Cloth Trainers #5

Unfortunately for Tate, I think he inherited my family's bed-wetting gene. I know it is common for kids to wet the bed until age 5, but he has always been a heavy wetter and nighttime is the worst. We have always struggled to find nighttime cloth solutions for him. Now he is a big 4 1/2 year old and he doesn't want to wear cloth diapers (not that we have any that fit). 
It has been months since Tate has had a dry morning, so regular underwear isn't an option. In our experience, most commercial cloth trainers we have tried aren't absorbent or large enough to accommodate extra absorbency. The key word is "trainer" and we need a super absorbent pull-up. I'm sure there are others that struggle with this, so I thought I would share what finally found that works for us... most of the time.

All of the free patterns I found online were for smaller kids (size 2-3T). I tried drafting my own, but I couldn't ever get the dimensions just right. I made one for Mayer using my own pattern and the fit was weird, so I abandoned the idea of using it to make Tate one. I really like this pattern, but I needed to modify it to make it work.

The pattern piece on top is the original size, a 3T. I printed the pattern, then used my printer to enlarge it to the size I wanted. I think I enlarged it 110% to get approximately a size 5T/ child's small.
To get enough absorbency for Tate, we have to add a toddler prefold inside the pull-up. I added 1" to the rise of the pattern to accommodate the extra length and bulk.

I never followed the tutorial, I just used the pattern. I have made three different versions. All are made from t-shirt scraps, Babyville Boutique PUL and a bamboo 2 layer soaker in the front. The pattern/ tutorial says to put the absorbent layer in the middle, but since I have boys, I decided to put it in front.

 

The first version is made from two layers t-shirt scraps and Babyville Boutique PUL with two layers of bamboo in front. The pull up on the left has FOE (Fold over elastic) on top, but the one on the right just has a knit waistband. Since the side panels are just 2 layers of t-shirt material, they will leak if you have a heavy wetter. When Mayer does potty at night, it isn't enough to get the sides wet. We usually stick a hemp or cotton insert in to help with absorbency. Tate is a heavy wetter and even stuffed with a toddler prefold, he still has to wear his under fleece pants or shorties or the bed gets wet.

This pair is my favorite because he can wear this pair without an extra fleece cover. I made it the same as the other pair, except I covered the side panels with microfleece scraps I had. It is super stretchy and goes on easy.

This pair was requested by Tate. He wanted a solid orange pair. I covered the side panels with the same Babyville Boutique PUL as I use in the center. Since the PUL doesn't stretch as much as the microfleece, it is a little harder to pull this version up.

Using Fabric Scraps

Confession: I am a fabric scrap hoarder. If there are several inches left after I cut out what I need for a project, I will save it. I have accumulated a lot of scraps that needed dealing with, so I came up with a few projects. I bet you can't tell what color I have the most scraps of...

Bean/ rice bags, scarves (I have made 5 so far), 2 pairs of nighttime boxers (I enlarged & slightly modified this pattern) and 2 pair of cloth trainers (a pattern I drafted)

 

I was really excited by the Grover trainer, but Michael said it looked like a blue Gumby. (Actually, he said a claymation character and I figured out whom he was talking about.) My sister and my mom said it might be able to pass for Cookie Monster, but not Grover. By the way, the lighting isn't very good, but his nose is pink. Even though Mayer's favorite color is blue, he wants me to make an Elmo one too. Thankfully, I think I have enough red and orange scraps in my stash! I might take pictures of the process and share. The pattern still needs a little tweaking too.
A few pictures of with my models:

  

Wordless Wednesday: The Joys of Potty Training

 Mayer has been interested in potty training for quite a while now, but only when it is convenient for him!

 A pair of semi-homemade trainers... I took a store bought pair and lined the center with OBF (organic bamboo fleece) for extra absorbency and Babyville Boutique Robots PUL to help keep his pants dry.

 While we would love to have less diaper laundry, clearly we aren't rushing him because this has been going on for several months now... at Mayer's convenience, of course!

Free From Trash Challenge

I decided to participate in The Eco Chic's Free From Trash challenge. I won't post everything on my blog, but will try to post a link to twitter, instagram or Pinterest when I post my project 366 pictures... which means I need to catch up on posting those! Over half of the items usually go in our recycle. We are so blessed to have single stream recycling in such a small town!

Day 1 is probably my favorite. I have made a lot out of old t-shirts and have a PInterest board dedicated to other projects I want to try.

Contour cloth  diapers

cloth inserts and also some mama cloth

I have even tried to make some cloth trainers... twice. Here's the first failed attempt. This pair is made from a t-shirt using the XXL Katrina's Sew Quick Soaker Pattern, which was difficult to pull on after I lined it with PUL, a layer of bamboo fleece and a bamboo soaker. It didn't have enough room to add extra inserts to provide enough protection for my heavy wetter.

