Green Diapers

[organicmama]

You beat me to it--this fascinates me. I think it's especially interesting when I see pictures of my grandfather when he was just barely walking, and he is in a dress in the front yard. I would bet a gazillion dollars that most of the time he was going commando under the dress, and great-grandmother (or great aunts/big sisters) would wipe him up every so often.

It sounds like a big fat pain in the butt, but when I think about how quickly a kitten can be litter trained, it makes me wonder...

It does fascinate me but in today's world, baby commando's would be difficult to handle.

 

[Teresa]

Of course you can always go diaper free with Elimination Communication....

www.diaperfreebaby.org/



I actually met someone who was doing this with her 4 month old. It freaked me out that she would take a little Bjorn potty with her everywhere & take her baby to the potty at such a young age. I was tempted to buy a book on it to read more about it, but there's no way in HAIL that I am going to do that. More power to anyone who does, but that ain't in my job description.

If I had a baby now, God forbid, I would be interested in this solution to diapers. maybe. only because I have seen how tiny ones learn things so quickly (1) if you let them, and (2) if they are ready. a mom has to be very sensitive to both of these criteria. that is why I don't like to hear a pediatrician advise not to potty train before a certain age because some kids, especially girls, are ready quite early. some kids, especially boys, are not ready and never will be until you provide some gentle motivation and experience for them.

I had my boy trained by 2, and it was hell in some ways, but with support from the montessori school we mainly had a good experience. after he was half potty trained, the teacher said, "no more diapers". so we dressed in underwear and pants. we had many messes. but it was uncomfortable for him to have messy pants, unlike a diaper when boys don't mind the mess at all. I almost vomited every time, and he had to help clean himself up. the key was trying not be mad at him - he's only learning and experimenting with his body. it did not take long and he was a little potty going toddler! also, with boys, I've seen friends wait too late because the child didn't express interest - and then it was really and truly hell.

 

[organicmama]

If I had a baby now, God forbid, I would be interested in this solution to diapers. maybe. only because I have seen how tiny ones learn things so quickly (1) if you let them, and (2) if they are ready. a mom has to be very sensitive to both of these criteria. that is why I don't like to hear a pediatrician advise not to potty train before a certain age because some kids, especially girls, are ready quite early. some kids, especially boys, are not ready and never will be until you provide some gentle motivation and experience for them.

I had my boy trained by 2, and it was hell in some ways, but with support from the montessori school we mainly had a good experience. after he was half potty trained, the teacher said, "no more diapers". so we dressed in underwear and pants. we had many messes. but it was uncomfortable for him to have messy pants, unlike a diaper when boys don't mind the mess at all. I almost vomited every time, and he had to help clean himself up. the key was trying not be mad at him - he's only learning and experimenting with his body. it did not take long and he was a little potty going toddler! also, with boys, I've seen friends wait too late because the child didn't express interest - and then it was really and truly hell.

I know when little guy's about to poop. He's pretty obvious about it. I considered doing the EC, but with something like that I wouldn't have had Mr. OM's support. He was drawing the line at that one.... not complaining because he actually delivered little guy at home by ourselves. He's the best daddy in the world but when I mentioned it, he said, "You're nuts & have gone too far on that one."

 

[ckhagen]

I've cloth diapered exclusively for 4 years now. Cloth is so easy these days.

I also did part-time elimination communication with my oldest, starting at 5mos. If I would have actually put more effort into it he would have been diaper free by 8 or 9mos, but I didn't go whole hog with it and he finished using diapers with the exception of long outings (places we couldn't get to a potty quick enough) by 18mos. The key to EC is realizing that you're not "training" the child... you're listening to their cues, paying very close attention to their needs.

For daycare, most people have the easiest time introducing their daycare provider to cloth with something like a pocket diaper or an all-in-one... a few that come to mind are FuzziBunz, Happy Heinys (for whom I am a retail sales rep), Swaddlebees, Blueberry, BumGenius... Those are the closest things you can get to a disposable.

My littlest has actually been in disposables for the past month since my washing machine is broken and I'm not able to do laundry as often as usual. I really can't stand them though I'll be happy when the thing is fixed! I have been using the chlorine free, biodegradeable dipes from Target and they work very well, it's just not the same. And the regular brands such as Pampers have the strangest smell to me when wet... something you'll probably only notice if you've only used cloth (or for a long period of time) and switched.

Anyways, I highly recommend cloth diapers to anyone who wants to try it. If you're just wanting to check it out... order 4 pocket diapers or all-in-ones to get a feel. I did it when my oldest was 6 weeks old (got sick of the up-the-back-blowouts! never had another) and I was hooked. Later you can get into the fitteds and covers, which are a little more complicated, but a favorite for seasoned pros

 

[organicmama]

I was wondering when you were going to chime in! Saturday was funn! You're kids are so great!

