Monday the 21st the 2nd annual flats challenge started, have you given flats a chance?
SoftBums are an ideal cover to use with your flats. The Echo cover will hold the flats perfectly in place thanks to the super soft microfleece, and the super trim fit of the cover and the flat will fit wonderfully under any clothing. And they are SUPER TRIM!!! Love that part :)
The Omni with the optional pocket is amazing for stuffing your flats! You can stuff several flats in the generous pocket for Night time too!
(This is a Flat from IKEA that was in a 2 pack for $4. I really LOVE the soft green print on this one! The other one is just plain white, but they are both Super soft, Trim, Cheap, and absorbent as all get out. It was really easy to fold this into the "Pad Fold" or rectangle to fit it into my SoftBums ECHO shell, took me all of about 10 seconds, lol)
Just like every other form of insert, flats have their pros and cons and they have some awesome pros! Just to name a couple;
1. They are cheap! (If you are just starting out with cloth diapers you'd only need 3-5 SoftBums shells + 12-24 Flats for enough diapers for a day's worth! That's $80 to get started with some really good diapers!)
2. Easy to Fold into a rectangle (called Pad Fold on some sites)to fit into a SoftBums shell.
3. SUPER TRIM (love this pro best personally)
4. Wash easy, and dry fast! (for newbies to cloth diapers, this is one diapering combo that you seriously CAN'T screw up!)
You can find flats to buy at lots of places, we saw some at kelly's closet
But, you can always improvise and use other things as a flat diaper. Try getting Flour sacks from a local store like Walmart or Target, they are super soft, and just the right size. Or tea towels work well too.
Sarah, SoftBums founder told me a story where her and her family got stranded at an airport and ended up staying there for 3 days. She had no way to go shopping and only had flats and some SoftBums covers with her. She hand washed the flats in the sink and hung them to dry at night and they were dry in the morning!
In the spirit of the challenge I am giving flats a try! I am leaving to go camping... like 30 minutes ago, seriously.
Sarah convinced me to give them a try, so I packed some in with my standard pods, a Large and Small zippered wetbag, and will let you know how they go! I do not plan on hand washing, but if needed I brought my biodegradable soap to wash with.
(This is the IKEA Flat Pad folded inside my ECHO SoftBums Shell. It's really uber trim, and would be really easy to show a friend who was new to cloth diapers and not sure how to start.)
Since I am new to this whole Flats thing, this site helped a lot; dirty diaper laundry.
Check out these videos:
How to pad fold a flat
how to kite fold
How to origami style fold a flat
How to diaper bag fold a flat
When I get home on Monday I will tell you how it all went!
Who else will give it a try!?
im mostly worried about how absorbent the ikea ones are for my 14 month old.
ReplyDeletebut still would love to try for baby #2 in the future
I just got my flats in the mail yesterday & I am excited to get them prepped so I can try them out! I won't be replacing my pods anytime soon, but with a 15 month old and a baby due in 7 weeks I am hoping it will help stretch my current Softbums stash long enough to get past the newborn stage of 24 diaper changes/day!
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