How to Fold a Prefold or Flat Diaper

I use a wide range of diapers, but when I am home prefer to use prefolds or flats for several rooms.

1. They are cheap, meaning I have a lot of them. 
2. They wash and dry super quick, even on a line.
3. Young infants need frequent changes so there's no need to bother with snaps and such when you'll be changing dipes frequently.
4. I like to save my more absorbent dipes for outings.

Let me tell you a little about each dipe.

Unbleached IPF that I've had forever. The more you wash them, the softer and more wrinkly they get. 

Prefolds: These diapers re called prefolds because they have center portion that is thicker for more absorbent. They get more soft and wrinkly with each use.  I prefer unbleached Indian prefolds (IPF), which made of Indian (the one in Asia) cotton, over Chinese prefolds because I think IPFs are way softer. Gerber prefolds are bleached and you can get a dozen for about $15 at Walmart, Target, or other baby retailers. Unbleached IPF aren't as easy to find locally, though. Indian prefolds are less than $2.00 each and available at online retailers such as Carolina Cloth ($24-35/dozen or $2-3 each) and are available bleached or unbleached.  

P in a snappi'd bamboo flat

Flats:  Flats are like prefolds, with out the fold.  They are the original cloth diaper but are hard to find these days.  I use Orange Diaper Company bamboo terry squares ($45.60-79.80/6, or $7.60-13.30 each) on Popcorn. These were more of a splurge since I didn't have to buy her a full stash of dipes.  I bought them mainly because they are tiny enough for a newborn and because bamboo is extremely absorbent, ridiculously soft, and has microbial qualities. Flats also come in hemp/cotton blends ($7.50 each) and cotton ($18/dozen, or $1.50 each) through Carolina Cloth.

Neither flats nor prefolds are water proof so you would need to put a cover on them for that. I use Thirsties, Kushies or Bummis Super Whisper Wraps.

Prefold and Thirsties cover 

How to fold them:
I never bothered to learn how to fold a diaper. I am too busy for all that. Diapering a baby shouldn't be complicated. It's just a diaper!  That being said, I don't have fancy names for my diaper folding. I just do it. I usually use a snappi to fasten them, but you can use pins if you are so inclined.  I'm going to use a bamboo flat to show you. I use prefolds more often because I have more on them (6 BTSs vs about 2 dozen IPFs).      

Since Popcorn is asleep, Jasmine (Princess's bunny) will be assisting me.

"I'm ready for my close up!"

 Jasmine is very fond of dramatic lighting and the schoolgirl look.
                                          .
#1 The "I've got time to fold it"F old
This is the fanciest fold I do. It looks good and it's very trim.

Fold down a little at the top. This is the waistband. It also gives you more fabric to snappi without worrying about scratching the baby or to pin more securely.

Fold up one side. Doesn't matter which.

Fold up the other. The opposite one.

Put baby on it and pull the middle up first.

Fold sides over and snappi/pin/boingo.

#2 The "Get a diaper on this kid, quick!" Fold
This is the fold I do most commonly.  It's more functional than pretty and I rarely put a cover on when I use this fold. It's good for if your kiddo pees a little heavier.

Fold up one side like so.

Now the other side...

Now fold the middle one more time. This adds extra layers of absorbency.  

Baby in, and fold it up.

Sides over and snappi/pin/boingo.

#3 The "Where's my snappi (pin or boingo)?!" Fold
This is the most simple way to fold a diaper, but it only works with a cover. You fold the diaper into thirds and put it in the cover, and put the cover on the baby.

Fold in about a third on one side.

Fold in about a third on the other.

If your diaper is kinda long, fold it up a bit. This adds more layers, too.

Lay it in a cover.

Cover on, baby diapered!

I do this when I can't find a snappi or pin because I don't like using covers at home except at night.  Or my snappi broke.  Snappis break after some time.

That's it-easy peasy, lemon squeezey! 

Have you tried prefolds or flats? 

Why Carolina Cloth and Orange Diaper Company?
No, I don't get any money or free stuff from them (though I'd welcome it gladly!) but I really love supporting local businesses, small businesses, and WAHMs.  I'd rather pay a couple of dollars extra to them than to give my money to some big box that doesn't care about the people it employs. Carolina Cloth is local and ODC is where I got my custom fitteds and my bamboo squares. They are just my faves so I like to give them credit.


But that's another post for another day.

Yummy Yogurt Party! (and my 1st GIVEAWAY!!!)