Pampers do smell weird after you use cloth. Didn't know about the Target diapers... that could be our balance in this! Thanks, as always!

I've cloth diapered exclusively for 4 years now. Cloth is so easy these days.

I also did part-time elimination communication with my oldest, starting at 5mos. If I would have actually put more effort into it he would have been diaper free by 8 or 9mos, but I didn't go whole hog with it and he finished using diapers with the exception of long outings (places we couldn't get to a potty quick enough) by 18mos. The key to EC is realizing that you're not "training" the child... you're listening to their cues, paying very close attention to their needs.

For daycare, most people have the easiest time introducing their daycare provider to cloth with something like a pocket diaper or an all-in-one... a few that come to mind are FuzziBunz, Happy Heinys (for whom I am a retail sales rep), Swaddlebees, Blueberry, BumGenius... Those are the closest things you can get to a disposable.

My littlest has actually been in disposables for the past month since my washing machine is broken and I'm not able to do laundry as often as usual. I really can't stand them though I'll be happy when the thing is fixed! I have been using the chlorine free, biodegradeable dipes from Target and they work very well, it's just not the same. And the regular brands such as Pampers have the strangest smell to me when wet... something you'll probably only notice if you've only used cloth (or for a long period of time) and switched.

Anyways, I highly recommend cloth diapers to anyone who wants to try it. If you're just wanting to check it out... order 4 pocket diapers or all-in-ones to get a feel. I did it when my oldest was 6 weeks old (got sick of the up-the-back-blowouts! never had another) and I was hooked. Later you can get into the fitteds and covers, which are a little more complicated, but a favorite for seasoned pros

 

[organicmama]

CKH, when did your oldest potty train?

 

[ckhagen]

CKH, when did your oldest potty train?

Well, he was going on his own, unprompted and not wearing a diaper 80% of the time by 18mos. If I would have let go of my fear of him going in his pants while we were out, that would have been it, he would have been done then. But, I kept putting diaper on him when we went out and he did what he was supposed to do in them :funn: Once I got over it and put him in undies, we had three accidents and that was it. He was about 24 months when that happened.

 

[doGooD]

This has been so helpful. I can't beleive the tremendous amount of information from this group.

THANK YOU-- please keep sharing!

 

[lisaloebmalone]

My kids are 10 and 12 now, so my diapering days were LOOONG ago.

I did use a diaper service -- my parents actually bought me a year's service when my first was born and I continued using them. It was really great -- they delivered new and picked up soiled weekly. I never had to wash anything; they did ask that I shake out the poop into the toilet if it was solid enough to do so. But I just threw the soiled ones into a plastic bag we kept in our storage shed. Didn't smell too pleasant, to be sure, but if you have someplace out of the way to keep it, it's not bad.

My daycare didn't mind using them - I just supplied them bags to put the soiled ones in and picked them up each day. (I had a great daycare -- they also didn't mind using my frozen breast milk.)

I don't recall the expense of it, but I remember it being maybe slightly more expensive than disposables.

I did use disposables, like the other moms here, when we were on trips or out for long periods of time.

All this thinking about diapers has at once created a wish that my kids were little again, and a fervent prayer of thanks that they're not!

 

[organicmama]

There are bags made out of PUL that you can take with you or use at daycares to hold the soiled diapers and you can just throw them in the wash with the diapers themselves.

The diaper champ doesn't smell as long as you wash them every 2 to 2 1/2 days. Any longer and they do, but we have it in the coat closet in the laundry room, away from life itself. My brother had his diaper genie in the bedroom with disposables in it and it STUNK! I couldn't be in there at all.

I'll be glad when little man's out of diapers and not nursing anymore, but I am going to enjoy the days that he's a baby because it passes so soon.

BTW, CK, you can use my washing machine any time.... IF you teach me how to sew.

My kids are 10 and 12 now, so my diapering days were LOOONG ago.

I did use a diaper service -- my parents actually bought me a year's service when my first was born and I continued using them. It was really great -- they delivered new and picked up soiled weekly. I never had to wash anything; they did ask that I shake out the poop into the toilet if it was solid enough to do so. But I just threw the soiled ones into a plastic bag we kept in our storage shed. Didn't smell too pleasant, to be sure, but if you have someplace out of the way to keep it, it's not bad.

My daycare didn't mind using them - I just supplied them bags to put the soiled ones in and picked them up each day. (I had a great daycare -- they also didn't mind using my frozen breast milk.)

I don't recall the expense of it, but I remember it being maybe slightly more expensive than disposables.

I did use disposables, like the other moms here, when we were on trips or out for long periods of time.

All this thinking about diapers has at once created a wish that my kids were little again, and a fervent prayer of thanks that they're not!