What to do with...

ManiacMcGee

the 40+ random blankets, cloth diapers, washcloths, etc that I received? 

My dear sister made me a beautiful diaper cake for my shower, but since I am cloth diapering she filled it with (thin/cheap) baby blankets of all sizes, washcloths, and those Gerber cloth diapers (which I won't use a diapers). They were all unpackaged so I can't return them.

The washcloths and baby blankets are all sorta thin and not very soft.

Any suggestions for practical uses of these things? 

AnneShirleyBlythe

Which Gerber diapers? The Gerber "prefolds" are crap. The Gerber birdseye flatfolds (they don't have a thick spot in the middle, are a large square) are FANTASTIC and the best burp cloths ever, so absorbent and cover so much. I bought a new pack for the new baby I love them so much. You could use the prefolds as burp cloths as well, they just aren't as nice. You can't have too many washcloths, just hold on to them. I would hold onto the blankets just in case, keep a few in the car in case you need something to lay baby down on, or they have a blowout in the carseat and you don't want them sitting in it before you can clean it, etc. 

 

Or you could even cut up the blankets and make wipes out of them. Just sew two squares of them together and you have some wipes.  

CarlaAndJames

Definitely burp rags. We got quite a few packages of receiving blankets and cloth diapers (the gerber ones), and that's our plan. Especially if you have an "explosive child" as my friend calls her son, you will go through a ton of them and be glad to have them!

jg_girl1

When I babysat my niece I used the Gerber cloth diapers for everything burps, spit ups, spills, and just plain baby clean up. I am so glad my sister would send her over with lots of these because they would get dirty pretty quickly. 

 

 

madhatter2003

the gerber ones make good burp rags.

the washcloths make great cloth wipes if you are cloth diapering. I actual bought several packs and prefer them to the actual cloth wipes I'd bought.

The towels are good  for covering the changing table cover for poo explosion diapers, for covering the carseat in hot cars, for keeping in the diaper bag as nursing covers (the 'hood' hooks really well onto your shoulder and then you can drape it over you.

weelass24

Use them as burp cloths.  They also are great for when the first stomach virus comes to town.  You can't have enough around to cover you, the baby, the floor, to mop up puke.  Seriously.

madhatter2003

weelass24:

Use them as burp cloths.  They also are great for when the first stomach virus comes to town.  You can't have enough around to cover you, the baby, the floor, to mop up puke.  Seriously.

This...good point. The first stomach virus hit and I was grateful to have anything clean to grab to wipe us up. Babies NEVER puke just once when they get sick.

AnneShirleyBlythe

madhatter2003:

weelass24:

Use them as burp cloths.  They also are great for when the first stomach virus comes to town.  You can't have enough around to cover you, the baby, the floor, to mop up puke.  Seriously.

This...good point. The first stomach virus hit and I was grateful to have anything clean to grab to wipe us up. Babies NEVER puke just once when they get sick.

Crap, I forgot about the projectile vomit.

armandos_girl

Ditto burp cloths.

You could also look into donating them to a battered women's shelter or some other charity.  I'm sure they would appreciate them.

Printergirl

We got soooo many washcloths that any yellow baby washcloth became a wipe for cloth dipes.

thin blankets and gerber dipes....burp rags.

MissMommyMac

AnneShirleyBlythe:

Which Gerber diapers? The Gerber "prefolds" are crap. The Gerber birdseye flatfolds (they don't have a thick spot in the middle, are a large square) are FANTASTIC and the best burp cloths ever, so absorbent and cover so much. I bought a new pack for the new baby I love them so much. You could use the prefolds as burp cloths as well, they just aren't as nice. You can't have too many washcloths, just hold on to them. I would hold onto the blankets just in case, keep a few in the car in case you need something to lay baby down on, or they have a blowout in the carseat and you don't want them sitting in it before you can clean it, etc. 

 

Or you could even cut up the blankets and make wipes out of them. Just sew two squares of them together and you have some wipes.  

Which prefolds do you suggest using for CD?

AnneShirleyBlythe

MissMommyMac:

AnneShirleyBlythe:

Which Gerber diapers? The Gerber "prefolds" are crap. The Gerber birdseye flatfolds (they don't have a thick spot in the middle, are a large square) are FANTASTIC and the best burp cloths ever, so absorbent and cover so much. I bought a new pack for the new baby I love them so much. You could use the prefolds as burp cloths as well, they just aren't as nice. You can't have too many washcloths, just hold on to them. I would hold onto the blankets just in case, keep a few in the car in case you need something to lay baby down on, or they have a blowout in the carseat and you don't want them sitting in it before you can clean it, etc. 

 

Or you could even cut up the blankets and make wipes out of them. Just sew two squares of them together and you have some wipes.  

