[mkschutt]

We made the switch over to cloth diapers about 2 months ago and I bought the Honeyboy pattern and made 25 diapers for our now 14 month old. The diaper construction is as follows-inside next to her skin-knit, then 2 layers of flannel, two layers of terry and then on the outside MM 200 wt. fleece. We love cloth diapering and they are working great but they are so bulky I can not get her comfortably into her 24 month jeans or overalls and even knit pants are a stretch-no pun intended. We live in a climate where pants are definately required so I am asking others who make their own diapers-how do you keep them thin enough to keep your baby confortable in pants?

BTW I know that PUL is an option but I bought a close to 20 yards of fleece so that I could make diapers for all our babies yet to come so switching to PUL now is just not feasible.
Thanks.

 

[pinky]

Hmm..are all those layers for the entire body of the diaper? Is part of it just a soaker? I made my HoneyBoys with fleece plus one layer of flannel plus the inner knit for the diaper body, with a soaker (several layers of hemp fleece or burley knit terry) sewn to the flannel inner (as per the instructions). I didn't find them to be super bulky, but you are right that fleece is definitely bulkier than PUL.

Personally, I like to make a diaper that is very trim in the body (2-3 layers only) and then make a nice beefy soaker.

Hemp fleece is a great absorbent option for soakers or the diaper body because it is very trim but still absorbent.

Is this any help at all???

 

[kerc]

i have made HB diapers into pocket diapers....that is used her pattern and left a hole at the top for stuffing with a cpf.

outer is mm 300 wt fleece, inner is microfleece

also i've made some fitted dipes...the soaker is 3 layers of bkt. we have a couple of big dipes we used for nighttime and then use these during the day for changing more often.

 

[MallowMom]

I found the HB to be too bulky if I used all the layers called for in the pattern. Plus they took FOREVER to dry. So I started making them with 1 layer 200 or 300 wt for the outer, one layer of sherpa and one layer of microfleece or flannel for the inner. Then I make a separate soaker out of a microterry towel, top it with fleece and sew it to the inside of the diaper on only one end. This allows the soaker to flop around and get really clean in the wash, as well as dry much more quickly when I finally put it in the dryer.

I've recently started making some 3 layer hemp fleece soakers which work great, too. Some of these I've been attaching with snaps and I think it might do it that way from here on out. The snaps seem to keep the soakers in the right position much better.

Another thing I did was to place extra layers of hemp or microterry only where I knew DS needed it. Since he's a boy, my soakers would be three layers at the front, tapering down to two layers in the crotch and only 1 layer at the back. It seems more comfortable for DS because he doesn't have a huge bulk in the crotch and butt (where he doesn't need saturation protection anyways).

HTH!

Morgan

 

[kerc]

i had another thought....not really a way to solve the problem. but if you are trying to save $$, maybe you could take apart one of the "done" diapers and experiment. I really like the soaker idea.

also pants-wise. some brands are more cd friendly than others. i find old navy and gap have plenty of room, but osh kosh seems to be tiny. i've been making my own pants. dh prefers an elastic waist and no leg snaps, so if you can make a diaper you can make a pair of pull on, elastic waist pants. I take the pants pattern (simplicity, i think, but any pattern would do) and I trace it onto newspaper or tissue paper, making the butt region just a tad bit bigger and then taper through the legs so that they are the normal width. I can make a pair of pants for about 4 bucks and about 35 minutes worth of work. Less now that I know what I'm doing -- i've made about 5 pair so far.

 

[Aurora]

Quote:

Originally posted by kerc i have made HB diapers into pocket diapers....that is used her pattern and left a hole at the top for stuffing with a cpf. outer is mm 300 wt fleece, inner is microfleece

Same here. Only I made mine pocket fitteds so I just used two layers of flannel and then stuff them with a cpf and use a wool cover over that.