For fun; old-time cloth diapering moms, remember...

[Pink Elephant]

There is a solution to this too.  It would have been available then, but probably no one had thought of it.  Ammonia Remover.  From the fish section of the pet store.  It converts ammonia into something super mild and easily cleanable.  We kept two spray bottles in the bathroom.  One with diluted ammonia remover for pee diapers and one with enzyme stuff for poopy diapers.  So, the pee diaper never had an ammonia smell.  Also meant we rarely had to strip the diapers.  

 

On the subject of plastic plants.  My aunt had gone to a Gerber outlet store and bought prefolds and plastic pants.  The plastic pants from BabiesRUs weren't in the same league as the Gerber ones.  

 

I even had a couple of non-prefolds.  Basically a really large piece of soft absorbent fabric, but it was an official diaper.  I had fun with those, that was basically my crafty outlet during that time period.  But, I'd have hated to use only them,.  

 

Super nifty tip!

 

When it came to odour, the plastic diaper pail did a wonderful job containing any smells, but when you lifted the lid, whew!

 

I recall the quality of rubber pants going downhill by the late 80's/early 90's. The vinyl/plastic used for the pants was much thinner and tore more easily than the old, and the elastics weren't as durable. I remember that from changing nephews and nieces.

 

Yes, traditional flat diapers, the staple in my home when my kids were in diapers. I loved the versatility of them. Baby/toddler didn't grow out of them but rather, they grew into them.

[Pink Elephant]

This was so true for my eldest and my youngest, and so not true for my middle son.  Elliot's skin was/is super sensitive and prefolds gave him horrible rashes.  It was a catch 22, the prefolds held the urine up against his skin which caused bleeding rashes (even if I changed him every hour), but switching to disposables to keep his skin dry caused rashes due to the chemicals.

 

In the end, all I found that worked was 7th generation disposables or pocket diapers with stay-dry fleece inside. The pocket diapers were expensive (~$20 each), but once I bought them we were set from infancy through potty training; the 7th generations were expensive and would have been a reoccurring cost.

 

Wendy

 

Nothing worse than having a child with a sensitive bottom. Glad you were able to find a solution.

 

The only time my kids suffered from chaffing, burning, and rashing, was during the summer months, and I attributed much of it due to the rubber pants. I remember the burst of super-heated moist air that would escape from out of their diapers when I'd pull off their rubber pants. I always knew they had a rash by the smell.

[73349]

My mom used disposables on my siblings, and I remember the stink of the diaper pail from that. For DS, I had washable PUL diaper pail liners, so I just threw them in the wash with the diapers. I also didn't use a lid unless we had company.

 

MIL was an early adopter of disposables (snowy climate, no dryer), so I guess the early Pampers were out by the late '70s?

[J-rap]

Ah yes, I remember those days.  The neat, velcro wool diaper covers were coming into style just as my kids were moving out of diapers.  I stabbed myself many times with those yellow duck-head diaper pins.  One of my daughters was so skinny, those diaper pins held her pants up through kindergarten.  I saved one of them, just for old time's sake.

 

[Pink Elephant]

Yes! I used the very system you describe for my oldest. I got lazy (and had more disposable income--ha ha!) with my next two.

 

Convenience can be such a wonderful thing. I know many a mother who cast economics off to the side for convenience and never looked back.

[Pink Elephant]

you don't have to later buy larger prefolds or replacement rubber pants.

 

While I like prefolds for their simplicity and absorbency, the sizing-up part (with prefolds) earns them a thumbs-down from me, unlike the old-fashioned flats which work from newborn to toddler.

 

I found when my kids were little I didn't go through many rubber pants, so was able to reuse old rubber pants with the next baby, so not much in the way of buying baby sizes, but when my kids reached the toddler stage I found I was buying rubber pants far more regularly.

 

Bigger kid, more wear-and-tear on the pants, and more wear-and-tear on the pants when changing them, though my kids got good at arching their backs to lift their bums up for me at change time, so I could pull their rubber pants out from underneath their butts.

[Pink Elephant]

My mom used disposables on my siblings, and I remember the stink of the diaper pail from that. For DS, I had washable PUL diaper pail liners, so I just threw them in the wash with the diapers. I also didn't use a lid unless we had company.

