The first thing many disposable using moms say when they find out that you use cloth diapers is "Ewwww but then you have to touch POOP!" Yeah, poop is scary.... or is it? Do you really touch more poop when cloth diapering?
I started out using disposables, I had a c-section and there was no WAY I was going to figure out cloth diapering and make my MIL wash the dirty diapers for me when I wasn't even sure how to do it myself. I have used disposables and cloth, and let me tell you....I think I touched more poop with disposables. Yes, cloth may give your baby bubble-butt since you need enough fabric to soak up all the pee, but the cloth has other features...it actually fits better! Real elastic backed up by fabric puffiness keeps the poops in. If you have ever breastfed a baby and used disposables, I can guarantee you have had a blowout. What does a blowout entail? well poop escaped the diaper, usually up the back, sometimes through a leg hole. So not only do you have poop in your diaper, but you have it on the baby's clothes, whatever they were lying on, and ALL over your precious child. Not to mention you have to touch all these poopy items in order to get everything cleaned up. I haven't had any blowouts since switching to cloth, so no more poopy clothes for me!
How much poop does one really need to touch when using cloth? Well you still have to wipe your baby's butt, but that's a given either way. If your baby is exclusively breast fed, their poop WILL simply wash away in the washing machine. I know this may seem a bit gross, but it works, and your washing machine is not going to suffer, and all your clothes will NOT smell like poop. If you are using all in one diapers (AIO's), you wont even need to unstuff a poopy diaper.
Next up, one of my biggest fears the last few months....what happens when you start solids? Surely you will have to touch way more poop, right? Well, when I started feeding my son baby food, the first few weeks I feared the poop. It was this sticky chunky peanut butter consistency poop that really stunk and didn't was well in the washing machine. Well, you can buy disposable diaper liners if you are totally afraid of poop, or you can be like me and grab your rubber gloves. A simple dunk swish and flush in the toilet should take care of the poop. Make sure you have the diaper pail nearby to dump the wet diaper in, and make sure you unstuff the diaper before you flush....or you might flush an insert! This is why I love my AIO's with poop. If the poop isnt too bad, I don't even need the rubber gloves...I just dump the diaper in the toilet, holding onto a dry corner, and flush. Not so bad, right? Once I started feeding my son two solid meals a day, his poop solidified enough that I can just dump it into the toilet. NO more serious poop fears here.
Your child may differ from mine, and the poop may not be so easy. Well they make disposable liners for that. Just place the liner in your diaper, and when it comes time to flush the poo, just flip the liner into the toilet. There is also the good ole diaper sprayer, which I have no experience with at all. Some people swear by it, but with the way my son poops, I don't need one.
If you're thinking...well with disposables I can just throw it away and not have to deal with the poop. Well guess what, technically you are breaking the law if you do that. You're supposed to flush the poop down the toilet and THEN dispose of the diaper.
After all is said and done...how scary is poop anyway?
I love this post!! It says it all!! :O) Following you back from Misadventures Of A Family Of 8!!
ReplyDeleteHow scary is poop, she says.... You wanna come change my 33lb 15mn old that eats like a man?! haha
ReplyDeleteI also have a diaper sprayer, for my 6 month old who has that peanut butter consistency poop that is sooooo difficult to get off! The sprayer works great though, and I have had no stains in the 3 months I have been using cloth so far! :) It will come in handy for other things in the future as well, So my husband and I didn't mind the $35.00 investment.
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