As a mombassador for Moms Meet, I have the opportunity to sample products from time to time. I was recently selected to try Stonyfield Organic yogurts.  We're big yogurt eaters so I was super psyched!  Stonyfield sent met coupons for YoBaby, YoToddler, YoKids, Stonyfield Organic, and Stonyfield Organic Greek yogurt.  They also included $4.00 in coupons for me to share and a cute green apple shaped reusable container.

It literally looks like half and an apple

I went to my local Publix to get the yogurt and it was hard to choose because there were so many options. I settled on:

• Stonyfield Organic YoBaby, blueberry
• Stonyfield Organic YoKids Squeezers yogurt, cherry and berry
• Stonyfield Organic Oikos Greek yogurt, blueberry

Since my Squirrel is allergic to dairy, I also bought Stoneyfield Organic O'Soy yogurt, peach & strawberry

I also brought animal crackers and juice to round out the snack.

There's a local park with a really cool splash pad near my house so I invited a few of my close friends so I'd have a wide range of kids to try everything out.  I split everyone into tasting groups.


The YoToddlers:

• Side Salad, 4 years old
• Little A, 4 years old

The YoKids

• Astronaut, 11 years old*
• Princess, 9 years old*
• Squirrel, 6 years old
• Little K, 7 years old

"Another pic? Okay, Mom!"

The YoMamas!

• Meimei (my mother), 54 years old
• Me, 30 years old
• A, 28 years old, Little A's mom
• K, 24 years old, Little K's mom

A and Popcorn, aka YoBaby

YoBaby and her Meimei

*These two didn't attend the play date because they had a prior engagement (really, their social calendar is more packed than mine!) but tried the yogurt this evening.

The Verdict?

YoToddlers: Side Salad had the cherry and berry YoKids. He liked them both but preferred the cherry. He sucked them down super quick.   Little A had cherry and loved it, too.  

Side Salad enjoying his second Squeezer

Little A loved the cherry!

YoKids: Squirrel loved the soy yogurt so it will definitely be a permanent snack item in our house. The strawberry was her favorite.  Little K tried the YoKids in berry and loved it. She said it was yummy. I tasted a bit of the berry but I thought it was super sweet. I personally don't eat kids yogurt for this reason.  The kids loved it, though, and that's really the point.  Princess said the berry Squeezer was really good and tasted just like cherries. She said it wasn't "too milky;" I guess that means that the fruit was incorporated very well, so she was very pleased.  All of my kids have been asking for more yogurts since we got home.

Squirrel eating the peach O'Soy

Little K having a post yogurt juice!

YoMamas: I tried the blueberry Greek yogurt. There was a lot of blueberry stuff in there. It wasn't as thick as most Greek yogurt I've had and was quite a bit sweeter, with 15 g of sugar. It was like halfway between regular yogurt and Greek yogurt, my opinion.  My mother said that it had a delicious creamy texture, the flavor was delicious, and it was just great yogurt.  A thought that it was good, though quite tangy. She'd never had Greek yogurt.  K actually tried the YoBaby blueberry. She'd given it to Little K as a little so she was familiar with it.

My mama's first taste of Greek yogurt

wanna try it?

I have some fantastic coupons left over!  One lucky reader will get 3 sets of coupons for $4.00 off.  Enter through the

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bonus! here's a recipe from the good people at 

Stonyfield

Strawberry Muffin Recipe

For extra sweetness, dust with cinnamon sugar while still hot. Yields 12 muffins

INGREDIENTS

1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
2 eggs
1 cup Stonyfield lowfat plain yogurt
1/4 cup butter, room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup chopped strawberries
Directions

Preheat oven to 375°F. Grease a 12 muffin tin or line it with paper baking cups. In a large bowl, sift together flour, sugar and baking soda. In another bowl, stir together eggs, yogurt, melted butter and vanilla until blended. Toss the strawberries with the flour mixture. Pour the egg mixture into the flour mixture and stir until the flour is just moistened. The batter will be lumpy. Spoon the batter into the muffin cups. Bake for 20 — 25 minutes, or until the tops are golden brown. Yields 12 muffins.

Day 52: Fabulous Fitteds

When I found out I was pregnant with Popcorn, I was psyched about one thing and one thing only-cloth diapering!  I mean, I was excited about a new baby and all but the dipes are what really got me grinning.  You see, we got rid of all of our baby stuff. ALL of it. We were done, after all. So everything had to go, with the exception of my play yard and my cloth dipes. I did give a few away to a friend who was considering cloth.

