I Forgot About My Dirty Diaper, What Do I Do?

We all have one diaper that we forgot about for a day or two or even a week or so it happens to all cloth diapering mothers at least once. I see the question what should I do when I find a forgotten diaper? I am sad when some ask if they should toss it. You have to try to save the diaper. Cheapie or a Jules with perfect bum placement it can be saved. My first suggestion is to open the diaper. Yes it's going to smell so be prepared but if there's no poop in it it's probably going to be easy fix. If it stinks strongly of ammonia it can be fixed.

So open that bad boy up. No code brown? Then proceed directly to washing machine start by rinsing the diaper. Sniff it if you dare. If it still smells strongly off ammonia I suggest you take a scoop of oxyclean with your regular cloth diaper detergent and wash it on hot. Throw in some towels for added friction and so you don’t waste your time and detergent make sure to do an extra rinse. Sniff it. No more ammonia? Problem solved. If you don’t want to wash it with some towels do a short cycle by itself on hot with oxyclean and cloth diaper detergent and then toss it in with diaper laundry. Now to the more serious conundrum a forgotton code brown. The first question is did you dump the poop when you changed it? Yup? Anything clinging to the diaper? No. Nothing but a small stain? Awesomesauce.

Well then if you have bioklean I suggest a little spritz and wash it as I suggested you wash a number one. Here is the serious part you couldn’t dump the poop. So how bad is it? Is the poop is dried up? Then my best suggestion is to get as much off as you can without getting wet. Scrape off as much as you can I suggest and getting old credit card or a little piece of cardboard and scrape off as much as you can just like you would with a piece of burnt toast. If it's a prefold, flat, or an insert I was just actually putting it in the washing machine on a hot cycle and soaking it for a little bit to help it come off after removing as much as you can. If its not an AIO or a pocket else I wouldn't soak it if your worried about voided the warranty or hurting the elastic.

If you have some biokleen I would spray a little on the diaper and wait 15 minutes and toss it in and rinse it. If most or all of the poop has come off then wash as usual. If not, spray a little more biokeeln and wash it again. It may need some sunning to get ride of the stain completely. Worst case scenario is it got moldy. If the whole diaper is moldy I would cut my losses but if it has a little mold on it I hope is not lost. Some moms don't like to use use bleach but if the diapers already moldy not much is going to kill the mold this point. My suggestion is add 1/4 cup bleach in the dispenser or in the tub once it fills with water not directly on diaper with the regular detergent hot wash followed with a few rinses should fix the problem.

If you really hate bleach then try some oxyclean on hot and ass a few drops of GSE to the detergent dispenser and sun it. I find though bleach (I hate using it myself) is the most effective and fastest method of removing mold and mildew from diapers. To prevent future occurrences of forgotten diaper syndrome I suggest you get that diaper into the pail asap we throw ours in front of the washing machine because I cant forget them that way. When were almost home I remove the wetbag and place it on the top of the diaper bag so I won’t miss it.

Bio: Megan is the mother of three who lives in Socal.


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I Forgot About My Dirty Diaper, What Do I Do?

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Secret Weapon in the War on Poop

When I talk to families considering cloth, they all have the same few fears. One on the list is normally the laundry, two is the initial investment, and three is ALWAYS how to deal with the poop!

No one likes to deal with human waste, no one. That's normal and understandable. However, parents assume that, if they choose to cloth diaper, they are going to have to deal with more poop than they would with disposables. This doesn't have to be the case. There are lots of modern cloth diapering solutions to make waste elimination easy. One of my personal favorites is flushable diaper liners.

Flushable diaper liners are made of are made of either rayon or bamboo viscose, so they are soft on baby's skin and biodegrade quickly. Flushable liners work by letting all the liquid waste run through to the diaper while all the solid waste gets caught on the liner. To use flushable liners, simply lay the liner in the diaper and place it on baby. When you change the diaper, throw wet liners in the trash or, if there is solid waste in the diaper, throw the liner with the poop in the toilet and flush.

Some brands of flushable liners can be rinsed and hung to dry if they are not soiled. Also, some families who use flushable liners wash their flushable liners if they aren't soiled, and some brands will last two to three washes before they completely break down. Read the directions on the brand of liners you choose, and be willing to experiment to get the best longevity out of your liners.

Some families choose to use flushable liners with every diaper change, while some save them for when they have to be out of the house. Since flushable liners cost only two to eight cents a piece, liners are an affordable option for most families, especially when compared with disposables, that can run from 18 to 35 cents each.

The best part of liners is that you never have poop lingering in your house. Forget stinky wet bags or pails! Also, since liners can be flushed down any toilet, flushable liners are an easy-to-use solution when you're out of the house. Flushable liners are also a great way to convince skeptical spouses or caregivers to try cloth diapering. And, at only eight to ten dollars a roll, they don't take a huge investment to try out.

If you haven't tried out flushable liners, take the plunge and order some today. They make cloth diapering easier and cleaner than ever before. If you haven't started cloth diapering yet, flushable liners may be just the accessory you need to convince everyone in your life to make the switch. Cloth diapering doesn't have to mean playing in the poop. Try out some flushable liners today and win the war on poop.

Bio: Heather is a fourth-generation Montanan, mom to two crazy boys, and wife to one amazing husband. You can follow her eco-sensible lifestyle at moderatelycrunchy.blogspot.com

Secret Weapon in the War on Poop

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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.

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

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