Some people think it’s not worth it to even buy the Infant sized prefolds because they tend to not get used for very long at all. A couple weeks and you have a pile of burp cloths that you don’t really need. Unless you use them as doublers or to stuff pockets, they seem like a waste of time, considering the prep.

As my youngest son was fast growing out of his I contemplated ways of making them work longer – instead of just packing them away for use with another child. I thought of contouring them like I did with the preemie sized ones, but that just seemed wasteful since they would still be size limited. Then it came to me one day while I was changing a diaper and struggling to make it fit one more time.. all I really needed was width extension to meet the front and my idea for fleece tabs was born.

Fleece is a perfect choice here, not only because it is pinnable/snappiable, soft and stretchy but because it is water repellent and (as I’ve found out with use) it acts as a little extra protection from leaks. Yay!

This is so simple to do even if you are a complete novice at sewing you would be hard pressed to mess it up. I had all 24 of my infant sized prefolds done in under an hour. It took me longer to gather my scraps and patch them together for use than actually sewing the tabs on. You don’t have to do all that, I mean, you can just use whatever fleece you have on hand or purchase new – but I hate waste, so…

You want to cut your fleece on the bias so the stretch goes in the direction of the length. Measure the width of your prefolds and decide how long you want your tabs (3-4 inches works best). Double your tab length and add it to the prefold width, this is the length you will use. Cut strips at least 2 inches wide, you can go wider if you like but don’t really need to.

When you have all your strips cut, line them up evenly with the prefold and you are on your way. There is no need to prep or treat the edges, polyester fleece will not fray. I find it easiest to just butt the edges together and zig-zag the fleece right on.

And there you have it, now your infant prefolds can be used for much longer! You can fold the fleece down in the back and still use them on newborns too! Matter of fact, I can even fit them on my 2 year old with no problem! Taking the fleece back off is a snap too when you want to use them AS rags or stuff pockets, pick a couple stitches with a seam ripper and they pull right off!