{Side Salad was our cloth baby. We started cloth diapering him at about 5 months old to save money. I would estimate we spent about $300-$400 on cloth diapers for him. That is nothing compared to what most parents spent in a year on disposables.  We started with about a dozen prefolds, 2 covers (Bummis) and a couple of bumGenius 3.0s.  And my stash just grew from there. I need to take a stash pic, but I'm waiting on some new dipes.}

In the meantime, I'll tell you about one of my favorite fitteds.  They were made by a talented mama named Jen R. at Orange Diaper Company (formerly known as Scuttlebutts). ODC sells both ready-to-ship and custom dipes through their online store.

Cost: They are pricey, ($20-22 for newborn, $30-32 for one size) though not has horrendously priced as goodmamas.  And yes, I have one of those, too.  Back then, they were probably around $20 or $25 each for sized dipes. I honestly can't remember as it's been nearly four years since I bought them.
Quality:  These are some seriously well made diapers.  Jen uses organic fabrics so that they are safe for litttle ones.The are also wonderfully soft and squishy.  You feel good about putting them on your baby. On my first order, I opted for turned and topstiched dipes. I think most patterns look good turned and topstiched.    Here's a pic from when they were brand spankin' new.

I still love looking at them.

These were my absolute favorite dipes, my go-to diapers. Even Lettuce liked them.

And her are some pics of Popcorn in the elephant one tonight.

Here's a close up of the pirate one.  It is in pristine condition after 2 1/2 years of use. 

No stains whatsoever

Front of the dipe

                                                      

Back of the dipe

Close up of the cute heart on the soaker

The diaper looks like it has never been used. In fact, it went through 2 1/2 years of hard use. I shan't lie; I don't baby my dipes. No matter how much I love them, they are still ultimately poop catchers. Back to the dipes: I wish I could afford a full stash of them.  Though they've gone up in price over the past four years, they are well worth it.  I have diapers that cost less that have frayed leg holes, blown elastic.  When it comes to dipes, you generally get what you pay for.  The only issue I experienced with these dipes was with the ones with brown interiors (the lizard/frog and the elephant).  Side Salad's urine "bleached" the interior.  This did not happen with the other two so it was clearly an issue with that fabric.  

Overall Verdict: Great diaper, if you can afford it. This dipe is definitely worth putting a little money to the side for. If I were inclined to sell this dipe, I'm sure I could get a reasonable price for it, given its condition.  I am very happy with it and it is some seriously cute fluff.

When you start building your stash, you are looking for anything and everything but price is definitely a factor. However, once you really get to know your dipes, you find that the cheaper stuff isn't worth it.

Orange Diaper Company is 100% worth the money.

I love buying from WAHMs and local mams.  

Day 49: Happy Seven Weeks!

 Popcorn is 7 weeks old!
My little snuggle bug has been here nearly two months!  She is quite the little roller now and has to be watched carefully.  It gives the big kids something to do.  She is really a joy!  I don't want to wax on poetically about how much my Snugs (that's what I call her because she is such a snuggly little baby) but she really is a sweet baby.  She goes to sleep around 12 or 1 am and doesn't wake up until 7 am. That's right; 6-7 hours every single night! The best thing about this is that the school kids leave at 6:20, but Side Salad doesn't get up until 8ish so it's our special time for her to cuddle and nurse uninterrupted.

Already a fashionista!

Popcorn is starting to fit in Side Salad's old dipes which is a plus. I do have a few girly dipes on the way for her-an AIO and 2 fitteds. I'll post pics when they get here.  I'll post a stash pic then, too.  Here's a preview-her in a little Thirstie's warm stripe cover that matched her outfit perfectly.  I'm serious. This little outfit had yellow bloomers but the diaper cover looked even better so I ditched it.  I think it's much cuter this way-don't you agree?


We live a pretty chill life.  She's usually hanging out in the ring sling. It gives her a primo view of the world and my arms a break. I don't know how I raised kids with out it. We've been trying to get out a bit, going to the zoo and parks a lot.  P has heinous cradle cap-all the way down to her eyebrows-and sunshine seems to help it quite a bit.   Today we went to a local park and discovered that it had a splash pad!  Win!  I know where we'll be in the mornings this summer. I say mornings because the heat index 'round these parts gets over a hundred. My summer plan is park or zoo in the mornings, library in the afternoon (books and free a/c),  stove-free dinners in the evenings. I actually found a fantastic new recipe involving rotisserie chicken and yummy tomatoes at Publix this past week. We'll be eating it tomorrow for dinner.  I'll post it below!

