[flats]

Flats!
I've known about flats for a long time. I know they are typically what you think of when you think of cloth diapering "back in the day". I've always wanted to try them out but never wanted to spend the money on actual flats, lest I hate them, and I didn't have any receiving blankets leftover from my son's newborn days.
Luckily I was given a bunch of blankets from various people for my daughter.

Here is what I love about flats:
they're versatile.
easy to wash/dry.
fit a large range of sizes.
fairly absorbent if you add a little booster.
can come in cute prints.
pins well.
can be padfolded and laid in a cover if you aren't into pins or snappis.
easy to find things around the house to use as a flat.
the poo pocket - no EBF poo blowouts!

Here is what I don't like:
can be difficult to snappi (at least my blankets are).
sucks absorbency wise unless you add a booster of some sort. not a problem if you want to change very often (ie every little pee).
can be a pain to fold with a wiggly baby. wasn't a problem for me, though. just fold it before you bring your baby to the changing table if it's an issue.

Here's my stash of receiving blanket flats:



Nice and girly. :)

Here is the fold I used most often (in other words, the only one that worked, LOL).



Lay baby on top of that and pull middle up, pull sides in and pin or snappi.

This is my three year old wearing a flat:



I got him to cooperate by letting him photograph me while I took pics of him. :)



It looks a little messy because I'm a total flat newbie! I'm still trying to get the perfect fit and absorbency!
Here is my three month old with a pinned flat on, same fold. Don't mind the blurry pic, she won't ever stay still!



I'm really liking flats thus far. If they were super absorbent I would love them even more.
Maybe if I used ACTUAL flats made for diapering they would work a little better. ;)