I Flat You – Attempting Flat Diapers Just Like Yo’ Momma (#1)

Before I ramble, I have to say that I love cloth diapering. And it’s addictive. For me, being someone who likes to learn “stuff,” I am constantly on the lookout for new diapers, new covers for the diapers, new things to try, new new new. I want to learn everything there is to know or everything I have the time and the money to learn. We’ve done pocket diapers, we’ve done fitted diapers, and we’ve used some prefolds with covers, so I decided, “Heck, let’s try flats.”

Flats are the diapers everyone thinks of when they think “cloth diapers.” Large squares of fabric are used to cover your baby’s bum, and they’re secured with pins (or a Snappi which have little teeth to dig into the fabric and hold it all together). If you want it to be waterproof, you have to cover the flat with a waterproof cover. If you look around online you can find an amazing number of different types of folds to try with flats, and so I decided I wanted to try. I got some birdseye cotton 27x27 flats, a couple of Snappis, and my Dirty Diaper Laundry (DDL) iPhone app (they have videos of “how tos”), and I prepped the flats. They came out looking like they may fit one of Silas’ butt cheeks. For real. So I found a fold (kite fold) that would fit him even with those. I also found a fold that I could use for larger squares (the origami fold) and would put the most fabric where it needed to be for my super soaker. Then I ordered some hand crafted flats from Crafted by Cassie and she sent me some amazing tye-dyed flats made of upcycled jersey bedsheets (so they’re stretchy too). Rock on.

One Sunday I decide, “We’re going to try flats today.” Silas agreed, so after the first diaper change we were on. We used a large receiving blanket (yes, you can use them in this capacity) in the Origami fold and a Gen-Y Classic cover, and that worked well except I am not Snappi proficient and the diaper kind of drooped in the front (thank goodness for waterproofing). Next we did the birdseye cotton with the kite fold, and again, Snappi was not my friend. I didn’t spread it out far enough; I understand that now. Also it seemed like Silas peed so much that the entire 27x27 was wet, all the way up to the cover even in the back. I felt badly for him. Later in the day we tried the diaperbag fold and even used a prefold in the “bikini fold” that a CDing friend had told me about. All worked well. All could be done again (and I could spread the Snappi out). I think that if I did the birdseye cotton again I would put in a doubler in the wet zone so that the wetness didn’t spread to his entire bum.

I think we’ll try it again this weekend. I have a better idea after some research of Snappi placement, and I have better ideas of what works and what doesn’t for my heavy wetter. I also have Cassie’s awesome looking tye-dyed flats to work with and I’m looking forward to seeing how those work out.

If you want to try – I suggest getting a bunch of waterproof diaper covers (I’m partial to Gen-Y), some flats (Crafted by Cassie, Orange Diaper Company, and Zabi Baby have been suggested to me), some Snappis, and some video tutorials from Dirty Diaper Laundry. Learn how to prep them (you can boil rather than wash and dry numerous times like other diapers), and take off! I’ll keep you updated about how me and Snappi are getting along…

**FYI - The retailers I described here were chosen by me freely - I was not paid to "advertise" for them but simply believe that their products are awesome and should be shared.**