Video Demo of the Dunk & Swish (& Flush) Method

A few readers had asked for a video of my dunk and swish method.  Since I love you guys, I obliged.  I don't like the sound of my voice, and I did my fair share of stammering since I was nervous!  My New York friend says I have an accent, but I think she's the one with the accent, hee hee!

If your baby is breastfed (or on very few solids) there is no need to rinse the diapers first, just throw them in the wash.  I've heard that formula fed baby poop is the same, but I don't have first hand experience with that.

When your baby is older, you can flip the solids into the toilet and flush; anything remaining is usually fine to go in the wash.  However, in that in-between stage (or in my case, when baby has had a lot of fruit or juice!) diapers need a little extra help.  If you don't have a diaper sprayer, you can still dunk and swish without sticking your hands in gross water!

I almost forgot: I can't take credit for this method, I am pretty sure it was one of my readers who suggested I try it, but I can't for the life of me remember who!

Mailbox Mondays 11/1/10

Every Monday I will answer user submitted questions. They don't have to be about cloth diapering! I'll always answer questions via email, but if you would like your question to be answered in a Mailbox Mondays post, send an email with the subject "Mailbox Mondays" to Maria at change-diapers dot com.

Courtney says:

Hello Maria!

I have a diaper cleaning question. Our diaper sprayer recently broke. Until we can build a new one, I need to find a new way to clean poopy diapers. What is your method? Do you have any pointers? My son is 11 months old, so there is no way we can throw them in the wash without rinsing first!

Thanks!
Courtney

I never got around to buying a diaper sprayer, so I'm all too familiar with this conundrum.  When my son first started solids, I was able to get away with just throwing them right into the wash.  If they needed a little extra help (still mostly breastmilk poop) I was rinsing them with my laundry room/utility sink sprayer.  Then for a few months there, I was able to flip the poop right into the potty.  Boy was that nice!

Now here's where this question gets a little gross.  I apologize in advance, there's just no way to avoid a little grossness with this subject!  He went through the stage of the "peanut butter" consistency poop, and now that he's eating tons of fruit and drinking some juice, diapers are much more messy and I can't just flip solids off the diaper.

What I do is use 3 or 4 sheets of toilet paper folded up to scrape off as much as I can, then whatever is left goes into the washing machine.  I've heard of several other similar methods, where people may use a clean popsicle stick or plastic card (great use for the old Blockbuster card if you still have one!) to scrape the diaper.  Just keep it in a plastic bag out of sight, perhaps behind the toilet, or under your tissue box if you keep one on top of the tank like I do.

Some people still do the ol' dunk and swish in the toilet, I've even heard of people flushing with the diaper in the toilet (hold on to it tightly!) to take advantage of the self-swish.

I've heard more than a few say they just rinse the diapers in the sink or the bathtub (a hand held shower head would be especially handy) and then wiping out the tub/sink with bleach etc.  This would be a pain if you have a frequent pooper, but might be handy if you have a child who poops like clockwork once per day.

How about the rest of you?  Do you use a diaper sprayer?  If not, how you handle the poop?

Foray into Solids

My son has started a little bit of solid food so far.  I bid a fond farewell to exclusively breastfed poop, which washes right out and does not need to be rinsed.

When babies are older, you can just flip solids into the potty and wash the diaper as usual.

However, if you have been through solids, whether your baby was cloth or disposable diapered, you will feel my pain here.  Sweet potatoes go in and, well, sweet potatoes come out.  Only with an even less pleasant consistency.

So what the heck do you do in that gross, in between stage?  Well, I've heard of quite a few methods.  Some people keep a scraper handy and scrape solids into the toilet and/or "dunk and swish" the diaper in the toilet.  This makes me shudder for many reasons.  One is because of the tablets I use in our toilet tanks to prevent the lovely stain at the water line that reappears hours after I've scrubbed the toilet.  I don't want that junk on my toilet!  Not to mention putting my hand and his diaper in a cesspool of germs.  YUCK!  No offense to those who use this method, it's not for me.

Some people use a diaper sprayer.  It's like a hand held bidet, looks like a hand held shower head kind of.  You have to have a flexible hose on your toilet's water line to attach it.  You then hold the diaper in/over the toilet bowl and use the sprayer to blast the poo off.

This works for lots of people.  They're a little spendy, but if you google you can find instructions to make one with parts from a hardware store for about half as much.

I have a lot of concerns about this though.  I believe it takes some practice to be able to spray without making a big mess.  There is an interesting invention to get around this, but it wouldn't fit in our tiny half bath.

Which brings me to my next concern.  Whatever solution I use, it needs to be on the first floor, since that's where I change most of my diapers.  Our half bath is the bathroom we (including my 4-year old) use most, and the bathroom our guests use.  So I am concerned about there being anything smelly, weird looking, or too tempting in there.  By that I mean, I don't want a curious preschool-age guest flooding my house in a "what's this do" moment.  Then there's always the concern of it failing, since sprayers we have in sinks are not usually under constant pressure.

Which now leads me to my current arrangement.  I have a utility sink in my laundry room.

The sink has a pull out sprayer.

It has normal water flow

That turns into a spray when you push the button on top.

We have kind of lame water pressure overall, but it seems to do OK.

Is spraying my dirties off in here gross?  It's not like we'll be preparing food in here or anything, and doesn't it all end up in the same place?  *shrug* For now, It's working!  Of course this is with my son eating a tablespoon or two of food, when it gets even grosser, I'm sure I'll have to do some pre-scraping, even if I continue to spray in here!

Dear Santa,

Dear Santa,

I've been a very good girl this year.  I won't elaborate since you see me when I'm not sleeping and you know when I'm awake rocking someone or tucking someone else in!  As such, I am going to go crazy with my wish list.  Hee hee.

