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.