What About the Poop?!

We here at Kanga Care answer a lot of questions; how to wash and care for cloth diapers, how to get a perfect fit on your Rumparooz cloth diaper, how awesome is it really to work for the coolest diaper brand on the planet... But the question we get most often, from those new to the idea of cloth diapering anyway, is the one nobody ever really wants to ask:

"What about the poop?!"

If you're new to the idea of cloth diapering, then you may be imagining a hellscape unlike any other, ravaged continually by swirling poop hurricanes and poop volcanos erupting without ceasing. Now, I can assure you: in parenting, you WILL encounter poop. But it will not be in the above scenario.

To help us answer this critical question, we've enlisted the help of one of our esteemed Kanga Care Guest Bloggers, Jill Iser of JBabyThoughts!

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We used disposables for the first three months of our son's life, and guess what? He pooped. A lot. It often got all over me, most of the clothing he was wearing and anything within a one foot radius. When we switched to cloth, he still pooped--but the blowouts stopped.

Cloth diapers have stout gussets and waistbands, like the double gussets in the Rumparooz pocket diapers, Rumparooz covers and in the Ecoposh one-size fitteds, that put a disposable's gussets to shame and hold in a lot of messes that would obliterate a disposable. Since you're dealing with poop regardless of your diapering method, trust me, contained poop is much more manageable than everywhere poop!

Here's what you need to know about baby poop:

There are three stages that your baby will go through when it comes to poop. Things are getting real, huh? Just remember, the first time your brand new baby poops will be a moment of celebration--not disgust. It means that everything is working as it should!  Let's get started!

Stage 1: 100% liquid diet
For the first six months or so, your baby will be on a strictly liquid diet and their poop will reflect that. If you're lucky enough to be able to breastfeed, then the good news is that breastfed poo is minimal in both odor and volume and it is even water soluble. Just throw dirty diapers it in the wash! Really. Breastfed poop is mustard in color and may cause light, temporary staining. Keep reading for a solution to that! Formula fed infant's poop may have a different odor and consistency than breastfed babies. But even so, washing their diapers is easy!

Stage 2: Transitioning to solids, aka, the "peanut butter phase"
When you first introduce pureed foods such as rice cereal, apples or bananas, which is what a lot of moms start with, it can dramatically change the consistency of your baby's poop. As your baby’s diet goes from liquids to solids, they may go through a stage where their poo has more of a “peanut butter” consistency. There are several ways to deal with this (hopefully brief) stage.

• You can simply use some toilet paper to grab as much gooey poo from the diaper as possible before it goes into the wash. This might sound gross, but by the time you're in this phase, you're so used to your baby's poop that it really doesn't seem like a big deal. 
• You can buy a diaper sprayer that hooks up to the water shut off valve at the base of your toilet. Simply hold dirty diapers over the toilet and spray solids off the diaper into the toilet. The sprayer works like the one on the kitchen sink. Using a sprayer is completely optional and many find that they don't need one. 
• You can try flushable or reusable liners. They catch solids and make clean up a breeze!

Stage 3: Solids 
As your baby becomes a toddler and eats more and more solid foods, guess what else gets solid? The great news is, solid waste rolls right off the diaper and into the potty which means you're basically washing wet diapers.

But what about...

Poop in the washer?
Solid waste goes in the potty, so the amount of poop going into the washing machine is really pretty minimal. Before I started using cloth diapers, I had to wash plenty of poopy clothes anyway! Washing on a larger load size means there is plenty of water to get everything clean and an extra rinse at the end helps! Plus, the water from your washing machine goes to the same place the water from your toilet goes, so you know that it will be processed appropriately.

Stains?
Who needs stain remover when you have sunshine? Here in sunny Southern California, the drying rack on our back patio is always the last step in washing. Any particularly soiled diapers make the top row and voila! stains are nearly or completely gone by the afternoon. Just be careful to not overdo it!

Daycare?
Some daycares are freaked out by cloth diapers and may even tell you that they are unsanitary. The truth is, there is literally NO difference (sanitation-wise) in poop wrapped in plastic in a trashcan than a soiled cloth diaper in a wetbag. And cloth diapers do not violate any kind of health code. No laws have been written to bar daycares from using cloth diapers. And more often than not, if you demonstrate how the diapers work, they will be more than willing to cooperate. Just make sure they know not to use diaper cream with your fluff!

The smell?!
The odor that you associate with dirty diapers isn't actually caused by the waste itself. It's caused by the reaction between the urine and the chemicals in disposable diapers. Baby poop really doesn't smell that strong and remember, you've dumped the majority of the waste into the toilet anyway. Using a diaper pail that allows fresh air to circulate (not airtight) will also allow the ammonia in the urine to evaporate and reduce odor significantly. If you find that you can smell the diapers, simply do a load of wash: problem solved! But most of the time, it shouldn't be a problem even for the most sensitive noses. Considering that disposables go into the trash, which only gets picked up once a week, families using disposables are definitely going to have more issues with odor. Many families throw dirty disposables in a trashcan outside because the smell is so offensive. You know who loves dirty disposables? All kinds of wild animals: raccoons, coyotes, stray dogs, etc. I've known more than a few people who had the job of cleaning up shredded, poopy disposables from all over the yard...in the rain.