First and foremost, I would like more diapers, so I don't have to wash twice per day anymore!

I have one Blueberry Minky one size diaper in blue latte, but there are so many other styles and patterns I'd like to try!  The Blueberry One-Size Minky Bamboo Velour has a bamboo/organic cotton inner instead of microfleece.  Then there's the Blueberry One Size Bamboo Velour Diaper.  Lastly, there's the Blueberry Deluxe One Size Diaper in snaps and hook & loop.  Microfleece wicks moisture away from baby's skin, but it is man made, and some babies can be sensitive to it.

Some come in snaps only and others come in snaps or hook and loop (velcro applix).  Generally speaking, I prefer velcro for ease of diapering and adjustability, but Blueberry's velcro is apparently super strength!  I have such a hard time getting the tabs off of the laundry tabs, I think the laundry tabs may just rip right off.  However, I would not complain if Santa brought velcro!

The prints I love are:

Blue on Chocolate

Blue/Yellow Dots

Lemon Lime

Blue Pop

Sage on Chocolate

Mint Patties

Winter Sage

My favorites are Sage on Chocolate and Lemon Lime.  I try to choose gender neutral prints but I gravitate towards cute boy stuff!  I don't think any of these are too boyish for a girl, but I'm sure if we ever cloth diaper a girl, I will want to buy all the cute, pink & ruffly cloth diapers too.   Eek now I'm feeling kind of guilty for not CDing my daughter.

I love the monkey print velcro diaper I have.  I would love to try one with snaps, as well as other prints in the velcro.

The monkey print on the left is what I have and love.  My daughter loves it too, she doesn't want me to change her brother when he's wearing it!  The peace bears print on the right is the one I'd most love to have!
 
I think the blue hibscus is adorable and would be great for a boy or a girl.

Of course, I'm a sucker for a cute print, so I like them all!

I am really anxious to try Rumparooz.  My favorites are the Lil Monster and kangaroos, but all of the colors and prints are cute!

There are also several accessories I'd love to have

I am definitely wishing for a BumGenius Diaper Sprayer.  We've just started solids and I'm scared.  Heh.  I was scared of some of my daughter's solid food eating dipes, and she wore sposies!

I have a single, small Planet Wise wet bag, but I am coveting several more types.

Why Planet Wise?  First off, they are PVC free and lead free.  Did you know most zippers are painted with lead containing paint?  Scary!  The bags come in awesome prints and are incredibly functional.  They have a locking zipper and hidden/sealed seams for no wicking.  They can be washed & dried with your diapers, though I hang mine dry, as I also do with my PUL diapers.  You can even use the wet/dry bags or large wet bags as a hanging diaper pail. 

Planet Wise is family owned and has very family friendly employee practices.  Not only do their products replace their disposable counterparts, their packaging is recycled/recycleable, and uses soy based ink.  When your children are no longer in diapers, you can use the bags to transport wet bathing suits, dirty laundry, even use them to separate shoes or toiletries from the rest of your suitcase when traveling.  I'm guilty of using plastic bags for all of these things!

The wet/dry bag would be excellent for storing multiple diapers when we are going to be away from home for more than a few hours.

I like the Geometric Studio

Black Curly Q

and aqua swirl.

I'd also like some medium wet bags for the diaper bag, and a couple of large wet bags to use for after rinsing dirty diapers.  The small bag fits two dirty one-size pockets, but it's a little snug.  The mediums would be a little easier for more than 1 I think. 

I like the blue vista

Black Curly Q

and aqua swirl

I'd also love to have the cloth wipes/pouch and a small squirt bottle for wipes solution in the diaper bag.  I love that you can actually pre-moisten the wipes to take with you, and the bag won't leak or wick!

This is a little off topic but they have this little mini wet dry bag.  How awesome is that.  Very discreet for using mama cloth when out and about.  I've heard ladies say they use small wet bags in their bathrooms as well.

I haven't decided if I want to use a diaper pail or not, but I wouldn't mind a large liner to try out.  I'm interested in one with a drawstring so I can see if it would work in the Diaper Dekor pails I have.

I would like some Thayer's Alcohol Free Rose Petal Witch Hazel to use in my wipes solution.  It is extra soothing to little bums, and can help preserve wipes solution as well.

I'd also like another tube of Grandma El's diaper rash remedy to keep upstairs.

We don't have a chimney, and Santa probably doesn't like Almond Milk, so I'll hang onto this wish list just in case I win the lottery.  :-D  You know, so I don't have to waste any time deciding what to spend the money on.  Hee hee.

All images used with permission.

Oh Poop

Right now, poop on a cloth diaper ain't no thang.  Breastfed baby poo is water soluble, so you can just throw em in the washer.  As baby gets older, you can just flip it in the potty & be on your way.

That in between stage is much more hazy.  I have memories of peanut butter consistency poo in rainbows of colors.  I'll tell you, I am simply not interested in the ol dunk & swish method.

There are a couple brands of biodegradable/flushable/disposable diaper liners, some of which claim to be septic safe.  Reviews for one brand even claim they can be washed a few times if they are just wet.  In the end I'm not sure that solution is for me.

On the flip side, you can get a diaper sprayer that attches to your toilet & allows you to hose them in your toilet.  There are downsides to that too, and some people have come up with really clever solutions.  You can even find instructions for a homemade sprayer made with items you can find at your local home improvement store.

In the end, I think we will go with the bumgenius sprayer in our 1/2 bath, along with a large wet bag stored there as well.  They are expensive though, so I'm not sure if we will manage to get one before we start solids!