Posts Tagged ‘messy diapers’

7 Solutions for Common Cloth Diaper Dilemmas

Thursday, July 5th, 2012

For the most part cloth diapering is easy and straight-forward, however you might occasionally encounter one or more of the following diaper dilemmas. Here are Solutions for Common Cloth Diaper Dilemmas

1. Diapers are Super Stinky– If baby’s diapers are super stinky even when they are “clean”, it’s time to strip them. I usually need to strip mine every three to four months. I love freshly stripped diapers.

2. Diapers are Leaking – There are several things that can cause cloth diapers to leak. I have found that ensuring a proper fit is usually your best protection against diaper leaks. This might mean going up a size if using sized diapers or adjusting the waist and rise if using one size diapers.

3. Diapers are Stained – The easy-peasy, all natural solution to stained cloth diapers is to sun them for a few hours! The sun acts as a natural bleaching agent to kill bacteria as well remove stains and funky odors. It’s actually kind of magical how renewed diapers look after a few hours in the sun.

4. Hook and Loop Doesn’t Stay Together – A common complaint of hook and loop closures is that lint gets stuck in them which can eventually make the closures lose their “grip”. If your hook and loop closures aren’t staying put, try gently cleaning them off with a toothbrush to remove any tangled up lint or hair.

5. Baby’s Room Smells like Dirty Diapers – Wherever you store your dirty diapers, be sure they are stored in a high quality, anti-bacterial pail liner until wash day. This will help eliminate/reduce odors. Dunking or spraying messy diapers before placing them in your diaper pail helps cut down on odor too. Another idea is to use a few drops of an essential oils or Rockin’ Green Pail Freshener to keep baby’s room smelling fresh and inviting.

6. Baby Takes Dirty Diaper Off– It seems like this is the one area we don’t encourage independence with our little ones because it can get really messy, really fast! Using snap closures usually reduces this problem or at least prolongs it for a while. However the most determine Houdinis will still work their magic to strip off their soiled diaper. Sometimes reverting back to using onsies on a daily basis can help prevent baby from being able to take their own diaper off. Even if it doesn’t fully prevent it, it adds an extra barricade which lengthens the time it takes baby to get all layers off, giving you more time to intervene.

7. You Can’t Stop Buying Cloth Diapers  – It’s a known fact that cloth diapering is addicting. Just be sure to take full advantage of great sales and discounts when purchasing cloth diapers to be able to buy more diapers, er I mean to maximize your budget. Also if you have not already, sign up for Mom’s Milk Boutique rewards program. You get 50 Milk Miles just for creating an account. Also by participating in Fan Photo Friday you have the opportunity to win 25 Milk Miles each Friday.

-Sarah

Improving the “not so glamorous” side of cloth diapering

Thursday, February 9th, 2012

As much as I love a fluffy baby bum, there are a few less than glamorous parts to cloth diapering. Okay really there is just one; toddler poop. (I am willing to bet you just nodded in agreement 🙂 ). There are a few ways to help make this aspect of cloth diapering a bit more ‘pleasant’.

Diaper Sprayer –  A diaper sprayer allows you to easily rinse the messiest of diapers right into the toilet! Diaper sprayers attach directly to your toilet for easy and convenient access. They are a super effective way to rinse poopy diapers before washing. If you haven’t tried one, you need to! It’s definitely one of those cloth diapering accessories that can really improve your experience with using cloth.

Flushable Liners – Flushable liners make washing cloth diapers a breeze! You simply place the liner on the cloth diaper so it touches baby’s skin. The liner will allow urine through but will prevent solids from getting onto the diaper, omitting the need to dunk or spray poopy diapers. The liner, along with the mess, is simply flushed away!

High Quality WetbagWhen you are out and about and baby poops, carrying that poopy diaper home to be washed is much more pleasant task if you have a high quality wetbag. The purpose of a wetbag is to contain odors, germs, and moisture. You want to be sure your wetbag does not wick or leak and that it is size-able enough to hold multiple diapers on long outings.

Elimination Communication – Elimination Communication can omit almost entirely the need to ever deal with rinsing toddler poop from a cloth diaper. It is hands-down my best defense against dealing with messy diapers!

Delayed Solids –  Okay, in all fairness avoiding toddler poop is probably not a valid reason to delay solids…rather it’s one of the benefits of delaying solids, among many other.

Hybrid Diapers  Hybrid cloth diapering systems combine the ecological benefits of cloth with the convenience of disposables. Hybrid systems utilize a disposable insert that can be flushed, composted (not to be used in veggie garden compost), or thrown away.

Often times when people are considering switching to cloth diapers, they are concerned about dealing with the poop. While truth be told dunking dirty dipes is not my favorite activity however it IS well worth the ecological and economical benefits to me!

Do you have any special tips or product suggestions for dealing with messy diapers? Would love to hear from you! 🙂

-Sarah