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Or maybe instead of all the expensive clothes, strollers, basinettes, Baby Disney and Baby Gap designer items, they get gifts of throw away diapers or a diaper service.
"Cloth diapers are often not an option because they require frequent and expensive trips to the laundromat."
Expensive? really? Last time I was in a laundromat, it was less than 2 bucks to run a washer. What's it up to these days, 30 bucks? If you don't have a washer at home, you gotta go do laundry anyhow.
Modern disposable diapers are a luxury. Disposable diapers are really nice, but if I was making 15,000 a year and couldn't afford them, I'd just use Cloth diapers, which are FAR more cost effective, but they do require more effort.
This is like saying because I can't afford a brand new car, I can't get a job.
going to the laundry mat does not just entail the cost of the washer and dryers.
add the cost of laundry supplies and paying to get to the laundy mat. Unlike towles and underwear, diapers dont hold up till the end of the week wash. they have urine and fecal matter. having to run to the laundry mat every other day is a chore. not to mention if you have a newborn in tow.
Look past your prejudices to see all sides of an issue.
I used cloth diapers on my son for three years, we lived in apartments the whole time. I did laundry twice a week at the laundry rooms in the apartment complex, or my mom would take me to the laundry mat if I had more than two loads to do.
I had these two really handy gadgets - a toilet and a diaper pail (for those who don't know what this is, it is a large bucket with lid that holds water (I liked to add a splash of vinegar to mine) and dirty diapers until laundry time) - that were used for every diaper, even the 'only wet' ones.
I know some people are squeamish when it comes to handling feces, I am not one of these people. **it happens! Rinse that crap down the toilet and swish diaper around in toilet until feces is gone (leaving behind nothing more than the steaks most men make daily). Into the diaper pail until laundry day and then I would drain the pail into the toilet and wring each diaper over the toilet then back into the bucket that I then filled with other baby laundry and into the wagon it went.
Fortunately, I had someone to stay with my son during his first few months. Once he could sit without falling I would take him along for the ride. He loved it! We'd play with the wagon while waiting for the washers to stop. I'd take him home after we got the clothes in the dryer (assuming someone was there to watch him) and fold the clothes in the laundry room (alone time is rare with a baby, we gotta take it when we can. )
Quote:
Originally Posted by mb1547
I raised 5 kids. No one has EVER in my life called me lazy--that would be laughable. I tried cloth diapers briefly with my boys, and the idea of hand washing them out in the bathtub every night is absolutely ridiculous.
First--they need to be SCRUBBED to get them clean--they have ground in feces--which means rubbing the fabric together with your hands isn't going to cut it--you need to use an old fashioned scrub board if you're not going to use a washing machine. How many of those have you seen lately in the laundry aisle at Target or Walmart? . Second, they need to be disinfected. You can bleach them, but a couple of my kids had fairly sensitive skin as babies, and had skin reactions to the bleached diapers. If you don't use bleach, then you have to wash the diapers and boil them on top of the stove to kill the bacteria. Using cloth diapers isn't easy or simple if you use a washing machine. If you had to hand wash them, it would be a nightmare.
Egads!
See my post above.
Quote:
Originally Posted by sickofnyc
Vinegar. Amazingly, there are very few household cleaning chores that vinegar cannot accomplish. I did learn the hard way that vinegar will dry the hell out of your hands, so gloves are a must.
I use vinegar for a lot of cleaning problems. I have super dry hands, so anything I use bothers me. I have a tube of Lavender baby oil cream for my dry skin and it works magic.
Quote:
Originally Posted by vox populi
or just plain boiling water - the best disinfectant and the best to sensitive kids skin
Thankfully I never had to do more than a half dozen diapers by hand at once. They would get a good cleaning in the bathroom sink, then after rinsing I would pour boiling water over them in the sink and let that sit for a while. Drained then rinsed with cool water (I know, I disinfect then used plain ole water... never cared that much about 100% pure.).
Hated that job, but sometimes it was needed.
Stories like this really tick me off. Here's why.
I was pregnant for 9 months. I think that is the average for most women.
I worked for my first 5 months. Each month I bought baby supplies, starting with cloth diapers (I actually bought a dozen a month for 4 months and received 2 dz more for baby shower gifts.) and t-shirts. I also bought dozens of pairs of rubber pants in whatever sizes I could find. I bought 95% of these used.
I knew I wanted to use cloth diapers because of the expense. I also realized it was my habit to do laundry twice a week (no matter where I live) and that adding diapers to the load would be no hardship on me.
However, if I had decided to use disposable diapers then I would have stocked up on these while I was working. I priced them (in 1982) and decided that cost wise (for me) cloth was cheaper.
