we are family.... [an itti bitti family]

My sister has started using Bitti Tutto diapers on my niece, Bronte - and I finally got to have a proper play with them, last week when I had the honour of babysitting Bronny for the first time.  She - of course, was a total dream and if anything my own children were tougher... there was a rocky moment or two when Emersyn and Bronte both decided to reach fever-pitch with their crying, at the same time.

OF COURSE, being the clothaholic - and ittibittiaholic that I am, I couldn't resist putting the girls in their matching coloured Itti Bitti's [I have to confess that I had packed all of Emersyn's Itti Bittis, that I knew Bronte had the same colour of] in order to take their first matching-diaper photo.

It happened to be during the rocky moments I mentioned above - neither girl was in a great mood, but nevertheless here is the photo of the Itti Bitti cousins....

Emersyn in her D'Lish and Bronte in her Tutto

Rockin' her yellow Tutto

and just because I can, here is a photo of Bronte in her beautiful yellow Tutto [of which Emersyn has one in the same colour].  It was lovely to see both girls rocking the minky - but also doing their part for the environment, at such young ages.  Of course neither of them realise the impact they are having - but all the same, I think it's sweet.  I look at these luscious, soft, vibrant, utterly beautiful diapers, and feel so so happy that I made the decision to start using cloth... and that my darling baby sister eventually came to the 'dark but fluffy side' too

once you've had fleece... you'll never go back

the whole point of this blog post, is to rave about the awesomeness that is fleece.  


 
I have posted a lot about my hunt to find the right night time combo - recently I have been using prefolds, which has worked out well, but if Emersyn had a bottle or two overnight [as she tends to do while teething], I have found she tends to wake up a little damp... nothing that would be uncomfortable for her, but frustrating to me all the same.  Kind of like the diaper 'winning' and me losing.  

A friend on JustMommies talked about fleece and using it overnight - and suggested a super easy way that a cover could be made -  basically cutting up and old fleece blanket into a flat [diaper] shape, and then pinning it on over a prefold or fitted.  I looked at my old, ratty fleece blanket - and decided it was worth a go.  I did the cutting and got it all ready, just in time for Emersyn to need a diaper change... I put it on her and expected her to wet through - but when she was still dry and was ready for another nap, I decided to see what would happen if she wore it for her nap...

That nap lasted for two hours [very abnormal] - and I was amazed when she got up and was DRY....   I decided I might as well bite the bullet, and ended up cutting another couple of squares, and when it came time for her to go to bed for the night, put her in another fitted, with the two layers of fleece over top.  I fully expected her to wake in the early hours, very wet - lo and behold, she woke up at 6am - STILL DRY.

SUCCESS OR WHAT.

Every night since, Emersyn has had a fleece cover over top of whatever diaper she has worn to bed, whether it's a fitted, prefold or pocket - and we've not had a single leak... she hasn't even felt damp.  I have the 'flat covers' that I 'made' for her, a Bummis polar wrap, and a Funky Bumz pull up soaker.. I think I prefer the pull up soaker, just because it seems to fit her best around the legs.... but I have absolutely no qualms in using either of my other fleece covers.

I really really wish I had tried fleece beforehand, because it would have saved Emersyn a LOT of damp pyjamas and bedding... but I think a lot of cloth diapering is about trial and error... finding what works, finding what doesn't... finding the products that make life just a little easier... and realising what was really a total waste of money.  I guess that is the way it goes with any baby item though.

I will get some photos of Emersyn in her fleece soon, and post them up in the near future.

pining for pins

I decided earlier this week that I would give flats a go - that was all well and good until I realised that the fabric of my [single] flat is an 'unsnappiable' fabric, therefore I would need to do something I had refused even try.... I would have to use pins....

Thursday the girls and I traipsed around the mall, trying to find what I presumed would be an easy to find item - considering that up until awhile ago, they were the MAIN form of fastening a diaper.  But no.  Neither of the supermarkets had them, the two department stores didn't have them neither did the first baby store I tried.  I was shocked a BABY store wouldn't stock them... Baby and pin seem to go hand in hand for me [of course not literally...], apparently they are now an item that there isn't a lot of demand for.  Interesting.  Fast forward to the last shop on my list - Baby Factory - FINALLY I found the longed for pins.  Hallelujah.
 

my first prefold pinning attempt

I got home and couldn't resist having a go at pinning a nappy for the very first time... I got Emersyn ready, said a quick pre-emptive pin-stabbing  apology took a deep breath and away I went.  It was surprisingly a lot easier than I imagined it would be - I remember watching my Aunts when I was younger, and it seemed like there was a lot of force require to get the pin through the actual fabric, but it seemed quite effortless when I did it..  I did need to re-pin a few times, to get diaper tight enough and even, but I eventually got there.

I have been using only pinned prefolds for basically three days now, and have to say I REALLY love using pins.  I am not sure what it is about pinning, but I think it's to do with the fact you get a snugger fit around the waist, and they seem to bunch a bit less.  Today for the first time I didn't have to re-pin to get the right fit, so I think I am starting to become a little more skilled at pinning... not that that is a huge accomplishment that I expect praise for - but I am proud of myself, because it's a little bit of the 'back to basics' which seems to be something I am fond of right now.

I have even started to enjoy using the prefolds and pins so much, that I have been having vague ideas of selling most of the rest of my stash, and then buying some more refolds and extra covers... but I don't know if I can bring myself to part with my stash, especially with all the effort I've gone to to build it [aka, after all the money I have spent on it].  I think there are some I would definitely keep - but maybe I should go through and get rid of the diapers that I don't LOVE.....

food for thought....