MiniKiwi Diapers: They Leak!

In my area there is a restocking/overage store. "Off the truck" items, damaged products, overage items are sold here. You can get some name brand stuff for half the price. Needless to say it's a pretty profitable store.

Occasionally, I will find cloth diaper products. Once, there were BumGenius inserts (a package of 8 double inserts) for $4. I bought a lot! Last year there was some MiniKiwi cloth diapers also for $4 each. I looked up the price online and they run between $25 and $30 so I thought it was such a steal! I bought twenty of them. They are Velcro (extremely strong Velcro) and the size is snap adjustable to four different sizes. Plus, the owl print was too cute!

When I had them washed and tried them on my (then) 18 month old they fit great! The inside was a soft wicking fabric with interior gussets so there is less leakage at the legs. The pocket easily fits GreenCheeks inserts or BumGenius inserts (as well as many others I'm sure, but those are the ones I used). So, you've heard the pros but what was the con? For some reason the PUL leaked! It didn't come out the sides or the top but actually the exterior felt damp. I compare it to wool covers that feel damp to the touch after a heavy wetting.

I thought it was due to the large amount my child pees. She was getting to the potty training age and held her urine for hours at a time which made nearly all diapers leak. But I talked to a few others that bought the same brand from the same store and they also had the same problem. I'm not sure if they were defective and that's why they were at that store or all MiniKiwi diapers have this problem.

I ended up putting the diapers aside and rarely using them with my daughter. She was potty trained a few months later and I forgot about them (and all diapers for that matter). When I was getting close to the birth of my son I decided I could not waste 20 diapers that were great in every way except one. (Well, actually I'm not a big fan of pocket openings inside the diaper instead of at the top. I have to reach in and get the insert instead of just shaking the diaper and it falls out. But that's just my opinion and nothing I can't live with.)

I decided to make the diaper water proof. How? Scrap PUL seems to be in excess around my house. I cut rectangle pieces 12x4inches (approximate) and sewed them in from the outside.I didn't want to take the diaper apart to sew in the scrap PUL. That just isn't worth the $4 I paid for them. Downfall to this: inserts don't fit as well. The upside: they don't leak.

Babyville Boutique: Making it easy to make cloth diapers

I know, it has been too long since my last post. Posts seem to take me a long time to perfect and being pregnant, running a business (not this one), and running after a toddler I always seemed to convince myself that I would make a post another day. Well, another day turned into over 7 months! The cloth diapering world has changed significantly in these past months. Let me tell you a little about it.

Joann's Craft and Fabric Store got rid of all their old PUL. And thank goodness for that! If you've read some of my old posts Joann's had some patterned PUL for sale in which the plastic was on the wrong side! It was very difficult to use to make cloth diapers. I still have quite a bit of the patterned old PUL that I just don't know what to do with.

In addition to the old PUL design flaw, the fabric was also faulty. I bought a huge amount of solid PUL for diapers. I made about 30 diapers and many of them the plastic is separating from the fabric! This was following the washing directions to the T and never drying them with heat. A few of my own I dried on low heat and the plastic not only separated from the fabric but also melted together so the interior of the diaper was just a clump of plastic. I couldn't even fit an insert into it and I don't think they were all that waterproof. I had to through several diapers away. I wish I would have taken a photo of it before I trashed them to share the disaster with you but, alas, I forgot.

When I went to Joann's to get more fabric they told me they not longer sold PUL. I was very disappointed until about a month later.

Joann's, Hancock's, and Hobby Lobby are now carrying the Babyville Boutique cloth diapering line. 

 And it's pretty awesome. They have a book available to buy that has patterns for different sizes and types of diapers. They even show how to make your diapers with gussets!

 When I first began making my own cloth diapers it was difficult to find patterns or the materials to make diapers. I had to design my own pattern and search all other the internet for good materials. But these stores have a whole section now with all you need.

 PUL in a variety of colors and patterns. They come in pre-cut pieces for one diaper or on bolts (Bolts are not available at Hancock's). The PUL is very good quality with a much thicker plastic side that can be dried in the dryer. I recommend buying the PUL by the yard on the bolt and not in these packages because its cheaper. The point in making your own cloth diapers is to save money. The bolts are longer than the old PUL so more diapers can fit per yard. (With the pattern in the book a medium diaper fits 6 per yard.)

I made several of the diapers in the book. The easiest pattern is made with fold over elastic, which I think is genius! It cuts down the actually sewing time to make the diaper by nearly half. No longer do you have to sew and then turn it right side out, make a casing, do a top stitch, sew in the elastic and so on. It's just one step and the elastic folds over very easily. They have the elastic in the Babyville section as well in fun colors (above). These are great if you're making just a couple diapers but if your making several I would recommend going with Dritz white FOE (left). It's quite a bit cheaper if you but it by the yard and you can use a coupon that Joann's is known for.

 They have the pliers you need to press your snaps, the snaps and Velcro in a variety of colors, and cute little labels to sew on the back of the diapers. KAMsnaps.com offer snaps at a much cheaper price but if you are only making a few these snaps are great. I would also buy the Velcro by the yard instead of in the small, individual diaper packages Babyville Boutique sells.

Overall, I am very happy they have made this easily available to the public. If you buy all your products from the Babyville section you're looking at spending about $10 per diaper. If you buy the snaps, Velcro, FOE by the yard or online your looking a spending closer to $5 per diaper.

 Either way you are saving money. The average price to purchase a diaper is about $17.

My cousin and I are both pregnant right now. We are trying to get all of our diaper stuff ready. With the help of my aunt we spent nine 12 hour days making:

• 49 Babyville diapers with gussets and adjustable snaps
• 9 small GreenCheeks PP diapers
• 28 nursing pads
• 30 wipes
• 1 nursing cover
• 2 wet bags
• 3 pail liners

 Here is a photo of one of the Babyville diapers we made. It's a medium pattern with two rows of snaps to make the size adjustable.