Remind me why I use cloth diapers!! :P [Archive]

July 7th 05, 10:55 PM

"emilymr" <emily@xxxxxx> wrote in message
lkaboutparenting.com...
> We've had almost a month of traveling so we've been using disposables, and
> now I've gotten spoiled. Already today, Micah's soaked through a diaper +
> wrap with ONE pee, and this is after just upgrading to super size diapers.
> I double diapered all day yesterday, which means I'll have to get twice
> the number of diapers at twice the cost, *and* I'll run out of room in
> *both* diaper pails before my next drop off. Diaper service isn't cheap
> out here; I'm certainly not saving $$ over disposables, and it's not
> possible to wash them myself since we've got communal laundries...
>
> I love the earth I love the earth I love the earth ;)
>
> Em
> mama to Micah, 11/14/04
>

Well, I have to say that when I started getting ready for this baby, I
thought I'd do cloth diapers at home (have to do disposable at daycare).
But, cloth diapers are not without environmental impact. Disposable diapers
add to solid waste, cloth diapers use water, chemicals (detergents, etc),
and energy to heat the water and dry the diapers. Many environmentalists
consider cloth and disposable diapers to have roughly equal environmental
impact, just in different ways. (DH is an environmental engineer and talked
to coworkers, so I don't have a reference for that one)
Then, I looked into cost of cloth diapers and services and realized I
wouldn't necessarily save money unless I had lots of time to spend on diaper
washing, etc myself, which I don't.
Finally, I concluded that if the environmental impacts were roughly equal
(although I do think a case can still be made that cloth diapers are
marginally better for the environment), cost was about the same, and
disposables had the advantage of convenience and conformity, I would be
going with disposables. Now, if they come up with a truly biodegradable
diaper made from recycled materials, I'll have no guilt!

http://www.extension.umn.edu/distribution/housingandclothing/DK5911.html
http://www.earthybirthymama.com/articles/diaperarticle3.html

Amy

Mamma Mia

July 7th 05, 11:23 PM

just out of interest, check out myplanet.com.au

nappy recycling!

"V." > wrote in message
...
>
> "emilymr" <emily@xxxxxx> wrote in message
> lkaboutparenting.com...
>> We've had almost a month of traveling so we've been using disposables,
>> and
>> now I've gotten spoiled. Already today, Micah's soaked through a diaper
>> +
>> wrap with ONE pee, and this is after just upgrading to super size
>> diapers.
>> I double diapered all day yesterday, which means I'll have to get twice
>> the number of diapers at twice the cost, *and* I'll run out of room in
>> *both* diaper pails before my next drop off. Diaper service isn't cheap
>> out here; I'm certainly not saving $$ over disposables, and it's not
>> possible to wash them myself since we've got communal laundries...
>>
>> I love the earth I love the earth I love the earth ;)
>>
>> Em
>> mama to Micah, 11/14/04
>>
>
> Well, I have to say that when I started getting ready for this baby, I
> thought I'd do cloth diapers at home (have to do disposable at daycare).
> But, cloth diapers are not without environmental impact. Disposable
> diapers add to solid waste, cloth diapers use water, chemicals
> (detergents, etc), and energy to heat the water and dry the diapers. Many
> environmentalists consider cloth and disposable diapers to have roughly
> equal environmental impact, just in different ways. (DH is an
> environmental engineer and talked to coworkers, so I don't have a
> reference for that one)
> Then, I looked into cost of cloth diapers and services and realized I
> wouldn't necessarily save money unless I had lots of time to spend on
> diaper washing, etc myself, which I don't.
> Finally, I concluded that if the environmental impacts were roughly equal
> (although I do think a case can still be made that cloth diapers are
> marginally better for the environment), cost was about the same, and
> disposables had the advantage of convenience and conformity, I would be
> going with disposables. Now, if they come up with a truly biodegradable
> diaper made from recycled materials, I'll have no guilt!
>
> http://www.extension.umn.edu/distribution/housingandclothing/DK5911.html
> http://www.earthybirthymama.com/articles/diaperarticle3.html
>
> Amy
>
>
>

Sidheag McCormack

July 7th 05, 11:33 PM

Amy writes:

> Many environmentalists consider cloth and disposable diapers to have
> roughly equal environmental impact, just in different ways. (DH is an
> environmental engineer and talked to coworkers, so I don't have a
> reference for that one)

You can make the energy equations come out roughly even, especially if you
use very dodgy assumptions based on too little data about how people
actually use cloth (as a recent, and now notorious, UK report did - e.g.
they assumed 10% of people iron their nappies!!). The thing that's harder
to argue away, and the main thing that made me use cloth, is the fact that
disposables go into landfill, where they don't decompose in any reasonable
time. There's no equivalent for cloth. I just couldn't stand the idea that
all DS's nappies would be still there in landfill, unrotted, when DS
himself was no more. I don't want to decide his legacy on the earth for
him, and make it be that! I feel quite emotional about it, and I'm not
normally all that green. I try not to think about the ones we use when out,
but don't always succeed.

> Then, I looked into cost of cloth diapers and
> services and realized I wouldn't necessarily save money unless I had
> lots of time to spend on diaper washing, etc myself, which I don't.

Really, honestly, it doesn't take a lot of time. If it did I wouldn't be
doing it. You put them in the washing machine - 1 minute? You take them out
and hang them on the drying rack - 2 minutes? You rinse out the nappy bins
and put them back where they go - 1 minute? You take the dry nappies off
the rack and put them away - 30 seconds? That's all I can think of. It
certainly takes less extra time per day to use cloth nappies than I've
happily spent typing this post :-)

Incidentally it turns out that our nursery is quite happy to use cloth
nappies, as were all the ones we visited, and about half the kids in DS's
group are in cloth. There's a lot more of it about than I'd realised.

Sidheag
DS Colin Oct 27 2003

Cuddlefish

July 8th 05, 12:10 AM

"Sidheag McCormack" > wrote in message
...
> Really, honestly, it doesn't take a lot of time. If it did I wouldn't be
> doing it. You put them in the washing machine - 1 minute? You take them
> out
> and hang them on the drying rack - 2 minutes? You rinse out the nappy bins
> and put them back where they go - 1 minute? You take the dry nappies off
> the rack and put them away - 30 seconds? That's all I can think of. It
> certainly takes less extra time per day to use cloth nappies than I've
> happily spent typing this post :-)

I like the idea that I do not have to keep going to the store to buy more
nappies also. I have bought cloth nappies for my impending arrival [all in
one fell swoop] and I am going to do my darnedest to use them! The initial
outlay was large, sure, but now I have them at home and will only run out
when I have decided not to do the washing...

--
Jacqueline
#1 Due late Jul/early Aug

Elle

July 8th 05, 12:56 AM

emilymr wrote:
> We've had almost a month of traveling so we've been using disposables, and
> now I've gotten spoiled. Already today, Micah's soaked through a diaper +
> wrap with ONE pee, and this is after just upgrading to super size diapers.
> I double diapered all day yesterday, which means I'll have to get twice
> the number of diapers at twice the cost, *and* I'll run out of room in
> *both* diaper pails before my next drop off. Diaper service isn't cheap
> out here; I'm certainly not saving $$ over disposables, and it's not
> possible to wash them myself since we've got communal laundries...
>
> I love the earth I love the earth I love the earth ;)
>
> Em
> mama to Micah, 11/14/04

I switched to disposables not too long ago, when my daughter outgrew
the small wraps. The problem? None of her clothes fit! She has *very*
chunky thighs (they are like litte hams, so cute) and a long torso so
one pieces wouldn't snap at the crotch. I didn't anticipate that
problem. They were all lovely hand-me-downs so I traded off buying
disposables with having to buy (if they exist) some clothes to
accomodate the diaper.

We are on the verge of a garbage collectors' stike here though, and if
that happens I'm going out for a half dozen medium wraps and pulling
out those diapers! In my city we have a compost program which includes
disposables so that's good, at least only part of it goes in the land
fill.

Elle
Stella 2/23/2005

Elle

July 8th 05, 01:00 AM

V. wrote:
> Many environmentalists
> consider cloth and disposable diapers to have roughly equal environmental
> impact, just in different ways.

I think that is true as well. What needs to be considered is which
resource is more scarce in your community -- landfill space or water.
We have a compost program here that includes disposable diapers. We put
them in our "green bin" along with kitchen waste (includes meat too,
wierd), the plastic gets separated out and it all gets processed into
some composty sludge the city uses on parks etc.

