Living in Costa Rica can be expensive if you rely on things imported from the US. So, when I calculated that I was spending a dollar a day on disposable nursing pads I decided something was going to have to change. Besides being unbelievably healthy for mom and baby, nursing is supposed to be the cheaper way to go.
(By the way, I did research the prices of disposable pads in the States. You will still spend around 33 cents a day on a pair of pads. That is almost 122 dollars a year! That would be a great starter bank account for your little one. Put that money to good use instead of throwing it in the trash can at the end of each day.)
I decided it was time to make some washable nursing pads. But not the old fashioned kind that leave you with a flashing neon sign of wet across your chest screaming "Dairy products made here!" I wanted something that would work just as well or better than the expensive, eco-damaging, wasteful alternative. Here is what I came up with.
I had soft fleece left over from some burp cloths I had made for Eisley (hence the bears). I also used a crib pad I had lying around the house (the kind designed to protect the bed when baby's diaper leaks). That's all. It didn't cost me anything and I found a purpose for those extra scraps.
To make:
1. Trace a large glass or something circular. I used brown paper as my pattern.
2. Lay one piece of fleece on top of the mattress pad. Pin the fabrics together. Trace the circle and cut out.
3. Using the zig zag stitch on the machine, stitch around the edges of the circle. Sometimes the fabric would slip a little bit so I stitched just inside the edge and trimmed off the extra fabric around the edges.
So, give it a try and enjoy the money you save and the feeling you get knowing you are not contributing to earth's waste build up!
