Simple Cloth Diapering Set-up

The Set Up:

I found this to be the easiest set up for us. The bar below the diaper stacker (made by my rad mom) has hooks to hang damp, but still usable covers. It also has a bin from IKEA that holds dirty cloth wipes, dirty covers, dirty soakers (stink tip: give your over-night soaker a quick rinse in the sink before tossing in here- no one wants their room to smell like a bus stop.) Our clean covers all go in the top drawer of the dresser. I use IKEA modular drawer organizers for the covers and all the baby clothes. 

Inside the diaper pail I used Velcro tape to stick an Arm & Hammer deodorizing disk. I change this as needed.

We also have a wipe warmer (not pictured) that I put the cloth wipes in along with this solution:

1tbsp baby oil

1tbsp castill soap

1-2 drops tea tree oil

1 cup water

Lately, I've been tripling this solution and keeping the extra in a reusable water bottle. It makes refilling the wipes quick and easy.

If you come across this in the midst of a search for cloth diapering ideas I hope this helped. I like to keep this super simple and for us this set up works perfectly!

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Feeling Sew Crafty!

One of the nice things about summer is that I have time to catch-up on projects I've been putting on the back burner during the school year. Today, I checked one such project off my list that has been there since Fall!
I've really been unhappy with changing pads since my daughter has out-grown the one that came with one of our diaper bags (I think that one was maybe 20" long by 12" across.) I know this seems kind of trivial, but those public changing tables gross me out so much. I just want to sterilize the whole thing! I know there are disposable changing table covers, but since we are trying to be a waste & money conscious family I don't think those are up our alley. I shopped around a lot and the ones I liked all came with "changing kits" to hold wipes and diapers. If we were using disposable diapers or maybe even different cloth diapers these would work. However, with what we have they didn't fit well. Soooooo I made my own! I have to say I love how it turned out! It was SUPER easy. Check it out!

Making a changing pad:
Decide what size changing pad you want to end up with then add 1-inch to allow for a 1/2" seam then buy a little more than that so you can make sure you can trim it so all sides are straight.

Materials:
-PUL fabric (I used Babyville PUL fabric available from JoAnn for about 12.99-$14.99 per yard, but use a coupon for goodness sake! Note: They sell 3 packs of this fabric, but it is only 21" x 24" I wanted my changing pad to be longer so I bought the fabric off the bolt instead. If you're ok with a shorter pad then the 3-pack is a good option.
-Fleece or terrycloth to add absorbency and a little cushion (I used fleece for this one.)
-Cotton or flannel print fabric

Step 1: Cut the fabric to desired size including 1/2" seam allowance. 

I cut mine to 19" x 31"

Step 2: Pin the fleece to the back of the print.

Step 3: Stitch around several of the owls to tack down the print to the fleece. (This could be optional, but I think it looks nice and keeps these two fabrics snug together.)

This is how it looked from the back of the fleece.

Step 4: Lay the PUL fabric and print fabric face-to-face.

Step 5: Pin around the perimeter and several in the center to hold all three fabrics in place. Then stitch around the perimeter with 1/2" seam, leaving about 6" in the middle of the bottom open.

Step 6: Turn it right-side out.

Step 7:  Push out the corners & seams nice and tight. It's really important to then iron the seams flat. *This is before I ironed.

This is after.

Step 8: Finish the seams. I used a zig-zag stitch to finish the seam. I also ran 2 straight stitches down the length of it at 6" & 12" to hold it all together in the middle for washing and to make folding easier. I threw it in the dryer of 20 minutes to "seal" up the holes in the PUL fabric around the stitches per the manufactures recommendation.

Step 9: Come up with a closure. I sewed one end of a ribbon to the changing pad and attached a large button to it. I then sewed it into a loop at the other end of the ribbon, folded the changing pad into thirds and secured it shut with the ribbon. I'm sure snaps or Velcro could do a good job of closing it up too.

Folded up, not smashed down at all, it is about as tall as a spool of thread. It is able to be compressed much more though. if it was folded differently it could be thinner, but it would have a larger folded perimeter.

Folded up it is only  7" x 9" approximately! Nice and compact.

Unfolded it is 18" x 30"!!!!!

Ta-Da! It fits perfectly into my diaper bag!

