Cloth Diapers

Pink Elephant

Well-Known Member
The Watercooler topic - How Often Do You Change The Sheets, prompted this conversation topic from me.

Anyone else remember the days of cotton diapers, rubber pants, and diaper pins? I was one of those moms who was staunch about putting all of my children through traditional, old-fashioned diapers, especially being a stay-at-home mom, and as reliable as those old rubber pants were over a double diaper, I still remember finding an occasion damp patch on crib sheets in the morning.

Dunking, washing, hanging, folding, pinning... my word, diapers kept me busy, but the savings I enjoyed were exponential, and not much in the way of diaper rash either.

Any others here who went this route in their homes?
 

SuZir

Well-Known Member
I used only cloth diapers with my younger one and about half and half with Ache. They were getting trendy at the time and are still very popular.

Mostly environmental reasons but partly also because of worry for health risks when using disposable diapers (they keep kids genital area more warm and there has been some discussion if that causes damage especially for boys' reproducing organs and is one of the reasons for western men's sperm getting worse.) Kids also tend to potty train better when using cloth diapers, because they do not feel as comfy when wet.
 

Pink Elephant

Well-Known Member
I used only cloth diapers with my younger one and about half and half with Ache. They were getting trendy at the time and are still very popular.
My word, are they EVER trendy nowadays! BIG change compared to the ones my kids wore (1985 - 1993). SuZir. Did you have to pin the diapers you used or were they Velcro?

Mostly environmental reasons but partly also because of worry for health risks when using disposable diapers (they keep kids genital area more warm and there has been some discussion if that causes damage especially for boys' reproducing organs and is one of the reasons for western men's sperm getting worse.) Kids also tend to potty train better when using cloth diapers, because they do not feel as comfy when wet.
Not to mention the chemicals. In my case, using cloth diapers was a throwback from my babysitting days. Everyone used diapers and rubber pants. I was two-for-two in the early training department. Daughters were trained and out by around age 3, sons were semi-trained and out around age 3-1/2... nighttime lasted a while longer.
 

GoingNorth

Crazy Cat Lady
Well, I was born in 1960, so personally was part of the cloth diaper and rubber pants era.

According to my mother, I threw fits when I was wet or soiled even as an infant, and was toilet trained by the time I was two, possibly earlier.

Apparently, I would remove my diaper and rubber pants, crawl into the bathroom, and take care of business on the bathroom floor!

This even though I walked late due to issues with my hip joints. By the time I was babysitting in 71, they had come out with disposable diapers, but most parents didn't trust them and still used cloth (and had diaper services), so my diaper dealings were with the old fashioned cloth diapers.
 

SuZir

Well-Known Member
Joy was toilet trained just before modern pocket diapers came to market, so I was still using folded cloth and covers. But covers were already more modern type so no pins. When Joy was very little I used wool covers and later waterproof covers. At the time cloth diapers were still considered rather alternative and 'tree hugging'-type of thing. However cloth diapers and many other 'tree hugging'-things I was involved especially when Joy was a baby have become rather mainstream nowadays. Not everyone use cloth diapers nowadays, but almost everyone is considering it as an option and many use at least at times. Menstrual cup is not considered alternative either any more and lots of tree hugging child raring things (co-sleeping, babywearing, attachment parenting etc.) are very mainstream around here nowadays.
 

BusynMember

Well-Known Member
I think your country sounds a lot more like me than the U.S.. We didnt use cloth diaers but we did co sleeping which is frowned on here. We just felt especally our adopted kids needed to feel very close to us. The only one we didnt/couldnt sleep with was Goneboy as hecame to us at six and guess what? My other kids who did sleep with us are securely attached, adopted or not.

It makes a difference.

Touching is so instrumental.

Good to see you, Suz. Glad Ache is doing well. I love that an alternatove treatment worked so well for him. I hope drugs go out of favor im lieu of these newer treatments.
 
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Pink Elephant

Well-Known Member
Well, I was born in 1960, so personally was part of the cloth diaper and rubber pants era.

According to my mother, I threw fits when I was wet or soiled even as an infant, and was toilet trained by the time I was two, possibly earlier.

Apparently, I would remove my diaper and rubber pants, crawl into the bathroom, and take care of business on the bathroom floor!

This even though I walked late due to issues with my hip joints. By the time I was babysitting in 71, they had come out with disposable diapers, but most parents didn't trust them and still used cloth (and had diaper services), so my diaper dealings were with the old fashioned cloth diapers.
I'm a 1963 baby, so cloth diapers for me, too. Siblings came later... 1966, another in 1968, another in 1971, and the last one in 1973, and I changed the diapers on the 1968, 1971, and 1973 born. My mom did cloth diapers and rubber pants with them, too.

I do remember early training back then (unlike today). About you removing you own diaper and rubber pants, LOL... my youngest son went through a stage of removing his rubber pants, but only in the middle of the night! I'd wake up in the morning, go in to change him, and I'd find his rubber pants on the floor in front of his crib.

