I've now been on this cloth diaper thing for a little over a week. I honestly don't know how others do it all the time! I find myself having a difficult time changing, cleaning, and washing the diapers. Part of the problem is that I'm still a newbie when it comes to putting the diapers on. It takes me forever to fold the diaper and put it in the diaper cover! I guess it doesn't help that Christian is wigglier than ever.
As for the cleaning and washing...it's not fun! I don't know whether to swish soiled diapers in the toilet or not. I read that you are supposed to dump the waste in the toilet; but the poop just doesn't come off!! It's all pressed up against the diapers. I'd have to scrape it off, and personally, I'm just not into doing that. That means that I have to pre-soak the diapers and then put them through 2 washes. Hmmm...sounds like lots of work to me!
Ok. So here I am wanting to make the world a better place and I'm complaining about it! I was so excited about this just a little bit ago and now I feel like I'm eating my words. I guess this post shows that we are definitely not all what we seem sometimes. For all I know, everyone who read my previous post thought that I had become the cloth diaper, baby changing champion of the world. But I'm not.
I'm actually at 50/50 with this whole cloth diaper thing. Disposables are just so darn convenient. I just have to ask myself if the extra effort is worth it and does it make a difference? I've decided to keep trying, but I not going to stop buying disposables yet!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
-
This summer while at the IHM Conference, I purchased a really cute activity set with the 12 apostles from Jody's Hands-On Learning . I ... -
So last year, we did a Lent lapbook. It was fun, educational, and the kids loved it. But for the life of me, I can't find it!!! I can... -
I spent the weekend mostly sick in bed, reading and doodling to pass the time. I had a stack of picture books that I read to the kids too. ...
4 comments:
Just thought I would offer a little encouragement... it does get easier! Starting in with an older baby definitely makes it harder, because (as you've noticed!) the baby is harder to diaper and the messes are harder to clean up.
As for the cleaning part, I find what works well is to take the diaper with the cover, dunk the diaper a few times in the toilet, then wrap it back up in the cover. Then I put the whole thing in the diaper pail. (And then I go scrub my hands!) Not everything comes off, but it is enough. I don't soak them or anything, but so long as I'm washing diapers every 2-3 days I find this works well. Sometimes they are a little stained, but it will continue to wash out over time, or you can sun dry them and they will look a lot better.
Just to establish my bona fides, I have one child who was exclusively in cloth, one who has done both and is currently in disposables because he is having major diaper rash problems otherwise, and a little one (7 weeks) who I hope to keep in cloth all the way through.
I've cloth diapered now for about three months for a just-turned-three year old and a 15-month old. I sure do get tired of the messes. My main reason for cloth diapering was to save money, and that has been great, but dunking the soiled diapers is about all I've come up with for cleaning them.
I have found, though, that washing them is not as complicated as I originally thought. I just be sure to rinse them in vinegar. It does the trick for stripping the suds and whitening them up.
I'm back into disposable for the time being, though, because I went with the lesser expensive plastic pants from Gerber and they were causing heat rashes in our 90 degree weather. As soon as it's cooler, we will be back in the cotton.
It does make me feel better that they have pure cotton covering them, not who knows what in the disposables. Over all, I'm looking to stay in Cloth for the rest of my diapering days!
Hope it goes well for you!
I came across your blog while reading about homeschooling, and thought I could offer some advice on the cloth diapers. Please please please try using flushable diaper liners. (toysrus.com) Then you can just dump the poop and the liner right in the toilet without any mess or fuss or scraping.
Also, don't worry about getting the diaper on "right". Just stuf fit in there and use the tightest cover your baby will tolerate. The poop will stay in!
Cloth is so wonderful for the planet..I hope you can stick with it. Thanks for the amazing homeschool blog. I've learned alot!
Thanks for the encouragement and the advice on flushable liners. I purchased them and they are making my life so much easier! I also have been using the DryBees all in one diaper and it is awesome!!
I appreciate the comments!
Liz
Post a Comment