Getting your cloth diapers clean with a very old technique . . .

This will be another weird one but here goes . . .

As you may have read, I use cloth diapers for my babies. And as I'm sure you can imagine they're not that easy to get / keep clean. I've used just about everything available on the market and have pretty much given up on my unlined diapers. But when I wasn't getting proper results even with the lined ones, I all but despaired. OK. Despair is a wee bit strong. Nevertheless, they were no longer getting clean and I need to use them for another at least year if not 2 and there is no way I am going to buy new ones. And, I'm not going to use dirty-looking diapers. Like all parents, I read to my kids. And one of the stories I read is Mickey's Christmas Carol.

Now in this story, there's a part where we see Mr. Scrooge's laundry over the fire and it occurred to me that in the way back days people did have white clothing. (I've always assumed that brides wore white through history not only as a show of purity but because it would have been nearly impossible to have white clothing. So it would have been a show of $$$ to have a nice white dress.) With this spark of inspiration, I took out the diapers that didn't get clean after round 1 in the wash machine and put them in a pot with boiling water and some Oxy Clean. Put the pot on the stove top on high for an hour or so - and AAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH, clean diapers. Who'da thunk? Looking back helped me with my 'old school' diapering problem. Perhaps it'll help you too! Brought to you by You Get Well Soon Inc.

Transitioning

This cute little tyke is the spokesmodel for Motherease diapers. My cloth diaper of choice.

I am one of the many who has a time-share. Apparently those little sales talks can be quite effective. Because of this association, I recently went on vacation to Fairmont Hot Springs.

This was one of those last minute deals that had us out for a week and coming home on Christmas Eve. I was to find out that I was hosting dinner that night but that is a separate story. Knowing that I'd be gone so long, this mom of a wee one who normally uses cloth diapers stepped off that treadmill and had a bit of a tough time getting back on.

I knew I wouldn't have the capacity to manage the usually simple schedule of laundry while out and about all week in the mountains. Our schedule instead revolved around time at the pools, springs, games rooms and outdoors. So the natural choice was to use disposables.

All of this is rather hum-drum I know. The point of my little entry here though is once you get used to the convenience of using disposables it's not so easy to transition back into using cloth. For instance, I've been home for 6 days and haven't done a load of diapers yet. I would have done 2 loads by now if I hadn't been away. So what's with the change up? Well, I guess I got a bit too used to the ease of disposables. I knew that Christmas Eve and Day would be crazy for me. What with the impromptu dinner (I had cooked for it weeks ago so everyone would be fed regardless - but I had thought not in my home) and the inevitable running around to all of the family, there was no way I was going to be changing diapers ever hour. No way whatsoever. So I stuck with the disposables that I had used during vacation. What are those things made of anyway? If the little one isn't pooping, they're good for like 12 hours. What's with that and how is that even possible? Are they toxic? Is there some sort of NASA-like space-age substance in them that enables them to hold a whole day's worth of pee? Seriously! Good thing the New Year is coming and with it the usual guilt of not living our chosen 'Best Way'. If it weren't for that, I may never pick up my socks and get back into the swing of cloth diapering. So to all of the mothers who diligently use cloth every day of their babies' lives, my hat's off to you. I wish I had that much fortitude. Perhaps next year.

Cloth Diapers - a look at how they are Green

Alrighty, I use cloth diapers for my little puddin-pops. And let me tell you most people are super serious about this topic. There is an environmental strong arm trying to bully people into using cloth touting the benefits but it reminds me of the debate on electric cars - sure they're great as long as your electricity source used to keep them charged is better, emissions-wise / environmental costs-wise, than the gasoline you would have burned. And the same is true for diapers. Is the factory that made the cloth diapers energy efficient and using green energy sources? Is the factory making the disposables burning coal? Like so many aspects of scientific inquiry, all of the variables would have to be controlled in order to genuinely tackle this debate and this is just not possible when most of the variables are not even known.

