The app won’t let me edit, but the old school baby diaper pins are also handy to have on hand for make shift bibs, pacifier holders, to keep pants that are too big on...
DD1: June '16 DD2: March ‘19 :::: Married since 2011 :::: USN Wife ::::
Thanks everyone for all your input! A lot of great info, and I appreciate you all sharing! I'm so overwhelmed by how much I didn't realize I didn't know about raising a tiny human. Ha!
Any thoughts on diaper pails? I feel like I've seen a lot of negative reviews of the latest version of the Diaper Genie. I've been looking at the Munchkin Step and the Ubbi. Any thoughts/reviews?
We were gifted a diaper genie but never really used it because it was in the nursery and we rarely actually changed diapers in there (could have moved it but didn’t want it in the living room). It worked fine but, meh. A closed trash can works and like others have said, if you’re breastfeeding it won’t stink for a long while. The really stinky ones went into ziplocks and/or straight to the outside can.
Me: 30 DH: 31 Married: 2012 BFP #1 Sept 2014, MMC Dec 2014 | BFP #2 May 2015, DD Jan 2016 | BFP #3 May 2017, MC July 2017 | BFP #4 Jan 2018, MC Feb 2018 | BFP #5 July 2018, fingers crossed
We were also gifted a diaper genie (not the fancy step to open kind, just a regular one) and I still use it for wet pull ups over 2 years later. It’s nice to have and does a pretty good job of holding the smell. Up until I got pregnant and got this super sniffer we used it for poopy pull ups too. If we hadn’t been given it idk if I would have gotten more than a small trash can.
It is nice that DD can’t really get into it, unlike a regular step kid trash can. It makes it easier to leave in her room now that she’s in a big girl bed.
DD1: June '16 DD2: March ‘19 :::: Married since 2011 :::: USN Wife ::::
I was very against a diaper genie and didn’t see the point in one but we went ahead and got one as a shower gift. I will say we have used it for nearly every at home diaper change. As others have said he can’t get into it so that’s a huge plus! We also still use (he’s 17 months) the changing table at every change so it’s convenient to have the diaper pail on one side and the laundry basket on the other. We have a detached garage so going out in the winter to throw away poopy diapers (he has about 3-5 a day) isn’t realistic for us. I will say when it’s full it’s nasty to change but we just do it quick and it’s over. Since I’ve been pregnant DH has mainly taken on that role because of my nausea and super sniffer.
We used Huggies Little Snugglers in the first few weeks for the softness & good fit. Switched to Honest diapers for the more natural ingredients, lack of chemical smell compared to other disposable brands & lack of diaper rash. Sometimes we sampled cheaper disposables by day but always used the Honest Overnights for nighttime to expose her to fewer chemicals. Also LOVE the Honest wipes—no scent, super soft & absorbent so no extra waste: one wipe is all it takes to get everything clean. Drawbacks are that Honest diapers run narrow so they’re perfect if you have a skinny baby lol—not so much if your baby is chubby— and they’re also expensive. We used Target’s sales a lot to get discounts.
I’d love to switch to cloth diapering but am scarred from my youth with many younger siblings in cloth diapers, lol. That was a lot of work & a lot of smell. I will look into making the switch this time because it’s so much more affordable, better for the environment, & I’ve frequently heard an urban legend that CD babies don’t get diaper rash.
We returned our Diaper Genie. Waste of money. Dirty diapers get tossed with the trash daily. (Even worse for the environment. Gah...)
This hasn't been my experience. I've heard this elsewhere, and I always wonder why people think this. If anything, I would think you'd get more in cloth because it's wetter.
My daughter has definitely got rash in cloth. It clears up fine with a CD-safe rash cream, but she has gotten them in CD, including one bad one that took days to clear up fully.
She's never gotten lots of rashes whether in CD or in disposables, maybe once every 4 weeks or so? It's hard to compare because we use cloth more than disposables, of course, but I'd say our incidence rate is slightly higher with cloth.
@lovesclimbing I wondered if anyone would chime in on this. It’s always thrown around as fact, I guess I added to that. In my experience with my CD-ed siblings, they never got diaper rash. I think it’s extremely common to get multiple diaper rashes with disposables. But one rash every four weeks seems super frequent to me. My LO had only one incidence ever of rash in 2.5 years of Honest diapers. I will edit my comment.
@lovesclimbing I wondered if anyone would chime in on this. It’s always thrown around as fact, I guess I added to that. In my experience with my CD-ed siblings, they never got diaper rash. I think it’s extremely common to get multiple diaper rashes with disposables. But one rash every four weeks seems super frequent to me. My LO had only one incidence ever of rash in 2.5 years of Honest diapers. I will edit my comment.