I made a pair of leggings out of a maternity t-shirt, just to see if I could do it. I added the sleeves to make them longer, but I don't have a picture of the finished product.

I made a maxi skirt from 3 of Michael's white undershirts.

My favorite things to make are boxer briefs for Tate (and eventually Mayer) and yoga pants for myself.

 This is the first pair I made. It is a size 3T. The pattern and tutorial are from Sew A Straight Line. Tate loved them, but they only fit about a week because he is growing like a weed! He is as tall as both of his 5 year old cousins... good-bye hand-me-downs! :(

I used my printer at work to make the original pattern larger. These are 4T/5T. Instead of a regular elastic waistband, I used Babyville Boutique's fold over elastic. I LOVE FOE! I have a horrible time making waistbands and FOE has saved me from multiple tries to get the fit just right. The biggest problem with my new FOE love is the price. It is more expensive than regular elastic. The only place in town that carries any FOE is Hobby Lobby and they only stock the Babyville Boutique. It is $6.99 for a package of 2, which isn't horrible if you have a 40% off coupon.

Here is the first pair of yoga pants I made. The post even mentions I was having trouble with the waistband. I think I tried 3 different times to fix it before resorting to FOE.

Day 2: Both boys loved the bubble blower. The idea came from Pinterest.

Project 366: Day 121-125

It's interesting that some days I struggle to find one picture and other days it is easy to come up with several.

 Day 121: Cloth Trainers

He didn't want to model them for me.

 Day 122: May Day

This is what happened when Mayer tried to feed me. First he was going to eat my coconut Greek yogurt, but decided he did not like it and would feed it to me instead.

 The May baskets for Michael and me from the boys.

Tate was completely backwards in his bed.

 Day 123: Pool side

Mimi got a pool for the backyard.

 Day 124: Water Babies

 No matter what the temperature of the water is, they can't seem to resist!

Day 125: Special Delivery

I found two old mail bins at a garage sale a few years ago and they work perfectly to hold the toys in the living room. One has a hole in the bottom and recently Mayer has discovered he fits through the hole.

Cloth Trainers #4: Back to the Drawing Board

So my "Cloth Trainers #3: Finale" post was a little premature. After more than a month of staying dry virtually every night, Tate is back to being wet almost every morning. The EcoPosh trainers are definitely not enough protection for him. The absorbency with the Joey Bunz Premium Hemp Insert and TPU lining isn't enough to stop a nighttime leak from a heavy wetter. If I cover it with fleece (because he won't wear wool), then it is enough to keep his sheets dry.
I won a GroVia trainer and was excited to try it, but the results are still the same-- wet sheets in the morning. I have tried it with AppleCheeks bamboo double fold insert and another time with 2 Thirsties Hemp Inserts. Neither was enough absorbency. In the picture, I used a toddler prefold as the insert. I stuck a premium Joey Bunz hemp insert over the top of the trainer and covered with fleece shorties. Eventually he told me it was hurting him. I suspect it was digging into his chunky thighs, so I have no idea if it would have been successful.

We have been using some supped up undies with fleece shorties. I even ended up covering one pair with fleece so it's more like an all-in-one pull up style trainer. Those were working and still do most of the time, but sometimes it still isn't enough. In a desperate move I even put a toddler prefold and the Joey Bunz inside a pair of regular underwear.

 Here's what goes under the fleece: 2 layers of OBF (organic bamboo fleece) inside on wet zone, outside covered with 2 layers of flannel, 4 layers of OBV (organic bamboo velour) and 2 layers of flannel outside on wet zone

 "modeling"

I will have a few more experiments to try and at least one other failed experiment to share. Any ideas or suggestions for a heavy wetter are more than welcomed... cloth only, of course! :)

Babyville Boutique

I am so excited that our Hobby Lobby started carrying Babyville Boutique! Now I can repair diapers and it makes it easier to make my own too. I have made several projects using their materials. I replaced the damaged elastic in these Bummis covers with their FOE (fold over elastic). I am still trying to get the hang of using it. I also converted them from hook and loop closure to snaps. The first diapers I converted a diaper to snaps it was disastrous. I used my KAM snaps pliers with Babyville snaps and it worked so much better!

I has some FOE remnants, so I had some fun mixing it.

Their PUL comes in super cute prints too. I haven't made any diapers using it, but I did make cloth trainers. I have also made a wet bag and some pail liners. There is enough left for some all-in-two diapers and another wet bag in my "I'll-get-to that-project-soon" pile.

Babyville Boutique is hosting a giveaway during Happily Domestic's Oh Baby! Extravaganza. The prize package is amazing and Beth includes some great tips she learned for making your own diapers. I know it's just more to add to my "I'll-get-to that-project-soon" pile, but I have some time before Mayer is out of diapers. Luckily, I have several friends about to become cloth diaper mamas too!