Which prefolds do you suggest using for CD?

Green Mountain Diapers.com has some great ones, and a lot of CD stores carry indian or bleached prefolds, those are mostly fine.

 

The Gerber ones are not true prefolds. Real prefolds have layers of the same fabric through them. Gerber prefolds have a layer of batting in the middle that is not absorbent. They had good ones up until about 10ish years ago, then switched to the cheaper batting inner and are no good for actual diaper usage.  

 

ETA: For anyone who doesn't sew, batting is cottony fluff.  

ManiacMcGee

MissMommyMac:

AnneShirleyBlythe:

Which Gerber diapers? The Gerber "prefolds" are crap. The Gerber birdseye flatfolds (they don't have a thick spot in the middle, are a large square) are FANTASTIC and the best burp cloths ever, so absorbent and cover so much. I bought a new pack for the new baby I love them so much. You could use the prefolds as burp cloths as well, they just aren't as nice. You can't have too many washcloths, just hold on to them. I would hold onto the blankets just in case, keep a few in the car in case you need something to lay baby down on, or they have a blowout in the carseat and you don't want them sitting in it before you can clean it, etc. 

 

Or you could even cut up the blankets and make wipes out of them. Just sew two squares of them together and you have some wipes.  

Which prefolds do you suggest using for CD?

We have GMD prefolds (green mountain diapers). Mine are all ready to go and they are ridiculously higher in quality.

 

ManiacMcGee

So what you guys are saying is that the excretions of this little being are going to be so plentiful that the crappy blankets and towels will be well utilized?

 

Wonderful. Now I'll just *have* to go back to target to get another bin to store all my "explosion" rags in.

I like the idea of donating some to a womens shelter. I really do have an obscene amount.  

madhatter2003

ManiacMcGee:

So what you guys are saying is that the excretions of this little being are going to be so plentiful that the crappy blankets and towels will be well utilized?

 

Wonderful. Now I'll just *have* to go back to target to get another bin to store all my "explosion" rags in.

I like the idea of donating some to a womens shelter. I really do have an obscene amount.  

Yes  

Also, they make great toys. My kids will use them to 'bathe' their babies, my DD also uses the little washcloths (not ones I used for cloth wipes LOL) as 'pretend icing' over little boxes in her kitchen to make different color cakes.

MissMommyMac

AnneShirleyBlythe:

MissMommyMac:

AnneShirleyBlythe:

Which Gerber diapers? The Gerber "prefolds" are crap. The Gerber birdseye flatfolds (they don't have a thick spot in the middle, are a large square) are FANTASTIC and the best burp cloths ever, so absorbent and cover so much. I bought a new pack for the new baby I love them so much. You could use the prefolds as burp cloths as well, they just aren't as nice. You can't have too many washcloths, just hold on to them. I would hold onto the blankets just in case, keep a few in the car in case you need something to lay baby down on, or they have a blowout in the carseat and you don't want them sitting in it before you can clean it, etc. 

 

Or you could even cut up the blankets and make wipes out of them. Just sew two squares of them together and you have some wipes.  

Which prefolds do you suggest using for CD?

Green Mountain Diapers.com has some great ones, and a lot of CD stores carry indian or bleached prefolds, those are mostly fine.

 

The Gerber ones are not true prefolds. Real prefolds have layers of the same fabric through them. Gerber prefolds have a layer of batting in the middle that is not absorbent. They had good ones up until about 10ish years ago, then switched to the cheaper batting inner and are no good for actual diaper usage.  

 

ETA: For anyone who doesn't sew, batting is cottony fluff.  

Thank you!

heysupnatalie

my mom used the gerber cloth diapers as dust rags. they are real nice for that, haha.

augustjam16

I have a ton of the thin receiving blankets and I found that just having them around the house was helpful. Kept one on the living room chair, dining room, bathroom, bedroom. So I could pretty much be anywhere and grab one for either spit up or a leaky bottle or if its clean, use it to cover up. I would probably have 8 going at once then scoop them up, put them in the laundry and get more out. I did this for at least 6 months. It was nice to not have to walk very far and have one around. 

MG7

What about using them for cloth wipes?

redhotrachel35

I didn't get a ton of washcloths at my shower but I did get a ton of receiving blankets. A few of them were too small to be much use as a blanket, so I cut them up and am serging the edges so they can be used as cloth wipes (we're cloth diapering too.) Now I have a crap ton of soft flannel wipes in cute prints.

KhloesMom

The cheapie washcloths in bountiful quantities will also be a wonderful complement to your peri bottle post-delivery (if you're going vaj) for the first few weeks. I never knew how scary actual TP could be until delivering an 8lb baby with a 2nd degree tear.