Cloth diapering: so easy, even a brain-dead zombie mom can use them

I know what you're thinking. Some of you, at least. If you're new to the concept of cloth diapering and are anything like I was before being sucked into the world of "fluff,"** you're probably thinking something like this:

"Oh, yeah, right -- like I could ever manage cloth diapering! I can't even properly wrap a flat rectangular box with Christmas paper! How on earth could anyone ever possibly expect me to pin a piece of cloth on to the bottom of a squirmy baby? I'd probably end up impaling the kid and getting thrown into jail for child abuse!"

Yep. Been there. Thought that. Trust me, if I can get the knack of cloth diapering, anyone can.

The truth is, cloth diapers are ridiculously easy to use, especially when you use cotton prefolds together with those awesome Snappis I mentioned in an earlier post. (Frankly, if I were to use pins, Monkey Boy would almost certainly be a eunuch by now.)

There are lots of ways to fold a cloth diaper, some of which work better for chubby or skinny babies, but I'm inherently lazy and have only used the first basic folding method I learned, the "newspaper fold." So far, it's worked great for us.

Here, I'll walk you through it...

1. Lay out the prefold cloth diaper so that the serged ends are at the top and bottom, then fold the bottom end of the diaper 1/4 - 1/3 of the way up the diaper, like so:


I've made a relatively skinny fold here, just because these prefold cloth diapers are infant-sized and getting a little small for my ridiculously long baby. I really should go out and buy him the next size up already, but have I mentioned that I'm inherently lazy?

(Oh, and another thing I'd like to point out -- these amateur digital pix really don't do justice to the fact that this prefold cloth diaper is still pure white, despite having been peed and pooped on countless times during the 3 1/2 months Monkey Boy has been using them. Yep, these suckers wash up really well.)

Okay, enough digressions. Back to the folding!

2. Fold both sides of the prefold cloth diaper so that they meet in the middle, then flare out the tops so that they form "wings."



(If your baby is a heavy wetter, you can place a liner on top of the prefold cloth diaper at this point. If I'd had my wits about me, I would have taken a picture to show you what it looked like. But I didn't, because Monkey Boy thought it would be a great joke to wake me up a dozen times in the middle of the night -- and as a result I wasn't thinking straight. When all else fails, blame the baby.)

3. Place your baby on to the prefold cloth diaper so his bum is in the middle of it, then bring up the folded bottom toward your baby's belly button. (Feel free to kiss said belly button, just 'cause it's so darned cute.)


4. Bring one of the wings around to the front of your baby, so that it meets up with the folded part of the prefold cloth diaper, then start looking madly for the Snappi you need to use to attach the two of them together.



5. Use the Snappi to fasten one side of the prefold cloth diaper, then the other, and then attach the middle "anchor" claw of the Snappi down so that the remains securely wrapped around your baby.


6. Sit back and admire your handiwork!


Oh yeah, there's a good-looking prefold cloth diaper. It's so nifty, I think it deserves an...

7. Obligatory cute baby shot!


8. And another!


One day, years from now, when Monkey Boy is a teenager, he's going to cringe at all the compromising baby pictures I posted of him online.

It's my little way of saying, "Thanks for all those sleepless nights, son."

Okay, now it's confession time... For all the uninitiated out there, I have to admit that the fold featured in the pictures above isn't a very good example of a well-executed newspaper fold. Parents who are more conscientious about their folding no doubt do a far better job than I do.

Those people probably make much crisper and symmetrically balanced folds, and tuck one side of the bottom fold featured in Step 2 into the other, to increase the diaper's stability and make it look even cooler.

But, as I mentioned earlier, me=lazy.

So lazy, in fact, that sometimes I don't even bother using the newspaper fold. Nope. Sometimes I just fold the prefold cloth diaper in thirds and shove that sucker right into the diaper cover, like this:



But even when I'm being so horrendously lazy, Monkey Boy still doesn't suffer for it. His diaper cover still keeps in all the wetness without giving him so much as a hint of a rash (knock wood).

Now I ask you, how easy is that?

**"fluff" is what the cool kids call cloth diapers and cloth-diaper-related materials (liners, covers, fabric, etc.) Now you too can sound like a true diaper connoisseur!

Looking for cheap cloth diapers? Stock up on inexpensive cotton prefolds

If you've done any research online, you've no doubt discovered that cloth diapers of the 21st century can cost a lot of money! (Anywhere from $12 - $30 each, depending on the brand.)

Don't let that high price tag scare you off! If you're on a tight budget, you can still do cloth diapering on the cheap. Simply pick yourself one or two prefold cloth diaper packages -- combined with a few sassy diaper covers -- and you'll be set for months, all for well under $100.

But what are these inexpensive cotton prefolds of which I speak, you ask?

A "prefold" is a rectangular cloth that gets its name from the way it's been folded and stitched to have multiple layers of thickness down the middle to soak up the wetness. This seriously cuts down on the amount of origami-bending you have to do to wrap the cloth diaper around your baby's bum.

Prefold cloth diapers are typically made of bleached or unbleached cotton. You can also get organic prefold diapers as well as prefolds made from flannel and hemp jersey or fleece.

Cotton prefolds are also often referred to as "Chinese prefolds" or "Indian prefolds."

Why? That's a good question. I suspect it's because the cotton came from China or India, but don't quote me on that. (Unless, of course, I'm right, in which case please do quote me and pay me reprint rights to boot.)

Whatever the ethnic flavour of your prefold cotton diapers, they're the least expensive diapering option out there. If you're looking for cheap cloth diapers, this the way to go!

Of course, you actually have to go to the work of folding them, but once you get the hang of it, folding's really no big deal -- especially when you're using Snappis, the coolest invention on earth. Seriously. Cars, fiber optics, the Internet, rockets that go to the Moon -- they've got NOTHING on Snappis.


One of the best things about prefold cotton diapers is how they manage to be of good use to you long after their career as butt covers is finished. Prefold cotton diapers make great burping cloths, dish rags, and dust cloths as well.

Here's the story of a woman who found an even more "novel" use for them:

From: SFGate.com --

Art imitates life for Brisbane woman

When Brisbane artist Beth Grossman faced the decision about whether to have a child, her colleagues discouraged her from entering into what they saw as a parent trap.

They warned that Grossman's demanding life as a full-time artist wouldn't mix well with child-rearing. Choose one or the other, they told her.

Grossman chose motherhood.

After 80 hours of labor, she gave birth, seven years ago, to son Avi -- 7 pounds, 12 ounces, and 22 inches long. "In art school, they said people would write you off as an artist, and motherhood would slow you down," Grossman, 47, recalled in a recent interview. "But I've always worked from personal experience, and that's what was going on in my life."

Grossman, who is originally from Minneapolis, became serious about her art 17 years ago after she left her graphic design job. Her focus in her artwork, she said, consists of re-contextualizing stories and interpretation of history. She earned her bachelor of arts degree from the University of Minnesota and a master of arts in performance studies at New York University's Tisch School of the Arts.

Her current series, "First Comes Love," which premiered in October 2004 at the Belmont Arts Commission's Manor House Gallery, is on display at the Brisbane Library. She has a knack for making art out of everyday objects.

A piece in the series called "Life in Diapers" is a book made of 40 cloth diapers chronicling Avi's first year.

"My hope," she said, "is that my artwork will encourage my audience to tell and document their stories, creating a collective voice to pass down from generation to generation."

----------

Well, I'm sure Milo's prefold cotton diapers could tell quite a story of their own, though I don't think it would be a good idea to pass them down from generation to generation...