Tuesday, January 31, 2006

Cloth Diapers

I'm sorry to have another post about this - but I am so frustrated and getting discouraged with the whole cloth diaper thing after over a year of no problems.

Now, the diapers do not really smell in the pail - I washed them seven times to "strip" them and cleaned out the pail really good to start everything fresh. So that seems to be working.

The problem I am now having is that when I go to change Emily - the diaper smells so strong (when just wet) that I can hardly breathe. This is not an exaggeration.

The other problem is that after being back in cloth for less than 48 hours since I did all of the above - she is starting to get a little bit of rash. We have never had a problem with this and I am wondering what is starting this now?

I have not changed detergents, added anything different to the diaper pail (I don't add anything right now), or changed anything about my routine of washing them. The only different thing is that they were washed so many times recently.

Does anyone have any suggestions on what the problem is? Thanks for any help you can provide - my budget thanks you too because if this keeps up - I may consider switching to disposables (and I don't really want to).

6 comments:

Meredith said...

I have not used cloth, but we experienced a huge rise in the "stink factor" after about a year of diapering, when my son started eating a much greater proportion of solid foods. Until then, I had not appreciated the sweet smell of a breastfed baby. On the bright side, the diaper contents became firmer, too, and easier to wipe.
Hope someone else can help you solve the mystery if it's something unique to cloth diapering!

Kathryn said...

You recently mentioned that you are pregnant---I was extremely sensitive to smells when pregnant with Knox...could that be part of it?

If you do need disposables, Walmart's Parents Choice are the cheapest that I've found and are just like Pampers/Huggies.

Diapers definitely smell worse when they are on solids/formula.

Monica Wilkinson said...

These are good thoughts - I am more sensitive to smells right now, but I know there is more to this than that. Emily has been on solids since November and this is just now becoming a problem. I am wondering if I am doing something wrong or what!?

Kathryn said...

Maybe you should check with the doctor to be sure that everything is ok. Thats what I would do if I had ruled everything else out. Just to be on the safe side...

Anonymous said...

Dear daughter and mother of my precious granddaughter~

Another thought to add to those already shared here is that it's possible the strong smell is an indication that Emily may not be drinking enough -- that would make her urine more concentrated and therefore, stronger smelling!

You know how much she is drinking, so that may not be it at all -- but it's a thought.

Lots of love, Mom

Anonymous said...

I cloth diaper and sometimes experience exactly what you discribed- A wet diaper can smell much worse than a poopy one! I use vinegar to rinse my diapers and then do a second rinse with just water. I suspected that the vinegar residue mixing with the urine may have caused the smell to be stronger than normal. I am sure your baby is fine!