Jumping off Amy's (daisymommy's) thread

[nitaghei]

Anyone else who converted to CDs fairly late (8 months part-time, 14 months full time) who is now totally icked out by disposables?

It just recently occurred to me just how total the relationship of diaper = cloth has become for me. The last time I put a disposable on DS was when we were traveling, and just handling it felt so weird and wrong. Really, I just can't stand the way disposables feel. And that hasn't changed even though I've had to deal with messy dipes that have been sitting in the daycare pail all day.

I even ordered a Happy Tushies bag so that we can CD on the go, and it's made me so happy that I don't have to use disposables ever. It does help that our trips are relatively short, and never require more than a single diaper change, and the Daisy-doodle is very compact, so I don't need a gigantic diaper bag.

Of course, between my own dogs (the PWD had reflux for a while), and caring for foster dogs with assorted illness and house training problems, my threshold for being grossed out is extremely high. :)

Am I truly a freak?

Nita
mom to Neel, January 2003
dog mom to a PWD and a cocker(at the Rainbow Bridge)

[mudder17]

Nita, I don't think you're a freak, or that would make many of us freaks. :)

As messy as Kaya's recent stomach virus was (and I definitely can't say it was any fun and I would have been okay with just tossing the whole messy shebang), I wasn't exactly grossed out by it. I just felt sorry for the poor gal.

The only time Kaya had a disposable on her was when she was at the hospital during the first 2 days of her life and I thought they smelled really weird and chemically. Once I switched to cloth at home, I thought it was strange how little the diapers did smell. :)

Oh, and there was one more time Kaya almost had a disposable on her. We had her in church day care and they couldn't find our diapers (2 compartments, one in back that they didn't notice), so they took a prefold that had been tucked in front, put it on her, and added a disposable to use as a cover! I just kept thinking--oh, no, she's going to get a rash, she's going to get a rash! As soon as we got her home, DH removed the disposable and prefold and we put a fleece pocket on her for her nap. Ahhhh..... :)

So if you're a freak, come join the club. ;-)

Eileen

ETA: On the other hand, when I'm in the midst of trying to spray off tons of sticky, runny poop while a baby cries in the background because she's not feeling well, I do sometimes understand why people go back to sposies during illnesses. ;-)


Mother of Beautiful Kaya
http://lilypie.com/baby2/040222/0/0/1/-5/.png

http://www.gynosaur.com/assets/ribbons/ribbon_gold_12m.gif , 13 months & counting
Kaya's cousin, due October 9th!!!

[pittsburghgirl]

I don't think you're a freak! We started cding at 11.5 months, and I am full-time - I let my DH use sposies on the weekend when he's in charge, because it's not worth a fight for me (he is completely afraid of poop in a cd!). I will also put one on DS (and send extras) when he's going to grandma's -- I don't think she's ready for it yet -- but I really dislike them now. I don't like the way they feel or smell.

I have to say, though, I won't use cloth for travel. We went to Stowe in February to ski, and not only was DS in daycare during the two days, but I could not have dealt with finding a washing machine at our hotel. To me, that's not a vacation, running around doing a load of diaper laundry (which I love doing at home). Plus, I'm not quite sure how you pack dirty dipes in your checked luggage on a plane -- yuck :) I really admire mamas who are so committed to cloth that they will cd on vacation, but I'm just not one of them. Maybe if we took driving vacations, but we haven't done that in quite some time, DH hates to drive any distance.

Marilee
mommy to James
http://lilypie.com/baby2/040120/1/1/1/-5/.png

[nitaghei]

I agree - traveling is an appropriate use for disposables. I went with DS to India last year, and used disposables for the actual plane trip (about 26 hours). Once we got there, I went back to using CDs. because we were at my parents home, and laundry was easy. Line dried everything, and the sun actually sucked all the stains out. :)

We did disposables when we traveled over Christmas and stayed at a hotel. Even I draw the line at trying to do diaper laundry while staying at a hotel. :)

Nita
mom to Neel, January 2003
dog mom to a PWD and a cocker(at the Rainbow Bridge)

[MMEand1]

No, your'e not a freak! My DD had a disposable on last week when all of our covers were washing (runny BF poop!) and when I changed her I noticed all those little gel crystals on her bum. That really grossed me out! Now mind you, I used 'sposies for my 2 yo DS and just recently converted to CD'ing when my DD was born (11 weeks), so it's not like I have never handled a dispoable diaper or wiped those little gel crystals off of him (he is now CD'ed too), but I guess since I have not had to worry about it lately it just seemed really strange.

Funny how you can develop an aversion to something so quickly!
Mariah P.

[egoldber]

I agree that after awhile, disposables feel "weird", but I guess I just had too many barriers to CDing full-time. We travel too much, DD was such a HEAVY nighttime wetter, and her pants (once we hit the toddler sizes) never fit her right with a CD. I know I probably could have found a work around for the clothes, but it was just too much energy for me!!

[mudder17]

Wow, 26 hours! That's a long flight! The longest day we had was maybe 12 hours from CA to MD. We went through 5 diapers that day, including a couple poopy ones. It wasn't too bad, though, since we had enough diapers to make it the whole day. I'm not sure what we would do on a 26 hour trip!

And we haven't stayed in a hotel since Kaya was born, so we haven't had to test our committment that much yet. :)

Eileen

Mother of Beautiful Kaya
http://lilypie.com/baby2/040222/0/0/1/-5/.png

http://www.gynosaur.com/assets/ribbons/ribbon_gold_12m.gif , 13 months & counting
Kaya's cousin, due October 9th!!!

