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Wednesday, December 3, 2008

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When the "stuff" in the diaper changes! Tales of sweet potatoes.


I exclusively breast fed my son (and still do breast-feed) until 5 months. He is a big boy and we are wondering how much he will weigh in at his 6 month well-child check up next week. I'll let you know next week!

Around 5 months we started him on Earth's Best Organic Rice Cereal. Our little guy couldn't tolerate it! He went from doing a "bm" (bowel movement) every diaper change to not going for 3 days. He also was extremely fussy shortly after the feeding so we decide to discontinue the cereal all together.

So a couple of more weeks pass and I decide one day that I am going to feed him sweet potatoes. My little guy is in love. By the second day he is eating 2 jars at a sitting . By day 3 the BIG "bm" came. I mean BIG, HUGE! Not to be descriptive but after-all we are talking about cloth diapers here- filled the entire diaper. Luckily- not blow-outs! Hurray.

I clean Riley up with a Thirsties Fab Wipe. Believe it or not I only used one. I proceed to put the diaper and wipe in the hanging diaper pail liner.

Wash day- I am used to just putting his diapers into the washing machine as is because his "bm's" aren't formed. Well, we have this one bumGenius diaper with a sweet potato "bm". Now what to do? I remember my hubby still hasn't installed the diaper sprayer yet. (I think I will remind him this weekend to do that...hee hee.) I quickly take the diaper over to the toilet and amazingly the "bm" falls right off the suede cloth of the diaper. Phew!

The point of this post is that once your baby starts solids there are a couple of options to make cleaning up easier. You can use a biodegradable flushable liner like the Bummis Bio-soft liners. You just lay the soft paper sheet on the top of the diaper and it works like a poop catcher. Once you change baby just take the sheet and flush away.

The next option is to use a simple diaper sprayer device that you can hook to your toilet. The sprayer eliminates that nightmare you hear your own parents talk about "dunking the dirty diapers in the toilet routine". (We don't recommend that.) The sprayer attaches to the toilet and you just spray the solids off the diaper into the toilet. (The sprayer also works nicely as a personal hygiene sprayer.)

If you travel the flushable liners are convenient. We recommend using the diaper sprayer at home as you only make the purchase once and don't need to purchase the flushable liners for use at home if you have the diaper sprayer.


17 comments:

MaineMomma said...

I love our diaper sprayer!!! DD#2 has always had very solid bms, but for the rare squishy stuff, the sprayer can clean the entire diaper- no dunking or swishing necessary- and it all goes in the toilet and out to the septic like everyone else's! I know the diaper sprayer CAN be used for personal hygiene, but the water hookup to our toilet carries COLD water... not what I'll be using for my postpartum personal hygiene when DD#3 arrives in March! Now, if there was a button for warm water, we'd be all set!

Dani said...

We have a diaper sprayer and love it! Another option is to make your own fleece liners. They're reusable. I do use Bummi liners for traveling.

Katie said...

I love my diaper sprayer!!
I also cut up some pieces of fleece (just regular old fleece from the craft store) and made my own reusable liners - I lay one in the diaper, it helps wick away wetness, and it's so much easier to pull out when she's poopy! Plus, there's nothing to throw away/flush/purchase - I just toss them in the wash and keep on trucking. They're cheap, and they help prevent any staining on my actual diapers (not that I've had a problem with that, but I'd like them to last through multiple kids - so I'll take as good care of them as possible!!)

Kathleen W. said...

I don't have a diaper sprayer, but the flushable, biodegradable liners work wonders. I've found that the peed ones I can run through the washer a few times too. The Bumgenius suede fabric is great though, not much sticks, once the poopies are more solid.

Gina said...

I want a diaper sprayer so much. Thanks for the review.

TheClothDiaperWhisperer said...

Thanks for all the great posts. Yes, most of the flushable liners can be washed once if only peed on. I can't wait until hubby gets our sprayer hooked up. I know it does make cleaning up much easier.
Oh...wouldn't a warm water button on the sprayer be nice for postpartum.

