Diapers

[EllenMaksoud]

Working over at Bishop's Warehouse, Tuesday we had a big run on disposable diapers. This got me wondering how many people use regular old cloth diapers any more. My first two children, born in the late 60's had cloth diapers. I remember spilling the soaking bucket on the floor in the back seat once. Our third child, born in '83, I think had cloth diapers but disposable when we traveled. It bothers me that I can not remember more details. Something happened in those years, and a lot of memory around that time is absent.

 

I've had some questions about what we put in the soaking pail, and I can not remember. I know it was not complicated. It could have been simple borax, or some soaking soap in a box. I don't think we used baking soda. I do remember using corn starch for diaper rash. 

 

I worry about disposable diapers because of the environment.

[Bill “Papa” Lee]

Working over at Bishop's Warehouse, Tuesday we had a big run on disposable diapers. This got me wondering how many people use regular old cloth diapers any more. My first two children, born in the late 60's had cloth diapers. I remember spilling the soaking bucket on the floor in the back seat once. Our third child, born in '83, I think had cloth diapers but disposable when we traveled. It bothers me that I can not remember more details. Something happened in those years, and a lot of memory around that time is absent.

 

I've had some questions about what we put in the soaking pail, and I can not remember. I know it was not complicated. It could have been simple borax, or some soaking soap in a box. I don't think we used baking soda. I do remember using corn starch for diaper rash. 

 

I worry about disposable diapers because of the environment.

While in the Army for 8 years diapers were sought after because the were great for polishing boots to a perfect shine. But my wife and I stopped using them after our first daughter, outgrew them.

[Garden Girl]

Unfortunately, as with many "good, new innovations" there is a downside... what a blessing it was for women not to have to wash diapers... but then I don't know but what some are degradable.  I would think companies would be working on that... I think a lot of bleach was used on the old cotton ones...

 

GG

[Calm]

.

I worry about disposable diapers because of the environment.

with my first, disposables were so lousy we couldn't use them until he was almost two due to leakage (he was known for his blowouts...I got into the habit of doubling up on the plastic pants? and always have him sitting on a blanket when going to church to avoid having to cut things short). We only switched to disposables when we moved into student housing and it was just too difficult to drag the pail to the laundry mat. I would have gone cotton with a diaper company save we couldn't afford it and there was a huge debate which was less environmentally friendly, the processing and disinfecting of cotton diapers or the trash buildup of disposable.

When my second was born eight years later, the debate was still raging and money was still tight even though I still attempted to do cotton diapers that I washed myself (as it required less chemicals than the services), but when my health turned for the worse due to a undiagnosed sleep/movement disorder, disposables were a lifesaver.

I don't know if the debate of which is easiest on the environment has ever been solved, whomever invents an inexpensive all green disposable diaper will be an instant billionaire, I suspect.

Edited September 7, 2013 by calmoriah

[Calm]

Looks like the debate is still continuing:

http://www.webmd.com/parenting/baby/features/diaper-choices

[EllenMaksoud]

with my first, disposables were so lousy we couldn't use them until he was almost two due to leakage (he was known for his blowouts...I got into the habit of doubling up on the plastic pants? and always have him sitting on a blanket when going to church to avoid having to cut things short). We only switched to disposables when we moved into student housing and it was just too difficult to drag the pail to the laundry mat. I would have gone cotton with a diaper company save we couldn't afford it and there was a huge debate which was less environmentally friendly, the processing and disinfecting of cotton diapers or the trash buildup of disposable.

When my second was born eight years later, the debate was still raging and money was still tight even though I still attempted to do cotton diapers that I washed myself (as it required less chemicals than the services), but when my health turned for the worse due to a undiagnosed sleep/movement disorder, disposables were a lifesaver.

I don't know if the debate of which is easiest on the environment has ever been solved, whomever invents an inexpensive all green disposable diaper will be an instant billionaire, I suspect.

My son was huge. It seemed he would walk very soon but as it was, he never crawled, he walked instead. Years later we  find out that crawling is an important step in children's development.  He came out of diapers very early. My daughter, born in 69, was tiny, mild mannered, compliant sweet. Our youngest, adopted from Korea, was born in 83. She was so tiny, she would fit in a Dunkin Doughnut box. She was an easy child. We used to joke that she was born an adult. I miss them.

[Calm]

I cannot imagine a harder burden then being separated from one's children. My mother had to struggle to decide whether to call up the husband of one of my sisters who has 'divorced' herself from the family (I still don't understand the reasoning, but if that is what she wishes so be it and we will always be here if she changes her heart) to ask him to pass on a birthday wish and hug to my sister just a day or two ago...and she only got the answering machine since apparently now he has gone to never answering the phone himself.

She has been able to place the burden on the Lord so it doesn't eat her up inside, I find it remarkable she isn't the least bit angry about it, though deeply hurt and confused as to the why...(no one in the family understands it, it is very strange because she works with families and promotes herself as trained in and deeply committed to helping families work, healing the wounds etc.)

