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Monday, March 14, 2011

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Complacency Bites Back!

What to do in a Pinch:
Weʼve been cloth diapering our son for the majority of his little life and itʼs hard to believe that his first birthday has come and gone! Over the past few months, one of the reasons that cloth diapering has become so easy for us it that my son has become as regular as clock work when it comes to number twos.  I can be sure that “it” will happen when he wakes up from his naps and at no other time. Itʼs really very nice to know that!  But it has made us very complacent. I can remember traveling with multiple extra diapers in his newborn days, because you were just never sure when the bomb might drop!  But now, I rarely even bring one spare, unless weʼre going to be gone for longer periods of time. We just donʼt really change him when weʼre out, because he doesn't need it if he gets a clean diaper before we leave and weʼll be home in an hour or two.

However, this policy was our undoing recently! We had gone to a friendʼs house for dinner and had only been there maybe fifteen minutes when I saw THAT face. The little grimace. The red cheeks.  And I knew we were in trouble! Of course there were no spare diapers! So whatʼs a mama to do??  I decided that desperate times call for desperate measures and I was just going to have to dump it out in the toilet and put the diaper back on him. It had been such a short time that heʼd been wearing it; surely it wasn't that wet yet!  Well, the first part worked; the little gift plopped out neatly, leaving very little mark on the suede cloth (love those bumgenius 4.0s!). But to my dismay, it was completely soaked!

Now we had to evaluate the situation. We could: 1. forget dinner (which we had been trying to schedule for months), 2. drive home (40 minutes), and 3. resent being a parent.  That wasn't an appealing scenario! So while I was racking my brain (and the diaper bag) for a solution, it came to me: a flannel baby blanket! I folded it into quarters, and then tri-folded that smaller square, and it was the perfect size to stuff inside the bumgenius 4.0! Yes!!  The only downside, that was really unavoidable, was having to insert my forearm into the pocket to stuff it, which is quite a different experience from when it was clean and dry! But we made it through.  Mama went out and had a glass of chardonnay and didn't resent anyone. Baby felt clean(ish) and played happily through dinner. Daddy admired Mamaʼs ingenuity, which made Mama happy. And when Baby pooped again a few hours later, we called it a night and went home. :)

By: Stephanie G.

27 comments:

Amanda said...

I do things like this all the time! I've stuffed a diaper with onesies, before! haha.

Tammy said...

Sounds like baby had other plans for your evening!

Sara said...

Why on earth would you stuff the diaper instead of laying the folded blanket "insert" on top of the fleece and use the BG as a cover instead of a pocket? I hope everyone learns to keep a spare diaper of some sort in the car.

kathryn said...

I was wondering the same thing Sara.

Anonymous said...

I use flannel baby blankets as flats, they work great!!

Unknown said...

hehe! Kids pick the best times to poop! I've had to lay toilet seat covers on top of poo spots while we were out before. My daughter likes to prove my careful "how many to bring today" planning right out the window. Such fun!

kelrol812 said...

I try to keep a few prefolds in the car *gasp* bc they were initially invented for convienience. Sometimes we all need a little convienience.

Melanie said...

A few hours? In one diaper? And 40 minute poop ride home? My 21 month old would have had serious burns from being in urine and poop so long.

Am I the only one confused?

Tricia said...

I agree with Sara and would have just laid the blanket on top and used the BG as a cover to avoid the dirty part going back on the baby, I've had to do that in a pinch when poo got on a cover and I didn't have other covers with me- but my DD is sensitive and would have been rashy if I put a used pocket back on her. :)

My first time mommy 2 cents :P
I always plan for a diaper change every 2 hours and never leave home without a bag with at least 1 more diaper than I expect to need. I also leave a canvas tote bag in my car with a couple of prefolds and an econobum cover that I won't miss from my regular stash. I keep a simple outfit (second hand onesie and pants)and a fleece blanket in there too. The times I have had to resort to the emergency bag I have been extremely happy to have it there! It has come in handy many times when we were out of the house longer than expected. But, I live rurally, so leaving home without anything is rarely an option as everything is a 20-60 minute drive and there are many things that could keep us from home longer than expected. I guess if I lived in a more urban area I wouldn't worry so much since there are stores available to buy clothes, towels, etc if you 'had' to :)

Laura said...