Daddy? 
My husband really hated stage two, but he recognizes that cloth diapering isn't much different than using disposables just as long as I do most of the laundry! If your partner is a skeptic, stay tuned. We have some tips coming up just for you!

Flush the poop with disposables, too!

If you're new to cloth diapering, then the step of flushing solid waste away may seem like an extra, unpleasant task. But many disposable brands offer the same suggestion, as seen on this package of Seventh Generation disposable diapers. The debate of whether or not landfills can adequately handle solid waste like that continues, but either way, flushing solid waste means there is less poop in your house, and I think we can all agree that that is a good thing. 

Do you have a question about baby poop that we didn't answer? 

This is a no-embarrassment zone, so if you've got some weird question that's been bugging you, just ask in our comments below! 

How to Ruin a Cloth Diaper

By Kanga Care Guest Blogger: Elizabeth "Bert" Anderson, of First Time Mom

I have a confession. I, Miss Cloth Diaper Blogger, have ruined my cloth diapers. No, it wasn’t a manufacturing error; it was my own stupid fault. I am consoling myself with the fact that I know I'm not the only cloth diaper expert to destroy their own cloth diapers...

I read the instructions, I saw that I needed to “tumble dry low.” However, I assumed that that was more of a suggestion than anything else. Let me tell you: it’s not a suggestion. For one entire year I dried my pocket diapers for not one cycle, not two, but for three cycles! Not the best choice but I wanted to ensure the inserts had a chance to dry! Well, after one year of this unrecommended method, the laminate (that shiny, waterproof lining on the inside of the pocket) started to crack. I first noticed this problem when my son’s diapers started leaking in weird places like the very back of the bum, not even close to a leg where leaking is more common.

Lesson learned? Yes.

Now before we get started, a little note: Anyone who has ever seen a Kanga Care diaper in person can attest to their quality. Those things are built to last! But even they can be destroyed! Follow their care instructions and your Kanga Care diapers should last and last and look great. If you ever need help, you can contact customer service and they will be happy to help you!

This article isn't about Kanga Care diapers in particular, but they have been mercilessly destroyed by many of us, so, it does include them. So now that I've got that off my chest, let's talk about all the ways you can destroy your diapers!

There are lots of ways to ruin your diapers (including Rumparooz or ANY brand!):  

• Over-drying / drying on high heat. As I shared with you earlier, most cloth diaper care instructions say to tumble dry on low or no heat. This is to protect the waterproofing laminate within the cover, all-in-one, etc. Exposing the laminate to frequent high heat causes cracks in the laminate lining and can also melt the lining. One of my reader's said that her diaper literally melted inside her dryer. Imagine the clean up for that one! 

• Using the sanitize setting on your washing machine. Kanga Care uses TPU (waterproof material) instead of PUL. TPU uses a heat bonding process (instead of a chemical solvent) so the high heat on the sanitize cycle actually loosens the laminate from the fabric. Note: it is okay to use the sanitize cycle on inserts, but not on anything waterproof!
• Bleach! The harshness of bleach can really do a number on the elastic and waterproof lining of your cloth diapers. One mom told us that she accidentally left some prefold diapers in a bleach water solution for 36 hours! The prefolds just fell apart with use. So if a bleach water solution can do that to cotton imagine the damage it can do to the elastic and laminate! Bleach is unnecessary if you're using a recommended detergent anyway!  

• Washing machine agitator damage. The picture does not do it justice but look at the serious damage done to these inserts! A loose agitator on a washing machine was the culprit. The mom who sent us the picture bought these pre-owned diapers in “good condition.”  There were a few snags on the inserts but the more she washed it, the more ripped up it got! Make sure your machines are in top condition!

• Overwashing. As a general rule of thumb, a cloth diaper stash should be no less than 24 cloth diapers. A friend of mine learned this one the hard way. She bought 14 diapers hoping to save some money. With so few diapers, they had to be washed every day and within a year the hook and loop closures were destroyed, the pockets had delaminated and the elastic was useless. You wouldn't wash a bra every day for a year and expect it to survive! You wouldn't even wash a pair of jeans every day for a year and expect it to be the same pair of jeans after 300+ washes. Diapers aren't invincible either! Invest in great diapers and enough of them!
• Using non-compatible detergent. Not all detergents or diapers are equal! Make sure you read the care instructions for your particular brand of diapers. Detergents that have additives such as fabric softeners, borax, bleach, or any “free and clear” formulas are not cloth diaper friendly and can shorten the life of your cloth diapers. Through years of gathered data, Kanga Care has found that their products are most compatible with original Tide Ultra, Gain or powdered Ecover. If you choose to use a detergent not listed, then look for the following: 
• a) Detergents that contain enzymes (yes, really!) 
• b) Detergents free from fabric softeners, borax, bleach, and again any of the “free and clear” formulas 