 

MIL was an early adopter of disposables (snowy climate, no dryer), so I guess the early Pampers were out by the late '70s?

 

Well, by the late 70's, I was babysitting a lot, and remember Pampers being around, but I didn't babysit for anyone that used them. Cloth diapers, pins, and rubber pants were still the order of the day in the homes where I babysat.

[Pink Elephant]

Ah yes, I remember those days.  The neat, velcro wool diaper covers were coming into style just as my kids were moving out of diapers.  I stabbed myself many times with those yellow duck-head diaper pins.  One of my daughters was so skinny, those diaper pins held her pants up through kindergarten.  I saved one of them, just for old time's sake.

 

I'm guessing you were diapering towards the late 80's, because I also remember when Velcro cloth diapers and covers were making their debut, and that would have been towards the end of the 80's/early 90's. I remember the timeline, because I was nearing the end of the diaper days in my home at the time.

[shawthorne44]

There are sizes in prefolds?   I had no idea, and that is what we used around the house.  I guess that was an advantage to having a child below the growth curve, there are many disadvantages.  One of the things I really loved about the prefolds was the Bikini fold.  That led to the least between the legs bulk I've ever seen, including disposables.  

[Pink Elephant]

I loved prefolds and pins.  I likes these thin cloth like plastic pants I got back in the day too.  Not sure what they were- not PUL.

 

Gotta say tho, I do not miss washing diapers at ALL. :ack2:

 

My sentiment exactly!

 

I don't remember anything other than plain vinyl/plastic.

[Pink Elephant]

I stabbed myself many times with those yellow duck-head diaper pins.

Yep, yellow diaper pins and white rubber pants. I also used plain white pins, too... even had some blue and pink ones, too.

[Pink Elephant]

I started cloth diapers in 97 and I was poor and did not have internet.  I was pleased when I could get the better quality gerbers that had the blue trim instead of the crappy birdseye ones from the grocery.  Back then you could get pins in the grocery and pants too! 

 

I remember those old gauze type diapers. Terrible things they were. A mother I used to babysit for had a few kicking around and I remember thinking to myself, "what good are these"?. Thankfully, she used regular standard cotton diapers, so I never had to contend with the mess of the gauze ones. I can't imagine.

[Pink Elephant]

There are sizes in prefolds?   I had no idea, and that is what we used around the house.  I guess that was an advantage to having a child below the growth curve, there are many disadvantages.  One of the things I really loved about the prefolds was the Bikini fold.  That led to the least between the legs bulk I've ever seen, including disposables.  

 

I actually had no idea prefolds even existed up until a few years ago. Flats, were the only diaper I knew.

[Pink Elephant]

I think maybe some sort of nylon?

 

here!  These!

 

http://www.amazon.com/Dappi-Waterproof-Nylon-Diaper-Pants/dp/B0035JL91C

 

Those look nifty!

 

My guess is they'd last a lot longer than ordinary plastic pants.

[Ellie]

I recall an old neighbour of ours going the half-measure when it came to the use of rubber pants. She used them for naptime, night-time and outings, but diapered her children without them (for the most part) when she was at home. Definitely not for me, as I was a staunch rubber pants user, but always interesting to learn how others used cloth in their homes.

 

As for the newfangled modern cloth, I'm lost, too. The price alone I do not understand. Seems so overly expensive... and maybe I'm just old-school, but since when did cloth diapering have to be an all-out fashion show? Cloth diapering IMO shouldn't be a fashion show. Diapering should be about diapering (utilitarian style), nothing more. It's about getting the job done. No fancy-schmancy anything, because if I understand the new modern version of cloth diapers correctly, a lot of what's out there today doesn't even perform that well, which tells me, fashion ahead of reliability.

 

Ah... those were the days, being able to buy rubber pants at the supermarket. I did that on occasion. So convenient it was being able to take care of the grocery shopping while at the same time, arrive home with necessary rubber pants for baby without having to make a separate special trip to the department store.

 

:iagree:

 

I hear you. Buy five dozen gauze prefolds and call it good. :-)

[Arcadia]

I still have some of my old diaper pins. One has a plastic duckie head on it. The others have blue plastic teddy bear heads on them.