Elle

Leslie

July 8th 05, 01:56 AM

A&G&K&H

July 8th 05, 07:17 AM

"V." > wrote in message
...
>
> "emilymr" <emily@xxxxxx> wrote in message
> lkaboutparenting.com...
> > We've had almost a month of traveling so we've been using disposables,
and
> > now I've gotten spoiled. Already today, Micah's soaked through a diaper
+
> > wrap with ONE pee, and this is after just upgrading to super size
diapers.
> > I double diapered all day yesterday, which means I'll have to get twice
> > the number of diapers at twice the cost, *and* I'll run out of room in
> > *both* diaper pails before my next drop off. Diaper service isn't cheap
> > out here; I'm certainly not saving $$ over disposables, and it's not
> > possible to wash them myself since we've got communal laundries...
> >
> > I love the earth I love the earth I love the earth ;)
> >
> > Em
> > mama to Micah, 11/14/04
> >
>
> Well, I have to say that when I started getting ready for this baby, I
> thought I'd do cloth diapers at home (have to do disposable at daycare).
> But, cloth diapers are not without environmental impact. Disposable
diapers
> add to solid waste, cloth diapers use water, chemicals (detergents, etc),
> and energy to heat the water and dry the diapers. Many environmentalists
> consider cloth and disposable diapers to have roughly equal environmental
> impact, just in different ways. (DH is an environmental engineer and
talked
> to coworkers, so I don't have a reference for that one)
> Then, I looked into cost of cloth diapers and services and realized I
> wouldn't necessarily save money unless I had lots of time to spend on
diaper
> washing, etc myself, which I don't.
> Finally, I concluded that if the environmental impacts were roughly equal
> (although I do think a case can still be made that cloth diapers are
> marginally better for the environment), cost was about the same, and
> disposables had the advantage of convenience and conformity, I would be
> going with disposables. Now, if they come up with a truly biodegradable
> diaper made from recycled materials, I'll have no guilt!
>
> http://www.extension.umn.edu/distribution/housingandclothing/DK5911.html
> http://www.earthybirthymama.com/articles/diaperarticle3.html
>
> Amy
>

I'm with you Amy. I am a certified ecologist (PhD and all) and after I'd
read countless papers and compared varieties and cleaning etc, can't seem to
see much environmental difference. I know that doesn't make me popular here
and you'll all want to know my refs, but I have been a professional
ecologist for almost 15 years and I've done a lot of thinking about such
things in that time and no I'm not going to dig up everything I've ever read
and give a dissertation on the subject.

The other thing which so many peple don't account for is that cotton (while
I love it) is one of the most environmentally damaging crops we grow
(certainly has the worst rap of any crop we grow in Australia). The
ecological impacts and ramifications of cotton farming are far reaching and
wide ranging. The effect on the ecology, biodiversity, salinity, water
quality and even climate and landscape change is a sizeable contribution.
Wood fibre is a much more environmentally friendly crop to grow.

This doesn't mean disposables are in anyway shape or form a "green option",
but it does mean that arguments about how much "greener" cloth nappies are
are debatable.

For the record, I've used both types of nappy and am not kidding myself that
I'm saving much more than a few $$ when I use cloth.

Amanda

Amanda
>
>

Sidheag McCormack

July 8th 05, 10:41 AM

Cuddlefish writes:

> "Sidheag McCormack" > wrote in message
> ...
>> Really, honestly, it doesn't take a lot of time. If it did I wouldn't be
>> doing it. You put them in the washing machine - 1 minute? You take them
>> out and hang them on the drying rack - 2 minutes? You rinse out the
>> nappy bins and put them back where they go - 1 minute? You take the dry
>> nappies off the rack and put them away - 30 seconds? That's all I can
>> think of. It certainly takes less extra time per day to use cloth
>> nappies than I've happily spent typing this post :-)

> I like the idea that I do not have to keep going to the store to buy
> more nappies also. I have bought cloth nappies for my impending arrival
> [all in one fell swoop] and I am going to do my darnedest to use them!
> The initial outlay was large, sure, but now I have them at home and will
> only run out when I have decided not to do the washing...

Yes, I like that aspect too - though in fairness, just about all corner
shops sell nappies, around here at least, and there's one close. We run out
of milk/fruit juice/toilet paper often enough and that isn't a problem!
It's one less thing to think about though, it's true. I didn't mention time
saved by not having to shop, because personally I got quite interested in
nappies and have bought them in several little batches, so the time I've
spent online reading about them is probably about the same as the time I'd
have spent picking disposables off the shelf.

Hope you and your new arrival enjoy your nappies!

Sidheag

Chookie

July 8th 05, 11:18 AM

In article >,
"A&G&K&H" > wrote:

> For the record, I've used both types of nappy and am not kidding myself that
> I'm saving much more than a few $$ when I use cloth.

Really? I worked it out a few years ago and here are my figures:

Our water consumption has risen about 80 litres a day @ 93.38c/kilolitre = 7c
per day. Our energy consumption has risen 8 kilowatt-hours a day @
9.38c/kilowatt-hour = 75c per day. Obviously these figures are on the high
side as not all of the extra water and electricity goes towards washing DS's
nappies. Let's make it 80c per day. The nappies cost $2.67 each, or a
fraction of a cent a day for the lifetime of the nappy. Hmm, just realised I
didn't factor in the cost of the covers, but most of mine were hand-me-downs
anyway. Let's leave it at 80c a day to use cloth.

32 top-quality disposables here cost $18 discounted (full price would be $22).
That's 57c for EVERY nappy. You don't change them as frequently as cloth
nappies, so let's say an average of 6 nappies/day. That's $3.42 per day.

Thus, I would save $956.30 a year by using cloth only. As I use probably 1.5
disposables a day, I save about $644.22 a year -- money to spend on other
things. However, I am happiest that fewer nappies are going to landfill. I
am not sure you can cost that.

I have omitted the cost of detergent, and haven't covered the wipes (we use
pieces of Chux at home and commercial wipes when out) either, nor the squares
of toilet paper and plastic knives I have used to scrape poo off. They would
account for less than a cent a day, I think. And I have assumed a zero cost
for my time spent washing and using nappies.

--
Chookie -- Sydney, Australia
(Replace "foulspambegone" with "optushome" to reply)

"In Melbourne there is plenty of vigour and eagerness, but there is
nothing worth being eager or vigorous about."
Francis Adams, The Australians, 1893.

Ericka Kammerer

July 8th 05, 02:15 PM

A&G&K&H wrote:

> For the record, I've used both types of nappy and am not kidding myself that
> I'm saving much more than a few $$ when I use cloth.

Hmmm...we've used both over time, and I have to say that it
was a lot less expensive for us to use cloth (even accounting for
the cost of laundering, which we did ourselves). I agree with you
on the environmental aspects, but just observing that for us, cloth
was a lot less expensive (not that we're using cloth now ;-)

Best wishes,
Ericka

Anne Rogers

July 8th 05, 04:15 PM

wait 'til you have an explosive poo! I have to confess with a toddler I am
less than thrilled with using cloth nappies, but with a baby I wouldn't do
anything else, disposable never fit Nathanael so we had frequent leaks and
he seemed to get a rash in disposables anyway, Ada always seems to end up
with a bit rubbed sore from the elastic round the edges when she wears a
disposable. No one seems to have mentioned the chemicals in disposables and
boys genitals yet...

Marie

July 8th 05, 04:37 PM

"V." > wrote in message
...
>
> "emilymr" <emily@xxxxxx> wrote in message
> lkaboutparenting.com...
> > We've had almost a month of traveling so we've been using disposables,
and
> > now I've gotten spoiled. Already today, Micah's soaked through a diaper
+
> > wrap with ONE pee, and this is after just upgrading to super size
diapers.
> > I double diapered all day yesterday, which means I'll have to get twice
> > the number of diapers at twice the cost, *and* I'll run out of room in
> > *both* diaper pails before my next drop off. Diaper service isn't cheap
> > out here; I'm certainly not saving $$ over disposables, and it's not
> > possible to wash them myself since we've got communal laundries...
> >
> > I love the earth I love the earth I love the earth ;)
> >
> > Em
> > mama to Micah, 11/14/04
> >
>
> Well, I have to say that when I started getting ready for this baby, I
> thought I'd do cloth diapers at home (have to do disposable at daycare).
> But, cloth diapers are not without environmental impact. Disposable
diapers
> add to solid waste, cloth diapers use water, chemicals (detergents, etc),
> and energy to heat the water and dry the diapers. Many environmentalists
> consider cloth and disposable diapers to have roughly equal environmental
> impact, just in different ways. (DH is an environmental engineer and
talked
> to coworkers, so I don't have a reference for that one)
> Then, I looked into cost of cloth diapers and services and realized I
> wouldn't necessarily save money unless I had lots of time to spend on
diaper
> washing, etc myself, which I don't.
> Finally, I concluded that if the environmental impacts were roughly equal
> (although I do think a case can still be made that cloth diapers are
> marginally better for the environment), cost was about the same, and
> disposables had the advantage of convenience and conformity, I would be
> going with disposables. Now, if they come up with a truly biodegradable
> diaper made from recycled materials, I'll have no guilt!
>
> http://www.extension.umn.edu/distribution/housingandclothing/DK5911.html
> http://www.earthybirthymama.com/articles/diaperarticle3.html
>
> Amy
>
>
>

I wonder why people think they have to spend a lot of time on cloth diapers
if they have a washer and dryer available in their home. It's not true in my
case.