Tomato Chicken Stack Salad from Publix

Ingredients
12–15 fresh basil leaves, thinly sliced
1 tablespoon fresh Italian parsley, coarsely chopped
1 small shallot, finely chopped
4 large red and yellow (or heirloom) tomatoes
1 Deli chilled rotisserie chicken (plain or flavored)
2 tablespoons white balsamic vinegar
1/3 cup extra-virgin olive (or avocado) oil
1/2 teaspoon dried Italian seasoning
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/2 cup crumbled feta, goat, or blue cheese 

Prep

• Slice basil; chop parsley and shallot.
• Cut tomatoes into 1/4-inch-thick slices.
• Remove meat of chicken from bones and chop coarsely (2 cups).

Steps

1. Prepare dressing by whisking vinegar, oil, Italian seasoning, pepper, parsley, and shallots until well blended.
2. Arrange salad on serving plates, alternating tomato slices, chicken, basil strips, and crumbled cheese. Drizzle with dressing and serve.

CALORIES (per 1/4 recipe) 400kcal; FAT 32g; CHOL 110mg; SODIUM 380mg; CARB 11g; FIBER 2g; PROTEIN 23g; VIT A 20%; VIT C 60%; CALC 10%; IRON 10%

What's your favorite no-cook recipe?

Day 46: Justifiable Homicide

Today, my husband said, and I quote: "I think I'm going to take a shower. I don't really need one. I just feel like taking a shower."

I almost shot him. 


Popcorn is 6 1/2 weeks old. I haven't shaved my legs in months. When I was pregnant, I wasn't up to it.  Now I just don't have the time.  I shower sporadically and sometimes, I just rinse becaues I have to get out and get the baby.  I literally get in the shower and she screams.  So I rub soap on my stinkiest parts and hop back out.  

This new baby stuff is not for the faint of heart.

So back to the murder. My husband bathes every day. And he is now at the point where is is bathing for recreation while I'm basking in my own special brand of musk.   I thought he was making fun of me but he was serious. He really was taking baths for fun.  But he was good about it. He sat with me til the little miss feel asleep and we took a nice long shower.

With soap <3

Smooches <3

As a side note, our wedding anniversary is coming up-Monday, in fact. I'm excited though we have no plans other than a dinner out. I love my hubby so stinkin' much.

Day 45: First time at the Zoo

Popcorn had her first zoo visit!

She's 6 weeks and 3 days old.  Side Salad and my mom came along, too.  She was the cutest little thing around.  We didn't see the hedgehog this time.  She slept for most of the visit, but woke up toward the end. I wore her in my Comfy Joey Marrakech ring sling.

Here are a few pics.

Side Salad, the mama, and Popcorn

And Meme

Snack time!

Check out that sweet flower and my sweet necklace

This kid makes the craziest faces

Day 42: She's Part of the Family

Today, I called Popcorn the wrong name. I called her Side Salad. Well, actually I called her his real name, not literally "side salad." I was holding her and talking to her while she was in a happy attentive phase. He wasn't even in the room. I looked at her sweet face and said, "what are you thinking about, side salad?"

"What did you call me?"

I swear she looked a little taken aback. But she should be happy. In my family, we always call children by the wrong names. This went in to the extent that I was eventually called by all of my siblings' names. I was known as "DexterStevieSamRegina" in my youth. I found this to be exceedingly insulting as I am the only girl. I decided I would be different. I'd never call my kids by the wrong names. I was better than that. Until I had kids. Sometimes, I don't have time to remember their names. Sometimes, I call them by their gender or by their size (bigs and littles) or by their numbers. Yes, they are each assigned a number. But rest assured. Each of their little faces is engraved on my heart. They are my little bunnies and I move them immensely. So Popcorn is now officially part of the brood. She is #5.

Day 41: Losing our latch?

Tomorrow, Popcorn will be 6 weeks old and I'll be done with the "official" postpartum period.  I actually have my postpartum appointment with my midwife later today.

Today, I want to talk about latch. Popcorn had a really great latch as a newborn but lately, she's gotten a bit lazy with it.  Lots of clicking and popping which results in lots of air in her tummy. It isn't affecting the amount of milk she's consuming. She was about 7 pounds 2 ounces at birth, and she was 9 pounds 10 ounces at 5 weeks old. That's half a pound a week she's gaining. My nipples aren't sore or cracked either, so her bad latch isn't causing us problems YET but it's not a good thing.