Cloth Trainers #3: Finale

The inspiration for this trainer came from 2 different tutorials I found on Pinterest. When I saw this trainer, I knew the elastic wouldn't be getting replaced in at least one of the Bummis covers I have! I was going to use this pattern; but once I removed all of the elastic, the cover was bigger than the pattern. So I had to wing it.

 Here is what the cover looked like before and after I removed the damaged elastic. It was so bad, there was not a big difference in size.

 I'm not sure you can tell how bad it was based on the pictures, but it was discolored and crunchy.

After I removed the hook and loop strip and saw the holes, I decided to keep the flap on the inside.

I thought about using a pair of the underwear for the soaker portion. As you can see, it's just a little too big. I ended up with a modified prefold.

A combination of our city water and the top loader's agitator have started to break down the cotton fabric. First I cut some leg holes to match with the leg holes of the cover. Next, I sewed a Knickernappies Just Hemp insert/ booster to the center section of the prefold. Then I sewed up the sides. Note how I attached the cover to the modified prefold. I didn't want to add more holes to the front region of the PUL cover. (Just wait until you see what happens a little later...)

 I went with some FOE (fold over elastic) to attach the prefold to the cover.

As I am sewing, I thought heard the needle hit something, but it kept sewing. Then I realized it must have hit the clip holding the cover in place.

  Not only did I hit it, but I stitched it to the elastic and not just once, but THREE times! That, my friends, takes talent! No wonder my sewing machine doesn't like me.

 I sewed up the sides and added FOE to the leg gussets. Here's the finished product.

This would be a combination we would use at night. I can't get Tate to try it on for me. I have no idea how it fits. Why won't he try it on? I cheated.  I wasn't sure I could make anything thick enough. Before I finished this trainer, I jinxed myself. I redeemed some SwagBucks for Amazon gift cards and got 2 EcoPosh trainers. I'm sure the medium would fit him; but I got a large so I would have room to add extra absorbency and in case we needed them for a while. 

Since I ordered them, Tate has not had one wet diaper/ trainer at night! I lay a Joey Bunz Premium Hemp Insert inside. That has been ever-so-slightly damp a few times. He even woke up in the middle of the night to go potty the other night. So I have no idea how the EcoPosh works either! But he only wants to wear them, nothing I've made, because they are the closest to underwear. My little guy is growing up!

Cloth Trainers #2

This is part 2 in my quest to make a cloth trainer for Tate to wear at naps and overnight. (part 1) I am trying to use as many materials as we already have on hand. I did purchase some whitey tightys as my base for this project. I wanted a thicker pre-made trainer for added absorbency, but I couldn't find any in size 4T. Since it is thinner material, this is probably going to be just a nap time trainer for us. This could work at night if your child isn't a heavy wetter or just has random accidents.
Since I bought a six pack of undies, it gave me a lot of room to experiment with different absorbent materials under the PUL. After using one of the trainers, I realized I had made a horrible oversight... the elastic band is cotton and it absorbs liquid! I left it exposed in my first two experiments and of course, I figured it out the hard way. (It's easy to cover the blond, but not always easy to coverup/ deny blond moments!)

Tate spilled water in his car seat and the only "underwear" we had in the truck was a modified pair. He fell asleep before we made it home, so I left it on as a nighttime diaper. I added a premium Joey Bunz hemp insert to a Blueberry Coverall and hoped it would hold until morning. It would have been fine, if the elastic hadn't been sticking out the top of the cover. The trainer was soaked on the inside, dry on the outside and the hemp was barely damp (there was a little leakage around the legs too). I was pretty surprised that the exposed elastic was the only issue using something this thin at bedtime, especially since the inside was drenched!
Materials used in modified trainer #1:
* 1 pair cotton underwear size 4T
* Babyville Boutique Playful Friends Monkeys PUL
* Wet Zone: 4 layers flannel under PUL and 2 layers inside the undies

Inside Trainer #2

Materials used in modified trainer #2:
* 1 pair cotton underwear size 4T 
* Babyville Boutique Dinos PUL
* Wet Zone: 4 layers of flannel under PUL
* 2 layers of flannel covering the back under PUL

Reviewing my work and quite possibly discovered the reason Trainer #2 caused some damp spots near the legs

I could do an entire photo filled post of all my sewing blunders, but PUL has been particularly tricky. Spray adhesive is my good friend when working with PUL and my sewing machine has become my enemy! I have read the more seams you have, the greater the chance of leaks. So I skipped sewing all the way around the PUL in some spots. That may or may not have created some other leaks.

 Tate modeling a modified trainer.

 Here was my solution to the leaky waistband... wrapping it in PUL.
As you can see my sewing machine hates sewing PUL. It will skip entire sections and the only way I have found to get it to stitch again is to backstitch until it catches. It puts so many unnecessary holes, but I don't really know of another solution.