Okay...so I admit it. I've been using disposable diapers for about 3 months. I know I went on and on about cloth diapers and how awesome they are - the environment, the health benefits, the cost, etc. And overall, I really liked using them. Gerry, on the other hand, has told me in a few creative ways, that they are the worst purchase we have ever made.
Let me explain by saying that my husband hates poop. He hates it! With a passion!
That's not to say that I love poop. It just doesn't bother me. I worked for 8 years as a dog groomer..cleaning up everything that came out of sick, or old or nervous dogs. I cleaned poop off of the dogs, out of the cages and off of myself. I worked in a daycare for 7 years cleaning up after children that weren't even mine. I not only dealt with their poop, but their puke, too! I spent most of my time working in the "official potty training room." I've spent many a day cleaning up the floors, rinsing out little undies and wiping down those little poop machines!
Needless to say, I don't really mind cleaning poop from children that ARE mine. However, changing a poopy cloth diaper is a different experience than changing a disposable one. It requires dumping out the solid poo from the cloth diaper into the toilet, spraying on some stuff that helps with the odor, folding the cloth diaper up and putting in in a pail. This procedure grosses my husband out. He hates it and complains about it on on a regular basis.
When we used them exclusively..I always did the laundry. It was pretty gross to open the diaper pail with 2 days worth of smelly diapers in it, open each one, take them apart, then wash them once in cold water, once in hot water, and add an extra rinse cycle. After drying them, it is kind of a pain to stuff and fold the diapers so they are ready to use again. I washed them religiously every other day. (And to give my husband credit...he did help me with the stuffing and folding part.)
After all of this talk of poop and laundry, those are still not the reasons we stopped using them. I was prepared for all of that stuff, and I didn't mind doing it. What I wasn't prepared for was Maria leaking out of them at least twice a day. I got tired of changing her bed sheets, washing her clothes and wiping off the couch every time this happened. I was aware that the diapers are not as absorbent at disposables, but it's not practical to change her more than every hour and a half - 2 hours. It's not even possible.
After speaking to the lovely people at Cotton Babies, their solution was for me to purchase hemp liners to place in the diaper as well, which provide an extra level of absorbency.
Great.
Spend more money.
Just what I wanted to hear.
Can't wait to tell my husband that!
The second reason we went on a cloth diaper hiatus was because I soon discovered 13 of the diapers we purchased had velcro tabs that were defective. I thought I was doing something wrong during the laundering process because every time I would take them out of the washer, they would all be stuck together. Turns out they had a bad batch. Do you think they would've put a message on their website or notified their customers in any way? No. Fortunately, we were able to exchange the covers with brand new ones...no questions asked.
Gerry went ahead and purchased 5 hemp liners to be put in under the regular liners...only after you wash and dry them 3 times in a row. Apparently, the more you wash them, the more absorbent they become. Oh, the things we do for our kids!
So, we've re-dedicated ourselves to the cloth diapers. We have already spent so much money on them, I didn't really want to quit. Between us cutting way back on Maria's milk intake, and using the hemp liners she has only leaked once, and it was when she woke up in the morning. Hopefully this works out and might even help Maria with the potty training process! I'm crossing my fingers!
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