[MorningStar]

I think cloth diapers are soaked in vinegar.  Is that what you remember?  I used to babysit a boy and we used cloth diapers when the parents ran out of disposable.  He went through them faster than I could keep up and I was terrible at pinning them on without them falling off.  I also didn't have a washer and dryer in my house, so that made it even harder.  I had no way to quickly wash and dry them.  Thankfully his grandma came by one day just as we were on the last one! 

 

With friends who used cloth diapers, their houses always smelled awful because they were soaking.  Now we have magic containers for disposable diapers to cut down on the smell a lot. 

[3DOP]

If the environment needs baby poop to go shooting out the sides and filthy, stinky diaper buckets, I am against the environment. The disposables go in some relatively small hole where nobody ever needs to go. Goodbye diapers. What's wrong with that? Nobody will ever be the worse for it. In less time than it supposedly takes to evolve a new species, the disposables are gone.

 

Admiral Brown

[volgadon]

This got me wondering how many people use regular old cloth diapers any more.

 

 

Practically no one.

 

We have some cloth diapers, but they are much fancier than what were used in the 1980s, and a lot better for baby.

[Tacenda]

Unused cloth diapers make great burp cloths! Cal and I share some backstory as far as using cloth and then disposable.  I wanted to "save" the environment and tried cloth and then a diaper service and then finally disposable, of course back then it was hard to find some that didn't leak, and I changed a lot of cribsheets in the mornings.  ETA:  Anyone remember the trick of running the safety pin through their hair to help it stick through the cloth better? 

Edited September 7, 2013 by Tacenda

[altersteve]

It happened.

 

The day finally came where I saw a thread titled "Diapers" on a Mormon discussion board.

[Iggy]

My Aunts had the smelliest diaper pails, thus the smelliest homes. We had a diaper pail too. Their kids spent just as much time in our home as they did in their own, and we changed the dirty diapers on the cousins. Why ours didn't stink was we rinsed the poopy diapers in the toilet, wrung them out and then soaked them in the diaper pail. In the diaper pail was 20 Mule Team Borax dissolved in water. My Aunts were extremely lazy also. They would dump the entire pail into the washing machine, and then set it for spin, then set it to wash.

 

We took each diaper out, wrung it out, and placed it in a basket. When all the diapers were out of the pail, we then dumped the water down the toilet. Those wrung out wet soiled diapers then went into the washing machine. We used laundry soap, some more 20 Mule Team Borax and in the final rinse 1 cup of bleach diluted into a quart of water. 

 

Unless it was raining outside all of the diapers were then hung out on the line. The sun finished up the disinfecting while it dried them. Our diapers were light, white and pretty darn absorbent.  My Aunts diapers were heavy, greyish in color and didn't absorb much at all. 

 

The first initial investment in cloth diapers can be staggering - but they last for years. If one is using so much bleach that it eats away at the diaper fabric, then one is not rinsing the soiled diaper in the toilet first to wash out the poop and urine. 

[Calm]

Sounds like a professional...and I agree the key is rinsing well before going into the pail.

[EllenMaksoud]

It happened.

 

The day finally came where I saw a thread titled "Diapers" on a Mormon discussion board.

  I love Babies !

[EllenMaksoud]

My Aunts had the smelliest diaper pails, thus the smelliest homes. We had a diaper pail too. Their kids spent just as much time in our home as they did in their own, and we changed the dirty diapers on the cousins. Why ours didn't stink was we rinsed the poopy diapers in the toilet, wrung them out and then soaked them in the diaper pail. In the diaper pail was 20 Mule Team Borax dissolved in water. My Aunts were extremely lazy also. They would dump the entire pail into the washing machine, and then set it for spin, then set it to wash.

 

We took each diaper out, wrung it out, and placed it in a basket. When all the diapers were out of the pail, we then dumped the water down the toilet. Those wrung out wet soiled diapers then went into the washing machine. We used laundry soap, some more 20 Mule Team Borax and in the final rinse 1 cup of bleach diluted into a quart of water. 

 

Unless it was raining outside all of the diapers were then hung out on the line. The sun finished up the disinfecting while it dried them. Our diapers were light, white and pretty darn absorbent.  My Aunts diapers were heavy, greyish in color and didn't absorb much at all. 

 

The first initial investment in cloth diapers can be staggering - but they last for years. If one is using so much bleach that it eats away at the diaper fabric, then one is not rinsing the soiled diaper in the toilet first to wash out the poop and urine. 

Yes, I do not remember our pail stinking excessively. Ours were either rinsed in the Toilet or in the utility sink, I think.. I think perhaps it was Borax. When we went to store or church, we also used plastic pants over the diaper.   How are you Iggy, we have not spoken for some time?

[EllenMaksoud]

Unused cloth diapers make great burp cloths! Cal and I share some backstory as far as using cloth and then disposable.  I wanted to "save" the environment and tried cloth and then a diaper service and then finally disposable, of course back then it was hard to find some that didn't leak, and I changed a lot of cribsheets in the mornings.  ETA:  Anyone remember the trick of running the safety pin through their hair to help it stick through the cloth better? 