I think it came out pretty well for my first attempt and I think it could easily be used for more than a changing pad. I like that it is waterproof so if she goes to the bathroom mid-diaper change it won't soak through. It could also be used a great outside tummy time blanket/picnic blanket if the grass is a damp. I obviously haven't washed it a bunch yet, but I imagine it will hold up well. I plan on line drying it with our CD covers since this is supposed to prolong the PUL's life.

I hope this has inspired you! If you like it & need more details please feel free to ask.


UPDATE:
I've now been using this changing pad for a year and it has been washed multiple times. It has held up beautifully! I always line dry it, though.  Pin It Now!

Getting Going with Cloth Diapers

So... long before we even entertained the idea of having kids, I got it into my mind that I wanted to use cloth diapers. My mom had used them for my brother and me, but other than that I knew no one who was presently using them. I figured that I would just make it work when the time arrived. Well as soon as I found out I was pregnant, before we'd shared our good news, even before I'd even tiptoed into the huge world of baby stuff, I announced/asked to my husband "We're going to use cloth diapers, ok?" This question honestly wasn't really a question, but I put it that way to test the waters. To my surprise, Colin was pretty much on board. He had a lot more questions than I had even begun to think about, but we decided to make it work.

I did tons of research and I now know more about cloth diapers then I'd even imagined I would and there are still a few things I don't quite get, like wool covers for example. (More on this later.)

Anyways, I decided that an easy way for us to ensure that we would be able to continue cloth diapering through all stages of a pre-toilet trained toddler was to get diaper service. We are very fortunate to live a city that has diaper service available- Earthy Baby Diaper Service (update: Earthy Baby was bought by Pannalino Diaper Service- I've been super pleased with them!) is fabulous! (If we didn't I would be washing them myself though.) I'm the kind of wife that is great at somethings, but laundry is one of my LAST priorities. Luckily, Colin seems to be ok with this. We tend to put off laundry as long as we can and then once its clean I'm notorious for having 2 baskets of clean laundry sitting about for days. I know, I know it's a bad habit. I'm working on it.  I also was realistic with myself that washing diapers probably would be a higher priority, but not a task I was willing to take on with everything else especially once I went back to work. So our wonderful relationship with our diaper service began! There a bunches of sites out there that can walk you through starting up with cloth diapers (either with a service or self-washing them). After a year of using 99.9% cloth this is what we've found works the best for us.

Here is what our stash includes:

-Diaper Covers: Bummis & Thirsties have been our fav. I'd like to try making them, but haven't found the time to get sewing. Both brands' sizes run different so we used them at different weight stages. The Bummis x-small was perfect for my little 6lb 14oz 21 inch long!!! newborn. Talk about a string bean!

-Fleece liners: Helps to wick away moisture on long car rides and over night.

-Bio-degradable liners: Start using this when you start your babe on solid foods. Up until then all the poops wash right out and you don't have to remove it before washing. I've tried a couple brands- they both worked fine. I think I'll keep buying which ever is cheaper at the time. These you just lift out and plop into the toilet and flush away most of the mess. (Yes, sometimes you still have to rinse off poo that missed the liner, but really it's no worse than wiping up that cute patootie on your baby.)

-Diaper Pail, aka Trash Can with a good lid: Honestly the Simple Human rubbish cans are really nice, but so pricey that I couldn't bring myself to buy one. We use a Safety First diaper pail at my MILs house (she cares for our daughter during the week), but this pail is not big enough to hold a weeks worth of the larger diapers (I think it's only 10gal.). So this is a good purchase (cheap) if you'll be having someone else care for your baby during the day or if you're going to wash your own more than once per week. At our house we picked up a 13 gal. bin at Bed, Bath & Beyond, which is the perfect size for the large wet bag our diapers get delivered in. We also have mini trash can for wipes. (We use disposable wipes. I think this summer we'll switch to cloth, but for now this is what we use.)

-Extra wet bag for the diaper pail at our MILs house makes bringing them home e-a-s-y.

-Wet Bags for your diaper bag 2-3 to rotate. I've been though several kinds and my favorite is the Bummis small wet bag for day trips and the medium one for over night trips. Update: I found some time and made a bunch of wet bags in various sizes from PUL fabric I picked up at JoAnns.

I get most of our Fluff on amazon. The only down side is you can't touch it first, but once you find what you like its easy. Returning stuff to them isn't too tough either. There are several good baby stores in San Diego that carrier CDing supplies, but amazon has just been easier to buy from.

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