Loading the washer for the pre-wash rinse cycle takes about 20 seconds.
Later, adding detergent and resetting the washer to wash and rinse again
takes about 20 seconds. Then when it's done, I set it again to rinse. It
takes about 5 seconds. Loading the dryer and later taking out the dry load
takes a minute or two. Between these tasks, I do other things or surf on the
computer.

I don't bother with folding; I just dump it all in the basket and put it
back into the bedroom. It's a lot easier and faster than sorting and folding
or hanging many people clothes individually.

When DD was a young baby with several bm's a day due to bf, I used to do one
load everyday. Later, one load 3 or 4 times a week.

Marie
DD-16 mo

emilymr

July 8th 05, 04:38 PM

It's not the inconvenience (the laundry room is right around the corner
from our apt, so it's actually *less* inconvenient than toting stuff to a
basement machine); it's that my neighbors wouldn't appreciate their
laundry being used for Micah's poopy diapers!! ;) I realize it's
perfectly sanitary and I guess I could do it anyway, but it seems a little
too outside apartment-living etiquette.

Em
mama to Micah, 11/14/04

Lara

July 8th 05, 05:00 PM

Chookie > wrote:

> 32 top-quality disposables here cost $18 discounted (full price would be $22).
> That's 57c for EVERY nappy. You don't change them as frequently as cloth
> nappies, so let's say an average of 6 nappies/day.

The Environment Agency assumed that trashie users changed only four
nappies per 24 hour period. (The environmental and health effects of
that went unexamined!)

Having read the full text of the report (instead of uncritically
accepting the smarmy mainstream-media greenwashing), I think the only
reasonable conclusion that can be drawn is that cloth nappies, used in
the most ignorant, wasteful way imaginable - still don't manage to
exceed the environmental impact of disposables.

Compare the EA's assumptions:
~~~
Indian cotton nappies, PVC covers
Buying 47 nappies and yet only washing 12 in each load
Disposable liners with faeces dumped into regular municipal waste stream
(instead of sewage where it belongs)
Older washing machines with poor water and energy efficiency
Soaking in bleach based "sanitisers"
Washing with >100g detergent per load, fabric softener
Water 60-90 deg C
Significant numbers of people tumble drying and ironing their nappies.
~~~

Contrast with someone who is actually making a modicum of effort:

