So, you know what else has got to be a huge waste of plastic?

[conuly]

Pads. Seriously. Every last disposable pad out there is lined with plastic, and packaged in plastic, and anyway, all those chemicals near your sensitive spots...

Can't stand tampons, though (which are boxed and then wrapped in plastic, and often individually sealed with some plastic... geez, and the ones you can buy in stores are all bleached* and... yeah).

So I'm totally making (much cheaper than buying, I suspect) my own pads to reuse. Does anybody have some decent patterns that I can find?

*_{And why is it that I can spend a dollar to buy a crappy (sorry) roll of toilet paper that's wrapped in paper, or I can spend that same dollar to buy a four better rolls, but they have to be wrapped in plastic? And is it possible to get unbleached toilet paper? Again, sensitive areas?}

Comments

[feebeeglee.livejournal.com]

First off, consider cloth wipes as well instead of TP. Little flannel squares in a darkish plaid pattern, say, 7-8 inches on a side?

(For anyone who thinks ew! poo! I say what, you don't buy wash and wear undies? I promise you there are many many poo molecules [no matter how well you wipe with TP] in your washer as I type!)

Secondly, here is a good pattern for cloth pads:

http://www.sleepingbaby.net/jan/Baby/PADS.html

I'd use a thrift-store waterproof nylon windbreaker or similar for a waterproof layer, if you want one. I only went with waterproof for postpartum pads.

[conuly]

I should have thought about Jan's page.

[lizziey.livejournal.com]

All I have to say is...


Diva. Cup.

Ten years, no worries. And you get a cute flower pin. :)

[xiggaroo.livejournal.com]

glad you like yours. ;)

ps, connie - no reported cases of tss with diva cups. ever.

[lizziey.livejournal.com]

You know, I need to find out how soon after birth I can re-start using mine. Is iot not ok for lochia flow, or can I start right away with it. i HATE the "daiper rash" i get from pads (and underwear...)

[lizziey.livejournal.com]

Oh, shucks. :(

[xiggaroo.livejournal.com]

Menstrual cups are "not to be used during post-natal bleeding due to the risk of inflammation". And that's from a Finnish website, so I'd assume it isn't just one of those "we can't recommend x... cause if we did we might get the sweat sued right off our ballsacs" things.

Depends? :P (http://www.depend.com/products/individual/fitted.asp) ()

[velvetchamber.livejournal.com]

You might also want to consider cups or sponges. I don't know anything of sponges or reusable pads, but I have a DivaCup () and like it. Then there is also The Keeper and "The Keeper Moon Cup" () and the Mooncup (). My sister has a Keeper and likes it, but I didn't want to increase my exposure to latex any more than I already get exposed at labs.

If you want to go with sewing your own pads I'd recommend looking at or even trying (and dissecting) commercial reusable pads, just to get an idea of what ideas there are out there.

[conuly]

If I could afford commercial pads, I'd buy them. And I don't like sticking stuff in me, really....

[velvetchamber.livejournal.com]

Perhaps not, but it's very different from tampons (and for that matter other phallic objects of varying sizes). What I liked the best with switching to a cup was that my vagina felt a lot better, without me having realised it wasn't feeling as good as it could have been. Also, the annoying thing about pads is that one has to wear underwear, and underwear in the night is just not right (yay for rhyming).

[conuly]

Sorry for the terseness - a lot was/is going on.

[velvetchamber.livejournal.com]

Nothing to be sorry about, I'm just an advocate of cup use, because it can be really nice.

Besides, who can skip talking of phallic things if there is a chance?

[neurotica0.livejournal.com]

I am so glad I made the switch to cloth pads! I prefer the ones I made on my own to the ones I purchased off of eBay, because the ones I made were cotton flannel (covers and liner) rather than fleece (covers, with hemp liners). I think the fleece actually sort of repels moisture, rather than absorbing it immediately. The hemp liners are very good though.

I don't have a pattern though, since when I made the pads, it was as part of a project through a feminist organization I was with. I really wish I had a pattern though! It seems everyone selling them online and all the patterns I can find online are geared toward all-in-one pads, and I prefer the liner and cover to be seperate.