They still sell them here at the dollar store. My brother was born in 1981, my mum use cloth diapers for day and pampers for night. The cloth diapers were hung to dry on four bamboo poles (poles resting on metal overhang supports).

[Pink Elephant]

:iagree:

 

I hear you. Buy five dozen gauze prefolds and call it good. :-)

 

With my first born, I started out with either 3 or 4 dozen diapers (flats), then added to that number when baby number two and three came along.

[Pink Elephant]

They still sell them here at the dollar store. My brother was born in 1981, my mum use cloth diapers for day and pampers for night. The cloth diapers were hung to dry on four bamboo poles (poles resting on metal overhang supports).

 

I'm a firm-believer in the idea that the old-fashioned method of cloth diapering will always be around.

[Pink Elephant]

Anyone else here help change cloth diapers on baby siblings or babysit when you were younger and have to do cloth diapers?

 

Do you remember how old you were the first time you changed a diaper?

[J-rap]

I'm guessing you were diapering towards the late 80's, because I also remember when Velcro cloth diapers and covers were making their debut, and that would have been towards the end of the 80's/early 90's. I remember the timeline, because I was nearing the end of the diaper days in my home at the time.

 

Yep!  88-95 were my baby years.  :))

[Reefgazer]

I was strictly a disposable diaper mom, but I clearly remember everything you posted from watching my own mom cloth diaper my siblings in the days before Pampers were even a gleam in Proctor and Gamble's eye!

... the old-fashioned diaper pins we used to use? And how much it smarted when you miscalculated pushing the pin through the diaper and catching it on the other side and instead, got yourself? Ouch!

 

... the countless hours we put in folding? Daytime folds, night-time folds, double folds, triple folds... It was all about folding in those days...

 

... rubber pants? The ones that used to make our kids bottoms red at times? The ones that used to leave those red elastic rings around our kids legs? The ones that produced that distinct rustling plastic swish-swish beat with baby's every move, as if to let us moms know where baby was at all times? The ones where if you were changing someone's diaper in the middle of the night, you didn't know which end of the pants you had a hold of until you found the elastic-waistband, nor did you know whether the pants were backwards or inside out!

 

...how droopy those old diapers were when wet? How they sagged? LOL! There was nothing custom-fit about them, but they got the job done and saved us a bundle!

 

... toilet rinsing? With a firm grip, you latched onto the diaper and while holding the diaper inside the toilet bowl, you flushed the toilet, and with water swirling, you dunked the diaper up and down repeatedly in the swirling vortex, before wringing the diaper out and tossing it into the diaper pail.

 

... the ammonia odour of urine the old plastic diaper pail emitted? Pee-ew! Sometimes it was so strong it burned your nose and eyes!

 

[Melissa in Australia]

. And I know its weird, but I loved folding them into fluffy white stacks almost as much as I love big nappy bums!

 

to me there is nothing more satisfying than a long line of nappies flapping in the wind

[KatieJ]

Anyone else here help change cloth diapers on baby siblings or babysit when you were younger and have to do cloth diapers?

 

Do you remember how old you were the first time you changed a diaper?

I certainly helped diaper siblings who were in cloth diapers. I don't remember any before the sis born when I was 11 , but I probably did.

 

My first two were in cloth . I had all kinds and each type requiring a different folding technique. I hate the flannel ones that you had to fold I. Some kind of triangles as all the ponts were in the middle where the mess was. Prefolds were amazing after those! I had those duck pins and some cute pink ones. Any one have a bar of ivory soap on your dressing table to store those pins in?

 

Yes I requested to use disposables with my last two and I never looked back. I figured I had paid my dues with the first two in cloth.

[Momof3]

I still diaper with prefolds, and I use pins sometimes. Mostly I use wool covers that are pants or shorts, so I Snappi first, then pull up the wool shorts/pants. But sometimes I use my wool covers that are shaped like a disposable diaper, and I fold the prefold in thirds and lay it in the cover; then I pin the whole thing on. I have used Snappis with those wool covers, but pins are more secure.