What is latch?

What is bad latch?

Why does it matter?
Bad latch can cause major probs for mama and bambino.  For mama, it can lead to sore, cracked nipples that are more prone to infection. For baby, it can interfere with the amount of milk baby consumes.

Popcorn's latch issues started after my bout with mastitis.  I think my letdown is to blame. Whenever I looked at her, she cried, she smiled, she drooled, she farted, or I thought about her, my milk would rush down in a big achy blast and my areaola would get all swollen with milk. She couldn't get her mouth far enough on.  Then, if she sucked or licked my nipple, my milk would immediately let down. She didn't have to even really nurse.  Most of the time, she just swallowed and didn't put forth any effort.  Now that my letdown has evened out a bit, she has to suckle and my little piggy is a bit lazy.

I was at the hospital where I delivered Side Salad and Squirrel earlier this week. A friend of mine delivered a sweet little boy by emergency c-section on Mother's Day.  She was suffering from preeclampsia and her placenta started detaching.   Her little guy was 5 pounds 13 ounces and born on May 13-5/13!  Cool, huh?  Both he and Popcorn were born on holidays, too (Good Friday and Mother's Day). While there, I asked the LC about it. She gave me a little advice but couldn't help me officially because it was "against the law."

I've never seen that law, but whatever. I know it's a financial thing.

She asked if I was making sure P's lips were rolled out (exerted) and they are. That's usually the issue with latch.  She suggested I have Popcorn suck on my finger while I press my finger on the roof of her mouth to kind of train her tongue. {Eeep! She just cooed at me <3 } From my observation, P doesn't stick her tongue out enough.  I've tried it a couple of times and it seems to be helping a bit.  I'm going to keep working on it.  I spoke to my midwife about it and she said that it will probably correct itself as she gets older/bigger and as my letdown lessens.

Here are some additional resources about proper latch.

More Resources
KellyMom's list of resources
Dr. Sears' page on Proper Positioning and Latch

The Sulfur....Cure?

More expensive stuff-$15 an ounce

Yesterday, I went to the Vitamin Shoppe and got the sulfur and also some uritica urens for Squirrel. I got the Biorons brand ($6.99 each) and the girl gave me a sample of Peaceful Mountain Eczema Rescue homeopathic gel.  The gel is opaque and reddish, like a red clay mud.  I gave her 3 uritica urens (she had a few bites of orange sherbet at school today and uritica urens is indicated for rashes due to skin allergies) and 3 sulfur about 30-45 minutes later.  I rubbed on a bit of the gel on her to alleviate her itchies. I didn't want to give her everything at once, but the milk in the sherbet was a surprise and needed to be addressed.

The uritica urens was a one time shot. It's only being used as needed. Let me add that after using it, she didn't have her using crippling stomach ache from eating no-no foods.  I'll let you know if I have to repeat this in the future.

This is the regime that I will be using:

• 3 Sulfur 30c twice a day (morning and evening) NPO 15 minutes before or after
• Calendula oil or olive oil after baths
• Exederm cream for moisturizing (I have to reorder so it will be a coupe of days till we resume this one) 

I will continue to blog daily (or every other day) and I am also following another mama whose baby girl is in the same plight. Dawn at Everything Birth is chronicling the same treatment.  When I read her blog, I really felt her pain. I remember when Squirrel was a baby and then a toddler. I too wish she'd hurry up and grow up so she'd understand that scratching was bad.  It's like I couldn't enjoy her babyhood because I wanted her out of it. I got a little teary because even though she's older, she can't help but scratch. 

 This is how her skin looked today, day two of her treatment.

Less dryness and much more even toned

Less peeling, still very dry 

Still scaly, no peeling

Still dry and peely

Still peely and scaly

It's still scaly and dry but less so. Her legs look pretty rough but that's also because she insists on wearing these pants that are like windsuit pants lined with fleece. They look hot.  That heat and rubbing won't allow her skin to repair itself.  Remember, this is a 6 1/2 year old.  She has to have some autonomy.

Squirrel says that her skin feels softer and that it itches less. I noticed that she's been touching her skin as opposed to scratching.  Her neck looks more like a child and less like an old woman.  Her mood is much, much better. She's smiling and laughing as opposed to yelling and whining. There's no screaming at her siblings. My baby feels better.



Have we found the cure?  I'll keep you posted!