hoopdeedoo: On Barf, Birdseye, and Burp Cloths

Friday, June 29, 2012

On Barf, Birdseye, and Burp Cloths

Why I Prefer Birdseye 3 Ply Prefolds for my HoopDeeDoo Burpcloths.

{warning: super grody baby talk ahead!}

I've had some people ask about the burpcloths I'm making for the shop, so let me address it here: I use 3 ply birdseye weave prefold diapers, which are lighter weight. Many boutique burp cloths are 6 ply, but I don't use them anymore.

Why?

{fabric: ikea}

They don't fit the HoopDeeDoo philosophy of pretty + practical.

My own personal experience as a mom comes into play here. Sorry to get graphic, but I had a baby with severe reflux, so I know burpcloths. I tried them all. I gave up on the puffy 6 plys very quickly. A 6 ply Chinese prefold gauze weave diaper is great for liquids (ahem: urine) and keeping it "inside" a diaper, but it simply doesn't absorb thicker liquids as quickly (ahem: vomit). So you get the dreaded runoff or smearing. Pretty, but not practical.

I eventually just bought a pack of plain white birdseye 3 plys and used them forever. They worked like a charm and took up less room in the diaper bag, but were kind of boring. Practical, but not pretty.

I always wanted the kind of burp cloths that I am now making for my shop.

{fabric: alexander henry. find in the shop here.}

Yes, the thick ones seem so luxurious and pretty on the boutique shelf. But baby barf ain't pretty, folks. Young mamas in the trenches of reflux and sleep deprivation need absorbency and less barf on their backs.

Just keepin' it real.

Put yourself in a new mama's shoes for a moment. Let's say it's Mother's Day and you got a 5 minute hot shower as your gift, and you're disturbingly excited about going to church because it's the first time you've left the house all week, and your precious 3 week old horks all over that fat fluffy burp cloth which doesn't absorb anything so all of the putrescence streams down the back of your new Ann Taylor sweater set (ok, it's a hand me down from your mother in law, but new to you) - yes, it will be the end of the world. I promise. You will first cry the ugly cry, and then you will crack and start using hand towels as burpcloths until you can get some decent absorbent burpies, even if they are ugly, just as long as they suck up the vomit and fold down small enough to get into the diaper bag.

(Completely fictional story.)

{fabric: alexander henry. find in the shop here .}

Anyways, to keep things both pretty and practical, I chose an absorbent birdseye cloth as the base and added a cotton fabric strip to pretty it up. Prewashed on hot. Machine dried on hot. Cause new mamas want to know that the thing is going to survive some harsh treatment.

Give me practical any day of the week. But make it pretty while you're at it. :)