Me, too! I didn't use Snappis, but I did prefolds with or without pins...until we moved this summer. Now I don't have space - or time - to do it... 

Sometimes I miss cloth diapering. It was fun saving the money. :) But after skimming this thread, I'm changing my mind! :) Especially now that I'm back to 2 in diapers...hopefully not too much longer!

[Pink Elephant]

I was strictly a disposable diaper mom, but I clearly remember everything you posted from watching my own mom cloth diaper my siblings in the days before Pampers were even a gleam in Proctor and Gamble's eye!

 

I see the days of old as being a more simpler time... uncomplicated if you will, a time when households were more self-sufficient.

[SKL]

I remember my mom teaching me the right way to pin a diaper so it wouldn't fall off and you wouldn't poke the baby with the pin.

 

My mom told me of a memory where someone had accidentally pinned the baby along with the diaper and didn't realize it until the next diaper change.  They just thought the baby was in a fussy mood.  :(

 

As for rubber pants, we used them (Gerber brand), but they didn't hurt the baby's legs.  Maybe our babies had skinnier legs?

 

The diaper handling post-use all sounds familiar.  I did know people who kept a bucket of bleach water to put the wet diapers in, but that would seem to be an accident waiting to happen around our house.

[Pink Elephant]

to me there is nothing more satisfying than a long line of nappies flapping in the wind

 

I couldn't agree more.

 

There was a recent topic on the forum related to simple pleasures, and hanging freshly laundered diapers on the clothesline and watching them sway in the breeze was one of my all-time favourite simple pleasures.

 

There was something so satisfying about being able to take a plain flat cotton sheet, fold it into a pattern to fit baby, and fasten it with pins. So basic and old-timey... yet so dependable.

[Pink Elephant]

I certainly helped diaper siblings who were in cloth diapers. I don't remember any before the sis born when I was 11 , but I probably did.

 

My first two were in cloth . I had all kinds and each type requiring a different folding technique. I hate the flannel ones that you had to fold I. Some kind of triangles as all the ponts were in the middle where the mess was. Prefolds were amazing after those! I had those duck pins and some cute pink ones. Any one have a bar of ivory soap on your dressing table to store those pins in?

 

Yes I requested to use disposables with my last two and I never looked back. I figured I had paid my dues with the first two in cloth.

 

I remember the triangle fold method you describe, well... flannelette diapers, too, because that's all I ever used. I always got a real sense of true self-satisfaction using the old-fashioned standard fold-and-pin diapers. One minute you had a plain flat sheet in your hands, and the next minute, baby had a puffy little marshmallow bottom.

 

Re: diaper pins, aside from the plastic-cap variety, I also used pins with metal caps that slid up and down. With the metal-capped pins, there was a secondary metal hood that you slid down over the safety-catch head of the pin to prevent the pin from accidentally opening. As for lubricating the pins, I do remember sticking them into a bar of solid soap, but mostly I used to run the pins through my hair before pinning. I found the metal diaper pins to be the sharpest. They went through the thickest of diapers effortlessly.

[Pink Elephant]

Me, too! I didn't use Snappis, but I did prefolds with or without pins...until we moved this summer. Now I don't have space - or time - to do it... 

Sometimes I miss cloth diapering. It was fun saving the money. :) But after skimming this thread, I'm changing my mind! :) Especially now that I'm back to 2 in diapers...hopefully not too much longer!

 

I loved using cloth diapers, too. For me, knowing I always had clean fresh diapers on hand was a huge selling point of using cloth, that, and knowing my children were in natural cotton provided me with piece-of-mind.

 

Speaking of saving money, I recall dropping by a department store one day to buy rubber pants, and behind me in the checkout isle was a mother with two packages of disposable diapers in her cart. When I set the rubber pants down on the checkout conveyer, the mother piped-up and said to me, "you use cloth diapers"?

 

Anyhow... the total for the rubber pants that day came to something along the lines of $1.69 (or something like that), as compared to the mothers bill for the diapers (whatever it was, in the teens I'm thinking)... and it was then that it dawned on me that the rubber pants I left the store with that day would serve in my home for months to come, whereas the disposables the mother left with that day would be gone within a week or two.

