Today I want to talk about my obsession with receiving blankets. I’ve talked about receiving blankets and cloth diapering before but never dedicated an entire post to the topic. I have been using receiving blankets with my kids for over three years now (because yes, I updated this post in 2018). Want to learn more about cloth diapering? Check out my book, Cloth Diapers: the ultimate guide to textiles, washing, and more.
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The cheapest cloth diaper insert is anything you can repurpose. You could bring out those old t-shirts and use them, or cut up an old cotton towel, blanket, or sheet. These are all great things to repurpose for the purpose of soaking up pee in your child’s diaper without breaking the budget. We could talk about other budget-friendly cloth diapers here.
What’s the Deal with Receiving Blankets?
Receiving blankets is one of the cheapest, most affordable, absorbent material you could use for cloth diapering and these two reasons, plus more is why I am smitten about Receiving Blankets.
Microfibre might be cheap, but it is not awesome, I’d rather touch a spider than touch microfibre. Flour Sack Towels are also cheap, but I’m not a fan.
- Cheap & Affordable.
- Reliable Absorbency.
- Simple, Straightforward, No stink washing.
- Easy to Use.
- Multipurpose
Why not buy new?
New receiving blankets are not affordable. Seriously. A new package will cost you 15+ dollars, and work out to like $8/each. At that price, you might as well buy a SmartFold or GroVia Prefold diaper or a HumBird Flat. [okay, those are not fair comparisons but hey]
Buying them used is super easy, get onto your local buy and sell (BST) group and look. Usually, parents sell them for $1-2 a piece. You can also find them at second-hand shops for similar prices.
For $1-2 a recieving blanket, you can barely buy microfibre inserts for that cost.
When you buy them used, you’re also reusing a product and potential diverting them from our waste streams. You could switch to family cloth and reduce waste, or you could recycle receiving blankets from a friend. From an environmental stance, this is a win for me because sometimes things need a second chance in life before they hit the can.
Always Absorbent & More
After a time, microfibre begins to wear out because as a plastic based product it sheds while being washed. Natural fibres begin to disintegrate too (that’s why you get holey products), but their life expectancy seems to be much longer and complaints of reduced absorbency much fewer.
Not only are we talking time, but a large Carters receiving blanket will hold upwards o 12-14 oz of absorbency. That’s like two microfibre pads and fewer COMPRESSION LEAKS. (That’s what happens when something heavy sits on a wet spongey absorbency). I also believe this is significantly trimmer, even when padfolded because it’s less fluffy.
Double them up for night time, and use one during the day. It’s all-purpose, all day kind of absorbency.
Easy Washing
If you’re stressed out about washing cloth diapers, flat cloth diapers are the answer for you. This love of receiving blankets also applies to any flat cloth diaper. Because it’s just one layer of material, there’s nothing complicated about washing, and it’s less likely to hold the stink because of their’s no layers for stinky things to get trapped in.
That’s why we use them for the Flats and Handwashing challenge because it’s just easy. My receiving blankets have yet to stink, unlike my fitted diapers, my AIO, or any of my other absorbent materials.
Fold & Go
You’re probably thinking but now Bailey, I have to fold diapers. Well, yea, but it takes like less than thirty seconds. I find folding receiving blankets super straightforward, and no different than folding any other basket of laundry. I lay mine on top of pockets in a padfold because in my opinion stuffing a diaper takes too much time.
Multipurpose
Have you ever been somewhere and thought fudge I should have brought XYorZ? Well, there’s a good chance a Receiving blanket can solve those problems. Clean up a big mess, act as impromptu nursing cover, maybe a little blanket to sit on? Or a sunshade for the stroller? A receiving blanket in your bag offers a plethora of options should you need it for something else.
A few other things I like about receiving blankets – The pretty colours they come in. The connect with snappis and Boingo’s without a problem.
Have you tried receiving blankets for your cloth diapers? What’s your take? Love or hate?
I exclusively cloth diaper my toddler with receiving blankets. Sometimes we use a GroVia Size 3 prefold, but really there isn’t anything out there I like any better. He’s a big kid, and he’s outsized my traditional sized prefolds, so these are quick and affordable. Creating this stash cost me $15.
I’ve actually replaced all my microfiber inserts with homemade flannel sheet tried folds! Flannel sheets are easy to find cheap at thrift stores and a king size sheet set will make around 15-18 pretty beefy inserts (probably could get about 25-28 newborn size or light wetter thickness). I could serge the edges as flats, but they wash and dry very well as tri-folds and there’s less fussing (receiving blankets could easily also be pre-folded and sewn into tri-folds for those who hate wash day prep).
So I took your advice and bought second hand receiving blankets to cloth diaper our LO. My question is the washing. The tags says wash on cold gentle and dry on low. I imagined using hot water to wash all the yuck away. How do you wash yours?
Yup. I wash on high hot water. It might shrink (a little bit maybe, mostly the dryer will do that overtime) but that’s the best way to get out the poop. Flannel is pretty resilient. I’ve been washing mine for years and they wear a little bit but not much more than fading.
Thanks for the idea! I hadn’t thought of that before
I hough some recieving blankets used, and I got some new at my baby shower. How do I prep the new ones for diaper use? 2 washes ok? I washed once on hot, and once on sanitize (super duper hot), and used some detergent, but not as much as if they were soiled.
Just wash in hot to warm water.
What material should the blankets be for maximum absorbency? 100% cotton?
They typically tend to be 100% cotton. Bamboo or hemp blends will still work and offer a different type of absorbency.
I feel ridiculous asking, but is flannel cotton?
Most of the time. Not always. Check the label
I also love using recieving blankets for diapers! Or, need a towel for after baby’s bath? Recieving blanket.
I started diapering with recieving blankets out of desperation. Sometimes you find that baby goes through diapers extra quickly. On those days, when all the other diapers were dirty or in the wash, I’d start grabbing the blankets. Over time I found that folded recieving blankets make some of the best inserts, for the same reasons you mentioned. You can find used ones pretty easily, too, at any used baby item sale.
I use receiving blankets! I’m working on building up a bigger stash of them. I actually scored 6 at our fave thrift store for $1.50 this past Friday! I’m also getting some for free f rom a family member this next week.
Can we also use receiving blankets as inserts/liners in adult cloth diapers? Should there be any issue in doing so with diapers from a diaper service? The concern being that the inserts would not be sent back with the clean diaper shipment the following week.
So you can use receiving blankets as inserts for pocket diapers or also as flats with covers?
Yes!
My cotton flannel receiving blankets do not seem to work well with Snappi. They are Luvable Friends brand, but maybe they don’t have enough weave…?
I tried the same Snappi with FST, and it worked, but I really prefer receiving blankets over FST.
Do you know any brand of receiving blankets that work well with Snappi?