Nappys! (a.k.a. Cloth Diapers) . . . Tutorial

Okay, so a few months ago I was having a pleasant conversation with a friend of mine while visiting in Oregon and she mentioned looking for cloth diapers to use for her first child.  I must admit, I was very wary about the term "cloth diapers".  But recently, out of necessity, I found my mind wandering back to that conversation.  I then soon found myself vigorously trying to find some on FreeCycle.org.  But no luck; nobody wanted to give away their $17+ each diapers (yes, they really do retail for that much per diaper).  However, considering what you would pay total per child for disposables, the upfront cost in the long run really is a good steal.  BUT, after getting no response on FreeCycle, I decided I would make my own.

It will probably run you about $200 to make 24 nappys and 24 soaker pads.  HOWEVER, if you are coupon savvy and wait for sales you can do it for half that cost.  If I had started with my first child I would have saved around $5,000.  Plus, it's easier than it used to be.  They sell adjustable high pressured sprayers that connect right to your toilet plumbing and hang on your wall so no icky messes!  Get a good, wide standard diaper pail with a lid, fill it with a water/vineagar solution and you're good to go!  Oh...no drying these diapers in the dryer though because of the all-in-one feature.

A kind sister started me out with some folded diapers by Gerber, 2 packs, 48 diapers total.  I took half of those diapers to make 24 diapers and have 24 inserts (for when baby gets older and need extra soakers).  This tutorial includes the Nappys that are all-in-one (meaning, the vinyl is included inside the diapers rather than using rubber pants) and not the inserts which are pretty simple and self explainatory.  Nappy should fit up to about 25 pounds or so depending on the individual body shape of the child.  Naomi is petite so I have no worries about her.  Mind you, this tutorial is no where near professional as I was figuring this out as I went along.  Plus I don't have a fancy shmancy camera, but I like what I got!  So anyways...to those that are interested in doing the same thing OR just interested in how I did it...here you go!

Items Needed:

2 Gerber 24 Pk. Cloth Fold Diapers
12 Linear yards Iron-on thin Vinyl (found at JoAnn's)
24 Fabric Quarters (or 6 yards of fabric if you want all one style)
LOTS of thread!
13.5 Yards of thin elastic (approx. 1/8" wide but not wider than 1/4")
3.5 Yards wide Velcro

Take this pattern here and cut liberally around it on the vinyl.

Next you need to follow the directions of the vinyl for attaching it to the backside of the outer shell of your diaper fabric.

Once ironing is done use the pattern to cut out the fabric pieces.

Take your store bought folding diapers and use the pattern to alter them.  *side note* I had to use excess from the soakers I made from the other 24 fold diapers to attach to make the tabs wide enough for the pattern.

Take the two pieces (outer shell and fold diapers) and attach them sandwiching the vinyl side between the outer shell and diaper.

Cut the velcro into 5" sections and alter anyway you like (I rounded mine) and attach.

Serge around edges of nappy.  (if you know how to do something fancier, go right on ahead!)

Okay, these next two steps I did my way because I'm totally NOT a savvy sewer and this is what worked for me.  Using the dots indication on the pattern for reference, sew some channels for your elastic to go in.

Cut small holes where dots indicate being careful NOT to cut into the outer shell.  Use a safety pin on one end of your elastic, push it in on one end, sew the end down then push the pin the rest of the way gathering the edges and pull it taught.  Sew the other end and snip excess elastic.  Make sure to stitch the cut holes closed.

You're DONE!!

All 23 done.  (yes, 23 and not 24, I totally destroyed the first one I did).

And the model shows off her stylin' nappy  =] 

A Date with the Pediatric Neurologist

So today was Naomi's appointment with the neurologist. Since early on, we have noticed that she was exhibiting some weakness in her muscle tone. Not holding her head up, not rolling over, not anchoring down her arms when picked up, not standing when holding her up on your lap, etc. The pediatrician had requested lab work on her and also set up an appointment with the pediatric neurologist.

As you can imagine, we had been anxiously awaiting her appointment today for the last couple of months since it was first set up. I am happy to say that I'm glad the waiting game is over and we can now go on with our lives the best we can.

Today, Naomi was finally properly diagnosed as having Benign Congenital Hypotonia. Essentially, muscle weakness. You can find out more about it here . We have a follow-up appointment for October to monitor her to make sure it doesn't worsen. By all counts, she seems to be just fine. Her lab work came back clean too. But if it does worsen, they said they want to watch it to make sure it isn't a sign of Muscular Dystrophy or Cerebral Palsy. However, we are hopeful (and feel pretty sure) that her Hypotonia is isolated.

So...yay for prayers and well wishes =] Thank you everyone for all you have done in your own way to help us out. We REALLY appreciate it.