Ever wished you could throw a diaper away?

Nov 3,2010 / By Maria / 15 Comments

>To attempt to make a long(er) story short(er), a few weeks ago, I was totally there. My son had been drinking some juice (side note: before you worry that your child’s dark urine is because of dehydration or a UTI, remember the red food coloring he managed to ingest a few days earlier.)

I was standing over the toilet, diaper in one hand, toilet paper in the other, attempting to scrape the massive, ahem, deposit off of the diaper. Just for a second, my eyes glazed over, and I drifted away…

I was spinning through a field of daisies, pack of disposables in my arms, “So Happy Together” playing in the background. With a smug smile on my face, I tossed the offending diaper in the pail.

Then, the record screeched, and I remembered what it was really like to use disposables. Remember that we used disposable diapers/pull-ups on my daughter for almost 2 1/2 years, and on my son for about 4 months. The terms “fitteds and pockets and snappis” weren’t in my diaper vocabulary, but “blowout” sure was.

We have one single photo of my daughter in her cute baptism gown, and in the photo, my husband is holding her with a horrified look on his face, since the blowout was in process at that very moment. Even when the diapers were on properly, and in the proper size, blowouts were a regular occurrence.

Much of the time, it came right out the back of the diaper, while the diaper itself remained relatively unscathed. I looked down at the diaper in my hand, covered with poop from front to back and side to side, nearly to the edges of the elastic and I knew. I knew there was no way this would have stayed in a disposable diaper.

I may be scraping and washing this diaper, but if it had been a disposable, I would instead be washing a shirt, pants, socks, probably my clothing, any surface nearby, the changing pad, and quite possibly, giving the kid a bath. I saw a post in the cafemom babies group where a Mom cut a onesie off of her daughter after a blowout, knowing there was no way to get it off of her without making a bigger mess!

With cloth, I had one incident where I didn’t have the diaper snug around his leg and breastfed baby poop came out of the leg gap, but other than that, no blowouts. So, yeah. I gladly washed that diaper! I think having used disposables in the past makes me appreciate cloth more!

Aside from the occasional horrifying story of the forgotten poopy cloth diaper that was beyond saving, have you ever wished you could pitch a diaper?

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Abby’s Lane Winner!

Nov 3,2010 / By Maria / No Comment

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120 people entered, with 275 entries. I made a boo-boo and didn’t check the box to make the “favorite item” a mandatory entry on the form. I didn’t even notice since all of you followed my instructions and filled it out! Two 11th hour entries left it blank, which is what made me realize my error. Since it was my mistake, I let it slide. Oops!

Anyway, the winning entry is #74, which is Suki Lotti. Congratulations Suki, I’m emailing you now!

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Mailbox Mondays

Mailbox Mondays 11/1/10

Nov 1,2010 / By Maria / 4 Comments

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Every Monday I will answer user submitted questions. They don’t have to be about cloth diapering! I’ll always answer questions via email, but if you would like your question to be answered in a Mailbox Mondays post, send an email with the subject “Mailbox Mondays” to Maria at change-diapers dot com.

Courtney says:

Hello Maria!

I have a diaper cleaning question. Our diaper sprayer recently broke. Until we can build a new one, I need to find a new way to clean poopy diapers. What is your method? Do you have any pointers? My son is 11 months old, so there is no way we can throw them in the wash without rinsing first!

Thanks!
Courtney

I never got around to buying a diaper sprayer, so I’m all too familiar with this conundrum. When my son first started solids, I was able to get away with just throwing them right into the wash. If they needed a little extra help (still mostly breastmilk poop) I was rinsing them with my laundry room/utility sink sprayer. Then for a few months there, I was able to flip the poop right into the potty. Boy was that nice!

Now here’s where this question gets a little gross. I apologize in advance, there’s just no way to avoid a little grossness with this subject! He went through the stage of the “peanut butter” consistency poop, and now that he’s eating tons of fruit and drinking some juice, diapers are much more messy and I can’t just flip solids off the diaper.

What I do is use 3 or 4 sheets of toilet paper folded up to scrape off as much as I can, then whatever is left goes into the washing machine. I’ve heard of several other similar methods, where people may use a clean popsicle stick or plastic card (great use for the old Blockbuster card if you still have one!) to scrape the diaper. Just keep it in a plastic bag out of sight, perhaps behind the toilet, or under your tissue box if you keep one on top of the tank like I do.

Some people still do the ol’ dunk and swish in the toilet, I’ve even heard of people flushing with the diaper in the toilet (hold on to it tightly!) to take advantage of the self-swish.

I’ve heard more than a few say they just rinse the diapers in the sink or the bathtub (a hand held shower head would be especially handy) and then wiping out the tub/sink with bleach etc. This would be a pain if you have a frequent pooper, but might be handy if you have a child who poops like clockwork once per day.