• Diaper cream! A fellow cloth diapering mom I know took her daughter to daycare in a cloth diaper (big applause for the daycare for accepting cloth!). The daycare provider thought she was helping by applying zinc cream with each diaper change. Without using a liner to protect the diapers, she effectively waterproofed them. It took weeks of scrubbing and stripping to get the cream out, and the diapers never looked the same. 
  If you’ve made this mistake here’s what you’ll want to do to return your diaper to its waterproof state: 
• Hot wash of clean diapers using a squirt or two of original (blue) Dawn soap. Run the cycle until there are no bubbles visible. This should return your diapers to their pre-diaper rash cream state unscathed (fingers crossed!). If you've tried this and you're still having trouble, get in touch with Kanga Care for some expert cloth diaper help! 
  
• Oh poop! Most of us have at least one child in diapers, if not two. Therefore, it’s safe to say, we get less sleep than most people and tend to do dumb things we wouldn't do if we were allowed a decent night's sleep. One mom told us that she accidentally, without even thinking, tossed a diaper into her dryer with poop still in it! Not only did she have to clean the poop out of her dryer, but it was literally baked onto her diapers. (*gag*) After lots of washes, time spent in the sun and some (not recommended) stain remover, the diaper sort of looks the same. Plop the poop into the toilet immediately my friends. Again I say, plop! 
• Frequently line drying. Remember Newton’s law of gravity? Well, what goes up must come down! Hanging a diaper, heavy with water, tugs on the elastic and over time will stretch them out. If you don't want to tumble-dry low, then lay your diapers flat to dry.

• Machine-washing wool covers. Say it with me: Hand-wash wool. Wool doesn't go in ANY machine: washer or dryer! One of Kanga Care's own employees has banned her husband from washing the diapers after he accidentally shrunk FOUR hand-knit wool covers. Wool is super easy to care for: just toss them in the bath with your little one if they start to smell funky. The baby shampoo should be sufficient to clean the cover. Gently press the water out of the wool and lay them flat to dry overnight. That's all! 

• Too much sun! The sun is excellent at reducing stains as well as also acting as a natural disinfectant on your diapers, however, that same awesome strength from the UV rays can also damage the fibers on your diapers. We suggest using indirect sunlight when sunning your diapers because it’s gentler on the fibers and the UV rays that are present from sunlight can still do their job. Limit the time you let those diapers sun, too. 1 - 2 hours should do the trick.

• Fabric softener is a no-no! We get it. That soft and snuggly bear tells you that everything that touches your baby should be as soft as he is! But that little bear will waterproof your diapers! If you've done this, you can try stripping them with the Dawn method above and cross your fingers it works.
• Unusual drying methods... Once, a customer sent her diapers in to Kanga Care for snap repair. When they opened the package, they were astonished: the snaps had literally melted all over the place, stuck into the fibers of the diaper. The customer told them that her husband had laid the diapers on their wood stove to dry. Unfortunately, that is not covered by that snap warranty...
• Opening diapers with a little too much gusto. Often, when a customer needs a snap fixed, they need the same snap fixed on half of their stash. If you notice the same snap popping off on all your diapers, or if the Aplix is coming unstitched, then it might be a good idea to be a little more gentle when you change a diaper. (There's a reason Kanga Care gets the most snap repair claims with stay at home daddies...)

• Hungry dryers. Sometimes snaps can get chipped in dryers, or get stuck in a crack in your dryer, which then scrapes it off like this. To avoid this heartbreak, try snapping just one snap from each tab down so that they aren't flying around in the dryer. Since this isn't a manufacturer's error, it's technically not covered by the warranty, but Kanga Care is usually pretty awesome about snaps. Just don't tell them that you are positive that it wasn't your dryer that caused this... 

• Stain removers. It seems like a good idea at the time. After all, your diapers are stained and you have stain remover. But don't underestimate the power of products like Bac-Out! I mean they do remove some major stains, right? One cloth diaper mom told me that she used Bac-Out on every diaper. Over time, the laminate became cracked and the diapers leaked profusely. It’s okay to use Bac-Out and other products like it on your inserts but keep it away from anything waterproof! 
• Woops! Fluff in the garbage. This one sadly goes to a fellow cloth diaper blogger friend of mine, Polly. Polly told me that she accidentally threw a cloth diaper away! *Gasp!* I’m sure we can all relate. She was exhausted, had just moved and when she saw the diaper she absentmindedly pitched it in the trash. Guess we need a little more sleep, huh?

Now, if you're considering cloth diapering, don't let this spook you. Cloth diapering is super easy. It's just another load of wash! If you'd like a quick 101 of how to take care of your diapers to ensure that they will last and last, you can do so here!

Clearly, there are a lot of ways to ruin your diapers and most of us have done this at some point... Tell us how you did it in the comments below!