organic hemp or cotton nappies, locally produced wool covers
Owning 2-3 dozen nappies, washing at least 2 dozen at once
Faeces going into the appropriate waste stream
Newer washing machine, high water and energy efficiency
Dry-pailing, wash cycle with half the usually recommended amount of
detergent in warm or cool water, no additives or fabric softeners (some
use a little vinegar)
Hang to dry in sun
~~~

Oddly enough, no research with "industry stakeholders" present has
looked at the second pattern of nappy usage.

Lara

Sidheag McCormack

July 8th 05, 05:37 PM

Lara writes:

> Contrast with someone who is actually making a modicum of effort:
[...]
> washing at least 2 dozen at once

Hmm, while I agree with your general point, I think you're exaggerating.
Washing ("at least"!) 2 dozen nappies at once is going *way* beyond "making
a modicum of effort". That'd be washing only every 4 days for my toddler.
No way could I live with a pooey nappy sitting in a dry pail for 4 days.
(Yes, we do put poo down the toilet, but no, not all toddlers have poo that
just drops off the nappy!)

Sidheag
DS Colin Oct 27 2003

July 8th 05, 06:37 PM

Replying to myself to avoid doing each individually.

I was surprised at the number of folks who said cloth diaper washing doesn't
really take that much time! I haven't had a baby yet, so haven't tried. I
suppose it makes sense that it doesn't take that much actual participation
with appliances to do most of the work. I was just thinking of the fact
that laundry in my house tends to only get done on the weekends because it
takes 2.5 hrs start to finish to run a load through a wash and dry cycle,
and by the time we get home from work we just don't feel like staying
downstairs waiting for the load to finish. I have a feeling washing diapers
only once a week wouldn't work out well! Might be something I could
consider during maternity leave though.
All the daycares we interviewed require disposable diapers, and in fact I
think that's a state requirement for certain levels of licensure, although
it may just be a convention they all stick to.
I'm also jealous of those of you who have a recycling program!
Fact is, I decided that the environmental effects were not so significantly
different that I should ignore all other considerations. In the pros/cons
balance sheet, disposables came out ahead for me. It's not that I don't
want to make a "modicum of effort", as I believe one poster replied, it's
that I don't feel the benefits to the environment of cloth are so
significant that I need to overlook all the other considerations.
If cloth works for you, great! That's what it's all about.

Amy<---- going on vacation tomorrow!!

emilymr

July 8th 05, 06:53 PM

"I was just thinking of the fact that laundry in my house tends to only get
done on the weekends because it takes 2.5 hrs start to finish to run a
load through a wash and dry cycle..."

I had to laugh at this one -- we used to do the laundry every 1 1/2 to 2
weeks, until the little laundry-making-machine was born. Now I do laundry
3-4 times a week!!

Em
mama to Micah, 11/14/04

Ericka Kammerer

July 8th 05, 07:38 PM

V. wrote:

> Replying to myself to avoid doing each individually.
>
> I was surprised at the number of folks who said cloth diaper washing doesn't
> really take that much time! I haven't had a baby yet, so haven't tried. I
> suppose it makes sense that it doesn't take that much actual participation
> with appliances to do most of the work. I was just thinking of the fact
> that laundry in my house tends to only get done on the weekends because it
> takes 2.5 hrs start to finish to run a load through a wash and dry cycle,
> and by the time we get home from work we just don't feel like staying
> downstairs waiting for the load to finish. I have a feeling washing diapers
> only once a week wouldn't work out well! Might be something I could
> consider during maternity leave though.

Wow--you may be in for a bit of a rude awakening when it
comes to laundry once the baby arrives ;-) No way could we make
it a week without doing laundry with a newborn. It's amazing
what a baby can do to the laundry situation, and I'm pretty
sure the relationship is exponential with the number of children ;-)

Best wishes,
Ericka

emilymr

July 8th 05, 08:24 PM

OK, my real problem is with the soaking through (and he just did it again!
Through a double diaper in 2 hours, and he was napping so it's not like I
was going to change him more frequently). I'm going up *another* size to
mega, and am looking at different, more absorbant wraps. Does anyone
recommed FuzziBunz or Super Whisper Wraps? Or diaper inserts or liners?
This boy is a peeing machine.

Em
mama to Micah, 11/14/04

Rebecca Jo

July 8th 05, 08:34 PM

"emilymr" <emily@xxxxxx> wrote:

> OK, my real problem is with the soaking through (and he just did it again!
> Through a double diaper in 2 hours, and he was napping so it's not like I
> was going to change him more frequently). I'm going up *another* size to
> mega, and am looking at different, more absorbant wraps. Does anyone
> recommed FuzziBunz or Super Whisper Wraps? Or diaper inserts or liners?
> This boy is a peeing machine.

I use Fuzzi Bunz coupled with Kissaluvs fitted diapers. My one month old son
had major leaking problems with other wraps but the fuzzi bunz seem to work
well.

--
Rebecca Jo
Mama to Alexander 6/6/05

o_mom

July 8th 05, 09:32 PM

emilymr wrote:
> OK, my real problem is with the soaking through (and he just did it again!
> Through a double diaper in 2 hours, and he was napping so it's not like I
> was going to change him more frequently). I'm going up *another* size to
> mega, and am looking at different, more absorbant wraps. Does anyone
> recommed FuzziBunz or Super Whisper Wraps? Or diaper inserts or liners?
> This boy is a peeing machine.
>
> Em
> mama to Micah, 11/14/04

Don't know if anyone has ever tried this, but could you put a
microfiber towel folded in thirds between the diaper and the cover?
You can get them at Sam's Club, Costco, or maybe Walmart fairly cheap -
check the cleaning section or sometimes the automotive section. Since
they won't be pooed on, you might feel OK washing them yourself. They
tend to be more absorbent without the bulk of a second diaper, just
don't put them right next to the skin. If they don't work, you will
have some killer cleaning cloths.

We use SWWs almost exclusively during the day and they rarely leak
unless left very long (4+ hours) Ususally only times we had leaks were
when we forgot to change before a long nap with lots to drink and even
then, the diaper is soaked, but just some wicking around the legs or
waist.

Have you tried a breathable cover? It may seem counterintuitive, but
we use wool at night (12+ hours) and never have leaks. The moisture
evaporates right away. You can make them super cheap from old
sweaters.

July 8th 05, 09:55 PM

"Ericka Kammerer" > wrote in message
...
> V. wrote:
>
>> Replying to myself to avoid doing each individually.
>>
>> I was surprised at the number of folks who said cloth diaper washing
>> doesn't really take that much time! I haven't had a baby yet, so haven't
>> tried. I suppose it makes sense that it doesn't take that much actual
>> participation with appliances to do most of the work. I was just
>> thinking of the fact that laundry in my house tends to only get done on
>> the weekends because it takes 2.5 hrs start to finish to run a load
>> through a wash and dry cycle, and by the time we get home from work we
>> just don't feel like staying downstairs waiting for the load to finish.
>> I have a feeling washing diapers only once a week wouldn't work out well!
>> Might be something I could consider during maternity leave though.
>
> Wow--you may be in for a bit of a rude awakening when it
> comes to laundry once the baby arrives ;-) No way could we make
> it a week without doing laundry with a newborn. It's amazing
> what a baby can do to the laundry situation, and I'm pretty
> sure the relationship is exponential with the number of children ;-)
>
> Best wishes,
> Ericka
>

LOL, I'm beginning to suspect that's true! It just seems like tiny baby
clothes couldn't possibly add so much to laundry! I think I have many
surprises in store for me...
:)
Amy

Ericka Kammerer

July 8th 05, 10:21 PM

V. wrote:

> "Ericka Kammerer" > wrote in message
> ...

>>Wow--you may be in for a bit of a rude awakening when it
>>comes to laundry once the baby arrives ;-) No way could we make
>>it a week without doing laundry with a newborn. It's amazing
>>what a baby can do to the laundry situation, and I'm pretty
>>sure the relationship is exponential with the number of children ;-)

> LOL, I'm beginning to suspect that's true! It just seems like tiny baby
> clothes couldn't possibly add so much to laundry! I think I have many
> surprises in store for me...
> :)

Yeah, and you'd think I'd have learned after the first,
but I didn't. I thought after the first that adding the
second wouldn't be any problem laundry-wise. Wrong. Then I
actually had the audacity to think that adding the third would
be no big deal because heck, how could I be doing more laundry
anyway? :-P

Best wishes,
Ericka

[email protected]

July 9th 05, 12:46 AM

Don't worry. There is no problems with getting rid of waste in the US.
In fact, we've been lied to about the waste issue. We're spending more
money and hurting the environment even more by recycling (except for
cans). Don't worry, the crying American indian will not come knocking
on your door.

Regards...

emilymr wrote:
> We've had almost a month of traveling so we've been using disposables, and
> now I've gotten spoiled. Already today, Micah's soaked through a diaper +
> wrap with ONE pee, and this is after just upgrading to super size diapers.
> I double diapered all day yesterday, which means I'll have to get twice
> the number of diapers at twice the cost, *and* I'll run out of room in
> *both* diaper pails before my next drop off. Diaper service isn't cheap
> out here; I'm certainly not saving $$ over disposables, and it's not
> possible to wash them myself since we've got communal laundries...
>
> I love the earth I love the earth I love the earth ;)
>
> Em
> mama to Micah, 11/14/04

A&G&K&H

July 9th 05, 04:42 AM

"Ericka Kammerer" > wrote in message
...
> A&G&K&H wrote:
>
>
> > For the record, I've used both types of nappy and am not kidding myself
that
> > I'm saving much more than a few $$ when I use cloth.
>
> Hmmm...we've used both over time, and I have to say that it
> was a lot less expensive for us to use cloth (even accounting for