[prezzey.livejournal.com]

In Hungary we mostly use unbleached toilet paper.

[ser-kai.livejournal.com]

We have unbleached, recycled toilet paper.

I find it much better than the most expensive stuff.

[marveen.livejournal.com]

Cloth pads are simple. I make mine on a simple rectangle, with a layer of terrycloth between two layers of flannel. About an 8x10 rectangle gives you a number of folding options.

[feebeeglee.livejournal.com]

First off, consider cloth wipes as well instead of TP. Little flannel squares in a darkish plaid pattern, say, 7-8 inches on a side?

(For anyone who thinks ew! poo! I say what, you don't buy wash and wear undies? I promise you there are many many poo molecules [no matter how well you wipe with TP] in your washer as I type!)

Secondly, here is a good pattern for cloth pads:

http://www.sleepingbaby.net/jan/Baby/PADS.html

I'd use a thrift-store waterproof nylon windbreaker or similar for a waterproof layer, if you want one. I only went with waterproof for postpartum pads.

[conuly]

I should have thought about Jan's page.

[lizziey.livejournal.com]

All I have to say is...


Diva. Cup.

Ten years, no worries. And you get a cute flower pin. :)

[xiggaroo.livejournal.com]

glad you like yours. ;)

ps, connie - no reported cases of tss with diva cups. ever.

[lizziey.livejournal.com]

You know, I need to find out how soon after birth I can re-start using mine. Is iot not ok for lochia flow, or can I start right away with it. i HATE the "daiper rash" i get from pads (and underwear...)

[lizziey.livejournal.com]

Oh, shucks. :(

[xiggaroo.livejournal.com]

Menstrual cups are "not to be used during post-natal bleeding due to the risk of inflammation". And that's from a Finnish website, so I'd assume it isn't just one of those "we can't recommend x... cause if we did we might get the sweat sued right off our ballsacs" things.

Depends? :P (http://www.depend.com/products/individual/fitted.asp) ()

[velvetchamber.livejournal.com]

You might also want to consider cups or sponges. I don't know anything of sponges or reusable pads, but I have a DivaCup () and like it. Then there is also The Keeper and "The Keeper Moon Cup" () and the Mooncup (). My sister has a Keeper and likes it, but I didn't want to increase my exposure to latex any more than I already get exposed at labs.

If you want to go with sewing your own pads I'd recommend looking at or even trying (and dissecting) commercial reusable pads, just to get an idea of what ideas there are out there.

[conuly]

If I could afford commercial pads, I'd buy them. And I don't like sticking stuff in me, really....

[velvetchamber.livejournal.com]

Perhaps not, but it's very different from tampons (and for that matter other phallic objects of varying sizes). What I liked the best with switching to a cup was that my vagina felt a lot better, without me having realised it wasn't feeling as good as it could have been. Also, the annoying thing about pads is that one has to wear underwear, and underwear in the night is just not right (yay for rhyming).

[conuly]

Sorry for the terseness - a lot was/is going on.

[velvetchamber.livejournal.com]

Nothing to be sorry about, I'm just an advocate of cup use, because it can be really nice.

Besides, who can skip talking of phallic things if there is a chance?

[neurotica0.livejournal.com]

I am so glad I made the switch to cloth pads! I prefer the ones I made on my own to the ones I purchased off of eBay, because the ones I made were cotton flannel (covers and liner) rather than fleece (covers, with hemp liners). I think the fleece actually sort of repels moisture, rather than absorbing it immediately. The hemp liners are very good though.

I don't have a pattern though, since when I made the pads, it was as part of a project through a feminist organization I was with. I really wish I had a pattern though! It seems everyone selling them online and all the patterns I can find online are geared toward all-in-one pads, and I prefer the liner and cover to be seperate.

[prezzey.livejournal.com]

In Hungary we mostly use unbleached toilet paper.

[ser-kai.livejournal.com]

We have unbleached, recycled toilet paper.

I find it much better than the most expensive stuff.

[marveen.livejournal.com]

Cloth pads are simple. I make mine on a simple rectangle, with a layer of terrycloth between two layers of flannel. About an 8x10 rectangle gives you a number of folding options.