I guess I just figured every pregnant woman would realize that the first thing (besides food... and I breastfed for three months so that was free) a baby needs is diapers. Instead of fancy furniture and wacky fad gadgets, it would benefit most expecting parents to stock up on diapers and more diapers for those 9 months. (Clothes are optional... heck, you can always wrap a baby in an adult garment. I love to sew -especially baby clothes - so my son was well dressed. )
going to the laundry mat does not just entail the cost of the washer and dryers.
add the cost of laundry supplies and paying to get to the laundy mat. Unlike towles and underwear, diapers dont hold up till the end of the week wash. they have urine and fecal matter. having to run to the laundry mat every other day is a chore. not to mention if you have a newborn in tow.
Look past your prejudices to see all sides of an issue.
You gotta do what you got to do. My mom used cloth diapers on my sister and I, worked full time, so she picked up the diapers from the lady that watched us, brought us home, fed us, played with us, put us to bed, then washed diapers. Interstingly, we both potty trained early. Hand washing diapers was a great motivator for mom.
I remember when my son had really bad diaper rash. I wrapped him in my old t-shirts and I washed them in the sink after he went to the bathroom. I didn't have a washer or drying. Some people just don't have basic life skills.
I used cloth diapers on my son for three years, we lived in apartments the whole time. I did laundry twice a week at the laundry rooms in the apartment complex, or my mom would take me to the laundry mat if I had more than two loads to do.
I had these two really handy gadgets - a toilet and a diaper pail (for those who don't know what this is, it is a large bucket with lid that holds water (I liked to add a splash of vinegar to mine) and dirty diapers until laundry time) - that were used for every diaper, even the 'only wet' ones.
I know some people are squeamish when it comes to handling feces, I am not one of these people. **it happens! Rinse that crap down the toilet and swish diaper around in toilet until feces is gone (leaving behind nothing more than the steaks most men make daily). Into the diaper pail until laundry day and then I would drain the pail into the toilet and wring each diaper over the toilet then back into the bucket that I then filled with other baby laundry and into the wagon it went.
Fortunately, I had someone to stay with my son during his first few months. Once he could sit without falling I would take him along for the ride. He loved it! We'd play with the wagon while waiting for the washers to stop. I'd take him home after we got the clothes in the dryer (assuming someone was there to watch him) and fold the clothes in the laundry room (alone time is rare with a baby, we gotta take it when we can. )
Egads!
See my post above.
You rinsed your cloth diapers in the toilet, but washed them in a washer. That's what most people do who use cloth diapers--that's what I did when I used them. Those other posters were talking about washing (not rinsing out) every diaper by hand in the bathtub every night. As I said, you'd need a wash board (I haven't seen one of those since I was in an Amish store years ago) and then you'd need to boil them on the stove to disinfect them--otherwise you're not getting them clean. So you didn't wash your diapers in the sink except for a time or two--you went to the laundromat. You also had someone to watch your child when he or she was really young so that you could GO to the laundromat, and you had your mom available to drive you there. Those are lots of advantages that other people don't always have. Can you imagine walking blocks in the snow or rain with a new born infant to wash diapers two or three times a week?
Quote:
I use vinegar for a lot of cleaning problems. I have super dry hands, so anything I use bothers me. I have a tube of Lavender baby oil cream for my dry skin and it works magic.
I use vinegar for cleaning a lot too (especially for removing odors). That said, vinegar is only about 80% as effective at killing germs as other cleaners. Outside of bleach (which I don't like to use unless I have to) super hot soapy water and boiling actually works the best. Surprisingly enough, the sun also works great at killing germs--the ultra violet rays do as good of a job at killing germs as bleach. I still hang my laundry out if I can (weather permitting) when we have sick family members. Unfortunately, like lots of people, I live in a northern, dry climate where hanging laundry doesn't work for a good part of the year--if it's not too cold, the wind is blowing dust and dirt.
Quote:
Thankfully I never had to do more than a half dozen diapers by hand at once. They would get a good cleaning in the bathroom sink, then after rinsing I would pour boiling water over them in the sink and let that sit for a while. Drained then rinsed with cool water (I know, I disinfect then used plain ole water... never cared that much about 100% pure.).
Hated that job, but sometimes it was needed.
Can you imagine trying to do it for every single diaper, every single day?
Quote:
Stories like this really tick me off. Here's why.
I was pregnant for 9 months. I think that is the average for most women.
I worked for my first 5 months. Each month I bought baby supplies, starting with cloth diapers (I actually bought a dozen a month for 4 months and received 2 dz more for baby shower gifts.) and t-shirts. I also bought dozens of pairs of rubber pants in whatever sizes I could find. I bought 95% of these used.
I knew I wanted to use cloth diapers because of the expense. I also realized it was my habit to do laundry twice a week (no matter where I live) and that adding diapers to the load would be no hardship on me.
However, if I had decided to use disposable diapers then I would have stocked up on these while I was working. I priced them (in 1982) and decided that cost wise (for me) cloth was cheaper.
