21.10.10

Cloth Diapering Day #3

Mmk. I'm getting a little frustrated.

I still love cloth diapers. Probably even more today, as Lily had two massive (and watery. yuck.) poops, and the flush-able liners totally took care of it easily.

But.

And you knew there had to be a but...

Last night they STILL didn't last through the night and I put in a whole extra diaper! She had her normal Easy Fit diaper, an Apple Cheeks liner (aka diaper), a small pad to wick away moisture from her bum (which did work wonders), and the flush-able liner, all packed in there. And she still was wet at 7am.

Two nights ago, without the Apple Cheeks diaper/liner/whatever she was wet at her 4am feed. Last night she was dry come that time. So it's an improvement. But when Lily woke at 6am to feed (yes, she's an hour ahead of schedule. I don't know why. I'm not happy about it.) her back was drenched, through her sleep sac.

So the Apple Cheeks diaper/liner/whatever did improve the situation. Maybe it bought me 3-4 extra hours of dryness (guessing, because I don't know exactly when she got wet two nights ago...) but it wasn't enough.

Tomorrow I'm heading to Bummis to buy a stay-dry booster and add that to the party in her pants and see if there's a difference. But tonight, I'm going Pampers Baby Dry. Sorry Planet Earth. We had a good thing going for a while. If the stay-dry liner (plus Apple Cheeks diaper/liner/whatever) doesn't allow her to sleep for 11-12 hours without being wet, that's going to be my only option for the long haul. What's the point of this sleep training to get them to sleep through the night if pee is going to wake them?

I guess it's not the end of the world. I'll use cloth all day long, and use ONE DISPOSABLE DIAPER per day, but that's still around 500 diapers before she's potty trained. Can you BELIEVE how many diapers that is? That's not including the 8/day she used for the first two months of her life. That would be 980 diapers before she's potty trained. That's a baby who's using cloth diapers all but one measly diaper per day.
Hence, the reason we went cloth in the first place.

12 comments:

  1. Sharon21.10.10

    Although it doesn't solve the problem of not using diapers at all at night, you could start potty training her at an earlier age to diminish the number of diapers you do use. I have a friend who currently has a one-year old. She's learned to read the signs in his face indicating when he was to go, and immediately puts him on the toilet. 1. He gets used to doing on the toilet, and 2. he won't have a hard transition from diaper to toilet. I've had to train a five-year old, it's really about perserverence and consistency. I remember Lon saying once that it was much easier to train Matty when he was younger than when he was older (the 2nd time around).

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  2. Interesting! What's the average age to start potty training? I'd thought 2 years but I have no real clue.

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  3. Also, remember that your diapers will work better after 10 washes (or so they say. I found after a little while babies get used to wet diapers and shouldn't wake up. She's just used to the sweet ultra dry feeling of the disposables.
    I started toilet training at 15 months, with introducing them to the potty and then getting them out of diapers when they were at home. Every parent I know reads, 'toilet trainng in one day'...I say don't get your hopes up. But it has some really good ideas for the process.

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  4. Hey Emily- Just a few thoughts about cloth diapers for you. I went to a cloth diapering 'course' (if you can believe it) where they told us about maintenance etc. We learned that until the babe is 6 months old, no need to use flushable liners or scrape the poop or anything. For a child that is bfeed exclusively (aka not solid food fed) their poop is soluble and can just go through the wash. Best way to keep up the diapers is a cold rinse, then a hot wash with detergent. Just thought it might save you time not to have to use liners (and save money). We only started using flushable liners when Silas was eating solids. Oh, and you don't need to store them in water or anything. In fact, it's recommended not- so that they don't get worn down. I just keep them in a plastic/cloth lined pale and just dump the diapers in the wash (dump them out of the pail) then dump in the plastic/cloth liner and voila. No double touching, no handling of poop. Check out this link. This site is a great resource for info: http://www.newandgreen.com/info_diaper_care.html

    Good luck!

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  5. Shan- is that the same for formula? Bc I'm not breastfeeding exclusively...

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  6. @loni I assume she'll get used to the wetness, it's just that shes SO wet that I wouldn't feel comfortable leaving her. She leaks through several layers of clothes and blankets and I can't imagine that's good for her, plus it smells :)
    @shan - store then in water? what does that mean? After I wash Lily's they just go in a drawer in her room, and when they're dirty we throw them in a plastic diaper bag that I also wash with the diapers each time...

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  7. Oh Emily- most people I know thought they had to store dirty diapers in a water pail or with bleach. Common misconception (so I thought i would pass it along) but you're way ahead of the game! As for formula- I was under the impression as long as babes were not eating solids, you can just throw them straight in the wash (formula or breastfed). Check out their side- there's so many resources (more ideas about night time etc etc). http://www.newandgreen.com/info_Learning_Centre.html
    p.s. what kind of formula do you use?
    p.p.s she's adorable!
    p.p.p.s did brad never give you the card and gift I sent back with him?

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  8. We use Similac 0+months. Just the basic one. It's one of the cheapest and I compared it with nestle good start, it seemed like Lily liked it better but who really knows. It also smelled weaker than the good start which had such a strong gross salty smell. Yuck!

    So that's what you meant a while back when you asked about a sign! I wasn't sure! I got the card but the song stayed in BC. partly because Brad didn't have room in his suitcases which were full of books and also because he asked me if I "wanted a pink decoration for Lilys room" and being on a pink binge (which I still am on even though ALL of her clothes are pink. Urgh.) I said "no". I didn't know it was a gift though! Yikes. I am a gifts love language girl and pink or not, I would never turn down a gift!

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  9. Oh that's too bad! Funny that Brad didn't think to take the letters out of the package! It was wooden letters to spell 'p-r-e-c-i-o-u-s' to put on your wall but it was in the package with a cardboard backing so that you could read it. It was a light pink but you could have painted over them etc. Hmmph.

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  10. Hey Em,
    We put Benji's cloth diapers right in the washing machine and they come out beautifully!
    He uses FuzziBuns, so we take out the insert before washing. Also, I've heard setting diapers outside to absorb some sunshine gets rid of yellow stains!!!!!!!! Haven't tried that yet. Sounds likes Lily is on a similiar schedule as Benji...except I've just been feeding/sleeping on demand. Wouldn't mind a little bit of regularity though. Does she really nap the same time each day?

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  11. Meant to say, at first we scrubbed the diapers by hand with hand soap and hung them to dry before washing. Then I had a lazy day and didn't clean any of them! Suprisingly they came out of the wash looking beautiful!! So much relief :)

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  12. Ok I just read your entry on sleep training! Answered my own question :)

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