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Monday, July 4, 2016

About Those Diapers

Maybe you remember the post. I have no idea where it is. But, I had a bag of diapers from 1975 baby girl. The bag of dozens of diapers was not the one I washed. I think these were from the 1968 baby.

In 1968, my first child was a boy. I bought diapers from Sears that were guaranteed for the diapering life of the baby. It was a difficult training! Since I became pregnant when he was 18-months-old, I was not on my best game, sick and sleeping. Plus, he was going to have none of this toilet training. When he was two, the diapers from Sears were in shreds.

I had the receipt, packaging and shredded diapers to show Sears. The woman was pretty rude, saying he should be trained by now, so she was not going to honor the packaging promise. I told here she was not allowed to say "no" to me. I was trained by Sears and knew the rules. I got replacement diapers.

When he was two years and three months, I had a girl. That made two in diapers. He really did not want to give up diapers after she was born. For nine long months, I had two in diapers!

When I was planning his third birthday party, it struck me--he would be three and still in diapers! So, the next week he got only a diaper at night. He would pull down the training pants and poop in a corner in my bedroom! Training pants back then were thick terry cloth with a terry crotch piece. The absorbed less than you would hope.

The second child, a girl, was easily trained. But, the diapers had diapered their last baby. I kept them for rags. The third child, a girl, needed new diapers five years later. I think these are the replacement ones from Sears, the ones used on the 48-year-old boy and 46-year-old girl so many years ago. So, I still have some other diapers in better shape to wash.

When I tried to remove them from the dryer today, they were in shreds. They are hanging by their corners on the line. They will go directly into the rag bag and will never go in the washer again. All those strings will eventually clog the machine and the sewer line to the road. Now, I need to pick the strings from the inside of the dryer and from the floor and carpet.

Oh, besides the shredding, I believe they are the ones from the first child because I can no longer see the birdseye pattern. The newer ones still had the pattern visible.

Why did I keep these diapers so long? Well, I thought one of my grandchildren might need them, the newer ones, not these raggedy ones I just washed. My daughter was adamant about not using cloth diapers. So, I kept them for another grandchild...sigh. I doubt either of my four grandchildren have ever had a cloth diaper on their bottoms.

They are great for cleaning and straining fruit to get juice. I have a rag bag, a canvas bag hanging behind a door, just for these things. Exbf always knows anything I give him to clean anything outside is not precious.

The two girls were so easy to train. The younger needed everyone to come clap for her business. We did. She even came into the living room, naked from the waist down and took the visiting minister by the hand to show him what she did. We whispered and told him to clap. We all went in, looked,  and clapped for her success.

It is time for my 4th of July meal--hotdogs, whole wheat buns, slaw, and watermelon. Then, I need to cut my hair.

Your turn
Did you ever have two in cloth diapers? Fun? What did you have for your 4th meal?

18 comments:

  1. I had 2 in diapers for a couple of months but Son1 wanted to be "big" and virtually trained himself with just a little frazzled mom with a new baby guidance.

    We stopped on the way home from the lake at Jim and Nick's and picked up a slab of baby back ribs, and their cheese corn bread. I added sliced tomatoes and baked beans from home. Yum!

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    Replies
    1. He wanted to be "big," but toilet training did not seem to be part of his vision. He refused to ride his trike, but came inside wanting a bike the older kids rode. When I pointed out he had to learn to ride his trike first, he went right outside and then brought me out to show, asking again for a bike. He was a funny kid.

      Jim and Nick's sounds delicious.

      Delete
  2. My daughter has used the new version of cloth diapers for her three boys. I have made her dozens of waterproof outside diapers with velcro closures. For our 4th of July dinner, we had baked sweet potatoes, pickled beets, and steak, with a homemade blueberry pie for dessert. :)

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  3. Jane,
    What did you use for the waterproof covers? Your 4th sounds delicious.

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    Replies
    1. I used PUL fabric for the outsides and suedecloth for the lining. We stuff them with commercial cotton prefolds and they work great! They are similar to the BumGenius diapers available on the market, but much cheaper than the $18 each price tag.

      Delete
    2. Jane,
      PUL would be my choice. So, the suedecloth is next to baby? Stuff them? Are they then sewn or taken out to wash?
      I have seen the prices and wondered at the outrageous price.

