Getting Ready for Baby--Fleece Diaper Covers

Sorry it has been awhile to get back to this series. Having a newborn is always a challenge learning to adjust the newest member to the family. Princess is a little more clingy than her brothers as a little one, so we have been making her feel more comfortable which doesn't leave a lot of extra time.

Onto the fleece diaper covers. After finding that I really didn't have the time nor the inclination to continue wool covers, I needed to find a more affordable way to cloth diaper. At this time, we were suddenly without an income, so I couldn't go order material online. PUL was also very expensive as well. I found out about fleece covers from this blog. I had already sewn a lot of the pocket diapers, so I decided to give fleece a try.

Fleece is breathable and a little water resistant in itself. It does need a little different treatment from the prefolds though. To keep the water resistant properties you need to add fabric softener, so you can't wash them with your cloth diapers. The great thing about these is that you could just buy a bunch of fleece pants and use them with a fitted diaper such as Rita's pocket diapers. I had prefolds that no longer fit and no money with which to add to my diaper stash.

I found a free pattern from Celtic Cloth. With a gift of money from some very lovely Christian folk, I bought some pretty cheap fleece from Wal-mart. I had some notions left from a previous purchase. So I sewed 8 fleece diaper covers with TouchTape closures. These covers were turned and topstitched with 2 layers of fleece. They were very thick and bulky. They were a little big on Rockbiter, but they fulfilled their purpose. I wanted a wrap style that I could easily use with my existing prefolds.

We used these covers with Rockbiter from 5 months old to 28 months where they were getting too small. I love this pattern. I am so happy to have been able to use it so long. The only thing I didn't like about these is when your baby gets to be older and able to hold his bladder longer the covers don't work very well. Yes, we had diaper leaks and other accidents. I had wanted to potty train Rockbiter at that point, but being pregnant didn't leave me with a lot of energy and now with the new baby, pottytraining is put off for a bit. I am currently sewing up some trainers for him, but that is another post.

So here is what it comes down to in my opionion:

Pros

• Inexpensive
• Readily available
• Breathable 

Cons

• Bulky
• Can be inconvenient to wash separately
•  Needs fabric softener to stay water resistant
• Does not work very well with a heavy wetter

I want to mention that I love that some people offer a free sample or pattern. It was a blessing for me in a great time of need. It is great that you get to try a sample before buying the full item. Sometimes a pattern just doesn't work for me and then I have a pattern that I won't use. I would have loved to support Celtic Cloths by buying the full pattern, but at the time I had the money to purchase it, I couldn't find it. So if you would like a pattern for diaper covers or fitteds, I recommend the Celtic Cloth pattern. I will express my thanks with a purchase from them as I can.

Stay tuned for my newest cover made from PUL!