Flats Picture Thread

[drewsmama]

Originally Posted by bonky1977 Lovin' the Rosie Posie fold!! Thank you for the link. Here are some pics of my LO wearing a LL flat folded Rosie Posie style with a M/L Fishnoodles snapper. Super trim and I think it will be very absorbent too.

Come to my house and help me, please! It looks like you got a great fit! And your LO is beautiful!

[MaizyMooKnits]

Originally Posted by drewsmama Come to my house and help me, please! It looks like you got a great fit! And your LO is beautiful!

If New York was just a little closer to California I'd come right over... Just practice and definitely check out the picture tutorial in the Rosie Posie link. Good luck mama!

[mamastesh]

subbing. YAY Flats!!!!

[sweetgrace]

Karyn~ Your DD is adorable! And good job with the flat

[MaizyMooKnits]

Thanks Tawny! The Rosie Posie fold is very user friendly.

[PurpleMonkey]

okay mamas I have a million pictures I hope I don't break your computers!

I also want to add that my 29-month-old twins inform me whenever I give them a choice of diapers they always say "the pins" meaning flats (or prefolds) even though we have elbees and goodmamas and other dipes with OBV you would think they would like better. I think the flannel actually feels nice next to their bits.

for my "flats" I use the 30 x 40" Carter's receiving blankets I got from Babies R Us. Here are just some of them


how I fold:
flat is turned upside down. I usually fold right out of the dryer so they are nice and fluffy and I get them folded PERFECTLY that way


I fold about 10" where the tag is so later it's not sticking out. This is to make it even 30 x 30" and also to add more absorbency in the front. A lot of people say girls tend to pool urine in the back of the diaper but my girls' pee is always in the front


fold over left point to center


right point over. Adjust the width however way you prefer


fold bottom up to center


now top down


I like to have my flats pre-adjusted just a TAD wider and longer than a GMD red (medium) prefold. This was embellished and dyed by me cause I'm crazy about pretty girl fabrics!


next fold the left side to center like you're doing a prefold


then the right side over. SKINNY!


splay out the back wings just a tad. I try and keep this as skinny as possible so when I put it on my daughter I already KNOW the crotch is just as thin as possible. I don't even need to jellyroll with this technique (I've been down the jellyroll road before and it always ended disastrously with my daughter in motion and the whole diaper falling to the floor! I needed to find a way for a flat to really STAY on and with lots of trial and error this folding method worked)


folding front part over to "make" a diaper right before putting it on


here is my sweet 29-month-old flatbutt daughter Lucy who is ALWAYS ***ALWAYS*** in motion and was so awesome letting me use her to demonstrate! . DO you see how I have the wings in the back like super high up? Like abnormally so? I promise this works out in the end!


pulling PULLING that left wing up and over while kind of splaying the front wings ONLY enough to reach for pinning


you see what I mean about twisting that left back wing in a counterclockwise motion while meeting the front left wing? This hugely helps prevent the gaps in the end


my pulling down twisting counterclockwise and pinning motion


more pinning. BTW my favorite pins are not the Dritz for the flannel receiving blankets. It's these plastic head ones from GMD website. They go through so easily without any soap or oil from my hair. I have Dritz and while I like the metal locking head feature the Dritz simply don't work on the flannel!


you don't need to go through all the layers of fabric. Just enough where you know it's through. These pictures are actually not demonstrating what I want it to. My husband was obviously taking the pictures from a different angle from me actually doing it but I wanted to show how I go through the BACK counterclockwised twisted wing FIRST then go through the left front wing just so but not going through ALL the front wing's fabric. There is never anytime the needle would EVER be up against my daughter's skin in this scenario.



so now the left side is pinned you're going to hitch up TIGHT the other side so the fabric is covering the booty crack and you pull out that other wing UP and down to meet the front wing. You might have to splay out that front wing just so to meet. Also if there is too much fabric gaping I twist the right back wing CLOCKWISE to make it real tight.


I didn't need to do the clockwise twist with this demo because the fabric was good and tight, but I just want to say that sometimes if there is a lot of back wing fabric it is helpful to twist it clockwise to better flush the fabric up against the booty and prevent gaps in the legs


pulling over to pin


pin


now you see that gap in her left side? DON'T LIKE THAT! Also because I'd hitched up the right side so much while pinning that side it made the left side pin go all wonky too high and close to the skin. I decided to redo the left side which is what makes it a SUPERtight fit!



end result. I know this seems like a LOT of work but trust me you do it in no time and it is really worth it. I do it for all 3 of my girls and love it! To me it is worth it to make for a perfect fit and no leaks/escapes. It seems really complicated but trust me you can do this in your sleep once you've got it down


TRIM!


you see how in the back how the higher rise worked itself out to make it a *perfect* rise?



*NONE* of my other diapers are this trim!





I put an embellished fleece track capris over it and she's ready to go!




I know these instructions are so wordy but here are the steps in Cliff Note version:
1. fold flat to make it even width and length, left side over and right side over to make your desired width, then bottom folded up and top down to make your length you want. Fold sides into each other just like you would do a normal prefold. Take out the wings in the back
2. put on baby with back rise much higher than front
3. pull left wing up and down in a counterclockwise twisting motion (only need to do this if there is a lot of slack in the thigh. Goal is to make it tight)
4. Pin left side
5. Pull the fabric over the booty crack on the other side and pull up wing up and over down onto right front wing. You may need to do a clockwise twisting motion to make wings not so loose. Pin
6. If there is any slack in the left thigh (sometimes caused by messing around with the other side) just redo and VOILA !! You have my twins' favorite diaper in the whole world lol

hope this was helpful and not intimidating! I think it is really worth it to do flats. ONE wash and rinse and *ONE* drying cycle for this mama who does diaper laundry everyday is a major plus in this household where I am diapering 3!

[MaizyMooKnits]

Purplemonkey- I can't see the images?? Maybe you did break my computer

[PurpleMonkey]

lol I'm gonna fix them (gonna fix the pictures now!)

[hurricanechelsea]

I still love the origami fold, but wow, the Rosie Posie one looks AMAZING. It doesn't look as diaper-sprayer-friendly as the origami though. The origami fold has all nice smooth surfaces inside the diaper, so the poo doesn't "catch" on edges or anything

[PurpleMonkey]

okay all the pics have been fixed. At least I hope so! (still can't guarantee won't break your computers )

I think my fold is called a kite or a neat fold (I can't remember). I tried rosie posie and just didn't like how the back wings were flimsy-ish cause of not enough fabric there