I wanted to write about a challenge that we faced today not because I want to put blame on any one person but because it might help others out there. We have a new nanny (I hate that word…makes me sound spoiled which I’m not) this week and with that comes another lesson in how to use cloth diapers. She left at 5pm today while I was getting myself cleaned up to go to a function at my sons school. To my surprise the hubby came home a few minutes early and I didn’t have to take Lil’ B with me to the function that started at 6pm. So off I went leaving the baby at home with daddy.
Came home and she was sound asleep on the sofa with daddy. She woke up just before dinner time and was a little fussy but calmed as soon as she was in my arms. I fed her while we ate our own dinner but she really wasn’t interested. Now it’s almost 8pm and it’s bedtime for Big B and that’s our special time together (just me and him) to read.
It’s now been 3 hours since I left the nanny left and I go to undress Lil’ B and get her ready for bed….she’s still wearing the same diaper she was wearing before the nanny left! She had probably been in it for over 4 hours now! SHE HAS A HORRIBLE RASH ALL OVER! She actually breaks out in the front and back (unlike her brother who just broke out on the rear!). Well she must have pooped at some time during the afternoon and evening and none of us realized it!
Note to all involved: Cloth diapers need to be changed about every 2 hours! They don’t have all the gelling stuff that disposables have that keep the moisture away from the babies skin. While the micro-fleece will wick some of the moisture away it won’t keep the poop away! Anyways, if she’s fussy or it’s been over 2 hours the first thing I would do is change her diaper.
Now, I can’t get mad or upset with anyone here. The nanny probably changed her about an hour before she left. I left an hour later and assumed that my husband would change her. She fell asleep on his lap so he didn’t want to wake her. And so on and so on! This is just another one of those areas that work differently than disposables. With disposables you could literally leave a baby in them all day and they would just keep pulling liquid away from the baby until the gel exploded out of the diaper. Seriously…just add a few cups of water and see what happens.
On a positive note, since she had a rash I decided to try a little elimination communication (or EC). If you aren’t familiar with EC it’s a method of training parents to use cues from our babies to know when they need to pee/poop (or eliminate). The best way to learn these cues is to watch them while they are naked. A baby doesn’t naturally want to eliminate on themselves which is why they become fussy after they pee/poop in their diapers. With cloth diapers they feel the pee/poop more than they would if they were wearing disposables. This is why a baby may become extra sensitive when they eliminate themselves in cloth. Anyways, after about 20 minutes of playing Lil’ B pulled herself to a standing position and peed all over the floor. It was kinda funny because it was like she intentionally stood up so she wouldn’t pee on herself.
About 10 minutes later she did it again but this time she peed all over my leg and decided to splash her feet in the pee…yuck! Off we headed to the bath! Not really sure what we learned about EC but she really enjoyed being free for a little while and she needed a bath anyways.
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LOL at the EC incident. So if she quickly stands up you know she’s going to pee 2 seconds later? 🙂
I know what you mean about changing more regularly with cloth. A lot of us moms buy certain diapers just for dad. I did that and he still tries to use sposies that my mom buys us. So they end up in gell-filled crap when I work on Saturdays but at least I don’t come home to kids with rashes!
OMG! I hear ya! My hubby does change our LO, but he puts sposies on her, which irritates me. The only reason he does that is so that he can go longer without changer her! Gross! Who would want to do that. Hubby also does that with feeding our 5 year old. I’ll leave to run errands and he won’t feed her, even when i say, she needs a snack or she hasn’t had breakfast yet. Soooo irritating. Maybe we should leave our LO’s nakey when we leave them with daddy, that way they notice when they eliminate themselves. Teehee, I’m going to try that (blog about what happens!)
CJR
Actually hubby is really good with the cloth! Poor thing was just tired and he didn’t think about changing her before she fell asleep. If anything I’m most surprised about how well he’s accepted the cloth. We don’t use disposables unless we are traveling. (*Happy Dance*) But yes, most dads are the hardest to get on board with the cloth diapering. I should have him write a post one day about his experience as a cloth daddy!
Aww, I hope she is feeling better!