Anyone use flats exclusively?

[mormontreehugger]

I'd like to avoid prefolds entirely if I can. Right now I'm contemplating buying the fabric to make my own flats (see my post in diaper making if you can help! I'm such a novice!) but I don't know exactly how well they work or what tips I should know, etc etc.
I want to try EC, but in situations where EC just isn't going to happen, I'd like to be prepared for normal diapering. So, maybe I need to think about getting some covers? Or something? Lol, this is my first baby, and my only experience with cloth diapers is from my little sisters who used pre-folds and those nasty plastic covers that I swear my mom saved from the 80's to reuse...

So can I just make a big stash of flats for all ages to come? Anything I should know in particular?

TIA!

[kentuckyfriedgirl]

I don't have an answer for you because I use prefolds but am thinking of transitioning to flats. I have been using prefolds for the past three months on my 6 month old daughter. The prefolds just take so long to dry and it seems like flats would be a lot easier on our electric bill.

I am thinking of using flats with an insert - perhaps I will just buy a set of 12 and try it out.

[texmati]

I've been wondering the same thing. Although I've priced it out and it seems like flats are cheaper to buy than to make.

[mormontreehugger]

Yeah, it's looking cheaper to buy right now. I definitely want to avoid the stink and long drying time that prefolds can bring with them. I don't mind doing a little origami

[NorthernPixie]

My sister uses flats almost exclusively, because she does not use a dryer and the flats wash and dry so much more easily than prefolds. Sometimes the birdseye ones are nearly done drying by the time she's finished hanging up a whole load of diapers, on a windy day!

She has some flannel (not sure where they came from - they were a gift - but come to think of it receiving blankets would probably be about the same size), and a set of 12 from Green Mountain Diapers.

The GMD ones are birdseye (I think) and you can snappi them. The flannel do not snappi but she just does an origami fold and the cover holds them in place. And yes...I think you DO need a cover, and they are not the crinkly old nasty rubber/plastic ones they once were! She finds the Bummis super whisper wraps cover the origami fold really well.

If you found that one flat was not enough absorbency, you can double them up, or fold a second one into a small rectangle and lay it in the diaper, like a soaker or a doubler.

Hope this helps! And I think, unless you found a good source for the type of fabric you're looking for, that buying would be cheaper than making them.

I just went onto the GMD site and they are out of stock on the flats until the fall but perhaps they are available elsewhere.

[Adasmommy]

I'm not speaking from experience, but I am planning to use mostly flats with my baby to be, and I EC too.

I would get a couple of covers for when grandma wants to hold the baby, or whatever other non-EC-conducive situations you forsee (grocery stores, perhaps?). Wool is the best!

I plan to try flats in a prefold belt, with a snappi, with pins, layed in a wrap style cover, and just tied around the baby while the baby is little enough (the wings come around to the front and tie, while the front flap is tucked under the tied wings so you can easily pull it down to potty, then tuck it back up).

This way, I'll find what I like best in different situations and have lots of options!

[SuzyLee]

I used flats as my only pocket stuffing for a while. It was awesme bc they weashed clean so easily (never needed a second rinse) and dried fast (even when I hung them inside on a rainy humid day). I switched to more traditional pocket stuffing and I miss my easy to care for flats. However I suck at folding them so I don't use them as a stand-alone diaper, just as pocket inserts.