Persevering Momma

Taking The Day One Spoon At a Time

Breaking The Stigma: Disability or Not I Can Cloth Diaper

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I was a chicken.  I will admit that now.  I was terrified of using a cloth diaper on my son for a variety of reasons.  Of course a year and a half later I really, really am starting to regret not cloth diapering my son.  There are so many things that I have learned about disposable diapers as well as cloth diapers in this last year that I didn’t know before I was a parent.

When you are a soon-to-be parent there is an overwhelming amount of knowledge that you feel you need to learn about and unfortunately there isn’t enough time to learn it all.  That is why I want to share this with you all.  This is especially for those soon-to-be parents who just can’t decide what the best option is and ultimately go with the easier of the two options like I did.

 

Why I ran away from cloth diapers before giving them a chance.

The biggest reason I ran away from cloth diapers was because… dun, dun, dun… I was afraid of the mess.  I know, know.  That is so typical isn’t it?  I was afraid I wouldn’t be able to handle the mess that comes with cloth diapering and I felt like I didn’t have the time to learn how to care for cloth diapers before my son was born. (I also didn’t think I would be able to teach hubby how to care for them either; I was nervous enough about him washing the baby’s clothes as it was.)

Should I have been afraid of the mess?

I can’t really say, but I do know that the first two months would have been really hard for me because I was healing from surgery and could barely do the stairs to make it to our laundry room.  So, realistically it would have been a real mess.  As a parent though I have come to realize that even without cloth diapers I don’t escape the mess so there was no reason to be scared of it.

The fear that brought me to tears was completely different from being afraid of the mess and that was the fear that my disability would make it impossible to cloth diaper.  In hindsight I realize that the fear was real, but that it was heightened by the fact that I was hormonal and everything felt way more extreme to me.

Should I have let my disability get in the way?

I shouldn’t have let my disability win; instead I wish I had gone to a cloth diapering class and could have gotten hands on experience with some of the cloth diapers on the market today.  There is a wide variety of styles out there that I could have used/tried, but I was too scared of them.  I chose to chicken out and go the easy route with disposable diapers.

When you have struggled with clasps, snaps, and some velcro your whole life you really start to doubt your abilities to care for your children and I will admit that I was terrified I wouldn’t be able to use cloth diapers without help from someone else.

Instead I am now saying I can cloth diaper!

My current determination to not let my disability win is why I am trying out a variety of cloth diapers.  I want to prove that someone with weak hands who often can’t even button a pair of jeans can use cloth diapers on their children.  This is why 1.5 years into being a mom I am deciding to put my foot down and start this new blogging series about cloth diapering with a physical disability.

Beginning Your Cloth Diaper Journey: Where To Start?

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What do I REALLY need to start you Cloth Diaper Journey?

I asked myself this a million times and looked at a bunch of different resources and asked a lot of moms the same question because if I was going to start attempting this new cloth diaper journey I wanted to make sure that I did it right.  That is why I want to share with you what I have found to be the bare essentials as well as the extras that are optional for you to get your cloth diapering journey started.

cloth diaper journey

Cloth Diaper Necessities

Diapers: Deciding how many cloth diapers you will need for your stash can be a daunting task.  Thankfully Smart Bottoms has a cute graphic that they have shared that gives you an idea of how many cloth diapers are needed for various stages of cloth diapering.

Wipes: You have the option of using disposable wipes, cloth wipes, or both.  All of these options are good options, but you need to choose the option that works best for you.  I find that disposable wipes are much easier and faster to use when in public facilities while cloth wipes can be very helpful at home because it reduces waste and I will be doing laundry anyway.  If you do choose to use cloth wipes you will need a cloth wipes solution.  You can purchase one or make your own at home.

Diaper Pail/Bucket: I feel that this is a necessity just because it is easier to toss a dirty diaper into a diaper pail or bucket instead of using a wet bag.  This gives you the ability to close the stink inside the pail and keep your home feeling and smelling fresh while you have the ease of tossing a diaper in the “trash” just like people do with disposable diapers.  I view the cloth diaper pail to be like a Diaper Genie that many people with disposables use.