> the cost of laundering, which we did ourselves). I agree with you
> on the environmental aspects, but just observing that for us, cloth
> was a lot less expensive (not that we're using cloth now ;-)
>
> Best wishes,
> Ericka

Yes.... I agree and that's what I thought I said. Cloth saves $$, no
argument. My meaning in the previous post is that I'm not kidding myself
that I'm a great environmental hero when I use cloth ... I'm really jsut
saving a few$$ (per day if that clarify's things).

Amanda
>

A&G&K&H

July 9th 05, 04:51 AM

"Chookie" > wrote in message
...
> In article >,
> "A&G&K&H" > wrote:
>
> > For the record, I've used both types of nappy and am not kidding myself
that
> > I'm saving much more than a few $$ when I use cloth.
>
> Really? I worked it out a few years ago and here are my figures:

Yes really. as you've shown below. Cloth saves a few $$ per day.
>
> Our water consumption has risen about 80 litres a day @ 93.38c/kilolitre =
7c
> per day. Our energy consumption has risen 8 kilowatt-hours a day @
> 9.38c/kilowatt-hour = 75c per day. Obviously these figures are on the
high
> side as not all of the extra water and electricity goes towards washing
DS's
> nappies. Let's make it 80c per day. The nappies cost $2.67 each, or a
> fraction of a cent a day for the lifetime of the nappy. Hmm, just
realised I
> didn't factor in the cost of the covers, but most of mine were
hand-me-downs
> anyway. Let's leave it at 80c a day to use cloth.
>
> 32 top-quality disposables here cost $18 discounted (full price would be
$22).
> That's 57c for EVERY nappy. You don't change them as frequently as cloth
> nappies, so let's say an average of 6 nappies/day. That's $3.42 per day.
>
> Thus, I would save $956.30 a year by using cloth only. As I use probably
1.5
> disposables a day, I save about $644.22 a year -- money to spend on other
> things. However, I am happiest that fewer nappies are going to landfill.
I
> am not sure you can cost that.

Well you can in a round about way ....
But its even harder to factor in the cost of water quality (detergents -
pretty much all of them) are very bad in both fresh water and marine
environments.
The *real* cost of clean running water to our homes is more in line with
current petrol prices ... which works out a *lot* more than 93.38c/kl.
The costs of salinity and broad scale change to our ecosystems, biodiversity
and water quality (from a water diversion-to-dam perspective) is very
difficult to cost .... but we know that its is extremely expensive to
repair.... and that's assuming it can be "repaired" .. its more like
mitigating some of those environmental issues.
From this ecologist's perspectives, I find landfill the lesser of two evils.

Amanda

A&G&K&H

July 9th 05, 06:53 AM

"Ericka Kammerer" > wrote in message
...

> > :)
>
> Yeah, and you'd think I'd have learned after the first,
> but I didn't. I thought after the first that adding the
> second wouldn't be any problem laundry-wise. Wrong. Then I
> actually had the audacity to think that adding the third would
> be no big deal because heck, how could I be doing more laundry
> anyway? :-P

LOL - My DH's Aunt (mother of 11 kids) had a few sayings which I'm reminded
of by this thread....

"Kids are cheaper by the dozen, but I wouldn't know as I only had eleven".

When asked how she managed with so many kids she'd often say:
"One (child) is one, two is two, three is five, four is eight and after the
fifth child we thought it couldn't be that much harder with a dozen..."

Amanda

Chookie

July 9th 05, 07:21 AM

In article >, "V." > wrote:

> I was surprised at the number of folks who said cloth diaper washing doesn't
> really take that much time! I haven't had a baby yet, so haven't tried. I
> suppose it makes sense that it doesn't take that much actual participation
> with appliances to do most of the work. I was just thinking of the fact
> that laundry in my house tends to only get done on the weekends because it
> takes 2.5 hrs start to finish to run a load through a wash and dry cycle,
> and by the time we get home from work we just don't feel like staying
> downstairs waiting for the load to finish. I have a feeling washing diapers
> only once a week wouldn't work out well!

Why don't you run your washing overnight so you don't have to wait for
anything?

--
Chookie -- Sydney, Australia
(Replace "foulspambegone" with "optushome" to reply)

"In Melbourne there is plenty of vigour and eagerness, but there is
nothing worth being eager or vigorous about."
Francis Adams, The Australians, 1893.

Jamie Clark

July 9th 05, 07:26 AM

"Ericka Kammerer" > wrote in message
...
> V. wrote:
>
>> Replying to myself to avoid doing each individually.
>>
>> I was surprised at the number of folks who said cloth diaper washing
>> doesn't really take that much time! I haven't had a baby yet, so haven't
>> tried. I suppose it makes sense that it doesn't take that much actual
>> participation with appliances to do most of the work. I was just
>> thinking of the fact that laundry in my house tends to only get done on
>> the weekends because it takes 2.5 hrs start to finish to run a load
>> through a wash and dry cycle, and by the time we get home from work we
>> just don't feel like staying downstairs waiting for the load to finish.
>> I have a feeling washing diapers only once a week wouldn't work out well!
>> Might be something I could consider during maternity leave though.
>
> Wow--you may be in for a bit of a rude awakening when it
> comes to laundry once the baby arrives ;-) No way could we make
> it a week without doing laundry with a newborn. It's amazing
> what a baby can do to the laundry situation, and I'm pretty
> sure the relationship is exponential with the number of children ;-)
>
> Best wishes,
> Ericka
>

Nah, just buy a lot of clothes. Seriously, the kids laundry doesn't get
done all that often. We just have tons and tons of things for them to
wear...and I only change their clothes when they look dirty... : )
--

Jamie
Earth Angels:
Taylor Marlys, 1/3/03 -- Little Miss Chatty, whose favorite sayings are
"What's going on in here" and "I've gotta get out of here!
Addison Grace, 9/30/04 -- Little Miss Into Everything, whose reach has
extended into the whole coffee table...nothing is safe!

Check out the family! -- www.MyFamily.com, User ID: Clarkguest1, Password:
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Password

July 9th 05, 01:45 PM

"Chookie" > wrote in message
...
> In article >, "V." >
> wrote:
>
>> I was surprised at the number of folks who said cloth diaper washing
>> doesn't
>> really take that much time! I haven't had a baby yet, so haven't tried.
>> I
>> suppose it makes sense that it doesn't take that much actual
>> participation
>> with appliances to do most of the work. I was just thinking of the fact
>> that laundry in my house tends to only get done on the weekends because
>> it
>> takes 2.5 hrs start to finish to run a load through a wash and dry cycle,
>> and by the time we get home from work we just don't feel like staying
>> downstairs waiting for the load to finish. I have a feeling washing
>> diapers
>> only once a week wouldn't work out well!
>
> Why don't you run your washing overnight so you don't have to wait for
> anything?
>
>

Ah, the wonders of dry air in Australia :) Seriously, I live in the
northeast US, and my basement is damp. Damp Damp Damp. A load of laundry
in the washer overnight gets funny smelling in the winter and downright
mildewy in summer. Unfortunately, after a nice flooded basement this
spring, my dryer got a touch wet (it's on pallets but the water got about an
inch higher than the pallet. We've fixed the problems with a *new* sump
pump, but what's done is done.) Now my dryer's automatic sensor doesn't
work, so it doesn't shut off automatically. The only timed cycle is a
no-heat fluff, so we have to set the kitchen timer and turn off the dryer
ourselves or it runs all night. Or, as DH did once, all night and all the
next day. That was a lovely electric bill. I have a feeling we'll give in
and buy a new dryer. You'd think it would be cheaper to have this one
fixed, but it's $50 to have them come to your house, plus cost of parts,
plus $50 per hour. It could easily cost me $200 to have it fixed, and we
only spent $250 on the thing in the first place.
I want some sort of laundry appliance that washes, drains the water, and
automatically turns into a dryer. If it could fold and put my clothes away
too, that would be good. I tend to live out of the clean clothes basket
for a while before it all goes in drawers. :)

Sidheag McCormack

July 9th 05, 03:18 PM

Amy writes:

> LOL, I'm beginning to suspect that's true! It just seems like tiny baby
> clothes couldn't possibly add so much to laundry! I think I have many
> surprises in store for me... :)

The main thing I didn't realise until it hit me was that *I* was going to
have to change clothes almost as often as the baby. Not, mostly, because
he'd directly got me dirty, but because most of my eating was done with a
baby in my arms, and he'd wriggle or I'd just be reaching a plate that was
too far away, and I'd drop whatever I was eating down myself. It was *my*
clothes that meant we had to do more washing.

Sidheag
DS Colin Oct 27 2003

Ericka Kammerer

July 9th 05, 03:55 PM

A&G&K&H wrote:

> "Ericka Kammerer" > wrote in message
> ...
>
>>A&G&K&H wrote:
>>
>>>For the record, I've used both types of nappy and am not kidding myself
>> that
>>>I'm saving much more than a few $$ when I use cloth.
>>
>>Hmmm...we've used both over time, and I have to say that it
>>was a lot less expensive for us to use cloth (even accounting for
>>the cost of laundering, which we did ourselves). I agree with you
>>on the environmental aspects, but just observing that for us, cloth
>>was a lot less expensive (not that we're using cloth now ;-)

>
> Yes.... I agree and that's what I thought I said. Cloth saves $$, no
> argument. My meaning in the previous post is that I'm not kidding myself
> that I'm a great environmental hero when I use cloth ... I'm really jsut
> saving a few$$ (per day if that clarify's things).

Oops, sorry, I read your post to suggest that the cost
savings were "few" (i.e., minimal).

Best wishes,
Ericka

Ericka Kammerer

July 9th 05, 03:57 PM

Sidheag McCormack wrote:

> Amy writes:
>
> > LOL, I'm beginning to suspect that's true! It just seems like tiny baby
> > clothes couldn't possibly add so much to laundry! I think I have many
> > surprises in store for me... :)
>
> The main thing I didn't realise until it hit me was that *I* was going to
