Cloth in the hospital

orange1414

Did anyone begin to cloth diaper while still in the hospital? One of our big reasons for cloth diapering is that I'm allergic to aloe, and it's in nearly every sposie on the market. I want to be able to comfortably handle my baby and his diaper, and I also fear that he'll inherit my allergy, so we definitely won't be using the diapers and wipes provided by the hospital. I do have a small stash of Honest Co. newborn diapers (one of a very few aloe-free brands) and could pick up a pack of aloe-free wipes to bring if that would be easier than trying to manage cloth in the chaos of the hospital. What say you, cloth diapering board?

mrshudson618

I generally say that its too much of a hassle, but in your case you have a good reason to try. 

It depends a lot on the hospital. How long will you be there? Will baby be rooming with you? Do baby's exams happen in your room, or do they take baby to the nursery? 

Nurses usually change baby's diapers whenever they get taken to the nursery for various reasons. I would find out ahead of time about these things either way, because they will use their diapers in the nursery even if you bring your own sposies. 

Since you have an allergy, they should work with you though.

TJ1979

I agree with ^her.  I would usually say it's a hassle.  But it really depends on the hospital you are at.  The hospital I had my 2nd at was very "baby friendly" in that the baby stayed in the room with us at all times unless we requested to send her to the nursery.  We handled all diaper changes ourselves.  It would have been very easy in that situation.  And doing something like prefolds or flats with covers would be super simple in the hospital.  Just toss them in a wetbag, and even if they sit in the wetbag for up to 3 days for a c/s it's NBD to wash them when you get home.  AIOs might not do so great sitting for 3 days, plus it would be more expensive to have a big enough stash to make that work.  Not so with prefolds or flats.

orange1414

Thanks. Our hospital is committed to rooming in and baby will be with us 24 hours a day. Exams are in the room, too. There is no nursery, only a NICU, and obviously if he needs to go there, we'll have bigger problems to worry about. We're planning on using mostly prefolds and covers, so I think we could get away with just tossing in the wet bag. 

mrshudson618

orange1414 said:

Thanks. Our hospital is committed to rooming in and baby will be with us 24 hours a day. Exams are in the room, too. There is no nursery, only a NICU, and obviously if he needs to go there, we'll have bigger problems to worry about. We're planning on using mostly prefolds and covers, so I think we could get away with just tossing in the wet bag. 

in this case i would go for it.

Mandmeesh

Agreed. Our baby was with us too for every exam/weigh-in. Cloth would be easy

sarenu1

Make sure to ask about this at the hospital.

Since you are allergic to aloe, I would stress this. Also, our hospital only uses dry paper wipes. I'm not sure if they are aloe free.

redrockmama

We used cloth the last day or two that we were in the hospital. He was in our room 24/7. He only left for a few tests and we, or just my wife, went with him. We did all the diaper changes. We would have done cloth the whole time, but I had an emergency c-section and didn't even have a hospital bag packed (I like to live on the edge   ), let alone cloth dipes. It's totally doable though. 

jennypolkadots

I would stock up on honest co just for during the hospital. Most women stay after a normal delivery for 48 hours. So basically you will be washing laundry as soon as you get home which is not something I would be up for. There is also the possibility of a complication and a much longer stay. My SIL had a non emergent cesarean and stayed 4 days. 

I don't think 7th generation has aloe. They are easier to find locally for me than Honest Co. You can make your own wipes really easily from paper towels. https://naturesnurtureblog.com/2013/06/04/homemade-natural-baby-wipes/ 

You don't have to use the aloe in that recipe, there are plenty more online just google it. 

countrycotton

The only thing that comes to mind, as a reason not to use cloth at the hospital is merconium. I don't know how that would come out of cloth. It's like tar!

Mandmeesh

countrycotton said:

The only thing that comes to mind, as a reason not to use cloth at the hospital is merconium. I don't know how that would come out of cloth. It's like tar!

It comes out. It's just poop

Mandmeesh

jennypolkadots said:

I would stock up on honest co just for during the hospital. Most women stay after a normal delivery for 48 hours. So basically you will be washing laundry as soon as you get home which is not something I would be up for. There is also the possibility of a complication and a much longer stay. My SIL had a non emergent cesarean and stayed 4 days. 

I don't think 7th generation has aloe. They are easier to find locally for me than Honest Co. You can make your own wipes really easily from paper towels. https://naturesnurtureblog.com/2013/06/04/homemade-natural-baby-wipes/ 

You don't have to use the aloe in that recipe, there are plenty more online just google it. 

And...I had dirty hospital clothes that needed to be washed as soon as we got home. So diapers wouldn't have mattered. This concern always confuses me-life still goes on after you get home, no? Cloth diaper laundry is probably the LEAST difficult chore after a baby is born

Robi1

Meconium does not stain or cause any issues with diapers. I used cloth from day 1 with no problem, my daughter has never used a disposable. That said, I didn't use a hospital, we were at a birth center that didn't provide any diapers, and we were only there a short time. I personally would still use cloth even if I ended up in a hospital, but it's definitely up to you. If you're buying them yourself anyway, I'd just go with the cloth. They're not any harder to change, so the only thing you're really adding is doing laundry when you get home (which was not a big deal for me, I had nursing tanks and breast pads and plenty of other stuff to wash, so another load was no big deal). It was also nice for my husband to start right away with cloth and not feel like we had to make some big transition after a bit. 

I agree about the laundry thing not seeming like a big deal @mandmeesh - I went into labor early, unexpectedly, so we came home to a house with piles of dishes, laundry, and plenty of other stuff that needed cleaning up, empty fridge, etc. One cloth diaper load really made such small difference, it's just pushing a few buttons and emptying a bag.

orange1414

Thanks again, everyone! I'm going to have my cloth prepped and ready in the hospital bag and do my best to cloth diaper in the hospital. I might have some of the Honest Company diapers stashed in the car just in case, but it seems like it's do-able!