Ah, ok. Fwiw, I wasn't trying to contradict you, just give my own experience. YMMV and all that! I do find that their are untrue CD urban legends, or at least, things taken as fact that really depend on your circumstances, like "ploppable" poops.
This may also depend on what is considered diaper rash. Anytime she gets a little bit red and I put rash cream on, I call that a rash. The really bad one I mentioned, her skin actually got raw and took days to clear up. All the other "rashes" were only reddish skin on various areas of her bottom, and they cleared up within one or two diaper changes, meaning I only put cream on once or twice before it was gone.
@lovesclimbing Got it, I didn’t think you were contradicting me at all. I actually felt like, Here is a mom who actually does the cloth diapering and I don’t, who am I to perpetuate the stereotype that the cloth diapered babies don’t get rashes? LOL.
I feel like some kids are just more prone to rashes than others. Our friends mostly CD and their older son had like one diaper rash in 18 months. They gave us a tub of diaper cream because they never had to use it. We also CD and DS has had a lot of rashes. For a while we had to use diaper cream at every change or he would break out in a rash. It has gotten better recently though.
I've heard mixed things about diaper pails. Some say it's a waste of money, others say it's helpful. For those of you that liked yours, what kind did you have?
Currently our only alternative to a diaper pail is a lidless trashcan inside the kitchen island cabinet so I definitely do not think throwing stinky diapers in there is a good idea. We will have to get SOMETHING even if it is a separate trash can (which depending on the quality, can be just as expensive as diaper pails). I do not want to have to take the trash outside daily. As is (though fully recognizing our trash will increase with the addition of a new human) we take the trash out once a week or twice a week max.
@mayoduck if you’re going to get a dedicated trashcan for the nursery/diaper change area, get a smaller step lid trashcan that you can buy dedicated trash bags for. That way by the time the diapers start to really stink the trash can will be full enough to be emptied anyway. The lid will help keep little hands and pets out of it. Even better if there’s a lid lock of some kind.
DD1: June '16 DD2: March ‘19 :::: Married since 2011 :::: USN Wife ::::
@mayoduck I like our ubbi because it has a lock, and it's metal. I feel like plastic absorbs odors over time, so the metal was key for me. I agree with @meggyme about not getting a large one for diapers, but for us the hassle of a different bag type isn't worth it, we just end up taking out a 2/3 full bag, and dumping our bathroom trash in on top right before it goes out to the bin.
Diapering pro-tip I just remembered while diapering my daughter. If you're using disposable wipes, keep the container upside down. The liquid tends to soak down into the bottom, and the top ones, even on freshly opened packages, can be rather dry. If you keep it upside down and just flip it over when you need to clean your baby, they will be the proper level of wetness.
It's been my experience that rashes can come from multiple sources. Sometimes there's a sensitivity to something they've eaten if they're on solids (or something you've eaten and gets into your breastmilk) and the poo makes them rashy. My LOs rarely got rashes but when they did it was due to hard water build up on our cloth diapers from our well water. I would use GroVia Bubble pacs to clear up the diapers and then they would be fine. This time around we have a water softener, so I'm hoping the experience of washing will be better. Because you can immediately tell when they wet in cloth and since I changed so often I think that helped too. My kids rarely had to "sit in it" for very long. When I needed to use disposables I was just used to changing them right away, I think my sisters thought I was nuts. Whatever!
We just got the ubbi stainless steel pail. I really like it so far & it’s convenient that you can use regular trash bags. I was thinking of making the switch to flushable wipes. Anyone done this?
@flyingmombula I've thought about using flushables since I have a potty training toddler we still use wipes for, but the ones I got for while we were traveling tended to rip really easily (I think they were cottonelle). They might work for breastfed infant poops, but meconium or solid food poops would be a no-go. At least for that particular brand, but I assume they're all going to be flimsier if the point is for them to break down in sewage treatment plants.
DD1: June '16 DD2: March ‘19 :::: Married since 2011 :::: USN Wife ::::
@meggyme@flyingmombula there was a recent article (I think also involving a lawsuit) that the wipes marketed as flushable (like cottonelle) are actually not decomposing and clog the sewers instead. I have a package that I got as a sample, and now I regret flushing them down.
Reading through this discussion on wipes made me think of an article I read a few months ago about how baby wipe use (along with other factors) may contribute to childhood allergies. Here is the summary:
"Infant and childhood food allergy has now been linked to a mix of environmental and genetic factors that must coexist to trigger the allergy, reports a new study. Those factors include genetics that alter skin absorbency, use of infant cleansing wipes that leave soap on the skin, skin exposure to allergens in dust and skin exposure to food from those providing infant care. The good news is factors leading to food allergy can be modified in the home environment." - https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/04/180406085504.htm
Anyways, I'm not posting this to scare anybody and I just thought it was really interesting! Most parents use wipes and most children don't have severe allergies so it's probably not a huge concern. Food allergies run in my family (my aunt and cousin have severe peanut allergies and my mom has lots of food sensitivities) so after reading this article, I decided I'd try using cloth wipes as much as possible that don't leave residue on the skin and try to make sure my hands are clean before changing diapers!