> have to change clothes almost as often as the baby. Not, mostly, because
> he'd directly got me dirty, but because most of my eating was done with a
> baby in my arms, and he'd wriggle or I'd just be reaching a plate that was
> too far away, and I'd drop whatever I was eating down myself. It was *my*
> clothes that meant we had to do more washing.

...plus the extra bedding, and the extra towels, and
the spit up cloths, and the extra kitchen towels from cleaning
things up, and.... ;-)

Best wishes,
Ericka

Ericka Kammerer

July 9th 05, 04:00 PM

Jamie Clark wrote:

> "Ericka Kammerer" > wrote in message
> ...

>>Wow--you may be in for a bit of a rude awakening when it
>>comes to laundry once the baby arrives ;-) No way could we make
>>it a week without doing laundry with a newborn. It's amazing
>>what a baby can do to the laundry situation, and I'm pretty
>>sure the relationship is exponential with the number of children ;-)

> Nah, just buy a lot of clothes. Seriously, the kids laundry doesn't get
> done all that often. We just have tons and tons of things for them to
> wear...and I only change their clothes when they look dirty... : )

Hee hee, if that solved the problem, I'd never have
to do laundry (I should be ashamed at the amount of clothes
the kids have). I find that for me, the things that really
keep the laundry moving are:

- limited space to store dirty clothes (gotta wash because
the laundry baskets are overflowing)
- have to wash because the kids are out of some special
article of clothing (dance clothes, sport uniform, etc.)
- more household linens (more use, get dirty faster)
- My clothes get dirtier quicker (from grubby little hands)

Best wishes,
Ericka

Amy

July 9th 05, 04:11 PM

V. wrote:

> LOL, I'm beginning to suspect that's true! It just seems like tiny baby
> clothes couldn't possibly add so much to laundry! I think I have many
> surprises in store for me...

I did some "nesting" for about ten minutes and did all the baby laundry
- washed the gifts we've gotten and the hand-me-downs, and then sorted
them by size so I don't have to dig through a bunch of those huge 6 - 9
months outfits to find a 0 - 3 month outfit... Anyway, during the
course of this I came to a realization. Those tiny, tiny little socks
are going to drive me completely out of my mind.

I don't think I'm ever going to manage to keep them all together. I
can't keep giant grown-up socks together, and we subsequently have the
Singles Bar - a basket full of unmatched socks. Combine that with the
fact that kids kick socks off all the time? Forget about it... I'm
going to invest in 9000 pairs of baby socks that are all identical, so
that I don't have to worry about matching them. As long as we lose
them in even numbers, Mommy's sanity will remain in tact.

:-)
Amy

(I also learned that newborn diapers are totally cute, and way smaller
than I would've thought...)

July 9th 05, 04:16 PM

"Amy" > wrote in message
oups.com...
>
>
> V. wrote:
>
>> LOL, I'm beginning to suspect that's true! It just seems like tiny baby
>> clothes couldn't possibly add so much to laundry! I think I have many
>> surprises in store for me...
>
> I did some "nesting" for about ten minutes and did all the baby laundry
> - washed the gifts we've gotten and the hand-me-downs, and then sorted
> them by size so I don't have to dig through a bunch of those huge 6 - 9
> months outfits to find a 0 - 3 month outfit... Anyway, during the
> course of this I came to a realization. Those tiny, tiny little socks
> are going to drive me completely out of my mind.
>
> I don't think I'm ever going to manage to keep them all together. I
> can't keep giant grown-up socks together, and we subsequently have the
> Singles Bar - a basket full of unmatched socks. Combine that with the
> fact that kids kick socks off all the time? Forget about it... I'm
> going to invest in 9000 pairs of baby socks that are all identical, so
> that I don't have to worry about matching them. As long as we lose
> them in even numbers, Mommy's sanity will remain in tact.

LOL, that's exactly what we do with grown-up socks now. I have two types of
socks (low and high) and DH has white and black. But all white socks match,
low socks match, etc. No colored socks for me!

Jenrose

July 9th 05, 05:08 PM

Jenrose

July 9th 05, 05:21 PM

"Lara" > wrote in message
...
> Chookie > wrote:
>
>> 32 top-quality disposables here cost $18 discounted (full price would be
>> $22).
>> That's 57c for EVERY nappy. You don't change them as frequently as cloth
>> nappies, so let's say an average of 6 nappies/day.
>
> The Environment Agency assumed that trashie users changed only four
> nappies per 24 hour period. (The environmental and health effects of
> that went unexamined!)
>
> Having read the full text of the report (instead of uncritically
> accepting the smarmy mainstream-media greenwashing), I think the only
> reasonable conclusion that can be drawn is that cloth nappies, used in
> the most ignorant, wasteful way imaginable - still don't manage to
> exceed the environmental impact of disposables.
>
> Compare the EA's assumptions:
> ~~~
> Indian cotton nappies, PVC covers
> Buying 47 nappies and yet only washing 12 in each load
> Disposable liners with faeces dumped into regular municipal waste stream
> (instead of sewage where it belongs)
> Older washing machines with poor water and energy efficiency
> Soaking in bleach based "sanitisers"
> Washing with >100g detergent per load, fabric softener
> Water 60-90 deg C
> Significant numbers of people tumble drying and ironing their nappies.
> ~~~
>
> Contrast with someone who is actually making a modicum of effort:
>
> organic hemp or cotton nappies, locally produced wool covers
> Owning 2-3 dozen nappies, washing at least 2 dozen at once
> Faeces going into the appropriate waste stream
> Newer washing machine, high water and energy efficiency
> Dry-pailing, wash cycle with half the usually recommended amount of
> detergent in warm or cool water, no additives or fabric softeners (some
> use a little vinegar)
> Hang to dry in sun
> ~~~
>
I have about 7 dozen diapers. All but eight of them are hand-me-downs or
diaper service seconds. Out of the 30+ covers I have on hand right now, ten
were bought new for us (gifts.) All of the diapers will be used as diapers,
burp rags or paper towel substitutes until they fall into pieces and
probably past that point. I tend to use about a dozen of the diapers as
"burp cloths" and have about three dozen clean at any given time. I usually
wash every third day or so, so about 3 dozen diapers-used-as-diapers and 1
dozen burp cloths per washload.
She's breastfed entirely, so no solid waste to deal with before washing--it
all goes into the same sewage as the rest of our wastewater.
2-year-old front loader.
Dry pailing.
We wash once with half the usual amouth of detergent, borax and vinegar, on
hot with a cold rinse. Then we add the covers and wash again with 1/4 the
usual detergent, on warm/cold. No fabric softener at any point--it degrades
the diapers and makes them not work well.
I dry in the dryer on hot--I hate the feel of line-dried diapers.

The biggest squick for me about disposables is that the poops just sit
there, breeding bacteria in the landfill, and oozing a gross gel if the
landfill leaks. I still use 'em on occasion though--probably one bag per
month, give or take. I'd say we're using about 75% cloth right now.

Jenrose

Jenrose

July 9th 05, 05:25 PM

"emilymr" <emily@xxxxxx> wrote in message
lkaboutparenting.com...
> "I was just thinking of the fact that laundry in my house tends to only
> get
> done on the weekends because it takes 2.5 hrs start to finish to run a
> load through a wash and dry cycle..."
>
> I had to laugh at this one -- we used to do the laundry every 1 1/2 to 2
> weeks, until the little laundry-making-machine was born. Now I do laundry
> 3-4 times a week!!
>
Theoretically, if we did one load per day, we'd keep the laundry done up. I
generate about 2 loads per week. Baby generates one load of clothes and two
of diapers. Dh generates one. DD1 generates 1-2 loads.

As it is, I did two loads yesterday. DH is doing one today, I'll do diapers
today. DD1 does her own.

Jenrose

Jenrose

July 9th 05, 05:36 PM

> It just seems like tiny baby
> clothes couldn't possibly add so much to laundry!

<dies laughing>

<snort>

<guffaw>

How baby uses laundry:
Morning: Wake up. Change baby. While changing baby's diaper, baby pees on
sleeper and receiving blanket on changing table. While daddy is bending over
to drop things in the diaper pail, baby cuts loose and we're down one
grown-up outfit, too. Both go into the shower, put on new outfits.
Mid-morning: Baby nurses one one side. Mom leaks on the other. Down one
mommy shirt and one baby pair of pants (because of course, Mom leaked all
over baby's leg.) In the immediate postpartum, Mom's pad shifts and mom
bleeds on underwear and pants. Down one complete adult outfit and half a
baby outfit. Burp baby. Baby spits up on burp cloth, own shirt. Down one
burp cloth and baby shirt.
Lunchtime. Mom makes lunch with baby on one shoulder. That's fine. It's when
mom tries to eat lunch while holding baby that she lands salad on her shirt.
Frustrated, she grabs a sling and puts baby in it. She now drops a peice of
turkey ham on baby's head, which slides off and lands between Mommy's shirt
and baby's outfit. Down one more baby top, one mommy top. (now you are
seeing why new mothers often spend a couple weeks not wearing shirts...)
Baby spits up and we're down another burp cloth *and* a mommy pair of pants.
Mommy accidentally steps in a little glorp that landed on the floor, down
one mommy pair of socks. Oh, and baby got the sling too (which is why you
need more than one...)
Mid-afternoon. Baby decides to sleep for four hours. Down one mommy top
*and* bra *and* nursing pads. Oh, and baby outfit, because baby is little
and doesn't wear a diaper big enough to catch 4 hours worth of pee and runny
bf baby poo.

So at this point we're down: 3 1/2 baby outfits, 3 1/2 adult outfits, three
burp cloths, eight nursing pads and a recieving blanket. That's a load right
there, and we haven't even had dinner yet, or a (second) bath. Not every day
is like this...but some days baby manages to get three outfits in less than
half an hour.... It's not just baby clothes, it's parent clothes too.

Jenrose

Jenrose

July 9th 05, 05:37 PM

"A&G&K&H" > wrote in message
...
>
> "Ericka Kammerer" > wrote in message
> ...
>
>> > :)
>>
>> Yeah, and you'd think I'd have learned after the first,
>> but I didn't. I thought after the first that adding the