Kelly said...

I have a diaper sprayer and generally love it, but I have to turn down the water pressure. The water pressure is so much that I end up with poopy water sprayed all over the bathroom :) Now that I have the pressure turned down, there is nothing left on the diapers. I also use it to rinse out my diaper pail (with a little vinegar) when I do a load of diapers, just to sanitize it. Works wonders. A truly great invention!

Kelly said...

I too love my diaper sprayer. I used flushable liners with DS#1 but decided to take the plunge with DS#2 and get the sprayer. Funny that #2's bms seem to be much less messy than #1's ever were. But with that, I am still so happy with my sprayer, no more dunking! And I am excited to hear that the BG diapers really come clean easily, maybe without spraying. I am expecting my first order of BGs tomorrow! Yeah!

Montana Momma said...

Since my baby is still exclusively breastfed, I hadn't quite grasped the idea of a diaper sprayer... thanks for the review, I think that a diaper sprayer will be on the "MUST HAVE" list very soon. And also glad to know that the BG diapers that I love hold up so well to more solid poo.

Thanks!

Serena Michelle said...

As everyone else has said - the diaper sprayer is certainly the way to go.

Although my little one is EBF (exclusively breastfed) - I still use the diaper sprayer to rinse the bm off the diapers (we have hard water issues which adds to the challenge of laundering - so the rinse helps prevent stains).

Also - our family has ALWAYS used water to wash ourselves after using the toilet. We kept a watering can in the bathroom. With the diaper sprayer there is no need for the watering can! This is essentially a hand-held bidet and works GREAT! The cold water isn't all too bothersome - you get used to it.

The hose on our diaper sprayer is actually quite long and I can even use this to rinse the bath out after cleaning.

Multi-purpose and HIGHLY recommended!!!

Instant Family of 4 said...

We recently purchased the bumgenius diaper sprayer and can't believe we went without it before. It works GREAT and makes clean up much more manageable. It is definitely worth the investment!

Anonymous said...

We use liners- but a word of caution to those new to cloth diapering, even though liners say they are flushable, it's better to throw them in the trash. (They are biodegradeable) Some septic systems and toliets cannot break the liners down quick enough and can cause a backup in your system. We also go outside and rinse the diapers off with the water hose when we forget to use a liner.

megan said...

I have recently discovered the flushable liners and they were a lifesaver when I got pregnant and was nauseous all the time, for the poopy diapers!!!

Minnie said...

We never purchased the diaper sprayer because we currently rent our home and it has old plumbing. We just didn't want to risk messing anything up and then having to pay to have it repaired.

So, I went with the Imsy Vimsy flushable liners and we love them! You don't even have to lift the liner out w/ your hands...you just dump & flush.

If there was only pee involved I can actually wash and re-use the liners up to 4-5 times before they break down to the point of no use. So I go through them much slower than if I were tossing all of them.

I read in one of my CafeMom groups that some moms just used a sheet of paper towel as a flushable liner. I tried it briefly....horrible!!! It gave my DD one of the worst rashes ever and plus when you think of the glue and all....ugh...I can;t believe I even tried it. But now others can learn from my mistake.

Tani said...

I love the flushable liners, I'm using Kushies right now but am going to try the Bummis next, everyone says they're softer and easier to flush. I should probably get a diaper sprayer to use on my PL kids! Thanks for the post!

Upstatemamma said...

I bought a sprayer and it leaked allover the floor and after that Hubby will not let me buy another one. It is very sad. I want a sprayer so badly :)

Liz said...

I had a very similiar experience. EBF DD#3 who didnt like rice cereal and started sweet potatoes and then the real BM. Oh my! I am sooo glad I had a diaper sprayer on order and only had to dunk a few dipes. BTW mamas, the diaper sprayer is EASY to put on! I put ours on, I couldnt wait for DH to get home! I had a little issue with leaking but called the 800 number and he was super nice. My only contemplation is if I should take it off for our five week vaca to use or get some liners...I dont know if I could live w/o my diaper sprayer!!!