Switching to cloth diapers during toddlerhood?

[Joyous_5]

Just wondering if anyone has experience in switching to cloth diapers for an older toddler? My son will be 2 in April. We started with cloth for the first couple of months but it proved to be too much for me with all the other "new parent" issues.

Now I'm wondering if it's too late to try cloth again. I'm home full-time now and would LOVE to save the $10/week on diapers and help the environment at the same time.

Anyone switch to cloth with an older kid? If so, does it in fact help with potty training? We're working on that and I also hoped it might make being wet a more pressing need for him.

Any info appreciated--also, if you have cloth diapered, is there a particular brand that isn't so bulky? I remember having trouble snapping onsies before because of the huge diapers. (I used plain flat liners and the little waterproof fitted covers.)

THANKS!

[maribeth]

We just put DD straight in underwear. She still wears a Pull-up during her nap, and a disposable diaper at night (I am using them up). There are accidents, but she is making progress.

If you'd planned on washing diapers anyway, why not? Plus he can enjoy picking out his "big boy" underwear.

[Rosemary]

A friend of mine switched when her son was in the 18-24 month range. It saved her a significant amount of money. I gave her my cloth diapering supplies and all she had to buy was a few covers, and her son was one who took a long time to potty train.

[Flour Sack Mama]

At 2 years, I agree that you might have success with just letting him try big kid undewear in the daytime. Hanna Andersen has some nice, thick training pants in organic cotton that we've liked using. If you do want to try cloth diapers again: Just about any of the leading cloth diaper brands today are going to be more leak-proof than they would have been a few years ago. I have a friend that likes Bum Genius that has velcro and closes really well around the legs.

[Mrs-M]

Hi Joyous_5. Switching to cloth diapers at the toddler stage IMO will be one of the best switches you have/will ever made/make. As far as early potty/toilet training goes, I didn't have much success with my kids toileting early (that's just me although), but a good portion of the lateness in our home was the result of me being a little "wee too relaxed". With cloth it didn't cost me anything (aside from laundry expense) to diaper my kids, so by baby #3 I contently threw my hands up in the air and let my kids decide (more or less) when they wanted out.

Switching a toddler over to cloth after diapering his bottom in disposables will be BIG change for him. He'll definitely notice/feel the wetness. At this stage I'd go with cheap. By cheap I'm talking prefolds (so you don't have to fold), pins (if you aren't scared of them), and waterproof pull-on pants (vinyl). It will cost you next to nothing to outfit your son in old-fashioned cloth and you'll have them for the duration.

With cloth you aren't going to really get away with/find anything trim or thin. Cloth is bulky, but I never fretted over finding pants and outfits and things to go over my kids butts. My kids lived in diapers (mostly), and when the weather turned (winter/colder months) one size up pajama bottoms did the trick to cover (night-time/bedtime), as did plain old elastic-waist cotton pants/sweat pants when going out.

Brand name, whew, I can't remember what brand name of diapers I bought, just plain old-fashioned cotton flats. Pins were run-of-the-mill diaper pins available at most department stores at the time (better quality than now), rubber pants the same. Re: Diaper pins, go with Dritz! I bought some Dritz pins with my last two kids and IMO they are the best pins you can buy! (Even better than the old pins I have from my first born). The plastic-safety capped ones are what you want. Oh, just remembered something, I used Babykins pants pretty much exclusively for my last three kids. (They're out of Vancouver BC). Check online. Hmmm, what else to mention.

Oh ya, all you'll need in the way of diapers (if you decide to go with old-fashioned economical ones) will be two dozen. That's plenty of diapers for a toddler. A couple sets of diaper pins, and 4-6 pairs of rubber pants. If economics are a factor you can cheat/cut corners on the added expense of an actual plastic diaper pail by using an old lidded bucket/pail.

[Mrs-M]

Re: Cotton training pants. If you go this route what you want are the old padded-waffle knit trainers with the thicker soaker panel running down the centre. And you'll want rubber pants for over to hold in wetness. When my kids reached the training pants stage I doubled two pairs of cotton training pants together to help keep them more dry and comfy, and to prevent wetness (leaks).

[Joyous_5]

Thanks very much for the feedback and ideas. I'd never heard of cloth training pants, so immediately I did a Google search--interesting!

I'm still in the very early stages of potty training my son. This is particularly sad because I'm home with him every day. I can't ever remember to put him on the potty! Lately though, I've been aiming for at least once a day. I take care of another little girl and write part-time so it's often so hectic here that I forget completely.

NOW I'm wondering if I should go with the cloth diapers and covers (thanks for the suggestions of Babykins, Miz M!) or training pants. He's really only using the occasionally--but would it still be better to go w/ the pants vs. diapers, I wonder? I'm psyched to give this a go. I found some used cloth diapers w/ covers on craigslist but sadly they were already sold.