Late to the party, but we rarely had rashes with cloth. Sometimes a certain food/poop would make them red, but by the next diaper it was gone so I don’t consider those rashes. I would question wash routine and sensitivity to certain materials if it’s super frequent. Also changing when wet rather than when the diaper is filled makes a difference. I had one friend that would just change every 3 hours unless it was a poop, and I feel like her kids bums were always more red than what I dealt with.
We also do cloth wipes. I find it easier with cloth diapers anyway (no need to find a garbage), but additionally disposable ones always make my kids more red rather than less. My SIL recently switched to plain water wipes (no cloth for her ), and I feel like they also are much easier on the bum than traditional disposables...although they come with a higher price tag.
Bumping: For those who cloth diaper. Did you or are you going to cloth diaper right after the hospital, after the stump falls off? Wait until they fit OS? I want to do covers with flats / prefolds. Trying to decide with a tiny lo ( we're in the 2nd percentile) if I need newborn size covers. What brands of newborn covers did you like and where did you get them from?
@kennylynn1990 I didn’t cloth diaper DD1 until 4 months because she was born preemie size and hit newborn size around that time. It was also easier to not have to worry about figuring out a laundry schedule right off the bat. I plan to cloth diaper DD2 but will probably wait a while again. I used mostly Flip covers and prefolds last time, which I still have. I also have a few Bum Genuis AIOs. Both fit newborn up to toddler. They have snaps that fold them down to make them smaller or bigger. I bought most of mine online at discounted prices through cottonbabies.com They have frequent sales.
I think we waited about a week. It was just easy those first few days, and some people say those meconium poops are a real pain to get off of cloth. This time, we'll do the same.
We used Thirsties Duos covers, which are essentially a larger "one-size" and a smaller "one-size" and fitteds I sewed that went with them, again with the two sizes. I also had a larger baby, over 8.5 pounds. Never had any issues. I imagine a regular one size would be pretty big though, thinking about how the larger size of the Duos are.
I cloth from birth. With my first, we did do disposables in the hospital and she was in cloth for the ride home, but #2 was born at home and so will #3. I have tiny babies (6’9, and 7’9 - but she lost a ton of water weight from my IVs and was closer to 7lbs for a while). Big note - always weigh baby naked because all those diapers weigh differently and it can make your weight gain/loss look worse.
Anyway, I have 1 newborn cover (thirsties), 4 x-small cover (thirsties), 1 bummies x-small (I don’t even know if they still are around), and 4-ish “size 1” covers (thirsties and a blueberries). Which is way more than I “need” but have been collecting through 3 kids, lol. This time I’m going to cut a couple of my FSTs in half to use in the first two weeks because my workhorses and other fitteds still seem big for the tiny baby. I loooooove my newborn workhorses. Its basically a prefold that’s been shaped into a fitted. It makes the diapers a little more trim than a standard prefold, which helps keep the butt from looking bigger than the whole baby lol. I didn’t have them for #1 but I used them for a good 2ish months with #2. I’m going to cry when I’m ready to sell them.
After tiny baby, we usually switch to prefolds/FSTs until crawling age, when pockets become easier. My husband prefers prefolds and would prefer to do that the whole time...he says there’s no guesswork needed to tell if it’s wet, lol. But when they start to move, it’s just nice to cut out extra seconds during a diaper change.
@Kenneylynn3 We tried each time to cd from the time they came home, but they always rubbed against their stumps, so we always end up waiting for the stump to fall off. Unfortunately, babies #2-4 had stubborn stumps that took a month (and then some with #2).
Re: Product spotlight: Diapering
It worked fine but, meh. A closed trash can works and like others have said, if you’re breastfeeding it won’t stink for a long while. The really stinky ones went into ziplocks and/or straight to the outside can.
Married: 2012
BFP #1 Sept 2014, MMC Dec 2014 | BFP #2 May 2015, DD Jan 2016
It is nice that DD can’t really get into it, unlike a regular step kid trash can. It makes it easier to leave in her room now that she’s in a big girl bed.
I’d love to switch to cloth diapering but am scarred from my youth with many younger siblings in cloth diapers, lol. That was a lot of work & a lot of smell. I will look into making the switch this time because it’s so much more affordable, better for the environment, & I’ve frequently heard an urban legend that CD babies don’t get diaper rash.
We returned our Diaper Genie. Waste of money. Dirty diapers get tossed with the trash daily. (Even worse for the environment. Gah...)
My daughter has definitely got rash in cloth. It clears up fine with a CD-safe rash cream, but she has gotten them in CD, including one bad one that took days to clear up fully.
