Help- what to do with prefolds??

[Ella]

A lovely BB member Nettie has posted me a whole lot of prefolds and other nappies, but I've never seen a prefold, so what the do I do with it???

Does it need a cover? Are they good to use, Are they one size fits all or sized and if so how do I know if they're the right size?

Help.....

Ella

[HotI]

yep, you need a cover.

check out the nappy lady (uk) for ways to fold them.

[Gigi]

google "how to fold a prefold"

they are youtube videos about people using "prefold diapers" on their babies

lookup the booroi site who sell prefolds, they have a diagram that shows you.
(PLUS you will see differnt SIZED prefolds for sale there, which you can read those measurements and compare those sizes, to what you have in front of you. it all boils down to your child's rise really, as long as when you fold the prefold lengthwise, that this length is long enough for your child's rise. (navel to small of back). if it's too short, just like with a nappy, if you can see bottom crack, you're not going to have containment).

how to fold a prefold?
bascially, if you can fold a letter sized piece of paper into three, there, you have just shown the skill level needed to fold a prefold!

you are just folding it into a pad
placing it INSIDE a cover (preferably a cover with leg gussets)
place a microfleece liner on top, for the "stay dry" effect for your bub's bottom
if the cover is a snug fit, no need to snappi shut the prefold
if the cover is a little big, you'll need to snappi shut the prefold

what i have described, is using the prefold AS the nappy.
(this is how i used the prefolds for my newborn)

if your child is nine months old now, it might be more useful for you to use the prefold as
- a pocket stuffer for pocket nappies
- a trifold inside a fitted nappy, or to "outer boost" a fitted if the trifold doesn't sit inside the fitted, without causing leg gape
- extra boosting for night nappies

i find it makes a big diff, what you use teh prefold for, depending on what the prefold is made out of. e.g the cotton prefolds seem to be bulky and not very absorbent to me, wherease teh bamboo ones seem to be much trimmer and much more absorbent. so i used them in deiffernt ways, due to that.

prefolds, trifolds, bamboo foldups, they are VERY useful items to have in your mcn stash. they ABSORB fluid, that's why they are so useful.

the most absorbent prefolds take the longest to dry
so sometimes, having less absorbent prefolds around is not so bad, as they dry faster.

if you are new to mcn (i'm not sure if you're new to MCN or just new to prefolds), the ozclothnappies yahoo group is great to read, especially their FAQ (freq asked questions) link. the Nappycino forum is great too, especially the "ages n stages" section, you can just jump to your child's stage, and read up on what other parents do with mcn and what works for them. Plus it's two more places to ask questions, good to have places to ask. (when IRL it can be hard to find other parents using modern cloth nappies).

[Ella]

Gigi,
Thanks what a comprehensive reply. If I can just ask one more question, I was sent two snappis in the pack, how do I 'snappi the prefold shut'???