      Delete
  4. My children were spaced too far apart to have that experience. BUT When my son was a baby we were living in Shreveport ....My grandmother lived up near Ft Smith and we drove up there a couple of times.(until she told me not to come back until the weather was better) Actually think about it. Who wants to travel with a baby in cloth diapers? NO ONE. There was a pharmacy in Texarkana that had disposable diapers.....Mind you this was back in 1967. You actually had to use diaper pins to secure them and they were EXPENSIVE. Would I spend that $ again???? Absolutely! In a heartbeat!

    When my daughter arrived in early 1974 disposable diapers were ever so much more common. ~~I used cloth unless we were going out. Then what would happen is when we came home and she hadn't had a BM I would continue to use the disposables. By the time she was 7 months old I had pretty much abandoned cloth diapers..
    My BBF is expecting a bumper crop of grandchildren at the end of the year. I think they are all planning on cloth diapers.. If it were me and cost weren't an issue I would totally throw all my recycling habits to the side and just go disposables! I'm lazy like that! No doubt anyone who used cloth remembers what an ordeal they were if someone left one to "soak" in the toilet....Just kill me now!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Janet,
      I did travel with cloth diapers, unsoaked and stinking in the trunk. Once, they even froze. I was not allowed to use disposables on a trip. No tape? Wow!

      Before mine was born in 1975 I made it perfectly clear I would use disposables when I took her out of the house! Yes, I remember the soaking in the commode bit. If this bumper crop were going to be at my house, even one at a time, I would provide the disposables. Great comment!

      Delete
  5. My children were spaced too far apart to have that experience. BUT When my son was a baby we were living in Shreveport ....My grandmother lived up near Ft Smith and we drove up there a couple of times.(until she told me not to come back until the weather was better) Actually think about it. Who wants to travel with a baby in cloth diapers? NO ONE. There was a pharmacy in Texarkana that had disposable diapers.....Mind you this was back in 1967. You actually had to use diaper pins to secure them and they were EXPENSIVE. Would I spend that $ again???? Absolutely! In a heartbeat!

    When my daughter arrived in early 1974 disposable diapers were ever so much more common. ~~I used cloth unless we were going out. Then what would happen is when we came home and she hadn't had a BM I would continue to use the disposables. By the time she was 7 months old I had pretty much abandoned cloth diapers..
    My BBF is expecting a bumper crop of grandchildren at the end of the year. I think they are all planning on cloth diapers.. If it were me and cost weren't an issue I would totally throw all my recycling habits to the side and just go disposables! I'm lazy like that! No doubt anyone who used cloth remembers what an ordeal they were if someone left one to "soak" in the toilet....Just kill me now!

    ReplyDelete
  6. when my twins were born their oldest brother was in night nappies and their second brother was in nappies all the time.
    when the girls were about a year old i decided that the diapers i was using would most likely wear out before they were trained so I asked my MIL to get me some more (i used muslin ones from malaysia rather than the terry ones we have here in Australia)
    The girls were trained twelve months younger than either of their brothers, earlier than I expected so 16 years later i still have a pack of brand new muslin diapers. There are still a few of the old used ones floating around and being used for rag but most have disappeared, my husband doesn't have the attachment to them that i do

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Kylie,
      It sound like you had four under three-years. Wow! The muslin is more like what we have. I think I would hate terry diapers. I can imagine your husband "disappeared" them all greasy. Great comment.

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    2. 4 in 3 and a half years!
      and yes, greasy rags mostly

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    3. kylie,
      You had a job cut out for you. I hope you had some help. I love rags because they are free and don't need to be washed if too yucky...

      Delete
  7. I didn't use cloth diapers with either of my kids.
    We had a great 4th but it was tiring. I need a vacation and a nap after all the fun.

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    Replies
    1. Sonya Ann,
      With the huge party happening at your house, no wonder it was tiring. I'm surprised you did not use disposables since your children are younger, about the age of my older grandchild. Good for you.

      Delete
  8. I had cloth for my children. The first two wore them a lot. The third had such sensitive skin and I was spending a fortune on medicinal treatments. I was happy to put her is disposables. I used cloth for many years as my first two were impossible at night and the eldest was 13...by then I had him in disposable pants. He was way too old to be having mum do that.

    I am new here and hope to learn heaps from you.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Suze,
    I am glad you are here. Usually, I hear of babies who are breaking out from disposables.

    My cousin wet his pants until he went in the AF and discovered it was a problem for which he needed surgery.

    Maybe you can look on the right sidebar and find subjects that can help you in the meantime.

    ReplyDelete

Okay, hoping the annoyances have gone away.