She's never gotten lots of rashes whether in CD or in disposables, maybe once every 4 weeks or so? It's hard to compare because we use cloth more than disposables, of course, but I'd say our incidence rate is slightly higher with cloth.
This may also depend on what is considered diaper rash. Anytime she gets a little bit red and I put rash cream on, I call that a rash. The really bad one I mentioned, her skin actually got raw and took days to clear up. All the other "rashes" were only reddish skin on various areas of her bottom, and they cleared up within one or two diaper changes, meaning I only put cream on once or twice before it was gone.
Currently our only alternative to a diaper pail is a lidless trashcan inside the kitchen island cabinet so I definitely do not think throwing stinky diapers in there is a good idea. We will have to get SOMETHING even if it is a separate trash can (which depending on the quality, can be just as expensive as diaper pails). I do not want to have to take the trash outside daily. As is (though fully recognizing our trash will increase with the addition of a new human) we take the trash out once a week or twice a week max.
Because you can immediately tell when they wet in cloth and since I changed so often I think that helped too. My kids rarely had to "sit in it" for very long. When I needed to use disposables I was just used to changing them right away, I think my sisters thought I was nuts. Whatever!
[spoiler=TW in signature]
Me: 36, DH 37.
August 2014- 6w MMC
July 2015- CP
PCOS, plus some medical issues that make me high risk.
Our rainbow babies are due 3/21!!!!!
[/spoiler]
ETA: some articles I could find now:
https://www.thenewstribune.com/news/local/article223578715.html
https://www.ktvz.com/news/-flushable-wipes-aren-t-really-so-experts-say/970172339
"Infant and childhood food allergy has now been linked to a mix of environmental and genetic factors that must coexist to trigger the allergy, reports a new study. Those factors include genetics that alter skin absorbency, use of infant cleansing wipes that leave soap on the skin, skin exposure to allergens in dust and skin exposure to food from those providing infant care. The good news is factors leading to food allergy can be modified in the home environment." - https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/04/180406085504.htm
Anyways, I'm not posting this to scare anybody and I just thought it was really interesting! Most parents use wipes and most children don't have severe allergies so it's probably not a huge concern. Food allergies run in my family (my aunt and cousin have severe peanut allergies and my mom has lots of food sensitivities) so after reading this article, I decided I'd try using cloth wipes as much as possible that don't leave residue on the skin and try to make sure my hands are clean before changing diapers!
[spoiler=TW in signature]
Me: 36, DH 37.
August 2014- 6w MMC
July 2015- CP
PCOS, plus some medical issues that make me high risk.
Our rainbow babies are due 3/21!!!!!
[/spoiler]
We also do cloth wipes. I find it easier with cloth diapers anyway (no need to find a garbage), but additionally disposable ones always make my kids more red rather than less. My SIL recently switched to plain water wipes (no cloth for her
For those who cloth diaper. Did you or are you going to cloth diaper right after the hospital, after the stump falls off? Wait until they fit OS? I want to do covers with flats / prefolds. Trying to decide with a tiny lo ( we're in the 2nd percentile) if I need newborn size covers. What brands of newborn covers did you like and where did you get them from?
I plan to cloth diaper DD2 but will probably wait a while again. I used mostly Flip covers and prefolds last time, which I still have. I also have a few Bum Genuis AIOs. Both fit newborn up to toddler. They have snaps that fold them down to make them smaller or bigger.
I bought most of mine online at discounted prices through cottonbabies.com They have frequent sales.
We used Thirsties Duos covers, which are essentially a larger "one-size" and a smaller "one-size" and fitteds I sewed that went with them, again with the two sizes. I also had a larger baby, over 8.5 pounds. Never had any issues. I imagine a regular one size would be pretty big though, thinking about how the larger size of the Duos are.
Anyway, I have 1 newborn cover (thirsties), 4 x-small cover (thirsties), 1 bummies x-small (I don’t even know if they still are around), and 4-ish “size 1” covers (thirsties and a blueberries). Which is way more than I “need” but have been collecting through 3 kids, lol. This time I’m going to cut a couple of my FSTs in half to use in the first two weeks because my workhorses and other fitteds still seem big for the tiny baby. I loooooove my newborn workhorses. Its basically a prefold that’s been shaped into a fitted. It makes the diapers a little more trim than a standard prefold, which helps keep the butt from looking bigger than the whole baby lol. I didn’t have them for #1 but I used them for a good 2ish months with #2. I’m going to cry when I’m ready to sell them.
After tiny baby, we usually switch to prefolds/FSTs until crawling age, when pockets become easier. My husband prefers prefolds and would prefer to do that the whole time...he says there’s no guesswork needed to tell if it’s wet, lol. But when they start to move, it’s just nice to cut out extra seconds during a diaper change.