How about the rest of you? Do you use a diaper sprayer? If not, how you handle the poop?

Designs by Cace Winner

Oct 31,2010 / By Maria / No Comment

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97 people entered this giveaway, and the winning # is 45, which is Heather Scholten. Congratulations Heather, I’m emailing you now!

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Monster Fluff Embroidered Fleece Soaker/Diaper Cover Review and Giveaway Open to the U.S. and Canada (CLOSED 11/6)

Oct 30,2010 / By Maria / 8 Comments

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Long ago and far away, I asked (on Facebook) what you guys would like to see me review, and Monster Fluff was mentioned! I had found Monster Fluff myself on Hyenacart quite a while ago when searching for monster stuff, but I hadn’t pulled the trigger on a purchase yet! So, I was excited to get to do this review!

I love monsters but honest to goodness, it’s not just me! My son grabbed it from me when I opened it, just like he did with my (err…his) ooga diaper!

I received the Archie monster, embroidered on a size medium soaker. The embroidered soakers retail for $22, and while the size chart doesn’t give weight estimates, the medium fit my 18.5 lb guy just fine.

The soakers are made with 100% polyester anti-pill fleece and each monster averages 14,000 stitches. The soakers have an additional layer sewn into the wet zone, which also covers the embroidery backing.

Monster Fluff products are made by mom & daughter team Debbie and Amber. Don’t let the name fool you, they don’t just have monsters. They have tons of embroidery options available on soakers, shorties, longies and matching sets.

The craftsmanship of the soaker is really amazing. I turned it inside out and inspected it, and the fleece is cut neatly and sewn impeccably.

The embroidery is clearly done by an embroidery machine, rather than by hand (Can you imagine? Yikes. Hand cramp!) Even so, it takes skill!

The monster was centered and straight on the soaker, and there were no loose threads!

First, I tried the soaker on over the trimmest fitted I have, the Little Beetle Little to Big Diaper.

My son is about 18.5 lbs here and the diaper is on the largest setting.

I didn’t have trouble getting the soaker over the diaper, and it fit very well. The first time I changed his diaper when I was using the soaker, the fitted was wet on the outside, but the soaker seemed clean. Gross maybe, but I sniffed it and used it again! If I were exclusively using fitteds, I would perhaps use 2 soakers per day and air them out between uses, of course washing them if they got smelly or soiled. Otherwise, I’d just wash them at the end of the day!

fleece cover over trim diaper standing front

Next, I decided to try the soaker over one of my fluffiest, most absorbent fitteds, my Heartland Dreams Fitted.

It wasn’t difficult to get the soaker over the diaper, but I did have to work it a little, it didn’t just slide right on. Fleece isn’t as stretchy as wool, but it fit really well over both a very trim fitted, and a fluffy one!

The suggested care for Monster Fluff fleece is: Turn inside out, machine wash warm, delicate cycle. Tumble dry low. They suggest washing their fleece items with your regular laundry. Oops. I saw this after I washed, used and washed it again! I didn’t turn it inside out and I washed it on the regular cycle with my diapers, so cold, then hot. I hung it to dry with my shells/covers. I’ll be more careful in the future!

I think the Monster Fluff soaker is awesome. Not only is it a well made, very functional soaker, but it’s adorable too! I’d love to have a custom with longies and a matching shirt!

Giveaway: Monster Fluff is offering one reader a soaker in his/her choice of size, gender and monster!

Here’s how to enter: All entries go in the form below. I’d love for you to leave a comment (great way to remember you entered!) but comments don’t count as entries. Mandatory entries include name, email address and your favorite ~~Monster Fluff~~ ~~item. You may receive a bonus entry if you are a new or current “liker” of~~ ~~Monster Fluff Studio on Facebook. Post will be updated regularly with the # of entries received.~~

I will accept entries until Saturday, November 6th, 2010 at 9 P.M. Eastern. I will select a winner using random.org’s true random number generator and notify him/her by email. Winner has 48 hours to respond before the prize is forfeited and a new winner is chosen. View my ~~giveaway rules~~ ~~page for complete details. This giveaway is open to residents of the U.S. and Canada. Monster Fluff Studio also offers~~ ~~free shipping to Canadians~~!

Entries as of November 6th, 2010 at Giveaway close: 205

https://spreadsheets.google.com/embeddedform?formkey=dHkxeHFNSGhESDQ0c2hhWVdlWnRZMVE6MQ

FTC Compliance: Monster Fluff sent me the pictured soaker at no charge, for review purposes. I was not requested or required to write a positive review, I was not otherwise compensated for this post, and all opinions are my own.

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