>> second wouldn't be any problem laundry-wise. Wrong. Then I
>> actually had the audacity to think that adding the third would
>> be no big deal because heck, how could I be doing more laundry
>> anyway? :-P
>
> LOL - My DH's Aunt (mother of 11 kids) had a few sayings which I'm
> reminded
> of by this thread....
>

Is your dh one of my cousins? I have an aunt with 11 kids too...lol! *only*
one set of twins.
Jenrose

Jenrose

July 9th 05, 05:38 PM

Jenrose

July 9th 05, 05:41 PM

> I want some sort of laundry appliance that washes, drains the water, and
> automatically turns into a dryer.

They make 'em. But they don't get things as dry as a separate dryer. What
I'm lusting after is the dryer that has a heated chamber above it where you
can hang up your hang dries and have them dry while everything is tumbling!

Jenrose

Jenrose

July 9th 05, 05:42 PM

"emilymr" <emily@xxxxxx> wrote in message
lkaboutparenting.com...
> It's not the inconvenience (the laundry room is right around the corner
> from our apt, so it's actually *less* inconvenient than toting stuff to a
> basement machine); it's that my neighbors wouldn't appreciate their
> laundry being used for Micah's poopy diapers!! ;) I realize it's
> perfectly sanitary and I guess I could do it anyway, but it seems a little
> too outside apartment-living etiquette.
>
That wouldnt' faze me at all. The diapers and the washing machine come out
very clean or I would not do cloth at all.
Jenrose

Jenrose

July 9th 05, 05:43 PM

"emilymr" <emily@xxxxxx> wrote in message
lkaboutparenting.com...
> OK, my real problem is with the soaking through (and he just did it again!
> Through a double diaper in 2 hours, and he was napping so it's not like I
> was going to change him more frequently). I'm going up *another* size to
> mega, and am looking at different, more absorbant wraps. Does anyone
> recommed FuzziBunz or Super Whisper Wraps? Or diaper inserts or liners?
> This boy is a peeing machine.
>
Bummis rock. Love 'em. Leaks are very, very rare with them. I prefer the
snap wraps though. I've never tried fuzzibunz.
Jenrose

Jenrose

July 9th 05, 05:44 PM

>
> Don't know if anyone has ever tried this, but could you put a
> microfiber towel folded in thirds between the diaper and the cover?
> You can get them at Sam's Club, Costco, or maybe Walmart fairly cheap -

They're at dollar tree, too. In *colors*... never looked anywhere else.

Jenrose

emilymr

July 9th 05, 08:11 PM

HAHAHA!!! I'm sending this to my friend who just had a baby. It's amazing
how clutzy I've become around food now that Micah's here; my
much-bigger-than-normal boobs don't totally account for it! And what's
even worse than the ham on the baby's head is the (mustard-covered) ham
that bounces off the baby's head, falls into mama's shirt and lodges
inside the bra. :P

Em
mama to Micah, 11/14/04

Emily

July 9th 05, 09:05 PM

Ericka Kammerer wrote:
> Wow--you may be in for a bit of a rude awakening when it
> comes to laundry once the baby arrives ;-) No way could we make
> it a week without doing laundry with a newborn. It's amazing
> what a baby can do to the laundry situation, and I'm pretty
> sure the relationship is exponential with the number of children ;-)

DS was a shockingly clean newborn/infant. Fairly often, we'd
find ourselves changing his clothes just because he'd been in
them for 36 hours, i.e., nothing had happened to make them dirty
enough that we needed to do it sooner. Once he got mobile,
things changed, and in the rainy season with him in preschool,
we can sometimes go through two outfits a day...

Emily

Emily

July 9th 05, 09:07 PM

Amy wrote:
> I did some "nesting" for about ten minutes and did all the baby laundry
> - washed the gifts we've gotten and the hand-me-downs, and then sorted
> them by size so I don't have to dig through a bunch of those huge 6 - 9
> months outfits to find a 0 - 3 month outfit... Anyway, during the
> course of this I came to a realization. Those tiny, tiny little socks
> are going to drive me completely out of my mind.

Once DS developed some fine motor control, we realized that the
purpose of baby shoes is to keep baby socks on... we pretty much
didn't use socks inside unless it was chilly, and which point
we preferred footed sleepers anyway.

Emily

Leslie

July 9th 05, 09:19 PM

Funny, I was at my sister's yesterday (she lives in married student
housing) and there was a sign on the laundry room door forbidding the
washing of cloth diapers!

Leslie

Leslie

July 9th 05, 09:23 PM

Ha! If I skip even one day of laundry, I am buried in it. Basically,
the machine runs all day long. Between cloth diapers, seven people,
and bedwetters . . . I have two loads of bedding to do most days
without even thinking about clothes!

I don't use cloth diapers because they are cheaper or better for the
environment or even better for babies' bottoms. I think all those
things are true to more or less of an extent, but really I just LIKE
cloth diapers! I like washing them, I like pins, I like fat padded
baby bottoms. To me it's just what you do and no big deal.

Leslie

Leslie

July 9th 05, 09:28 PM

Honestly, every wrap I have ever used leaks. Plastic pants do not.
They aren't pretty but they are cheap and they work.

Leslie

Jenrose

July 10th 05, 12:08 AM

"Emily" > wrote in message
...
> Ericka Kammerer wrote:
>> Wow--you may be in for a bit of a rude awakening when it
>> comes to laundry once the baby arrives ;-) No way could we make
>> it a week without doing laundry with a newborn. It's amazing
>> what a baby can do to the laundry situation, and I'm pretty
>> sure the relationship is exponential with the number of children ;-)
>
> DS was a shockingly clean newborn/infant.
Shiny was, at first, because she was "conserving" everything she ate and
almost never spit up. Now that she gets plenty, she doesn't mind letting
sour milk escape onto my clothes, etc. Piggy DD1 who gained 2 oz per day
managed to spill probably 8 ounces of "glorp" extra per day.

Jenrose

sharalyns

July 10th 05, 05:07 AM

Jenrose wrote:
> The biggest squick for me about disposables is that the poops just sit
> there, breeding bacteria in the landfill, and oozing a gross gel if the
> landfill leaks. I still use 'em on occasion though--probably one bag per
> month, give or take. I'd say we're using about 75% cloth right now.
>
> Jenrose

Well, except that you are supposed to scrape off any poops into the
toilet and flush with disposables, just like with cloth. Most people
just don't do this. It's even on the packages....

Sharalyn
mom to Alexander James (9/21/01)

sharalyns

July 10th 05, 05:08 AM

Jenrose wrote:
> How baby uses laundry:
> Morning: Wake up. Change baby. While changing baby's diaper, baby pees on
> sleeper and receiving blanket on changing table. While daddy is bending over
> to drop things in the diaper pail, baby cuts loose and we're down one
> grown-up outfit, too. Both go into the shower, put on new outfits.
> Mid-morning: Baby nurses one one side. Mom leaks on the other. Down one
> mommy shirt and one baby pair of pants (because of course, Mom leaked all
> over baby's leg.) In the immediate postpartum, Mom's pad shifts and mom
> bleeds on underwear and pants. Down one complete adult outfit and half a
> baby outfit. Burp baby. Baby spits up on burp cloth, own shirt. Down one
> burp cloth and baby shirt.
> Lunchtime. Mom makes lunch with baby on one shoulder. That's fine. It's when
> mom tries to eat lunch while holding baby that she lands salad on her shirt.
> Frustrated, she grabs a sling and puts baby in it. She now drops a peice of
> turkey ham on baby's head, which slides off and lands between Mommy's shirt
> and baby's outfit. Down one more baby top, one mommy top. (now you are
> seeing why new mothers often spend a couple weeks not wearing shirts...)
> Baby spits up and we're down another burp cloth *and* a mommy pair of pants.
> Mommy accidentally steps in a little glorp that landed on the floor, down
> one mommy pair of socks. Oh, and baby got the sling too (which is why you
> need more than one...)
> Mid-afternoon. Baby decides to sleep for four hours. Down one mommy top
> *and* bra *and* nursing pads. Oh, and baby outfit, because baby is little
> and doesn't wear a diaper big enough to catch 4 hours worth of pee and runny
> bf baby poo.
>
> So at this point we're down: 3 1/2 baby outfits, 3 1/2 adult outfits, three
> burp cloths, eight nursing pads and a recieving blanket. That's a load right
> there, and we haven't even had dinner yet, or a (second) bath. Not every day
> is like this...but some days baby manages to get three outfits in less than
> half an hour.... It's not just baby clothes, it's parent clothes too.
>
> Jenrose

ROTFLMBO!!!! That is so exactly true!!!!

Sharalyn
mom to Alexander James (9/21/01)

Unadulterated Me

July 10th 05, 08:33 AM

Leslie wrote:
> Honestly, every wrap I have ever used leaks. Plastic pants do not.
> They aren't pretty but they are cheap and they work.
>
> Leslie
>

They aren't cheap here. They used to be, when I had my first I could buy
PUL pants for $2 in practically every baby store I went to, I had
bazillions of them. 17 years later I can only buy them on line and they
cost $10! We do have cheap (as in cost not quality) brushed fleece wrap
overpants that are only $6 that you can buy in shops though, so now I
use them mainly.

Andrea

Unadulterated Me

July 10th 05, 08:46 AM

Jenrose wrote:

> Is your dh one of my cousins? I have an aunt with 11 kids too...lol! *only*
> one set of twins.
> Jenrose

I get asked that all the time '*only* one set of twins?' I guess they
think with this many children they all came in pairs or something.

Andrea

Unadulterated Me

July 10th 05, 08:48 AM

A&G&K&H wrote:

> "Kids are cheaper by the dozen, but I wouldn't know as I only had eleven".
>

lol
Now that I have 12 children I can report it's all a lie, it is so NOT
cheaper by the dozen. Where are all my discounts!!11!!

Andrea

A&G&K&H

July 10th 05, 08:52 AM

"Ericka Kammerer" > wrote in message
...
> A&G&K&H wrote:
>
> > "Ericka Kammerer" > wrote in message
> > ...
> >
> >>A&G&K&H wrote:
> >>
> >>>For the record, I've used both types of nappy and am not kidding myself
> >> that
> >>>I'm saving much more than a few $$ when I use cloth.
> >>
> >>Hmmm...we've used both over time, and I have to say that it
> >>was a lot less expensive for us to use cloth (even accounting for
> >>the cost of laundering, which we did ourselves). I agree with you
> >>on the environmental aspects, but just observing that for us, cloth
> >>was a lot less expensive (not that we're using cloth now ;-)