[Joyous_5]

Oh, I also forgot to ask (and I think you've answered this question for me before Miz M.) How does one go about washing the diapers which have rather mushy poo in them? My mom said I should wash them in the toilet?! Also, what if I make cloth wipes? I like the idea but the poopy ones must be gross and smelly before tossing in the washing machine. I don't want our house to smell like a septic system!

[Rosemary]

Cloth diapers can be really easy. Here's what I did - no pail full of water or wet diapers to carry around the house.
Prepare a diaper pail - just a garbage can with lid and a plastic bag for a liner. No water needed!
Put dirty diapers into the pail. If a diaper is really messy, shake off the solids into the toilet.
Every 2-3 days, wash the dirty diapers. Cold water rinse with baking soda, then hot water wash with a gentle, unscented detergent, just a small amount. Vinegar in the rinse cycle will remove excess detergent.

My experience with cotton "training pants" was negative. I found them to be mostly useless. I tried some heavier ones that used cotton prefold diapers for liners and those absorbed more but were too bulky to be practical. We waited until DD was a little past 3 years of age so that it was warm outside, and sent her outside to play in clothes and regular cotton underwear. She noticed immediately when she was wet and came inside to change. She had a few accidents in the house but the thing that made a really big impression on her - and the last accident she ever had - was about 2 months after we began this process. We were at a park, and she did not want to stop playing to use the restroom (the usual cause of her accidents). I did not have any spare clothes at all, and we had to leave immediately. She was very unhappy about that, and the natural consequences really worked that time!

[Mrs-M]

Hi again Joyous_5. Unless your son is on and off the potty multiple times each day- all on his own, I don't think you'd go wrong in looking at cloth diapers. (IMO he's still at the diaper stage). The nice part about old-fashioned diapers is, you can occasionally leave the rubber pants off when you're training him to give him that wet feeling. Plus, he's still going to need diapers at night for a while even after he daytime trains, so the cloth diapers will be a blessing for that.

One thing I did with my kids is ask them a lot if they had to go. When they were older and had an accident (but didn't tell me), when I'd ask them- "do you need to go potty", they'd immediately reach for the back of their pants/diapers if they were dirty, or the front of their pants if they were wet. Little did they know their actions were telling! I always knew they were lying to me when they did the "grab".

As far as training pants go, unless your son is all but trained throughout the day, I wouldn't rely on training soakers (pants) as a means of eliminating diapers in your home. You'll be pulling your hair out after a week!

Another thing I did when training my kids was to mimic what an older baby does when being asked if they have to go. Older babies/toddlers tend to pat the are of their pants related to what they need to do (potty) or have done (in their pants). So anytime I asked my kids if they had to go (or already went/accident), I'd pat my bottom and say "poo-poo", or pat the front of my pants and say "pee-pee". They'd always respond by patting their own pants in the front if they were wet, or the back if they were dirty. If you work on making that a common every day affair/occurrence in your home, your son will (after a few days) approach you and pat the front or back of his pants/diapers to let you know.

Rinsing out poopy diapers is really easy. Your mom is right, rinsing them in the toilet is the best way. When I rinse out a messy diaper I take it to the bathroom and sometimes even put the diaper in the toilet (water) and let it soak for a few minutes beforehand (if it's really bad). Easier cleaning.

Anyhow, when it's time to rinse, I grab hold of the diaper firmly (extra good grip) and while holding the diaper in my one hand- I flush the toilet with the other. While the water is swirling I dunk the diaper up and down in the water. Out everything comes! The diaper will still be stained but the bulk of what was once there will be gone. You can also grab hold of the diaper (hand at each end) and rub the spot or area together (fabric part) back and forth to loosen the mess. (Again, that's only when baby has gone really bad). Most times it's as easy as a quick dunk, a wring, toss diaper into pail.

Washing, same thing, super easy. I used cotton baby washcloths for my kids and just fired the dirty cloth into the pail with the diapers when I was done using it. The pail will help with odour. If you're more fussy about the cleanliness of your washcloths after use, you can do the toilet dunk/diaper rinse with them before putting them in the diaper pail. (You'll get to a point where you'll happen on a method/system that best works for you).

As far as actual washing goes, on laundry day I'd dump the diaper pail right into the washing machine, everything inside. (Wet/soiled diapers, rubber pants, washcloths). Everything. Then I'd turn the washer on a short rinse/spin cycle to rinse and spin the dirty diapers out quickly before starting the wash cycle. (If you toilet rinse and dry pail you don't even have to go through the process of doing a rinse/spin cycle). I was fussy so I did. Anyhow, when done, I added my detergent to the wash, closed the lid, turned the select dial to what I wanted, and pressed on! Out came freshly washed diapers ready for the line!

The lead-up to cloth diapering is always the hardest part for most moms I find. After you do it a few times you'll think to yourself- "why didn't I do this sooner"!