Friday, April 24, 2009

A little late for an Earth Day post

...but this is my blog and I can do whatever i want. I have mentioned a few times that I will be cloth diapering this baby. Most people stare open mouthed in horror and I understand completely. But I have invested my money and now I HAVE to see this thing through. I have all types of diapers and it is turning into an addiction. Jeff keeps getting angry at me for spending so much, but I really have just done him a favor. Since I spent money on these without his blessing, he has ammo for every fight from now until the baby is about 1 years old. By then as long as I have successfully cd this new boy, I will have recouped my original investment. I have pockets, fitteds, and flats as well as todays topic...PREFOLDS!

These are unbleached indian prefolds. (UIPF). I bought them from www.cottonbabies.com. They are soft and quilty and apparently pretty absorbant. It is basically a huge piece of cloth that is folded so that the diaper is more absorbant in the middle than it is on the sides. This is a 4x8x4 and that is in reference to how many layers of cloth are in each of the 3 sections. I have a dozen:
Sine I don't have a baby to practice on, I am using my old doll. Yes this baby was mine as a child. His name is Matthew and, as you can plainly see, he is a boy. And uncut boy. To strap the diaper onto the baby, first you lay the baby on the diaper so that the rise is in the appropriate spot in the back:
Then you cinch the diaper together in the middle so that it will fit between the babies legs. If you feel so inclined, you could actually roll the sides in instead of folding them. Apparently rolling in the sides creates a better barrier to keep the mess in.
Pull the diaper up between the babys leg, pulling the material tightly:
Fold down the rise to the appropriate height. This flap folded down in the front is actually extra helpful for boys becasue they pee in the front.
Then wrap the wings around to the front of the diaper and snappi it on. The snappi would be the green thing in the diaper. It is a 3 legged replacement for diaper pins. There are clawed teeth on the underside of the snappi that work like an ace bandage clip. I did buy pins but they scare me.
Matthew is free to poop and pee as he pleases now. Not that he can do any such thing, becasue he is just a doll.
Prefold diapers need a cover to be waterproof. Without a cover, your lap and his crib will be flooded after he pees. This one is a Thirsties xs cover. It's made out of PUL which is poly-blah blah blah laminate. It's waterproof.
Strap it on just like a disposable diaper.
Voila! Now Matthew is ready for a nap. Nite nite!
...does is scare you that I play with dolls? Jeff thinks I'm nuts. Kimberly thinks I am lots of fun now.

12 comments:

~ Sara Ann said...

Jeff thinks I'm nuts. Kimberly thinks I am lots of fun now.

That made me LOL.

That diaper is damn near the size of poor Matthew!!! Goodness gracious!!!!

I'm glad you're having fun with it though, and you won't be rushed to potty train!!!

**Liz** said...

That thing is bulky!

Angela said...

After all these years I haven't been introduced to Matthew. I only remember Willie. What was with all these boy dolls you had? ;-)
Your funny.

~Penny~ said...

My jaw is dropped in horror but I am looking forward to baby pics in these things...

At least you can tell Jeff that not only are you saving the planet, you are helping the economy!

Anonymous said...

1. '...does is scare you that I play with dolls?'~a lil....but I have two girls that love their dolls, so I will be the same way in a year or so...maybe... ;)

2.'Jeff thinks I'm nuts. Kimberly thinks I am lots of fun now.
'~absolutely made me almost pee my pants....rofl!!! :D

Keikicakes said...

You are one crazy girl! But you made me laugh!!!!!

Thanks for the play by play pics....i was entertaining and educational.

KBear said...

I'm sorry, but I have to ask, cause well, I'm dumb, but why did you put Matthew on his tummy to nap? I thought you weren't supposed to put a baby on their tummies??

Just for my own curiousity, cause I have heard that you do, and I have heard that you dont..

I couldn't clean the cloth diapers.. Not with Adrien's poop..although, I guess it wouldn't be two bad, since he only does one or two big poops a day on formula..

Mrstx said...

Kbear! You are absolutely right! I thought about it after I posted the picture because a newborn is supposed to go "Back to Sleep". But I was too lazy to take new pics and upload them.

Putting a baby on their back has decreased the cases of SIDS in babies so it is really important. But I started putting Kennen on his tummy at around 6 weeks and he would sleep for longer stretches. He was just a very jumpy baby and he was soothed by his movement being constricted from sleeping on his tummy. He was a very strong baby with good neck control so I felt okay doing it. Just barely okay though but I was desperate for sleep. I can't really condone it, but yeah I did it.

boonedoggie said...

I'm equally as concerned about poor Matthew being put to bed on the tile floor! LOL

... you rock Stella. I'm very impressed about your determination to cloth diaper. Alas, my two are finally out of diapers (although I'm scrubbing poop out of Sofie's panties almost daily, but I digress...) at least someone is working to save the planet.

Oh hey, have you calculated how long it will take to re-coupe your CD investment by not having to buy disposables?
~Tara

Mrstx said...

Tara-well...I think I will break even in 2 years. I don't remember how much disposables cost but I am thinking I would spend about $70/month. Does that sound right? I have spent a lot...it's a sore subject with a certain breadwinner that I live with, hee hee.

But the good news is that cloth diapers retain about 75% of their value so I can sell them when I'm done. Or I can sell them as the baby grows to gather some cash for larger sizes.

AZ Larsens said...

I put my babies on their tummies to sleep too, after awhile. First I swaddled them and laid them on their backs, then when I felt a little safer about it, I'd sometimes put them down to nap on their tummies. They just sleep WAY better that way. But I still had to be crazy obsessive mommy and sneak in there to check if they were breathing...

KBear said...

i did some research:)

apparently, you can put them on their tummies, but usually when they are older and can turn their heads, cause the fear is that they will smother themselves facedown cause they can't move their heads to breathe..but i really think it also depends on the baby, because I was a tummy sleeper as an infant, and Adrien cant STAND to be put on his tummy.. he hates it.. he much prefers his side at the moment due to a slight case of colic...

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