Super-Pooper: One Mom’s Battle

Let’s talk about poop. More specifically, let’s talk about cleaning poopy diapers. If you’re pregnant or squeamish, stop reading and use the time to add to your wishlist on Kelly’s Closet. Okay, if you’re still reading then you, like me, have tried a million ways to deal with poopy diapers. I’m an expert on the practice since my adorable 2.5 year-old poops three times a day. Yes, you read that right –three poopy diapers a day. There may be a ploppable poop once a month. Yes, once a month. If the average child poops once a day, then that would be 1,000 poopy diapers for the last 33 months, give or take. I have had approximately 3,000 poopy diapers for this one child, give or take. (Sidenote: Please don’t worry about my son, he is ridiculously healthy and happy.) My son is efficient at processing his waste, which means that I have had to figure out how to process those dirty diapers.

Let’s talk options.

Diaper Sprayer: Some moms will tell you this is optional. For me there is no option. I have a bumGenius diaper sprayer and would have stopped cloth diapering without it. I am an expert on water pressure and gripping techniques. If I use flats or pockets, then the sprayer and I have no issues. The singular surface is a cinch to spray with no real places for any poo to hide. Frustrations arise when I use Sloomb or Bamboozle fitteds at night (because, yes, of course, one of his poops always happens in the morning before he really wakes up) or my GroVia AIOs. Those diapers have layers upon layers and the non-ploppable poop covers every crevice of the diaper. Even for this expert sprayer, those diapers become a daily dread.

Disposable Liners: I use Bummis Bio-Soft Flushable Liners in either size. The large ones I always have to fold over, but that often is helpful when using flats or the fitteds or GroVia AIOs because I can wrap the flat or the inserts with the liner, which can cut down on poop getting into each crevice of the diaper. The liners don’t catch all of his poop; they just don’t (have I mentioned he is a champion pooper?), but they significantly cut down on the spraying frustration when dealing with those diaper styles that aren’t as easy to spray. The problem is that, unlike other moms who can predict when their lovely children are going to require a liner, my child poops all day, every day, when I least expect it. Disposable liners in every diaper is an expensive option.

Reusable Liners: I made my own reusable liners out of some fleece. I love them for when I have to use them, for example, when I need to put anything stronger than CJs BUTTer on his sore bottom. As a daily option for battling the poopy diapers, they end up being just another layer that I have to negotiate, adding another surface I need to spray. I’m sure they would be helpful for more *ahem* contained poops as they certainly are affordable and help keep your diapers stain free.

SprayPal: (Please note: I’ve only had the SprayPal for one week.) With my frustrations from the AIO and fitted diapers, I figured that the SprayPal would be the best solution for me. It would contain the diaper while I sprayed the heck out of all the layers. While it does just that, my unrelated simultaneous switch to all flats with covers and pockets, which I can expertly spray, seems to render the SprayPal more of a nuisance than a help. I can spray the diapers cleaner with the SprayPal, but it takes forever to get the diaper in, get it snapped, spray, get the diaper squeezed and into the diaper bag. Then, I always have trace amounts of poop on the SprayPal itself, which means I’ve just created another item for me to clean. Adding more work to my day is not what I was looking for. If I were using my fitteds and AIOs, I know that even with the extra work, I would love the SprayPal, but at this point it is adding to my problem rather than solving it.

Do you have a super pooper? What are your solutions? Do you use your SprayPal? How do you make it work for you?

Bio: Emily Robbins currently lives in San Antonio, Texas, with her husband and two sons: Harper (2.5 years) and Caedmon (8 months). She has been cloth diapering since Harper fit into OS at about four weeks old. She is taking a year off from being an English teacher to hang out with her fluffy bottomed boys.


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