I started babysitting (outside the home) around 1972, and never came across so much as a single disposable diaper until around 1980. Cloth diapers, pins, and rubber pants were the standard... absolutely everyone used them. No diaper service either, just old-fashioned home-laundered diapers done in the washing machine and hung on the line to dry.
 

Pink Elephant

Well-Known Member
Joy was toilet trained just before modern pocket diapers came to market, so I was still using folded cloth and covers. But covers were already more modern type so no pins. When Joy was very little I used wool covers and later waterproof covers. At the time cloth diapers were still considered rather alternative and 'tree hugging'-type of thing. However cloth diapers and many other 'tree hugging'-things I was involved especially when Joy was a baby have become rather mainstream nowadays. Not everyone use cloth diapers nowadays, but almost everyone is considering it as an option and many use at least at times. Menstrual cup is not considered alternative either any more and lots of tree hugging child raring things (co-sleeping, babywearing, attachment parenting etc.) are very mainstream around here nowadays.
You're right about the tree-hugging label that cloth diapers somewhat earned a number of years ago. Around the early 80's, if you used cloth diapers you were automatically branded a hippie. LOL! I was never a hippie.

I recall an old neighbour of ours using wool covers, but she used them selectively. Like most moms who were using cloth diapers at the time, she, too, used rubber pants.

My daughters opted to use disposables when they had their children, but when I took in my one daughters kids and cared for them for nearly two years, I switched both over to cloth diapers with traditional pull-on rubber pants and diaper pins. I couldn't justify buying store-bought diapers.

It's nice to see the swing in diaper-use today. I do think modern Velcro cloth diapers with the fancier covers has made it much easier and more appealing for mothers to make the switch.
 

Pink Elephant

Well-Known Member
I think your country sounds a lot mre like me than the U.S.. We didnt use cloth diaers but we did co sleeping which is frowned on here. We just felt especally our adopted kids needed to feel very close to us. The only one we didnt/couldnt sleep with was Goneboy as hecame to us at six and guess what? My other kids who did sleep with us are securely attached, adopted or not.

It makes a difference.

Touching is so instrumental.
I used to cheat with the sleeping thing. I had one child that was always unhappy in his crib, so on the days when husband was working out of town - and baby was unhappy, I'd tuck him into bed with me. He always slept better with momma by his side.

I watched a documentary on touch at the newborn baby stage, and without it, the babies in the experiment displayed noticeable traits associated with rejection, poor development, and the list went on.
 

Estherfromjerusalem

Well-Known Member
One amusing memory of using cloth diapers: We washed them in the hottest programme in the washing machine, and if you put something coloured in there by mistake -- then you hung on the washing line a line of pale blue diapers, or pink ones, or pale yellow!!!!

I have eight children, today aged 48 down to 30. Only the last two had disposable diapers, all the others were cloth diapers with rubber pants. Today's parents really have it easy!!

Oh, and the best present I ever received after having a baby was a diaper service for several months -- you left a bag of dirty smelly diapers outside your front door in the evening, and the next morning a bag of lovely clean white fluffy diapers was waiting for you!!

Love, Esther
 

BusynMember

Well-Known Member
I didnt cheat or lie about the kids sleeping with us. My husband didnt object and he snuggled the little ones too. When we adopted our Korean baby girl we were told her foster mother slept with her on the floor (i believe we were told the floor). That just made me more determined to keep it up. Although lugged across a continent at five months old, she was happy and plump and took to us at once, as opposed to the child we adopted at six who lived in an orphanage and had little physical contact with any loving adult. We also did that days version of attachment parenting. Worked for all but Goneboy. He never cared for hugs or snuggling with us.

Love, love that what we did is accepted in countries I respect more than our owm (sorry...thats how i feel, especially now.) I feel we are way too old fashion in childcare, healthcare and the environment and much else. I would have fit in better somewhere else.

Back on topic, co sleeping really served us well. I recommend it. It is highly bonding.
 

Pink Elephant

Well-Known Member
One amusing memory of using cloth diapers: We washed them in the hottest programme in the washing machine, and if you put something coloured in there by mistake -- then you hung on the washing line a line of pale blue diapers, or pink ones, or pale yellow!!!!

I have eight children, today aged 48 down to 30. Only the last two had disposable diapers, all the others were cloth diapers with rubber pants. Today's parents really have it easy!!

Oh, and the best present I ever received after having a baby was a diaper service for several months -- you left a bag of dirty smelly diapers outside your front door in the evening, and the next morning a bag of lovely clean white fluffy diapers was waiting for you!!

Love, Esther
LOL, about the tinting of diapers! Yes, I remember a few batches of diapers in my home that displayed a pale pastel shade after something new and colourful slipped past my watchful eyes and into the washing machine on diaper wash day! That, or when a pair of rubber pants went through an entire drying cycle in the electric tumble dryer! Goodness me.

