Freecycle Sharing

I was emailing with a fellow Freecyler freecycle.org about diaper sewing. Here is some of the email I shared with her on my sewing and other diaper thoughts.

I decided to cd first to save money and second for the environment. I really thought I would try to use G-Diapers as much as I could with this baby ( her name is Tuli). They are expense though. I do have 2 kits that don't fit her yet but I think I can just put inserts in them. My mother in law told me she was very surprised I haven't decided to cd but when I was pregnant and changing poopy diapers on my then 2.5 year old (Danika)... the thought cloth made me want to puke... literally! Once I had Tuli and went through 2 packages of diapers in 2 weeks and I was reminded what newborn poop is like, I thought I would investigate them. So here we are about 8 weeks into it. I have to admit I am slightly addicted.

I have a few one size diapers (BumGenius, Happy Heiny and Cloth Diapers Wholesale). I love my BG & HH and still a little on the fence on the Cloth Diapers Wholesale http://www.clothdiaperwholesale.com/page/page/6292069.htm. I actually bought mine off ebay and they were about $7.50/diaper. I have a little trouble making sure none of the inside material is sticking out so that they don't leak. I use all of them as my night time diapers on both girls.

When it come to sewing my fitteds I have to admit it was a challenge but a good one. But it was a challenge because of my serious lack of sewing knowledge and experience. Before sewing diapers the only thing I did with my sewing machine was curtains and hem pants. I combine several different patterns till I got one that worked for us. I started with Mama Bird http://www.geocities.com/rew4birth/index.html altered the diapers to work for Tuli. Then someone gave me a few 12 year old Indisposable Fitteds http://www.mylilmiracle.com/Department.aspx?DeptID=4&& and I really like how they fit. The other 2 websites that were helpful with my inexperience were

http://webpages.charter.net/rhamley/diapers/diapertext1.htm and http://mayna.livejournal.com/198548.html

My fitted are anti-pill fleece inside (next to baby's skin) and flannel outside ( just used old flannel sheets). My soakers were an old terry bath mat ( the kind that are thinker than regular towels). They are amazingly absorbent, but are think and take a long time to dry. I am cutting apart the smaller fitteds to put some in the new ones I am sewing. I am experimenting this time around with bamboo/cotton and micro-fiber soakers so they are a little more trim. I sewed mine so that I just zig-zag around the entire edge instead of sewing them inside out and then turning them. I felt like there was less thickness between Tuli's legs. But putting the elastic in has been tricky... again first time I have ever put elastic into anything! This time around I change my closure to be more like the Happy Heiny's. The closure and rise is what Tuli out grew so quickly on the other ones I made. I used 2 inch aplix this time time instead of 1.25" too. I feel a little more experienced in making them and hopefully she can wear them for longer than a month. I also bought some PUL and would like to try to make some pockets and covers but the fitteds are priority right now. I have made soakers and wipes too. I have been using micro-fiber and terry for the soakers and I use flannel for the wipes. My daughter was super sensitive to all the disposable wipes so I would have ended up making my own anyways, whether I was cding or not.

Version 2

This is the next set of fitted diapers I made. I made the wings longer and the rise longer. Though I have now realized I have to remember to think about what the soaker will be because that takes up room and can effect the rise. So far I am very happy with the design and will make the next ones the same way. I used cotton/bamboo batting as a soaker on some of them and really like the thin absorbency of them.

The First Round

Here are pictures of the first fitted diapers I made. Tuli quickly out grew these in the rise and the wings but the soaker material was awesome.

Halloween Diaper