Diaper Sprayers

I don't have a lot to say about diaper sprayers.

When I first started cloth diapering, I read about diaper sprayers and thought, "Oh wow - that's really cool!" And then my husband said, "Let's try cloth diapering without one. If you really feel like you need it, and you're definitely going to stick with cloth, then we can look into it."

And you know what? Before I knew it, washing out poopy diapers wasn't a really big deal. I got an extra pair of yellow kitchen gloves, and wrote "BATHROOM" in thick black permanent marker on them, and donned these whenever a diaper needed washing. I dumped, dunked, swished, and used the cloth wipes to wash out the poo. No big deal!

Really, truly. No big deal. If you have a regular toilet, this is plenty sufficient!

Then we got low-flow toilets. With a suuuuper low water level. Suddenly I was having to flush the toilet 5 and 6 times per poopy diaper. Not exactly a water saver, you know?

So I ordered a diaper sprayer. It changed my life.

Or at least my diaper laundry.

Seriously, I got along just fine without a diaper sprayer for a very long time, and the only reason I got it was because of our toilets. The water pressure is incredible, and I got one with an adjustable valve, so I don't have a problem with spraying poo-water all over the place when I wash out a diaper. And, I actually use the sprayer to rinse out all the dipeys, even just the wets, so we have less pailing work to do now. Sweet!

But I still wear my gloves. And use hand sanitizer when I take them off. (Shudder.)

Time for a change...

What about diaper changes?

I use cloth wipes since I'm already washing stuff anyway. You can certainly buy cloth wipes from the same websites where you purchase your diapers, but there's no need. You could go to WalMart and buy two 12-packs of baby washcloths. I used some old receiving blankets - everyone always has too many of those anyway! For some, I just used the flannel in a single layer, and for others I used one layer of flannel and an old baby washcloth - cut and serge the edges or zigzag stitch as close to the edge as possible for a single layer wipe; for a double layer wipe just sew the edges together. To make it look even more finished, you can sew it with the right sides together for all but about 2 inches of one side, turn it right side out, then topstitch around all edges, folding the unsewn portion of edge inward.

I make my own wipes solution using 3-4 cups boiled and cooled water, 2 tbsp baby oil, 2 tbsp antibacterial soap, and 2 tbsp rubbing alcohol. I mix it in a one liter water bottle and pour over wipes in an empty sposie wipe tub, or store in a spritzer bottle and spray directly on baby's bottom, using dry wipes to clean up at changes. Store any unused wipe solution in the fridge. You can also use 3-4 drops of essential oils to make it smell soooo yummy - my favorite is lavendar oil - but they are a bit expensive.

I like storing my wipes wet in an old sposie tub, because then they're all ready. However, I do have a small spritzer bottle I found in the travel section of...guess where! WalMart! When I'm leaving the house to go run errands or hang out with a friend, then I carry some wipes dry in an old travel sposie wipes case (the flat kind), and the tiny spritzer bottle. But after you use the wipe, you just toss it in the pail with the diaper.

That's all well and good, but I mean, what about the poo?

Definitely the least delightful part of cloth diapering. When a baby is exclusively breastfed, you can actually just dump the diaper - poo and all - in the washing machine without rinsing first. Breastmilk poo is 100% water soluble. Formula poo - at least in R's case - is like peanut butter and paint. Not so much fun.

Solid food poo is usually pretty easy to just dump in the potty. For the sticky ones, I dump what I can into the potty, pull the insert out (if it's a pocket), and then dunk the diaper in the potty and use the cloth wipe from the diaper change to kind of wash out the poo. (Hooray for yellow rubber gloves!) Some people use a rubber kitchen spatula to scrape off the diapers, but you certainly wouldn't want that spatula to end up back in the kitchen drawer by mistake! If you choose to use one, you could store it by standing it upright in the toilet brush holder. Some people swear by diaper sprayers, but we don't have one. They're definitely a perk, not an essential, unless you have low-water level low-flow toilets. Then they might be necesary.

However, we do have and use rice paper liners, also called flushable liners. Also a perk, and not an essential item. But I love them. All you have to do is pick the liner up and drop it - poo and all - into the toilet; it all flushes down. (If you have an older toilet that isn't super powerful, or live in a home with older plumbing, you might better let it sit for 5 minutes or so before flushing.) They're really convenient for poos, and also for the rare occasions that I need to use a rash ointment on the kiddoes. (You shouldn't use petroleum based creams or ointments with cloth diapers, because it will coat the diaper and reduce the absorbency.) You can see in the pic below that they're kind of transparent. It kind of looks like tissue paper, but it's actually quite strong. Some people have tried to sub out toilet paper or gift wrapping tissue paper, but that stuff will just fall apart as soon as the child pees.