 

Pennies a day is what I figured the cost of using cloth diapers and rubber pants to be (laundry costs included).

[Pink Elephant]

I remember my mom teaching me the right way to pin a diaper so it wouldn't fall off and you wouldn't poke the baby with the pin.

 

My mom told me of a memory where someone had accidentally pinned the baby along with the diaper and didn't realize it until the next diaper change.  They just thought the baby was in a fussy mood.  :(

 

As for rubber pants, we used them (Gerber brand), but they didn't hurt the baby's legs.  Maybe our babies had skinnier legs?

 

The diaper handling post-use all sounds familiar.  I did know people who kept a bucket of bleach water to put the wet diapers in, but that would seem to be an accident waiting to happen around our house.

 

In all the years I used cloth diapers (babysitting days included) not once did I ever stick a child I was changing. Had many a close-call, but never an incident. If I was changing a baby that wouldn't lay still, I'd grab hold of their ankles, lift their little behind up into the air, and administer a smart spank to their bottom. That was usually enough to redirect their attention to lay still for me.

 

Summer months were the worst for rubber pants rashes and irritation (i.e., red elastic rings, etc). I found sizing up the rubber pants to the next size/age range did the trick, which also made changing them much easier, especially when diapers were wet.

 

Initially, I did the wet pail method, but so heavy the pail was (my poor back... down and up the basement stairs), so I dropped using liquid in the pail and went to the dry pail method. Easier, less messy, way lighter.

[Pink Elephant]

Couldn't help but post a vintage snap of one of my DC in rubber pants (Circa 1980's)!

 

Bring back memories? Anyone? Anyone? LOL!

 

Remember the plastic sound those rubber pants made?

 

And how the trick of the day was to hold the diaper pins between your pressed lips while diapering?

 

And how you checked for a wet diaper? i.e. By sticking your index finger inside one of the elastic leg holes of the rubber pants?

[IsabelC]

Strangely enough, I found one of those 'nappy pins' when I was decluttering just a couple of days ago. It wouldn't have been used for years, but I must have thought it would come in handy somehow.

[Pink Elephant]

Strangely enough, I found one of those 'nappy pins' when I was decluttering just a couple of days ago. It wouldn't have been used for years, but I must have thought it would come in handy somehow.

 

Oh, do they ever come in handy!

 

The reason for the pin through the rubber pants, was baby was so little he was swimming in them, so pinning the rubber pants like a diaper helped hold and keep the pants in place.

[hornblower]

In all the years I used cloth diapers (babysitting days included) not once did I ever stick a child I was changing. Had many a close-call, but never an incident. If I was changing a baby that wouldn't lay still, I'd grab hold of their ankles, lift their little behind up into the air, and administer a smart spank to their bottom. That was usually enough to redirect their attention to lay still for me.

 

 

O.o

 

OMG

 

I had hoped we were past spanking babies, or at the very least at a point where nobody would actually brag about it....

 

:(

[Pod's mum]

Flat terry's with a folded 'swan skin' pad for nights.

Mostly no plastics, for the 2nd, just tons of changes and hold with care.

 

I did use those velco'ed covers for night and with co-sleeping went through that age of hearing the toddler ripping the velco undone through the night.

Cos she could.

I was reminded when hearing a nephew doing the same with his disposable recently.

[BlsdMama]

Oh yeah, I was stumped by your toilet rinsing technique until I remembered that the water in US toilet bowls comes up much further than it does here. MUCH further. Like three of us stood around a hotel toilet in shock. It was very disconcerting.

D

 

The new bowls use far less.  It's been hard for me, lol.  I have everything for DH to make me a sprayer sitting here.  Until then, Cate & Will are in disposables. 

 

I am confused on the no-toilet method.  Will has.... Oh my.  It's like play-doh mixed with gravy poo.  That isn't going in my wash machine.  ;)

 

[Pink Elephant]

I ran across one of my old yellow diaper pins just the other day! And yes, I remember running them through my hair or into a bar of soap. I found my oldest could not wear plastic pants. However, Biobottoms were just coming out and saved the day. 

 

I was lucky in the rubber pants department, as all of my kids could wear them, however, my oldest sister went through rubber pants woes in her house with one of my nephews and recall how the pants would irritate his legs and bottom.

