LINKS AND WASHING INFO

There are soooo many websites and kinds of diapers out there now, it can be really confusing!! When I had my first, we diapered her using Reg 4x8x4 prefolds, Rainbow contours and Nikky wool and cotton covers from Natural Baby Catalog. For our second we found Motherease one size fits all fitted dipes and Bumkins! Now with our third I've got the best dipes, my own! Sewing dipes is not just a hobby, it's a way of life! There is a lot of great info on born to love, But no good patterns unfortunately.

Basically there are 5 kinds of dipes,

1. Flat dipers: Usually made of birdseye or flannel, very soft but not absorbent enough. Plus you have to fold them a zillion times to fit them in the cover.
2. Prefolds: Usually made of twill which is sewn into a rectangle 4x8x4 , 4 layers on one side, 8 layers in the middle, and 4 layers on the other side. These can be made of flannel and terry cloth as well which makes them much more absorbent. Super easy to sew, takes 2 sec, super absorbent, easy to find material for these too.
3. Contoured dipes: Are shaped like an hourglass so they lay right into the diaper cover, so no folding at all, but you do have to tuck in all in around the sides back and front so they don't wick moisture to the outside, or they'll leak. Even one string hanging out will make them leak! Usually made with flannel and terry, pretty absorbent! Super easy to sew!
4. Fitted Dipes, have elastic sewn into the leg and back area and usually fasten on with snaps or velcro. They look sorta like disposable diapers, but you still need a waterproof cover on the outside. These hold in all the poopies better, so they don't leak onto your diaper covers! YEah!! You need less covers and you can buy the cheap plastic pant types, like Featherlites (my very favorite) These are very user friendly, you can find them in flannel, terry, sherpa(similar to terry), velour, Hemp (very absorbent), fleece (like sweatshirt fleece), jersey (like t-shirt material), or other cotton materials.
5. All-in-ones: These are the diaper and cover sewn together, all-in-one! This style is very simular to Pampers, or any other name brand out there, only these are better!! These dipes are Daddy's favorite, so easy to use and trim fitting. They have elastic in the legs and back, and close in front or sides with snaps or velcro. Side snapping dipes are preffered by some moms cuz they fit their baby better (supposedly). Front snapping are easy for others to figure out, not just mommy!! Velcro is preferred by Daddys and some moms too! Velcro is super easy to sew on and snaps are just plain hard to put on. For dipes to be very adjustable to babies every changing body, it's hard to get a good fit with snaps unless you put about 10 on each dipe, after making 12 dipes and putting snaps on it gets to be a little tedious, not to mention expensive. Easy solution, buy the super high quality Aplix, or baby soft loop that will not wear out like velcro from your fabric store after just a few washes!! This stuff lasts forever!

Covers come in soooo many shapes and sizes and material, here is just a small breakdown:

1. Pull ons. Super lightweight, so it won't make a huge diaper butt out of your kid! Cheap and if they get in the dryer it;s ok, they usually last a really long time and if they wear out, so what, they are cheap. They dry really quick so if you can only afford a few you can wash them out in your sink if they get soiled and they will dry in a few hours, hanging on a door knob or towel rack. By the way the best thing you can buy yourself if you don't have one is Drying rack! You will need it sometimes diapers don't get all the way dry and you have other laundry to do,so you can let them finish dying on the rack, or if you use covers you'll want to air dry them so you will get your money's worth.
2. Velcro covers: Usually velcro covers come in a waterproof polyester type material. These should be air dried and they usually run around $8 each or more, you will need about 5 sizes. If you get 4 in each size, (this is the minimum amount you will need) times $8 ea, for five sizes that is = $160 plus, if you want 6 or 8 covers in that size it's more! These get to be real expensive even if you only buy prefolds, you'll want the velcro covers because prefolds leak doodie onto your covers more often, if you look at the prices, you can afford to buy 3 dozen fitted , one size fits birth to potty training, dipes and 3 pull up featherlites in ea size for about $260! If you like the wool or cotton velcro covers (I do cuz they are nicer, softer, real breathable) they retail at about $15-19 ea. That adds up!
3. Wool pull-ons these are called Aristocrats, or New Zealand wool and they are fabulously soft, stretchy baby wool. Never itchy, feels like cotton, or fleece. I use one of these at night over my fitted dipe and never a leak. They breathe and keep baby feeling warm so if they pee they won't wake up to a cold wet feeling.
4. Pocket Dipes I don't know if these are considered a dipe or a cover! LOL !!! These have a waterproof outer (like a cover) and a microfleece inner, which when washed right, they keep baby feeling dry (good for night time, and car trips). They have a pocket in the back in which you stuff a prefold, small towel, or even an expensive microterry inners they make (you can buy these at Walmart in the automotive section for $5 for 5 of the micro terry towels, also grab an 18 pack or two of the washcloths packs for $4, use for wipes, and throw into the diaper pail and wash with your dipes!). These pocket dipes come in different sizes and you have to keep in mind that although they are expensive, you may only need 8 or so in each size, (you'll still need about 3 doz prefolds, or simular item to stuff in them) because you can use them again if they are just wet not soiled. You see the pee goes thru the micro fleece layer, gets sucked up by the prefold stuffed inside and the wetness does not come wick back up. Baby feels dry, you can pull the wet prefold out, and stuff a fresh one inside. Pretty cool, eh? You could stuff a bunch ahead of time for outings and such. Daddy & grandma have your prefolds for emergencies, with a few cheap covers.

   You might want a Snappie if you are doing prefolds, they hold the dipe together like pins do but no sharp parts!! No poking baby fears!!
   You will also want a waterproof bag to hold about 24 dipes till wash day, and a bunch of washcloths to use as wipes, easier than buying wipes from the store, and then seperating them from the dipes to throw away.

   You might want some disposable liners for outings,you can just throw the poopies away.

   And doublers for night time, these are just rectagles or hourglass shapes of about 3-8 layers of material (sometimes topped with microfleece for baby feeling dry)that adds additional absorbency with out the bulk of a whole diaper in there. ok i've gone thru it all.

   You can of course sew all of these things!!! there are great basic patterns, that you can alter somewhat, and you can even make covers from waterproof material, wool or fleece.

LINKS !!!!

Yahoo!

www.Borntolove.com Great Resource for dipe info

www.Diapersewing.com Awesome info for sewing your own dipes

Great info www.goodnessgracious.welcome.to

www.Wazoodle.com They have good prices for PUL at this site.

www.Diaperfabric.com - High quality materials will make your diaper become your new favorite! She has really good prices, and ships fast! Check out the touchtape, it's stronger and lasts longer, and softer than velcro from your local fabric store. Way worth the money!

Also check out Yahoo! for fabric co-ops. There are many diaper sewing co-ops that have almost wholsale prices on fabric! I subscribe to a couple of email groups on Yahoo.

The names of a couple of the fabric co-ops are : countrycuttinsco-op momufacturedDeals There are others on Yahoo as well. The idea of the co-op is one woman with a business license buys the fabric at wholesale, and then lets us bid on how many yards we want. Sometimes you pay a coop fee (very small amount for all the work these women do) that is added onto the fabric total. They usually let you pay by Paypal, which is super easy to use, go to www.paypal.com and register. Then go to yahoo and register with a name and password and join a couple groups, check out their files section or polls to see what they have going on now at the co-op and how much if any coop fees there are.

Please contact me with any questions regarding cloth diapering. This is an at home business, and you may hear one of my 3 lovely kids if you call, trying hard to help their mama. Thanks for your business, and questions or comments welcome. Enjoy parenting while it lasts.