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What to do with the poop?
July 13, 2014 4:05 pm | by
Prepping Cloth Diapers

cloth diapers and what to do with the poopPoop is gross. It stinks. It’s weird looking. It’s messy, and it also gives people the wrong idea about cloth diapers. But when it comes to cloth diapering most people just want to know what to do with the poop.

One of the main reasons people decide not to use cloth diapers is the poop. Often, I hear people say, “I don’t want to touch it or even get it on me.” or the first question they as is what to do with the poop? I, too, feel this sentiment, but good news folks! With modern cloth diapers like bumGenius, you don’t have to! There are many great tools like the diaper sprayer, disposable liners, and the SprayPal that can be used to help clean your diapers while keeping messes contained. But aside from these products, knowing what to actually do with your baby’s poo will make cloth diapering easier (it may even convince the naysayers to give it a try)!

Here’s the scoop on cloth diapers and what to do with the poop:

  • Meconium is the stool passed by a newborn. It’s a dark, tar-like substance that can stain cloth diapers. If you are using cloth right out of the womb, try placing a liner in your baby’s diaper to make clean-up easier — just be sure it is very delicate and gentle on your little one’s sensitive skin! To avoid staining, you can rinse your cloth diapers clean with a diaper sprayer before washing like normal. Remember, your baby will only pass meconium a few times. It will take a couple of days to clear out.
  • Babies who are  exclusively breastfed will typically have watery stools. This type of poop varies in color (yellow, green, orange brown-ish) and does not have a strong odor. There’s good news with EBF! The poop is water soluble and very easy to clean! You can literally just toss these dirty diapers in your dry pail or wet bag until laundry day and the mess will come out when you wash your diapers like normal. EBF poo does not *typically* stain, but if you prefer to rinse your diapers clean to help avoid it, feel free. Also know that since EBF poo is more liquid than solid, it can lead to blowouts, though most cloth diapers can contain them.
  • Once you begin to introduce solids into your baby’s diet, the consistency will change. It’s going to be thick, sticky (think peanut butter), and will start to stink. The diaper sprayer and disposable liners were made to battle this type of poop because you are going to have to scrape it out in order to get your diapers clean. Since you are introducing new foods into your baby’s diet, your diapers may be more susceptible to staining. Just continue to wash your diapers like normal, and if you do see more stains in your diapers, try bleaching or sunning! PS: Avoid blueberries.
  • After your baby eats solid food regularly, expect full poops with odor, especially if you’ve introduced meat into your baby’s diet. This type of poop is somewhat simple to clean. You can shake most of it into the toilet and and then spray the rest off. If you wash your diapers like normal, this type of poop should not stain your diapers.

Check out these instructions on how to care for your diapers:

Using diaper sprayer

For questions about your cloth diapers and how to clean them, give our customer service team a call at 1-314-892-1855.

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About the Author

Brittney is a social media coordinator for Cotton Babies. She has three sisters, loves pizza and enjoys listening to obscure bands no one has heard of. Outside of posting on the Cotton Babies Facebook and Instagram pages, she babysits a few cloth diaper-wearing kids and likes playing with her dogs.

Comments

3 Comments

  • Baby Diapers said...
    July 22, 2014 at 7:32 am

    Hey,

    Brittney, you have amazing writes throughout the blog.
    I am here mostly for some informative collection of know how of diapers & yes, my time spent throughout the blog is totally worth.

    Thanks! for all the sharing. 🙂

  • Tara F said...
    July 15, 2014 at 9:50 pm

    Some EBF children do manage to stain their diapers, though it’s not a big deal. My third child, who was EBF and not on any medications, did stain his diapers, but the stains eventually came out as they went through repetitions of our regular laundry cycle (my other two EBF children did not). My children also eat tons of blueberries, and for the most part, bGs don’t stain permanently–they’re amazing at how well the microfiber repels stains! Some of our plain cotton prefolds have stained, but bleaching/sunning would probably take out the remaining marks.

    • Brittney French said...
      July 16, 2014 at 4:20 pm

      Thanks for the comment, Tara!