WHAT !?!  There must be story here.   It was not until Nicole, our youngest that I learned certain way to burp her, and then she almost never um had Dyspepsia.  Non Mormon churches usually had "Mother's" room where those with babies sat and could change diapers.

 

Run safety pin through babies hair? Mormon babies must be special. Mine had almost none. 

Edited September 7, 2013 by EllenMaksoud

[Tacenda]

WHAT !?!  There must be story here.   It was not until Nicole, our youngest that I learned certain way to burp her, and then she almost never um had Dyspepsia.  Non Mormon churches usually had "Mother's" room where those with babies sat and could change diapers.

 

Run safety pin through babies hair? Mormon babies must be special. Mine had almost none. 

NO, no, no, no!  I mean't our hair.  I would run the safety pin through my hair, can't remember who told me, but it supposedly made the pin glide better in the material.  Maybe it's an old wives tale.  But it worked like a charm, I think it is the oil in our hair the lubricates the diaper pin. 

[EllenMaksoud]

NO, no, no, no!  I mean't our hair.  I would run the safety pin through my hair, can't remember who told me, but it supposedly made the pin glide better in the material.  Maybe it's an old wives tale.  But it worked like a charm, I think it is the oil in our hair the lubricates the diaper pin. 

No, I did not know this. It seems like very good idea, though it is unlikely that I will be changing diapers in the future.   I wonder if I should insist that I will not be changing diapers in the future? Heavenly Father, or the fates, or what ever have a way of blunting my insistence.

Edited September 7, 2013 by EllenMaksoud

[thesometimesaint]

It's a wash environmentally. A diaper cleaning service is cheaper than disposables, but more expensive than if you wash them in your own washer. There are several biodegrable brands on the market. However they do increase the volume in our landfills.

Edited September 7, 2013 by thesometimesaint

[EllenMaksoud]

It's a wash environmentally. A diaper cleaning service is cheaper than disposables, but more expensive than if you wash them in your own washer. There are several biodegrable brands on the market. However they do increase the volume in our landfills.

I entertain the notion, delusion or not, that I would still use cloth diapers.   Perhaps the forgetfulness of age has removed most of the drudgery?  My biggest worry when diapering was that I would somehow pin the child.

[EllenMaksoud]

It happened.

 

The day finally came where I saw a thread titled "Diapers" on a Mormon discussion board.

Were you one of those husbands that left it all to "The little Woman"?   For a time, diapers are a major part of our lives. Once I even found myself contemplating the contents of the diaper pail, much as one would divine tea leaves.

[Iggy]

Yep, run the pin through your hair - it is the oil that does the trick. BUT I was forever hurting my scalp - so I used a bar of hand soap instead. Put the soap in an old sock - to keep it in one place and to keep the soap from flaking all over. Grandma would take the pins (we generally had three babies at a time in and out of our house (no - we were not Mormon, just fruitful & multiplying   ) and sharpened them with emery sand. 

 

I am 61 years old, childless - but I changed the diapers of my two youngest siblings, 6 cousins (all around the same age as youngest siblings),5 second cousins, numerous children that I babysat when I was 14 to 25), 12 nieces & nephews (yep, they wore cotton diapers because every one of them was allergic to the plastic & elastic on disposables), 

 

My girlfriend had a diaper service. Her mother-in-law paid for it is the only reason she had it. They insisted that you only scrape the poo off of the diaper, use only the powder stuff they provided and not pre-rinse the diapers. The first month wasn't so bad - newborns really don't have strong urine and as she was nursing the poop wasn't that bad. Then Mom got the flu and had to quit nursing. The diapers in the pail were awful - she sat the diaper pail out on the back porch so it wouldn't stink up the house. After three months she ended the service. Took to cleaning the diapers herself. I remember buying her cloth diapers. My Mom helped me make them. Bought the fabric by the bolt, and then hemmed them on our old treadle Singer. I was visiting my girlfriend to help her with the newborn and her 2 1/2 year old. The last time I visited her, nearly 8 years ago, she told me that her daughter used those diapers with her first two of four babies. 

[Nathair/|\]

When I was growing up, we soaked the diapers in Dreft and water after rinsing the poopy ones in the toilet.  They did go straight into the washing machine when the pail was full, though.  No special effort on that end.  

[Calm]

NO, no, no, no!  I mean't our hair.  I would run the safety pin through my hair, can't remember who told me, but it supposedly made the pin glide better in the material.  Maybe it's an old wives tale.  But it worked like a charm, I think it is the oil in our hair the lubricates the diaper pin. 

With me, it was stick the pin tip into some soapbar before into the cloth.  I would just put a soapbar on the place where I changed the baby and stuck my 'not in use' pins in it so they were always ready and wouldn't get lost.

Edited September 8, 2013 by calmoriah