[nitaghei]

and her
>pants (once we hit the toddler sizes) never fit her right with
>a CD. I know I probably could have found a work around for the
>clothes, but it was just too much energy for me!!

This is one thing that's different - I NEED the CDs to keep DS's pants up. Over Christmas, I took my Sugarpeas fleece cover along to put *over* the disposable, so Neel's pants would stay up. :)

Nita
mom to Neel, January 2003
dog mom to a PWD and a cocker(at the Rainbow Bridge)

[egoldber]

Yes, the problem with having a 50th percentile child is that all the clothes are designed to fit her with a disposable on, NOT cloth!! And as she moved into 3T sizes, even with a disposable on, things like leggings were a little tight for my taste until she potty trained and wore underwear!

[nitaghei]

Well, it was about 26-28 hours by the time you add in all the waiting around at airports and transfer time. Actual time on the plane is more like 17 hours. I think I went through maybe 8 disposables,give or take a couple? I think I carried about 15. It did help, because dealing with dirty dipes in your carry-on, when you are already loaded down with toddler paraphenelia could very well be the last straw. :) And I went to India without DH. Thank heavens for slings and mei tais. :)

Nita
mom to Neel, January 2003
dog mom to a PWD and a cocker(at the Rainbow Bridge)

[tbriese]

nita,

completely OT but i'm a veterinarian and i have been racking my brain on what PWD mean but cannot figure it out. i'm gonna feel sooooo stupid when you tell me but i've just got to ask :-)

do you foster a particular breed of dog or just any for a local rescue group?

i don't think you are a freak...i don't like the smell of DD pee in sposies anymore. ICK! and i do think that when you are used to dealing with biological waste it makes it easier to deal with it cross-species.

[nitaghei]

Tara,

PWD = Portuguese Water dog. www.pwdca.org . Trust me, you're aren't the first person to ask :) - they aren't a very well-known breed (and we'd like to keep it that way). Awesome dogs, but seriously high energy and way too smart for their own good.

I used to foster for cocker rescue, so only cockers. I tried again recently, but bringing a strange dog into the house with a toddler was just too risky and stressful. I'm still active with cocker rescue, but I'm not fostering currently. Hopefully, once DS is older, we can go back to fostering. It's appalling how many cockers need homes.

Nita
mom to Neel, January 2003
dog mom to a PWD and a cocker(at the Rainbow Bridge)

[daisymommy]

I don't think you are weird at all :) I felt just like you do for a very long time. I was sooo grossed out by sposies, and all the chemicals.

But Joshua I are on the go alot--I'm heavily involved in women's activities and ministries in my church, and do things with them on a daily basis. Joshua is also not in daycare or preschool, so he is with me 24/7, meaning I am doing cloth full time all day long. He never has a solid BM unless he is contsipated, so imagine cleaning up near-diahrreah type poopies 2 time a day, every day--UGH. I also started him in cloth at 10 months, he's 32 months now, so thats almost 2 years that I've been doing it. Joshua has always been big for his age, and finding clothes that fit a child who's nearly off the charts for height and weight in disposables is hard enough, let alone for a child with a bubble butt! :) Couple that with a screaming child who acts like I'm torturing him during every change, and well, it was just too much!

It just got to the point that I felt like my entire day revolved around his cloth diapers. Like I was no longer a person...just a diaper cleaner :( I know, that sounds so drama-queen. Why do we as mothers feel like we have to justify ourselves to be good mothers? I don't know, but I'm sure you all understand what I mean. Anyway, it felt so good to take a break!

[nitaghei]

Amy,

I do hope you didn't take my post the wrong way! You totally have to do what works best for you. Whatever makes for a happy mommy is the best option. :) You so do NOT have to justify anything to anyone. Truthfully, I'm pretty sure I would have gone back to disposables in your situation.

CDs just are easier for me. I have a super skinny kid, and the CDs are great in keeping his pants up. :) Even with CDs, I have a hard time finding pants that are skinny enough for Neel (witness my desperate post in RL a while back). Also, we don't do very long outings - they revolve around his nap. And for me, cloth is just more convenient. No trips to Target on the weekend to stand in hediously long lines to buy disposables.

So, am I the one justifying now? :)

Nita
mom to Neel, January 2003
dog mom to a PWD and a cocker(at the Rainbow Bridge)

[tbriese]

i've heard of them but haven't seen one in practice yet. you must be incredibly patient to foster cockers given their derm problems, especially ears. you must have spent your entire day flushing and medicating ears :-) good luck at getting back into it, they need people like you!

[downwarddog]

Nita,
Now I'm jumping in on your thread! I'm always curious to see how new moms handle life with dogs... I know that I've sorely neglected mine & am just now getting back into them (but it's very slow!). I feel bad (as I'm a dog trainer!) and am always looking to hear how other moms handle this shift (my dogs were my babies pre-September!). I'm thinking of holding a Prenatal Puppies seminar around me, so prepare both owners & their pups for the inevitable shift of attention.

Feel free to Email me privately as I know this has nothing to do with CDing!


~Lenore
Mom to Acadia (Cadi), born 9/28/04;
dogs Loka & Colby;
plus 1 cat, Chelsea!

[nitaghei]

Lenore

I emailed you. If you didn't get it, you can email me through the boards or at obedcocker at yahoo.com

Nita
mom to Neel, January 2003
dog mom to a PWD and a cocker(at the Rainbow Bridge)