My goodness, 8 kids! Wow! Now that's a lot of diapers! You have my admiration doing repeat cloth diapers and rubber pants for 6! I remember with my kids, I'd just get one out of diapers, and then what seemed like overnight, there I'd be stringing-up diapers again on the clothesline! That, or how many diapers I used to go through in a day when I had two wearing them! I'd just finish changing one, and the other one would need changing.

I never had diaper service, though what a treat that would have been. Instead, my trusty old Maytag washing machine did all the dirty work, and during the warmer months of the year, diapers and rubber pants (by the dozens) were pinned-up on the outdoor clothesline to dry. So many diapers in fact, I used to run out of clothespins some days!
 

Pink Elephant

Well-Known Member
I didnt cheat or lie about the kids sleeping with us. My husband didnt object and he snuggled the little ones too. When we adopted our Korean baby girl we were told her foster mother slept with her on the floor (i believe we were told the floor). That just made me more determined to keep it up. Although lugged across a continent at five months old, she was happy and plump and took to us at once, as opposed to the child we adopted at six who lived in an orphanage and had little physical contact with any loving adult. We also did that days version of attachment parenting. Worked for all but Goneboy. He never cared for hugs or snuggling with us.

Love, love that what we did is accepted in countries I respect more than our owm (sorry...thats how i feel, especially now.) I feel we are way too old fashion in childcare, healthcare and the environment and much else. I would have fit in better somewhere else.

Back on topic, co sleeping really served us well. I recommend it. It is highly bonding.
LOL! The cheating part applies only to dear son being allowed in our bed when husband was out of town. When husband was home we still entertained the kids scrambling into our bedroom first thing in the morning and climbing-in with us, but never co-sleeping, so I sort of spoiled my unhappy little one (behind the scenes) who hated his crib.

So warming to know you adopted. How dear. :)
 

mof

Momdidntsignupforthis
Well...I used cloth diapers in the late 90's..BUT had a service. I think they may be trending back, our son trained early and seamlessly. Unfortunately, the twins were exhasting, and all disposable....they trained LATE, and had delays...But I was able to be with them, so I am grateful for that!
 

Pink Elephant

Well-Known Member
Well...I used cloth diapers in the late 90's..BUT had a service. I think they may be trending back, our son trained early and seamlessly. Unfortunately, the twins were exhasting, and all disposable....they trained LATE, and had delays...But I was able to be with them, so I am grateful for that!
Gosh, It's so hit and miss. My youngest was one of those kids who couldn't (for the life of him) keep his pants dry and clean, and even after graduating out of daytime diapers, I remember whisking him off to his room at bedtime, lifting him into his crib, and pinning him up in a diaper. That routine went on FOREVER.

I can't for the life of me remember what cloth diapers were like in the late 90's.
 

mof

Momdidntsignupforthis
We had Velcro pants that were the covers. So you washed those , but lined them with the diapers. With a service you could request the weight of the diaper , and get a selection depending what your kid needed..
 

AnnieO

Shooting from the Hip
I tried to use cloth with Rose, but it just didn't work so well. We started out in disposables in the hospital, and when we came home, the dratted cloth diapers were WAY too big! I tried the ones that were not prefolded and that was a disaster - they're not even rectangular after one wash. Plus, I only had one diaper cover that was HUGE on her tiny little bottom. I finally gave up. However, I was vigilant about changing her... The only time she got a BAD diaper rash was when sister in law watched her and didn't change her ALL DAY. She "didn't look wet""... Ugh.
 

Pink Elephant

Well-Known Member
We had Velcro pants that were the covers. So you washed those , but lined them with the diapers. With a service you could request the weight of the diaper , and get a selection depending what your kid needed..
The Velcro I do remember... even the covers now that you mention them, and hourglass shaped (if I'm not mistaken). BIG change from the old.
 

Pink Elephant

Well-Known Member
I tried to use cloth with Rose, but it just didn't work so well. We started out in disposables in the hospital, and when we came home, the dratted cloth diapers were WAY too big! I tried the ones that were not prefolded and that was a disaster - they're not even rectangular after one wash. Plus, I only had one diaper cover that was HUGE on her tiny little bottom. I finally gave up. However, I was vigilant about changing her... The only time she got a BAD diaper rash was when sister in law watched her and didn't change her ALL DAY. She "didn't look wet""... Ugh.
Yeah, the old-fashioned does take a little getting used to, but once you get the hang of the folding and pinning, the rest comes easy. I think for old-timers like myself (if I can refer to myself as being old, LOL), having grown up changing the old before I had kids, made the process of using the old that much easier. I'd say the folding is the hardest part, and no matter how careful I was when fastening, I still stuck myself regularly!
 

AnnieO

Shooting from the Hip
Yeah, the old-fashioned does take a little getting used to, but once you get the hang of the folding and pinning, the rest comes easy. I think for old-timers like myself (if I can refer to myself as being old, LOL), having grown up changing the old before I had kids, made the process of using the old that much easier. I'd say the folding is the hardest part, and no matter how careful I was when fastening, I still stuck myself regularly!
The pinning didn't bother me so much, it was the way they fell off her. ;-)
 
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