I have to agree with Sara. I so would have just laid the blanket "insert" on top using the BG as a cover. I tend to over pack & usually forget things like sippy cups but not diapers. I always have a couple disposables in the bag along with extra cloth and usually more than needed for most outings.

ImaginingMystic said...

What a great idea! I never thought to do this!

Christina D said...

Great idea!

Unknown said...

Don't it figure. Quick thinking on your part.

mhacwhitney said...

I was wondering that too Sara. Why not lay the folded blanket on top so baby's skin is touching the clean fabric. I always over pack my diaper bag with spare diapers even though we rarely use them but I never want to be caught without one.

mhacwhitney said...

I wonder that too Sara. Why not put the folded blanket on top so the baby's skin is touching the clean fabric. I always over pack my diaper bag with too many diapers. I never want to be caught without one or without enough.

Amanda said...

I'm not sure I would've thought to use a blanket or even a dish towel! Genius! I have, however, shook off the solid and refolded the prefold to reuse in a pinch. Luckily mine wasn't soaked.

@ Sara - I wonder if the blanket had been washed and dried with fabric softener, which could cause repelling if laid on top. Would the suede from the diaper help to absorb or at least pull moisture away from baby's bum? Just a thought. :)

Alana Mitchell said...

I use receiving blankets as "flats" a lot for stuffing pockets. (and I rarely carry a spare diaper...)

knitsewreadlove said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
knitsewreadlove said...

It was watching my best friend do this exact same thing at my house one afternoon while I was expecting that convinced me to cloth diaper! I've actually never had to do this, but potty-training my first and expecting my second... I'm sure I will one of these days! (PS - @Sara, I like these blog because it's a judgment-free zone. Let's keep it that way!) =0)

Madeline said...

I would have stuffed it, too, and I hardly ever carry an extra diaper. But my kids are happy and that's what really matters. ;)

Michelle said...

I have recently started keeping a Flip with disposable inserts in the car for that "just in case" where we run out for a quick trip, or grab the diaper bag without realizing I didn't have anymore diapers in it.

Anonymous said...

That's why I love my Bestbottoms for going out: the inserts are so small, I can stuff one in my pocket if I have to.

When DD was less predictable, I always carried a couple flats around as multipurpose cloths - blanket, burp cloth, bin, diaper...

adamswifey said...

i don't take my son across the street without a spare diaper and a spare pair of pants. but i don't let him sit in a wet diaper at all either. he's got a sensitive tush.

Catherine said...

I completely agree with knitsewreadlove- judgment free zone here! :) I thought the blanket was genius!
I am not going to lie- I am the complete opposite- I way over pack every time, plus I have 2 kawaiis that don't work well for us in the car (along with wipes! I do tend to forget wipes!!!)

Momma said...

Oh man! At least you were able to think fast.
I keep thining what would happen if there was some sort of emergency -like extended power outages or a natural disaster (like say earthquake/tsunami). I think we'd be better off with cloth than being dependant on disposables.

Leiiki said...

This reminds me of the tips I send my new mommy friends:

The following can be used as emergency cloth diapers:
-Burp cloths
-Hotel washcloths
-Onesies
-Adult socks (clean!)
-Paper towels

The following can be used as emergency diaper covers:
-Infant swimsuits
-Onesies
-Adult T-shirts
-Scarves
-Paper grocery bags

The following "toys" will entertain and/or distract baby when you run out of real toys:
-plastic water bottles
-rice paddles
-mixing spoons
-socks
-paper bags
-printer paper
-tongue depressors

Lara said...

Oh, too funny. That will TOTALLY be me, I can already tell, considering I've used t-shirts to dry off when I've forgotten to do laundry. :)