Pros: Cost, Attentiveness, Smell (didn't expect this one did you?), Quick Potty Training (this is an average at best - every child is an individual), does not use up landfill space, limited plastics (in the covers and closures)

Cons: Extra loads of wash (for me about 3/week), water & electricity usage in cleaning, more supplies in diaper bag, cotton is not a resource efficient crop

OK let's begin . . . The cost savings have been beaten to a pulp - there is just no way not to save money using cloth diapers. On a pure diaper purchase basis the savings are about $1500 with the first child and $2000-$2500 with each subsequent child - assuming the cloth holds up after that much use. Naturally, no discussion of cost is complete without mentioning the electricity and water for washing and drying. The water usage is 48L (12.4 gallons) per load of hot water washed diapers (let's face it they're dirty) for an energy efficient front load machine which translates to an additional 15 000L over a 2-year course of diapering. The additional costs of electricity (at 15 cents/kWh) and gas (to heat the water at a rate of $1.4/1000L) is approximately $220 for the same 2 years of use. So the overall savings are ~$1280 for the first child in cloth diapers.

Attentiveness - I find that I check the diapers every hour while baby is awake. This works out better than it seems. I've never had a leak - ever, and I find that rashes are extremely minor on the rare occasions when they do occur. I use a cleansing bottle and water on a cloth to freshen the skin prior to fastening on the new diaper. This seems to be very helpful to the skin. (Oh, I use a system of cloth diapers and corresponding covers by MotherEase - I have no affiliations with this company. I found them on the internet and have found the system to be wonderful.)

Smell - there is something about a disposable diaper that makes odours compound profoundly. Even my sister who all but dislikes children has pointed out that a used cloth diaper bin just does not compare on any level to a used disposable diaper bin. (She had a roommate with a baby in disposables.) And your child won't be stinky either. It's a weird perk but a perk nonetheless.

Potty Training tends to proceed faster with the use of cloth because when the child is wet - they can feel it. Not so with disposables. And this difference seems to make a difference. I've never met or found a source that indicated that training went faster with disposable options. That doesn't mean it's not possible but the anecdotal information available all indicate faster training times and often much earlier training ages.

According to a 2008 Time report, 27.4 billion disposable diapers were sent to landfills in the US resulting in 3.4 million tons of waste. That seems like an awful lot of waste.

As far as plastics go - I know there is a lot of electricity and water used in the production of disposable diapers but was unable to get good numbers for this. If you know of a resource for these figures I'd love to check it out. Note that there is plastic in the covers for cloth diapers and they need to be replaced for each child. (This is the recommendation but I use the same covers for my second child and have not found them to leak.)

One of the many ways to increase the benefits of the cloth choice would be to air dry the diapers, use a front load high efficiency washer and to use organic cotton or fabrics which impact the environment less than cotton.

On to the cons. I already outlined the costs of doing the extra loads in terms of water, electricity and gas but didn't mention anything about the time. I am not one of those people who needs to have everything stacked just so. Because of this, I probably spend a little less time than most on laundry. But this is certainly something to be considered especially since if you don't do the washing you'll have nothing to diaper your baby.

This point will seem trivial but carrying cloth diapers takes up more physical space. There is also the issue that you'll need to carry a plastic bag to bring home the wet diapers. (Not a great display item at a restaurant. And I can't tell you how many times I've come home with the plastic bag of dirty diapers and forgotten to put the bag back in the diaper bag. That means I have to ask for a plastic bag at whatever location I'm at so that I don't have to carry a dirty diaper in my hands or loose in the diaper bag.) You will also likely want to carry a change of clothes - although this is generally true with any baby.

Cotton crops are estimated to use 10% of all agricultural chemicals and 25% of all insecticides which turns out to be more than any other common crop. Hemp would be the best of choices since it requires far less water (less than 1/3) to grow and produces more fibres per hectar than pretty much any other crop produced. (Even growing in arid Alberta, each plant grows more than 6 feet tall. Sadly this means that specialized harvesters are needed.)

As far as the debate goes, you've got to do what's right for you, your child and your lifestyle. You'll also have to live with / justify your decision to yourself and your child eventually. So think through your choice.