Pail Liner/Large Wet Bag: Depending on what route you decide to go you will either need a pail liner (or two) or a large wet bag to store your dirty diapers in until wash day.  A good pail liner will be a lot like a garbage bag except that these you don’t throw away.  They are lined with PUL just like you cloth diapers so that they hold in the wet stuff and keep the smell contained for the most part as well.  The difference with using a large wet bag is that you have to unzip and re-zip the bag shut every time you use it.  This can feel like extra work, especially when you are changing a tiny baby’s diaper a million times a day.

Small/Travel size wet bag: If you are going out for a day you will want a small or travel sized wet bag in your possession so that you can store your dirty diapers while being on the go.  No one wants to lug around a big bag full of dirty diapers.  If you only own one of these you then you will need to empty the dirty diapers into the big bag when you get home, but if you have multiple small bags you can leave the dirty diapers in this bag until wash day. The decision is ultimately up to you.

Optional Extras

Extra Inserts:  If you are considering doubling up your inserts for overnight diapers then you will want to purchase additional inserts to help you with overnight diapers.  I will admit that not all children need to have their diapers stuffed with extra inserts for overnight, but if you think you will need them I would recommend buying them ahead of time.

Diaper Sprayer: The diaper sprayer is not a necessity, but I will admit that this is something that I find to be a very important accessory for any cloth diapering parent.  The diaper sprayer helps to spray off the messy poops that won’t just plop into the toilet.  We all know that these poops exist even if we are in denial about them.  If you decide or buy a diaper sprayer then I also recommend buying the Spray Pal to go with it.  The Spray Pal allows you to clip the diaper to it and spray off the diaper without risking getting poop all over your hands.

Diaper Liners: Diaper Liners are also something that isn’t a must-have item because you can do without them, but they are a great addition to a stash if you will be putting your child in daycare or if you are going to have a lot of different people changing diapers.  The diaper liners lay as a top layer against baby’s skin and allows for you to easily get poop into the toilet without needing as sprayer (most of the time, some loose poops will escape beyond this layer.)

 

Tips For Traveling While Cloth Diapering Baby

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Que Doomsday music! Dun, dun, dun! Lol. I know that can be what it feels like when you consider travelling while cloth diapering baby.  It really doesn’t need to be that frightening.  There are a couple of different options that you can consider before you take your little one on a road trip and no I am not going to say “go buy disposables” though you can do that if you so desire.

Cloth Diapering with Liners

Your easiest option (that doesn’t require you to change up your cloth stash) is adding liners to your cloth diapers so that you can easily toss out poop and don’t have to carry that with you in your dirty wet bags.  This would really be my first suggestion because this can make it much easier and lighter to carry the dirty diapers.  If you happen to have covers that you stuff I would recommend you bringing those because generally you can get away with less covers that take up less space.

You will need to make sure that you have enough wet bags so that if you have to change a poopy diaper and don’t have anywhere to clean it you can stash that one diaper separate until you find a toilet.  I would also recommend bringing laundry soap because you are going to want to stop at laundromat at least once if you are going on a trip for a week or more.  Bringing the soap with you helps so that you have the right stuff if you can’t find it at a store near you.

gDiapers

The second option would be to go with gDiapers.  These are a cover hybrid diaper that can work like a disposable diaper. You can use cloth inserts or you can use disposable inserts that can be torn open and flushed down the toilet or they can be tossed if you are using a toilet that cannot have sanitary products flushed down them.  These take up a lot less space and you will have a lot less dirty laundry on your hands.

More often than not moms don’t seem to use these as their every day diaper, though there are moms out there who do, so these would be an investment to use mainly for travelling.  If your family travels a lot I would recommend investing in these cloth diapers because they are easier to use and handle while on the road, but if you go on only one trip a year I would say it isn’t worth the monetary investment for you and your family.

Cloth Diaper Accessories & When to Use Them

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So, you have your stash in place and now you are thinking about what other fun cloth diaper accessories you might want to invest in.  All of these items are optional and you can get by without them, but if you are creating a baby registry or if you have a little bit of extra cash that you are able to spend then keep reading because these items can be a great addition to your collection.

cloth diaper accessories

Doublers

Doublers can come in very handy during bedtime and nap times. During these times your child tends to pee a lot and if you don’t want to have to change their diapers in the middle of their sleep you will want these.  They are also great for road trips if you don’t want to stop as often for diaper changes.

