Fitted cloth nappies
When pregnant with my first child, we decided that we would mostly use cloth nappies (diapers, for any Americans reading this). We decided this for a number of reasons – cost, environmental factors, and because I’d rather poo go down the toilet than be put into a rubbish bin wrapped up in plastic then go to landfill. Okay, enough of the soapbox there. Fitted cloth nappies were just starting to become readily available in Australia at that time, so I made a few (a lot) myself.
There are plenty of patterns available to make fitted nappies and covers if you are interested. I used the Mama Bird fitted diaper and Ottobre cloth diaper patterns (and did a fusion of the two as well). These have an outer body of printed flannelette and inner soakers made from old towelling nappies. They do need a cover – I prefer PUL (polyurethane laminate) covers such as those by Bummis or Baby BeeHinds.
In the four and a half years between having each of my daughters, there is a huge range of cloth nappies now available, both online in Australia and in retail (our local bulk disposable nappy retailer also stocks lots of cloth nappies and covers). In my opinion, the secret is in the covers – you need good covers, then there are less leaks than with disposables. We do use disposable nappies when it suits us, such as overnight and when away for a whole weekend (we’re not completely purist) but the majority of the time our baby is in cloth.
The fitted nappies make it easy – just wrap around and do up, like a disposable, then the same thing with the thin cover. No pins etc. I wash every second day, line dry, don’t soak (storing the nappies in an empty bucket works fine, and there aren’t any stains), and use flushable liners inside each nappy to make poo disposal easy. The fitted nappies I made were used by my first daughter, then a friend’s child, and now by my second daughter. It makes them very economical! If you want to make your own, you can use whatever materials you have on hand, such as old flat cloth nappies, towels, flanelette etc or buy specialised materials retail or from stores such as Bubba Earth.
I love my cloth too 🙂
I terry squared my first 3 babies, then went to the dreaded disposables and now we are back into cloth with babies 5 and 6. I’m using Modern Cloth this time and loving it. So much easier than terry squares.
Cloth is ace! I’m a bad crafter – we bought most of the ‘stash’ for our babies, though I did make hemp prefolds for #2 child, which still do really well as stuffers in pocket nappies, or just laid inside a Bummis cover. Perhaps when (if?) #3 makes an appearance, I might sew up some more cute pocket nappies.
Sorry – I’m stalking you today!
I’m so glad you posted this. I’ve seen some fitted cloth nappies online and they are so expensive! I’ve been meaning to do a search to find out how to make them and now here’s all the links. Thanks! (Oh, and I am getting a bit ahead of myself, no bubs yet, no pregnancy, just being very eager…)
I’m glad you posted this too, I did cloth with Ryder (with the help of a nappy service) but gave up when he went onto solid food… Willow is in disposable now & I want to make the switch to cloth (at least for daytime) I am so over having a rubbish bin FULL of nappies!!
Thanks so much for this helpful info. I’m going to make this my first project with the new serger!
I wish I’d read this post 16 months ago!
I love my cloth nappies. (I’ve used Greenkids and Baby Beehinds) but find Green Kids to be far better. It was just an expensive exercise.
Anyway, if I ever have another one (big if!!) maybe I’ll have to make some of my own.
Oh, and I’m really enjoying your blog!