Natural Baby - Part 1 of Many

Where to begin – there are so many life aspects that could be more natural. I’m going to start with cloth diapering. Personally I love my cloth diapers. (Don’t get me wrong I do not use cloth diapers on myself – this is not that kind of blog.) Not only did these diapers cost less – a lot less to purchase, they also make me feel good. (I like the Diva cup rather than pads – why wouldn’t I use something reusable for my baby.) I know that the diapers are clean because I cleaned them. I know if they’ve got soap residues because I’d be able to see, hear and/or feel suds. I know what kind of soap/water/softener combo I’ve used. (I don’t like softener and the water is really good where I live if albeit rather heavily fluorinated.) And unlike disposables, I know my cloth diapers don’t have residues of factory vermin, bugs, bacteria, fungi, viruses or parasites. And if you think this is a non-issue, is it really possible that a society that is genetically similar to the ones of the last 100 years is suddenly allergic and sensitive to everything under the sun (from a very young age) by coincidence. Personally I find that very hard to believe. I think a major contributing factor is the means by which we have automated all aspects of production – from food to clothes, pharmaceuticals to medical supplies. I hope it becomes clear that with test parameters – what is considered an acceptable amount of error suddenly becomes unacceptable really quickly. (Necessary to state and define but in too many circumstances unacceptable.) I just didn’t want to take chances with my kiddos if I didn’t have to. I’m very lucky to be able to be a stay-at-home mom. Naturally I don’t find every aspect lucky but as far as monitoring what my kids are exposed to – I feel like I have a bit of an edge by being at home with them. That’s why I use cloth. I can ensure what’s next to their skin is basically the same. The fabrics might differ but how they are treated is not. I think this is a big plus if I needed to investigate a sensitivity or allergy. It’s one variable I could control for with ease. Because of the cloth diapers I also find that I am more attentive to changing. With my first one she occasionally got rashes that were rather severe. And naked time just wasn’t cutting it. So I asked everyone I could think of and came up with a series of solutions. I never did use baby wipes. (I know this is a weird one but since I was already doing extra loads of wash for the diapers I figured what’s a bit more for cotton cloths. I use them with a personal cleansing bottle of water (that I first got at the hospital after delivery) or as needed with a soap solution. I had found a recipe online for how to make your own baby wipes. They wanted you to use paper towels and a dispensing container but I just made up the solution and used another bottle to dispense it onto the cloths. It’s 1 part liquid baby soap, 1 part glycerine (vegetable or mineral) and 8 parts water. This will clean up anything.) Another trick I learned for rashes was to use a hair dryer on low – with my hand practically over the zone to verify the temperature and move the air stream away every few seconds. This did help to ensure that the skin was genuinely dry at least for portions of every day. Other than that, the zinc oxide-based diaper rash prevention/treatment creams I found to be very similar. I did do one other thing that was helpful – I put calendula tincture on top of the zinc cream and let it dry. Then I’d use that calendula-zinc cream and found that it was more healing. The rashes never got so bad that I had to worry that it would become open sores. And with little #2, I know to change or check every waking hour and so far no problems at all. Cloth diapers are also a lot better than they used to be and I don’t just mean a lack of pins. They come in multi-layered construction so that the layer closest to baby’s skin isn’t the same as the centre and/or exterior. This really helps with keeping the skin dry and an added bonus is that they wash up easier. (I’ve got both kinds at home – ones of single type of cloth and ones with multiple layer and now that I’m using them for a second child I’ve found that it’s far easier to keep the multi-layer ones clean / non-stained.) Cloth diapers also come as single units and diaper with cover. Either way, I’ve never had a problem with leaks, ever. I don’t know if you caught the Funniest Commercials that featured a mom with a tot in the car. They were talking about #1, #2 and then the nasty but still funny #3. As an aside, I heard a terrible story about a #3. I was at a mommy lunch and was told of a little one who hadn’t pooped in a long time – more than 3 days. Well he was in the jiggler in the living room while his mom was in the kitchen. Then, out of nowhere, she heard it. . . #3. Before she even went back to the living room, she picked up the phone and called her husband. So she could relate the scene as she was seeing it: poop was everywhere. All over baby, pooled under the jiggler, on the walls – it was a nightmare. She actually ended up taking the jiggler with baby to the tub. Her hubby offered to clean up the jiggler and clothes which left the baby, walls and floor to the mom. Yikes! (Personally, I don’t know if these stalls in digestion are due to a lack of bacteria in the intestines or lack of sufficient peristaltic motion – but every parent is aware of this #3 possibility.) OK I digressed from the diaper story – but hopefully it wasn’t a painful diversion.