What To Do With The Poo

What To Do With The Poo.

Isn't that the biggest question on your mind when you think about cloth diapers? I guarantee you, it's the first and most poignant question that's top of mind with all new parents I speak with when they are beginning to consider cloth diapers for their baby. And why shouldn't it be? It is really the central topic of discussion and the largest mental hurdle to overcome I think. It was for me absolutely.

Fortunately, it's not as scary as it seems and there are a few easy ways to deal with the poop and one (or more) of them will certainly make it easy for you too. Let's discuss the options.

Disposable Liners
This method is great for cloth diaper beginners or anyone who is at all afraid of having to deal with poop (heads up, you have to deal with 💩 whether you use disposable diapers or cloth) but liners can make it very straightforward for even the newest parent. You simply lay the liner on top of the diaper between the diaper and baby and it let's liquid through and catches the solids. At change time, all you do is peel off the liner and toss it. Then the diaper goes in the wet bag to wait for wash day.

Now before you object with the fact that disposable liners are indeed disposable and an extra cost, the answer is yes to both obviously, however, disposing of a paper thin sheet of liner still exponentially reduces the waste (and raw materials) that would have been used creating a disposable diaper for that one change so still moving in the right direction and comparatively the cost of them isn't really that much coming in at about $0.085/liner.

As a caregiver I also find that you tend to figure out baby's habits as they grow and you'll probably have a pretty good idea of when your baby is due for a poop. Sometimes parents don't even use liners at every change, opting only to add them in when they anticipate a poop is imminent. All in all diaper liners are a great tool, especially for first time cloth users.

Shake It Off
No, this isn't the best method for smaller babies, but once you have a baby on solids or a toddler, and poop becomes rather 'plopable', then simply shaking solids off into the toilet is a viable solution.

Dedicated Tool
If however, you have a baby starting solids and things look a little like chunky peanut butter, a tool like a spatula that you dedicate just for poop duty can be useful. With this method you use your tool to help scrape the majority of the solids off into the toilet. It keeps your hands clean and it's cheap and efficient.

Diaper Sprayer
If you want to go a little more high tech, a diaper sprayer is the way to go. They attach to the back water line of the toilet (no tools required) and then you have a little spray head with adjustable water flow that's great for spraying off solids into the toilet. Sprayers can also double function as a bidet for adults and can help with postpartum mama care too (extra nice when you have stitches to care for).

Dunk & Swish
Or you can kick it old school and deal with the poop in the most obvious way. Hold the diaper on the corners dirty side out and just dunk and swish it in the toilet bowl until most of the solids are off. Sometimes I used to flush the toilet while doing this for some extra cleaning power - but pro tip - hold onto that diaper tight or it'll end up getting flushed.

Hopefully that information answers your questions on what to do with the poo and makes cloth diapering seem more viable for you.

If you're more of a visual learner, here's a video demo below of how all of these methods work too that might help. If you have more questions about how to use cloth diapers or what diaper might work best for your family's situation, contact me.