Liners

Liners are disposable and are meant to help reduce mess.  You place the liner in the diaper and it is supposed to catch most of the poop so that you can easily take the liner and toss it or some you can flush down the toilet.  Always check to see which kind you buy and make sure that it is safe with your septic system.

Cloth Diaper Pail/Liners

You can easily get away with just a cloth diaper pail liner and place it in any old trash can, but if you have the means I recommend getting a pail that is meant for cloth diapers because it will have a better seal and will help lock out them smell of dirty diapers until you wash them.

Spray Pal

The Spray Pal is really two different items that you might want to consider investing in.  Often when cleaning poopy cloth you either plop the solid poop in the toilet or you have to flush the toilet and vigorously scrub the poop off the diaper with your hand in the toilet.  This old fashioned method is messy!!! That is why the Spray Pal Shield and Spray Pal Nappy Sprayer are two great investments.  The sprayer hooks up to your toilet and you clip your poopy diaper into the shield and spray it with water to get the poop off without really getting your hands dirty.  This method is faster and much cleaner.  You will however have to do it by hand when you are on the go since the sprayer isn’t really something you can transport with you on the go.

Do you feel like any of these cloth diaper accessories are must-haves for you?

Don’t Be Scared of Cloth Diapering: Cloth 101 From a Disabled Momma!

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Cloth diapering isn’t as daunting as I once thought it was.  I wish I had known what I know now when I was pregnant; it would have changed so much in my life.  I hate thinking about all of the money I could have saved or spent on other necessities that had to be cut because money was too tight.  That is why I want to give you a few tips that I have come across: My Cloth 101.

Cloth Diapering: Cloth 101

Cloth 101: Why Cloth Diaper?

The #1 reason I hear from people who are strapped financially like my family is the money that they save money on cloth diapers is extraordinary.  When I think about all of the disposable diapers that we were gifted at my baby shower I realize that I could have been gifted most of my cloth diaper stash if not all of it which would mean that I would have to spend little to nothing on diapers for my son.  On average my disposable diapers cost me $0.22 per diaper and if my son wears 5 diapers a day (an average amount of diapers for my son over time) he would wear 1,825 diapers in a year and that comes to $401.50 a year in diapers.  This number is the lowest possible variant that I can think of for my son.  This is because when he was a little baby he would go through 10+ diapers a day and now at 16 months he averages 5-7 diapers a day.  This would mean that in the average 3 years that a child is in diapers you would spend approximately $1,204.50.

Depending on how often you plan on washing your cloth diapers will depend on how many cloth diapers you need in your stash.  The more often that you wash your diapers the fewer you will need which means that you will be putting less money into your diapers.  You can also save money by buying cloth diapers off of B/S/T groups.

The #2 reason for using cloth diapers over disposables is the fact that cloth diapers are eco-friendly.  Disposable diapers get tossed in the garbage which means that they will sit in a landfill for hundreds of years.  Look at the numbers above and just think about how big of a pile of disposable diapers there would be from just ONE CHILD.  The size of that pile is disgustingly huge.  You can help prevent our landfills from getting even more filed by man-made junk.  I will admit that I have felt guilty about throwing away diapers many times over the last 1.5 years of using disposable diapers and that is one of the reasons why I want to change the way I do things.

The #3 reason for using cloth diapers over disposables is the fact that they are non-toxic and safe for baby’s soft permeable skin.  So many people buy natural and organic products for their children in hopes of keeping harmful chemicals and toxins away from their baby, but still put disposable diapers on their children.  These disposable diapers are full of chemicals and toxins that sit against baby’s sensitive skin all day and night.  Many of these diapers are so bad that you can smell the chemicals the moment you open the package of diapers.  When we first started diapering my son I didn’t notice the smell so much, but as he has gotten older and I have bought new boxes of diapers I have noticed a significant odor from a variety of different brands of disposable diapers.  This smell is one of the reasons why I started second guessing what I was doing with my son.