[Pink Elephant]

Flat terry's with a folded 'swan skin' pad for nights.

Mostly no plastics, for the 2nd, just tons of changes and hold with care.

 

I did use those velco'ed covers for night and with co-sleeping went through that age of hearing the toddler ripping the velco undone through the night.

Cos she could.

I was reminded when hearing a nephew doing the same with his disposable recently.

 

I tips me hat to you on cloth diapering without plastics!

[Pink Elephant]

The new bowls use far less.  It's been hard for me, lol.  I have everything for DH to make me a sprayer sitting here.  Until then, Cate & Will are in disposables. 

 

I am confused on the no-toilet method.  Will has.... Oh my.  It's like play-doh mixed with gravy poo.  That isn't going in my wash machine.  ;)

 

 

Dirty diapers in my house got the toilet-soak treatment, where I'd set the diaper into the toilet and let it soak before rinsing.

[SKL]

Yeah, we lived near a Great Lake so water wasn't a big deal.  We would let them soak in the toilet also.  However, since we only had one bathroom and 6 kids, that got ... interesting sometimes.  :/

[Annie G]

1983, I was a new mom, using cloth diapers because we were....well, young and poor.   Family emergency came up and in a rush we left town for several days. During that time, I used disposables for convenience.  So we got home, I was settling back in, doing things like cleaning out the fridge because the milk was spoiled, etc. And then it came to me...cloth diapers had been in a pail for probably a week by that time.  Took the pail to the apartment laundry room, planning to dump it into the washer. Opened it up and it was crawling with maggots. 

 

I was SO freaked out. 

[shawthorne44]

The new bowls use far less.  It's been hard for me, lol.  I have everything for DH to make me a sprayer sitting here.  Until then, Cate & Will are in disposables. 

 

I am confused on the no-toilet method.  Will has.... Oh my.  It's like play-doh mixed with gravy poo.  That isn't going in my wash machine.  ;)

 

 

Have you tried the disposable diaper inserts?  They are like dryer sheets.  If they get poop on them, then you throw them into the outside trash.  They say that they are flushable, but I'd guess that they are about as flushable as a tampon.  If they just get pee on them, then you can wash them.  They come out not as stiff, but I think still useable.  

 

I got some, but I never remembered  to use them.  Instead I would do the two flush method, and spray on some enzyme stuff.  They did work though,  

[Pink Elephant]

Yeah, we lived near a Great Lake so water wasn't a big deal.  We would let them soak in the toilet also.  However, since we only had one bathroom and 6 kids, that got ... interesting sometimes.  :/

 

Rule in our house was... always inspect before going (and/or flushing)! LOL!

[Pod's mum]

I tips me hat to you on cloth diapering without plastics!

 

No carpets, Australia, and mostly bare legs.

She was also trained and in undies by her 2nd Birthday.

 

Also I learned to hold her differently (not on the hip) and others either learned the same or didn't pick her up again.

It does mean a lot more nappies because when wet, well, she's wet.

 

 

(Edited to save a kitten)

[Pink Elephant]

1983, I was a new mom, using cloth diapers because we were....well, young and poor.   Family emergency came up and in a rush we left town for several days. During that time, I used disposables for convenience.  So we got home, I was settling back in, doing things like cleaning out the fridge because the milk was spoiled, etc. And then it came to me...cloth diapers had been in a pail for probably a week by that time.  Took the pail to the apartment laundry room, planning to dump it into the washer. Opened it up and it was crawling with maggots. 

 

I was SO freaked out. 

 

I've heard of that happening before in warmer climates. I, too, would have been freaked out.

[Pink Elephant]

Have you tried the disposable diaper inserts?  They are like dryer sheets.  If they get poop on them, then you throw them into the outside trash.  They say that they are flushable, but I'd guess that they are about as flushable as a tampon.  If they just get pee on them, then you can wash them.  They come out not as stiff, but I think still useable.  

 

I got some, but I never remembered  to use them.  Instead I would do the two flush method, and spray on some enzyme stuff.  They did work though,  

 

I used disposable (flushable) diaper liners when my children were first born, and what a saving grace they were.

