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Wednesday, January 4, 2012

Cloth Diapering From Day 1: Flats

When we got our last shipment in of Imagine Prefold and Flat Diapers and I helped count dozens upon dozens of them, I had a lot of time to think :) Think about how I had tried just about every cloth diaper type out there and why I liked each one for different reasons. As I stacked up the pile of Imagine Flats, I realized that was one type of diaper I had never tried. Flats certainly aren't a "modern" cloth diaper, but we still sell quite a lot of them at Nicki's Diapers and I like to be able to share my experiences with diapers when customers ask! So that solved it, I was bringing home a dozen Imagine Organic Flats that night!

You should have seen the look on my husband's face. "These are... diapers?", he asked. I showed him several ways to put them on our 2 year old, and he still didn't understand what makes these better than prefolds (by the way, he is a prefold guru). Here are some of the reasons that I gave him for why people might chose flats:
  • They are one-size. Meaning, we could use those same flats that we were trying on my 2 year old with the baby I was pregnant with at the time. Extremely economical, especially when paired with a one-size diaper cover!
  • They are very easy to clean. When flats are completely open, they are just a single layer of birdseye. When washing this allows lots of water and detergent to get the diapers VERY clean!
  • They are versatile. There are a variety of folds you can do to suit you and your baby's needs. They can also be used as doublers and to stuff pocket diapers.
  • They are useful after cloth diapering! After your little ones are out of diapers, use your flats to wash your car, as a dusting cloth or general cleaning rag, or to get your mirrors and glass surfaces clean without lint!
Now that our little guy has arrived, I've tried flats on him multiple times. They are so much easier than I had anticipated! Can you imagine how much money you'd save (especially over the course of multiple children) if you used flats and covers exclusively?!

There are quite a few ways to fold flats, probably even more than prefolds. I've found 2 folds that I prefer on my 6 week old. The first is called a pad fold. Basically you just fold it several times till I lays nicely in your cover. Below is a picture of a pad fold in a Thirsties Duo Wrap size 1. The pad fold is nice because it's quick and puts lots of absorbency where you need it.


The other fold that I found to work great on Emmett is the Origami Fold. I would love to provide you with detailed pictures on this fold, but I find it more helpful to look at a video. If you search Origami Flat Folds on Youtube, you'll get lots of great results :) Since Emmett is a heavy wetter, I trifold an XS Imagine Smart Fit Prefold and lay it in the wetzone. I also fold in the wings since he's still pretty tiny around the waist.


In the picture below, I held the flat on with a Snappi before putting the Thirsties Duo Wrap Size 1 over it, but I've also found it nice to just wrap the wings around him and put the cover over the top. I like the Origami fold because it's a little bit more trim between the legs, and it also prevents the newborn poop from getting on the inside of the cover.


Are you wondering just how economical using flats and one-size covers exclusively could be?
That's just over $100! Can you IMAGINE saving that much money?! And you can use those diapers for future children, too!

And just because my little guy's bottom half has been getting so much publicity... here's his sweet face. Can you believe how much he's chunked up?! WUB!

4 comments:

Christy said...

Love it! Thank you so much for this post! I think I have a stack of flats from my husband's cousin (weird that I have to say "I think"...I don't really even know what they are, but my best guess after reading this is that they are flats...shows how much I know!), and I will have to do some research on folding methods and try them out! I have been using primarily prefolds and covers along with a stack of pocket diapers and AIOs for quick changes or babysitters to use, but I do need to branch out and try something new!

Curvy Petite said...

You have no idea how excited I am to hear about these. My son is one month and I think that this is within our budget!! Already, we have spent around 100 on his diapers! I can't imagine spending a ton on diapers, especially disposables. Thanks and congrats on your boy! He and my sn aren't too far apart!!

Jenn B said...

Flats were my go-to diaper when my newborn had a bad rash (the drive from Madison to New Glarus seemed so long with a crabby baby who got hungry all the time!) because I was confident I could get them really clean. They were a blessing, too, when he was between the newborn and infant size prefolds that I'd bought before he was born.

Bumama said...

Thank you for this article. I've been struggling with diapering twins. And I'm on a strict budget. Prefolds are too spendy. Flats are where it's at. Thank you!!!!

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