>
> >
> > Yes.... I agree and that's what I thought I said. Cloth saves $$, no
> > argument. My meaning in the previous post is that I'm not kidding
myself
> > that I'm a great environmental hero when I use cloth ... I'm really
jsut
> > saving a few$$ (per day if that clarify's things).
>
> Oops, sorry, I read your post to suggest that the cost
> savings were "few" (i.e., minimal).
>
I suspect that I was writing with my "ecologist" hat on (I'd been checking
ng's while working).
A

A&G&K&H

July 10th 05, 08:55 AM

"Jenrose" > wrote in message
news:1120928286.f15ea205646ad6c9ec901fb53d33486d@t eranews...
>
> "A&G&K&H" > wrote in message
> ...
> >
> > "Ericka Kammerer" > wrote in message
> > ...
> >
> >> > :)
> >>
> >> Yeah, and you'd think I'd have learned after the first,
> >> but I didn't. I thought after the first that adding the
> >> second wouldn't be any problem laundry-wise. Wrong. Then I
> >> actually had the audacity to think that adding the third would
> >> be no big deal because heck, how could I be doing more laundry
> >> anyway? :-P
> >
> > LOL - My DH's Aunt (mother of 11 kids) had a few sayings which I'm
> > reminded
> > of by this thread....
> >
>
> Is your dh one of my cousins? I have an aunt with 11 kids too...lol!
*only*
> one set of twins.
> Jenrose
>
>
hehe - no multiples in DH's cousins. ... and we are in Oz so probably not,
but you never know :)
A

A&G&K&H

July 10th 05, 08:58 AM

"Unadulterated Me" > wrote in message
...
> A&G&K&H wrote:
>
> > "Kids are cheaper by the dozen, but I wouldn't know as I only had
eleven".
> >
>
> lol
> Now that I have 12 children I can report it's all a lie, it is so NOT
> cheaper by the dozen. Where are all my discounts!!11!!
>
> Andrea

LOL Its a shame Aunty M died a few years back - she would get a kick out of
your report when testing the theory.

The other thing that always gave her a giggle is that their last name rhymes
with "dozen - shot" .... just too ironic :)
A

[email protected]

July 10th 05, 10:45 AM

Oh, and I forgot two towels from the shower... because baby is sure to
pee on baby's towel and Daddy doesn't know if *his* is wet from the
shower or from baby peeing on it...

Leslie

July 10th 05, 04:02 PM

Wow! A couple of dollars buys three pairs here. I'm always wondering
who uses them though since I've only ever met one person IRL besides me
who does the old-timey pins and rubber pants thing.

Leslie

Jenrose

July 10th 05, 10:01 PM

"Leslie" > wrote in message
oups.com...
> Wow! A couple of dollars buys three pairs here. I'm always wondering
> who uses them though since I've only ever met one person IRL besides me
> who does the old-timey pins and rubber pants thing.
>

I used to do pins and nylon pants... then I saw the light of wraps and
haven't looked back because DH and DD will change wraps but not pins...lol!
But I get them hand-me-down and as gifts, have only bought some nylon pants
myself before baby got here and I realized how much better I liked
wraps...lol! We'll probably switch to pins when she is walking....

Anonymama

July 11th 05, 04:29 AM

In article >,
Ericka Kammerer > wrote:

> Wow--you may be in for a bit of a rude awakening when it
> comes to laundry once the baby arrives ;-) No way could we make
> it a week without doing laundry with a newborn. It's amazing
> what a baby can do to the laundry situation, and I'm pretty
> sure the relationship is exponential with the number of children ;-)

We did laundry once a week (or so) with our newborn, and did until we
moved to a house with a washing machine when he was 2 1/2. I guess we
just had low standards....

Anonymama

July 11th 05, 04:41 AM

I wrote:

> In article >,
> Ericka Kammerer > wrote:
>
> > Wow--you may be in for a bit of a rude awakening when it
> > comes to laundry once the baby arrives ;-) No way could we make
> > it a week without doing laundry with a newborn. It's amazing
> > what a baby can do to the laundry situation, and I'm pretty
> > sure the relationship is exponential with the number of children ;-)
>
> We did laundry once a week (or so) with our newborn, and did until we
> moved to a house with a washing machine when he was 2 1/2. I guess we
> just had low standards....

Clarification: we used disposable diapers and wipes. And the laundry was
done at a drop-off laundromat with _big_ washers and dryers.

Ericka Kammerer

July 11th 05, 01:44 PM

Anonymama wrote:

> I wrote:
>
>
>>In article >,
>> Ericka Kammerer > wrote:
>>
>>
>>> Wow--you may be in for a bit of a rude awakening when it
>>>comes to laundry once the baby arrives ;-) No way could we make
>>>it a week without doing laundry with a newborn. It's amazing
>>>what a baby can do to the laundry situation, and I'm pretty
>>>sure the relationship is exponential with the number of children ;-)
>>
>>We did laundry once a week (or so) with our newborn, and did until we
>>moved to a house with a washing machine when he was 2 1/2. I guess we
>>just had low standards....
>
>
> Clarification: we used disposable diapers and wipes. And the laundry was
> done at a drop-off laundromat with _big_ washers and dryers.

;-) I imagine that makes quite a difference! With my
first, we only had a small washer/dryer in the apartment, so
doing laundry on only one day a week meant spending the *whole*
day doing laundry. Not so fun...

Best wishes,
Ericka

Chookie

July 11th 05, 02:05 PM

In article >, "V." > wrote:

> >> I was just thinking of the fact
> >> that laundry in my house tends to only get done on the weekends because
> >> it
> >> takes 2.5 hrs start to finish to run a load through a wash and dry cycle,
> >> and by the time we get home from work we just don't feel like staying
> >> downstairs waiting for the load to finish. I have a feeling washing
> >> diapers only once a week wouldn't work out well!
> >
> > Why don't you run your washing overnight so you don't have to wait for
> > anything?
>
> Ah, the wonders of dry air in Australia :) Seriously, I live in the
> northeast US, and my basement is damp. Damp Damp Damp. A load of laundry
> in the washer overnight gets funny smelling in the winter and downright
> mildewy in summer.

My washing machine was made in a rather damp country (they don't call it the
Land of the Long White Cloud for nothing!) and the nice people at Fisher and
Paykel include a programming function so you can tell your machine to start
work in 9 hours. Put it on at 9pm and it's ready to hang out in the morning.
I'm never getting a machine *without* this feature!

I'm afraid that we don't have dry air year-round in Australia, though with
global warming that may happen. Sydney has a maritime climate with wet
winters and summers and dry autumns and springs. At 10pm this evening it was
about 10 deg C and 81% relative humidity. No wonder the jeans didn't dry on
the line today!

--
Chookie -- Sydney, Australia
(Replace "foulspambegone" with "optushome" to reply)

"In Melbourne there is plenty of vigour and eagerness, but there is
nothing worth being eager or vigorous about."
Francis Adams, The Australians, 1893.

Cuddlefish

July 11th 05, 02:29 PM

"V." > wrote in message
...
> Ah, the wonders of dry air in Australia :) Seriously, I live in the
> northeast US, and my basement is damp.

Yes indeed, this dry air in Australia you speak of - it does sound
wonderful! As a girl who grew up in Australia [Melbourne] I would have loved
some of that dry air occasionally. ;-) Now I live in Vancouver, Canada and
to be honest the weather is not all that different! It is about say 5
degrees cooler on average, but still humid. :-) I have to use a dryer or a
drying rack indoors or I would never get anything dry here. I recall doing
much the same in Australia, excepting a couple of months in summer when we
could hang out loads of washing in between the downpours. ;-)
--
Jacqueline
#1 Due late Jul/early Aug

Jamie Clark

July 12th 05, 05:31 AM

"V." > wrote in message
...

> I want some sort of laundry appliance that washes, drains the water, and
> automatically turns into a dryer. If it could fold and put my clothes
> away too, that would be good. I tend to live out of the clean clothes
> basket for a while before it all goes in drawers. :)
>

They do have such a thing, but at this point, it's pretty pricey -- around
$1,000. And that's just the first link I brought up. There might be other
brands.

http://www.ajmadison.com/cgi-bin/ajmadison/item_list/cat00326/All_In_One_Combo_Units.html

I don't think it folds though... : )

--

Jamie
Earth Angels:
Taylor Marlys, 1/3/03 -- Little Miss Chatty, whose favorite sayings are
"What's going on in here" and "I've gotta get out of here!
Addison Grace, 9/30/04 -- Little Miss Into Everything, whose reach has
extended into the whole coffee table...nothing is safe!

Check out the family! -- www.MyFamily.com, User ID: Clarkguest1, Password:
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Password

CJRA

July 12th 05, 03:36 PM

V. wrote:

> I want some sort of laundry appliance that washes, drains the water, and
> automatically turns into a dryer. If it could fold and put my clothes away
> too, that would be good. I tend to live out of the clean clothes basket
> for a while before it all goes in drawers. :)

These are common enough in the UK (the dryer part, not the folding),
tho I hated the one I had. My current front loader washer gets things
dryer than that contraption ever did, and it's not a dryer. Apparently
they're making them now in the US, not sure if they're better or not.

Grymma

July 12th 05, 08:59 PM

CJRA wrote:
> V. wrote:
>
>> I want some sort of laundry appliance that washes, drains the water, and
>> automatically turns into a dryer. If it could fold and put my clothes
>> away too, that would be good. I tend to live out of the clean clothes
>> basket for a while before it all goes in drawers. :)
>
> These are common enough in the UK (the dryer part, not the folding),
> tho I hated the one I had. My current front loader washer gets things
> dryer than that contraption ever did, and it's not a dryer. Apparently
> they're making them now in the US, not sure if they're better or not.

The trouble with a combined is that firstly, if it breaks down (and its
usually the dryer that blows) the whole machine tends to be out of
commission; and secondly if you look at the recommended load sizes, the
drying load is something like half the recommended washing load. So you're
supposed to stop it and take half out?! Nah. Silly.

--
Grymma AFPOh Goddess Of Hangovers; B.F.(use 'reply to')
"Please dont' tell me to relax - it's only my tension that's
holding me together" ~ Ashleigh Brilliant