Easy Cloth Diaper Burp Cloths

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Four weeks ago my sixth baby was born. I can't believe it has already been almost a month since he was born. I feel like getting this little guy here has been quite the adventure. This pregnancy was by far my most difficult and I had a few complications so I was very ready for it to be over and to not be pregnant anymore. The delivery was kind of the same, more complicated than any of my other births. In the end everything worked out great and a beautiful, healthy baby boy was handed to me. I was so relieved and happy to have my little baby boy here. Everything seemed to be going great and we were able to go home from the hospital the next day. His brothers and sister all loved him from the start and couldn't get enough of their new baby. 

A week later we took him in to see his doctor for a followup from the hospital, just to check his weight and stuff like that. I had some concerns that I shared with the doctor who then suggested that we head over to the lab to have some tests done. I was worried about jaundice because he was looking pretty yellow and two of our other kids had to be on lights because of high bilirubin so it was something I was familiar with. We thought we might have to do lights at home but we were really hoping he wouldn't need them. A couple of hours after we went to the lab we got a phone call from the doctor. Not only were his levels high they were dangerously high, like almost to the level that causes brain damage. They were too high for home treatment so he told us we needed to head straight up to the children's hospital and be admitted. We went up there thinking we would be there overnight, maybe two nights at the most. 

Unfortunately our little guy seemed to puzzle everyone. He didn't quite fit the mold for any kind of jaundice. His numbers came down great the first day, enough that they took him off of the lights and told us that as long as he kept coming down on his own we would be able to go home. They didn't keep coming down, instead they started going back up. So we were told we would be there until they figured out what was causing it. Our overnight stay at the hospital had turned into an indefinite stay. They started doing all sorts of tests on his blood and his liver. Everything came back normal. They also had us do a trial on formula to see if breastmilk was the problem. Once he started on the formula his numbers finally started going back down on their own. We had finally figured out the problem and after 6 days in the hospital we were able to take our baby back home. It did mean that he had to be switched over completely to formula, something I had never done before. My other 5 kids were all breastfed so this was new territory for me. I had never had to worry about things like what kind of bottles or formula to use. I was actually surprised at how difficult of a time I had with the idea of not being able to nurse. However, I was mostly just really happy to have my baby home and be back together as a family. Having him in the hospital and the other kids at home and not being able to be in both places at once was no fun. 

At Target we were able to pick up some Playtex Baby TM  VentAire ® bottles as well as some prefolded cloth diapers because it wasn't long before I realized that one thing that I definitely needed to have on hand was burp cloths. The VentAire bottles are made with vents on the bottom to help the baby not get as much air as they drink, therefore helping with gas and spit up but he can still be kind of dribbly when he drinks his bottles and it is nice to have something right there to wipe up the dribbles. At the hospital they had a drawer full of cloth diapers to use for burp cloths and they worked really well. I knew that I had seen people sew strips of fabric to cloth diapers to make them into burp cloths that were a little prettier or funner than just a plain cloth diaper so I decided to make some for us. They were really quick and easy to make and you don't need a lot of fabric, I just used some fat quarters and you can probably get 3 from each fat quarter. You can use any fabric print you want so we went with some superhero and character prints for fun as well as some that were just cute babyish prints. 

How to Make Cloth Diaper Burp Cloths

You will need:

• Prefolded cloth diapers
• fat quarters or 1/4 yard of fabric
• rotary cutter, ruler, mat, and scissors
• iron and ironing board
• pins
• coordinating thread
• sewing machine

Instructions:

First measure the thick center part of of the cloth diaper. Add one inch to that measurement and cut fabric strips that size. My center panels measured 5" x 19" so I cut my fabric 6" x 20". 

Fold in all 4 sides 1/2" and press. Place that piece on top of the center panel of your diaper and pin in place.

Sew around all 4 edges close to the edge. 

That is all there is to making cloth diaper burp cloths. Super quick and easy and a set of them with a pack of bottles would make a great baby gift. A little bit of handmade with a practical store bought gift. 

Be sure to stop by Target for all your baby needs and from now through September 3rd you can get Playtex bottles and cups for 10% off at Target with cartwheel. Target is also a great place for baby registries. Also check out some other ideas using Playtex VentAire and Drop Ins.