How To Fold a Muslin Square for Newborns
If you want to use muslin cloth nappies on your newborn, read on!
Whether you're an experienced cloth nappy user or not the idea of folding nappies can be daunting but we’re here to tell you that it’s actually really easy. We’ve put together 3 of the simplest and most reliable folds to get you started the right way.
What you’ll need…
You’ve decided that you want to give muslins a go but what do you need?
- A Muslin square… Obviously
- A fleece liner (optional but keeps baby’s bum feeling dry)
- Nappy fastener
- Newborn wrap/cover
Let me start by saying that you really only need one muslin to get you started. If you’re unsure or just want to trial them then grab a couple to test them out and see what you think. You can always go back for more once you’re confident in using them. You could also hire everything you need to use flats full time if you don’t want to invest in everything new.
The Jo fold
The first and most common fold we’re talking about is the Jo fold. It’s arguably the most used fold for newborn babies and it offers great containment and a trim fit.
Start by laying your muslin square out flat, next you want to take one of the points in the outer corner and bring that in to the middle of the square. Repeat for all 4 corners until you have a smaller square. Alternatively you can do this by starting with the square out flat, folding in half and half again.
Now you have this smaller square you want to fold it in to 3 by taking the left or right hand side and folding it by a third, repeat with the other side and you should have a long rectangle
All that’s left to do is open up the back half slightly by fanning out the folds to create a space where your baby’s bottom will sit. Lay your fleece liner on top, pull up between the legs and secure in place. Cover with your wrap and you're good to go.
For a visual guide on all of these folds watch this tutorial:
The Jelly Roll fold
The Jelly Roll is a go to fold for excellent containment! Again, you start with your muslin out flat and fold the corners in to create a smaller square - you will likely need to fold a portion down at the front to make it shorter. Lay your fleece liner in the centre of the square and you're ready to fit it.
Place your baby's bottom at the back of the muslin and begin to roll up the front corners/sides. You will slowly roll inwards taking more of the side fabric as you go and creating a kind of triangular shape with the muslin. Fold up between the legs and secure in place - covering with our wrap.
Pad fold
Without a doubt the easiest way to use a muslin that will work for children of all ages - you don't even need a nappy fastener! Start by laying your muslin flat and pulling in the corners as we have done before - you can also use the method we talked about previously where you fold it in half 2 times. Now fold that in to three to create 1 long rectangle and that's it!
You can adjust the length by folding a front section over before folding in to 3. Place your liner on top and simply lay everything flat inside your wrap. It's ready to put on your baby just like that.
That's our 3 easy ways to use muslins on a newborn baby and this is a perfect way to get started with newborn cloth nappies - it's really cheap and affordable plus they dry super fast.
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