I guess I just figured every pregnant woman would realize that the first thing (besides food... and I breastfed for three months so that was free) a baby needs is diapers. Instead of fancy furniture and wacky fad gadgets, it would benefit most expecting parents to stock up on diapers and more diapers for those 9 months. (Clothes are optional... heck, you can always wrap a baby in an adult garment. I love to sew -especially baby clothes - so my son was well dressed. )
I decided to try cloth diapers with my oldest boys because of skin sensitivities--it wasn't a cost issue for me. It didn't work for us, but it does for some. That said, the start up cost wouldn't be insubstantial to someone living below poverty levels. I have a friend right now whose ex-husband (he left her--it wasn't her fault) is unemployed and paying zero child support. She has a college degree, but she hasn't been in the workforce full time for years. Now she's having to start over, beginning at near minimum wage. She's doing her best to just keep a roof over their heads--there's no room for any extras at all, including "fancy furniture and wacky fad gadgets." If it weren't for help from friends and our church, she wouldn't be able to cloth her kids at all.
You gotta do what you got to do. My mom used cloth diapers on my sister and I, worked full time, so she picked up the diapers from the lady that watched us, brought us home, fed us, played with us, put us to bed, then washed diapers. Interstingly, we both potty trained early. Hand washing diapers was a great motivator for mom.
children everywhere were early potty trained when diapers were washed by hands.
It was unheard of that potty training began at 2 years.
I used cloth diapers on my son for three years, we lived in apartments the whole time. I did laundry twice a week at the laundry rooms in the apartment complex, or my mom would take me to the laundry mat if I had more than two loads to do.
I had these two really handy gadgets - a toilet and a diaper pail (for those who don't know what this is, it is a large bucket with lid that holds water (I liked to add a splash of vinegar to mine) and dirty diapers until laundry time) - that were used for every diaper, even the 'only wet' ones.
I know some people are squeamish when it comes to handling feces, I am not one of these people. **it happens! Rinse that crap down the toilet and swish diaper around in toilet until feces is gone (leaving behind nothing more than the steaks most men make daily). Into the diaper pail until laundry day and then I would drain the pail into the toilet and wring each diaper over the toilet then back into the bucket that I then filled with other baby laundry and into the wagon it went.
Fortunately, I had someone to stay with my son during his first few months. Once he could sit without falling I would take him along for the ride. He loved it! We'd play with the wagon while waiting for the washers to stop. I'd take him home after we got the clothes in the dryer (assuming someone was there to watch him) and fold the clothes in the laundry room (alone time is rare with a baby, we gotta take it when we can. )
Thankfully I never had to do more than a half dozen diapers by hand at once. They would get a good cleaning in the bathroom sink, then after rinsing I would pour boiling water over them in the sink and let that sit for a while. Drained then rinsed with cool water (I know, I disinfect then used plain ole water... never cared that much about 100% pure.).
Hated that job, but sometimes it was needed.
Stories like this really tick me off. Here's why.
I was pregnant for 9 months. I think that is the average for most women.
I worked for my first 5 months. Each month I bought baby supplies, starting with cloth diapers (I actually bought a dozen a month for 4 months and received 2 dz more for baby shower gifts.) and t-shirts. I also bought dozens of pairs of rubber pants in whatever sizes I could find. I bought 95% of these used.
I knew I wanted to use cloth diapers because of the expense. I also realized it was my habit to do laundry twice a week (no matter where I live) and that adding diapers to the load would be no hardship on me.
However, if I had decided to use disposable diapers then I would have stocked up on these while I was working. I priced them (in 1982) and decided that cost wise (for me) cloth was cheaper.
I guess I just figured every pregnant woman would realize that the first thing (besides food... and I breastfed for three months so that was free) a baby needs is diapers. Instead of fancy furniture and wacky fad gadgets, it would benefit most expecting parents to stock up on diapers and more diapers for those 9 months. (Clothes are optional... heck, you can always wrap a baby in an adult garment. I love to sew -especially baby clothes - so my son was well dressed. )
Well, one can easily sense you know what you are talking about
contrary to the others who think that them being in the first world country makes their excrement smell roses
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Poor welfare mothers sense of entitlement
Rinse that crap down the toilet and swish diaper around in toilet until feces is gone (leaving behind nothing more than the steaks most men make daily). Into the diaper pail until laundry day and then I would drain the pail into the toilet and wring each diaper over the toilet then back into the bucket that I then filled with other baby laundry and into the wagon it went.
. Second, they need to be disinfected. You can bleach them, but a couple of my kids had fairly sensitive skin as babies, and had skin reactions to the bleached diapers. If you don't use bleach, then you have to wash the diapers and boil them on top of the stove to kill the bacteria. Using cloth diapers isn't easy or simple if you use a washing machine. If you had to hand wash them, it would be a nightmare.