[Pink Elephant]

No carpets, Australia, and mostly bare legs.

She was also trained and in undies by her 2nd Birthday.

 

Also I learned to hold her differently (not on the hip) and others either learned the same or didn't pick her up again.

It does mean a lot more nappies because when wet, well, she's wet.

 

 

(Edited to save a kitten)

 

I admire you for your bravery! LOL! My kids never went a second without waterproofs!

[shawthorne44]

I admire you for your bravery! LOL! My kids never went a second without waterproofs!

 

DD went mostly without waterproofs for several months while in the house.  I was a bit petrified of her any redness on her sweet little bottom.  It seemed like child abuse.   And even some time without waterproofs seemed to prevent that.   It was easy when she wasn't that mobile.  I'd gotten several diaper changing placemats at the baby shower, and I'd just make sure she was sitting on one of those.  She also usually cried Before peeing, so once I figured that out, I was set.  

 

I remember the baby wellness checkup day in which her doctor had a doc-in-training shadowing him.  Our doc asked if I needed more of the prescription diaper rash cream.  I looked at him like he had two heads because the tube had seemed so giant and we'd only used it for two days.  The young doc seemed shocked that I was shocked at the question.  My doc just nodded.  It made me wonder later if diaper rash was a normal thing, and maybe it wasn't in the past.  Our doc was pretty old.

 

I have some books from my childhood (born in '70) with illustrations of small toddlers in cloth diapers with the pins showing.  I don't know it was because pins were considered cute, or because that was normal to let kids run around the house without a waterproof.  

[Pink Elephant]

DD went mostly without waterproofs for several months while in the house.  I was a bit petrified of her any redness on her sweet little bottom.  It seemed like child abuse.   And even some time without waterproofs seemed to prevent that.   It was easy when she wasn't that mobile.  I'd gotten several diaper changing placemats at the baby shower, and I'd just make sure she was sitting on one of those.  She also usually cried Before peeing, so once I figured that out, I was set.  

 

I remember the baby wellness checkup day in which her doctor had a doc-in-training shadowing him.  Our doc asked if I needed more of the prescription diaper rash cream.  I looked at him like he had two heads because the tube had seemed so giant and we'd only used it for two days.  The young doc seemed shocked that I was shocked at the question.  My doc just nodded.  It made me wonder later if diaper rash was a normal thing, and maybe it wasn't in the past.  Our doc was pretty old.

 

I have some books from my childhood (born in '70) with illustrations of small toddlers in cloth diapers with the pins showing.  I don't know it was because pins were considered cute, or because that was normal to let kids run around the house without a waterproof.  

 

Waterproofs can definitely play havoc on a child's bottom. I definitely remember coming across diaper rash occasionally (my babysitting days... 1970's/1980's), however, not once did I care for a child (regardless of age) that didn't wear waterproofs if they were wearing diapers. Waterproofs were the way back then and everyone used them.

 

I do recall a mother or two whom I babysat for that used to change the waterproofs at every diaper change and directed me to do the same, however, in most homes where I sat at, the waterproofs were reused again and again, diaper change after diaper change, until they absolutely needed changing, and then and only then were the old waterproofs changed-out for new.

 

Coming across a pair of waterproofs in a diaper pail in a home where I was sitting was a rarity in my day, including when I babysat and changed nieces and nephews or babysat for other people that used cloth.

 

Something else I remember about waterproofs... mothers usually had only a few pairs of waterproofs on hand at any given time, so diaper-pailing the pants wouldn't have been practical.

 

For those who were fussy about changing waterproofs, some moms used to dovetail in a pair of rubber pants between every third and forth diaper, or every forth and fifth diaper in the stack, that way the waterproofs were sure to be changed regularly throughout the day, because when you worked your way down to the forth or fifth diaper, a clean fresh pair of rubber pants awaited.

[Arcadia]

I had only squat toilets growing up. Cloth diapers were washed by my parents, my job is just to fold them. I am sensitive to the smell of Clorox and a major puker so no one would ask me to help.

My brother is 8.5 years younger and I fold for my nephews and nieces too if I am bored while visiting cousins. I know how to use the all metal pins too.