Talk to me about CDing at the hospital...

starlightstef

I've been getting mixed messages about whether or not to start CDing right away at the hospital vs. waiting a couple weeks.  One reason people have been giving me is that the meconium will permanently stain my diapers.  Other people have said that's not true. Also, DS will be circumcized at the hospital, so I'm assuming we'll have to use some sort of cream to keep it clean and healthy.  Here are my questions...

Did you CD at the hospital?  If you waited, why?

How did you prevent or wash out meconium stains?

If your LO was circumcized, how did you protect your dipes from whatever topical you had to use?

Thanks!

tokenhoser

We started at home. It was only a couple days in the hospital, and I managed to lose track of one of my sleep bras and accidentally send it to the hospital laundry (and once things go in, they never come back). I just didn't need more things to keep track of.

Meconium stains sun out, no problem. That's not a real issue.

You will need to use guaze and some kind of oil or vaseline on a circ. We didn't circ, so I have no knowledge beyond that.

Ridgebackmom

Great question...thanks for asking! Looking forward to the comments...

moosebaby2011

Since we waited to CD until LO was big enough for OS diapers, we didn't CD at the hospital.  If/when we have another I plan to start CD's once we get home.  It's just less to keep track of in the hospital.  I'll probably pick a special CD and pack it with future LO's "coming home" outfit and start from there.

I've heard that meconium is just as easy to deal with as regular NB poo, so I wouldn't worry about that.

As far as circ care, you can use unscented CJ's butter in lieu of vaseline.  It's CD safe and will keep the wound from sticking to the diapers. 

skio

We'll start at home once the meconium is cleared. That only takes a couple days, not weeks. Use a small piece of fleece or cotton on your son's circumcision to keep the healing creams from touching your diapers.

I did a quick estimate of what we spent on disposable dipes for DD's first three months, and because she needed sensitive diapers for her rashy butt, it was around 300. CRAZY. The newborn stage is by far the most expensive for sposies. Considering 300 is more than half of what we'll spend on our entire stash CDs, we're starting CDing ASAP.

hst

I waited until we got home, not a few weeks, just until I got home. I didn't want to deal with it there, plus I had heard about meconium, but honestly don't think the meconium is a big deal.

candlequeen

We didn't CD DS, but for his circ. we squeezed a small amount of vaseline on a piece of gauze and put it right on top of his penis. I'm not sure if it will affect your CDs. I plan to put a couple of my favorite CD in my hospital bag for her to go home in, but we will just use sposies while we are there. This is a good question, btw.

Into+the+Kitty

We didn't CD at the hospital, but we are planning to with the next baby. I'm planning on using coconut oil on baby's bum to help with wiping the meconium off, and I may bring a little spray bottle with bac out. I've heard that meconium stains just as much as EBF poop, and is nothing that a little sun won't take care of.

If we are at the hospital overnight, J will be coming home to stay with A, so I will probably just have him bring the diapers home with him to wash just to cut down on the amount of diapers that are at the hospital at one time.

Into+the+Kitty

Re a circumcision, I've read about people cutting up an old t shirt and using the jersey material to wrap their son's penis while it heals. Then they just throw away the jersey after.

Aurora_Borealis

-We used CDs when we got home. I didn't want to end up losing any diapers.

-Meconium isn't a big deal. Stains come out in the sun. And it's not like newborns poo meconium for weeks - it's more like a day or two.

-As a PP suggested use unscented CJs instead of petroleum jelly. It's CD safe. Hospitals/doctors recommend petroleum jelly because it's cheap and most people already have it on hand, not because it's the only thing that will work.

themrsbird

We started the day we came home. Our main reason for CDing was cost...since the sposies were supplied by the hospital, it was one less thing to worry about.
The meconium was not a problem at all! It didn't stain anything that I have seen we had it for almost a week after going home due to jaundice.
No clue about the circ though...

dalzien

Our hospital doesn't permit cloth diapers for newborn care. We are giving birth at a sick kid's hospital, so that may have something to do with it? We have bought the Napy diapers to use for the hospital, but plan to switch to cloth when we get home.

dande2129

We started at home, and yeah, he had meconium and I thought it would stain the diapers too, but it didn't. I didn't even do anything special... just rinsed once in cold and then washed once on hot. Voila. No stains.

My LO is not circumcised, so I can't help you there. I know that the recommendation is Vaseline to protect the skin (and gauze) but I don't know if Vaseline will mess up the CDs. Hopefully someone has answered this question--- I haven't read the responses here yet. 

&orchid&

We waited.  1. Hospital gives you free diapers. 2. You'll have way too much *** going on.

Danni7535

We started at home. My biggest goal at the hospital was to master breast feeding, or at least try my best. Plus, the hospital gives you disposables.

jojobrn

Another for starting at home. My circumstances were a bit weird, I left the hospital and spent a night in a hotel while waiting for the all clear on asbestos removal in our kitchen/dining room. Trying to remember cloth diapers over 3 days, 2 hospital rooms, 1 hotel room, no laundry, and my own spaciness meant it was better to wait until we were home. I actually was home on a Thursday and we officially were 100% in CD on Saturday.

Lennongirl

I started a few days after returning home. I honestly just didn't give it much thought to be honest and the hospital provided sposies, so we just used that.

Next time I will be cd'ing from birth. We'll figure out how to get them laundered, sposies just gross me out.

L0L0

We used sposies at the hospital, and never again after that. I was so unprepared I didn't even bring any clothes for myself. CD isn't hard, but I hadn't even thought of what should be in a diaper bag. The baby's birth is such a huge thing that there wasn't room in my brain to plan for anything afterward. That said, we switched to 100% cloth as soon as we were discharged and had no problems (and I have a girl so I don't know about circumcision, but the meconium stage was brief and no big deal. The umbilical cord was also a non-issue).

numberonemama

We had to wait since I didn't have preemie diapers and she was so tiny! 

I was also told that the meconium does not stain.

my DS had a circumcision that required no care and the extra skin simply fell off a couple weeks later like the cord. You may want to check into different techniques.  

starlightstef

Thanks for all the advice!  I think since I'm a ftm, I'm gonna stick to sposies at the hospital.  Like a pp mentioned, I'm going to have enough things to figure out the first couple days (breastfeeding especially!) without worrying about doing a proper prefold and not losing anything!  We'll switch when we get home