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Thursday, September 15, 2011

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Diaper Do Not

Someone did the unthinkable. And really, I am to blame. Warning: if a disposable diaper (sposie) ends up in your diaper pail and consequently in your washing machine…you’ll be sorry.

I really am to blame. I’ve cloth diapered three children and I still cannot do it consistently overnight. The offending sposie even being IN the house is my own fault. I’ve tried every suggestion known to a CD mom and the ammonia smell in the morning is too much for me. Leaks are not an issue, just smell, and now that I’m pregnant again, I just can’t deal with it first thing in the morning (you may throw insults at me now, I know, I’m bad). So I use one sposie a night. Well…it came back to bite me.

Diapers were supposed to be washed the day before but one of the five children in my house under age five (I also run a home daycare) locked the bathroom door and then closed it. The bathroom that contains the diaper pail, of course. After my husband wrestled the door to pieces that evening, I decided the diapers would wait until morning.

I quickly dumped the contents of the pail (again, I’m pregnant, I don’t do smells) into the washer and without so much as a second glance at the contents I closed the lid and began my diaper routine. The diapers were already being washed “late” and I was in a hurry.

Let me tell you how well a disposable diaper fares after a soak, rinse, wash, and extra rinse. As I pulled those diapers out of the washer they had an odd feel to them. A slippery, unnatural feel. There, in the bottom of my washer, was a bloated mess of paper and…gel? Yes. Gel. A lone sposie had gone rogue.

I about tossed my cookies right then and there but not from any offending smells-I was just that upset. I was scared for my precious cloth stash. What had I done????

I am 99.9% sure I didn’t put that sposie into the diaper pail. My three year old has been “helping” me lately with dirty diapers, but after finding a Babykicks in our recycle bin I’m pretty sure he may have deposited the sposie into the wrong receptacle also. No matter, I still should have looked before washing.

As I hung my diapers on the line I had to vigorously shake each flat, cover, fitted, AIO, and pocket (I like a wide variety of diapers). Thousands of tiny gel particles flew off my diapers and stuck to my clothing and hit me unforgivingly in the face. That’s what every pregnant woman wants to do in ninety degree heat. Shake clean diapers for forty five minutes while standing in the sun. I’m not sure what was hotter, the noon day heat or my temper. Each pocket and AIO had to be turned inside out and shaken again as gel was trapped inside.

The good news is my stash is not ruined. I have since used and washed my diapers multiple times and I don’t have any stinkies or leaks in my diapers. I consider myself very blessed. But be please be warned: it was an awful mess.

Jenney is a stay-at-home mom/home daycare provider. She blogs about cloth diapering and life in general at www.thedraystoday.blogspot.com

8 comments:

Monica said...

Ugh. No fun. We use sposies at night most of the time as well. I, like you, can't get the hang of the night-diapering. Figured out the leaks (yay hemp!) but the smell is just too strong in the AM, and if I try to rinse it out it gets all over my hands and smells my bathroom up. Glad it's not just me.

Timmi said...

I too use sposies for night time because our LO's bum is too sensitive to be in cloth that long yet can't be in sposies for more that a day at a time. I have thrown away my cloth wipes in the trash and the sposie in the diaper pail. I quickly realize what I've done and can fix it before it goes to wash. but washing a sposie is gross I've only done it once with our first.

Unknown said...

That's happened to me. We use using sposies while a severe rash healed. Our 18 month old was helping and put the used sposie in with the NB diapers in the pail. That was YUCKY!!!!!!

I was blessed in that I didn't have any gel balls loose (actually ... I've never had loose gel balls), but that diaper was not pretty in the machine. I always wondered how much a sposie could hold ... and now I know.

Nicole said...

oh no!!! I'm so sorry.. I can't even imagine that happening while I was preggers.. I would have busted out in tears! And fear not.. a lot of cloth diapering mamas use sposies over night.

krystina said...

I am glad to hear that I'm not alone with my night time disposable use! I hate how full I have to stuff diapers, plus my son is a tummy sleeper...and the pants of his jammies get rolled into the diaper and wick pee

Unknown said...

I have the same confession-using sposies at night. The ammonia smell gets to me in the morning as well. Does that make me or you or anyone else who uses sposies at night a horrible mom? No! I'm sorry about the sposie in the washing machine. :(

Unknown said...

The GroVia disposable liners will do the same thing. Took those on our last trip and I guess I wasn't 100% clear for the girl watching my daughter while we were at a wedding reception. Didn't even think to look, just dumped everything in the wash and didn't notice till the next day. Also, we've had daycare workers put paper towels and toilet paper in the wet bag(!) and those are a horrible mess, too, but at least no gel involved.

Alicia W said...

Don't feel bad about using a sposie! Everyone needs to do what is best for them and their family! And I'm so glad your stash survived. Yay!