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Parenting
By Jessica Hartman
Updated: Sep. 28, 2020
Originally Published: Oct. 8, 2015
Last night, I found myself in the bathroom for a solid 20 minutes, submerging cloth diapers in the toilet to rid them of the remnants of that upscale baby food my little guy had vehemently rejected just two days earlier. Pretty unpleasant, right?
When I was pregnant with baby number two, my husband and I made a serious commitment to cloth diapers. We stocked up on an impressive 17,000 diaper inserts and 13,000 stylish cloth covers. We even splurged on a bidet attachment for the toilet, because why not? Along with the absurdly priced cloth diaper pail—available in hues like Dusty Sahara Rose and Ecru—we chose a lovely Robin’s Egg Blue. After discovering that regular diaper cream could ruin our cloth, we opted for organic balms and coconut oil.
Clueless about using cloth diapers, we invested hours researching reviews and tutorials, with some hilariously bewildering YouTube videos thrown in for good measure. Every time we met our parenting friends, we grilled them for tips. We were determined to ensure our child’s rear end was well taken care of.
During my nesting phase, I washed those diapers obsessively, line-drying them under the scorching summer sun. I read somewhere that washing them multiple times would enhance their absorbency, and I was convinced that stash of cloth diapers better be ready for action. I folded them neatly and stacked them in the baby’s rapidly growing changing station. Forget a changing table; this little one was getting his own bathroom!
Newborns are essentially adorable blobs of love. Their poops are kind of cute, and parents can’t help but share stories about them. Ask me about my firstborn’s initial month, and I could regale you with at least four poop tales. But then comes the transition to solid foods around six or seven months. While babies don’t eat much at first, their waste transforms those darling—and pricey—diapers into repugnant poop traps.
Fast-forward to last night. My son has been eagerly diving into solid foods, which is fantastic. However, as he’s still primarily breastfeeding, this new foodie adventure has its challenges. He’s hesitant to let go of nursing, and I’m not thrilled about tackling his diaper mess. But we’re forging ahead into this exciting world of new tastes.
He filled two diapers back-to-back. The thing about breastfed babies is that they can go days without a bowel movement. For me, those three glorious days of diaper bliss had come to an end.
In the bathroom, I confronted the two poop-filled cloth diapers. Step one: open them and remove the inserts. Gross. Step two: scrape the solid remnants off the cloth lining. Even grosser. Step three should have involved soaking them before tossing them in the wash. But no, this mess called for scrubbing. With my trusty pink rubber gloves on, I plunged my hands—and the diapers—into the toilet to regain some semblance of dignity.
After my tactical bathroom maneuver, I tossed those offending diapers into the washing machine, setting it to a heavy-duty soak. Honestly, there should be a “Just this Side of Obliterate” setting. Finally, I kicked back and took a deep breath of clean air.
On a cheerful note, I had my wonderful cousin reach out last night. She shared some amusing poop stories from my own baby days, which lightened the mood of this utterly disgusting situation. She reminded me why we chose cloth diapers in the first place. Sure, they can be messy and a total pain, but they’re gentle on a baby’s skin and kinder to our planet. Plus, they provide some entertaining stories.
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In summary, while the realities of cloth diapering can be pretty gross, it’s all part of the journey of parenthood. Just remember, it’s all worth it for the sake of the environment and your baby’s skin—and it definitely makes for some great stories!
Keyphrase: cloth diapering experiences
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