So two things have forced me to write this post and ask for help.
1) I watched “No Impact Man.” A documentary about a man in NYC and his wife and young daughter who spent a year (That’s right, 365 days) trying their best to make little/no negative impact on our Mother Earth. One of the first things they did was switch their daughter to cloth diapers. Something I’ve wished I had the mental strength to do since Abel was born and just never did. Aside from mental strength, we’d gotten so many bags of (disposable) diapers as gifts that we went 6 1/2 months without buying diapers.
2) Abel has developed an awful rash due to an increased number of BMs lately. I can deal with the increase in BMs, but the awful rash on my baby’s bottom makes me wonder if using cloth diapers (at least until it’s cleared up) will help him feel better. I got a pack of 12 Gerber Cloth diapers (see pic for reference) from my MIL with the words “Just in case you ever run out [of the disposables] and aren’t able to buy any in time.”
Thanks Momma, now I’ve got them, washed them in the sink with warm water and Johnson’s Baby Wash (I don’t have a washing machine therefore the sink and Baby Wash). I’m letting them air-dry in my dining room on a clothesline strung from the chandelier to the fireplace mantle. (Hey…I don’t have a dryer either!)
I need to ad an EDIT: I’ve been reading reviews of this particular brand/style of diaper that apparently they don’t work well as a diaper. If I could get some honest input on this brand/style as well that would be great.
Anyway, HELP!! What do I do next?? The instructions on the package consist of 3 tiny little pictures and I need help!! Please comment and help me out. What do I do now? Mind you, this is temporary at the moment, I don’t intend on investing my money in a bunch of stuff for 1 week of cloth diapering. If it turns out we really can deal with this, I may change my mind, but for now.
1 week of cloth diapering. What would you do? Have any tips or tricks? HELP!!??!
If I can get over 10 helpful comments, I will be drawing for a $10 Babies “R” Us Gift Card. I will be using a random number generator to pick the winner. Please don’t comment more than once (unless you honestly forgot to include something) only one comment per person will be included in the drawing. I look forward to your responses!
Gift card drawing will take place on April 7th or when we get 10 comments. Whichever is last 
Thanks in advance for all the help!
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Use of this card constitutes acceptance of these terms: Card may be used only for purchases at Toys”R”Us and Babies”R”Us stores in the U.S., Puerto Rico and Canada, or at Toysrus.com or Babiesrus.com. Not redeemable for cash, except as required by law. Remaining value on a lost, stolen or damaged card may be replaced with proof of purchase.
March 30, 2010 at 11:45 PM
Honestly no decent method of cloth diapering is going to be worth the investment for only 1 week of diapering. I cloth diapered my twins for just over 3 years and I did a ton of research before and along the way.
The reviews you have read are correct, the Gerber diapers aren’t really good used as diapers, more as burp cloths, etc. At the very least in order to use this type of diaper, otherwise known as a prefold, you need a waterproof cover to go over it. Otherwise as soon as he pees or poops you’ll have wet/dirty clothing as well!
Naked time would be good for clearing up the rash although if he’s having frequent BMs that might not be good. A lot of my mommy friends SWEAR by Bourdeaux’s Butt Paste.
How old is your son? Even though you mentioned elsewhere that you hadn’t changed his eating habits, it could be that he’s allergic or at least sensitive to something he’s eating. My son had a ton of food allergies and would get rashes as a symptom.
If it’s worth anything my favorite diapers were Fuzzi Bunz pocket diapers. They snap on so they are essentially as simple to put on as disposables. I know you feel like it would take a lot of mental energy but it really doesn’t, it’s very easy! It was a lot easier to run a load of diapers in the washing machine then make midnight runs when we ran out of diapers
And although there’s an investment at first, or when changing sizes, it was nice the rest of the time not to worry about weekly costs of disposables.
I’d be happy to give you more tips and tricks to cloth diapering if you decide to give it a try!
March 31, 2010 at 12:06 AM
Thank you Michelle. Yes, to anyone who is reading…I did mention “elsewhere” that Abel’s diet has NOT changed at all recently. Just a bit of added information for you all. And by “elsewhere” she means in a private forum we consultants are a part of, I asked for advice there too
. If you’re interested in joining our community and you are a consultant, visit http://www.chefsuccess.com. I’ve kept a link to the website on the sidebar of my blog since the very beginning 
March 31, 2010 at 2:59 AM
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March 31, 2010 at 3:10 PM
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April 1, 2010 at 10:16 PM
I completely cloth diapered both my daughters (except when traveling). This was back in the 80′s. I used the Gerber pre-folds with no problems. I was able to purchase some very inexpensive, flushable liners, so solid wastes were easily flushed down the toilet. I used plastic pants to keep things from leaking. I only remember one daughter having a problem once with a diaper rash, and it was actually related to thrush and my yeast infection. Luckily it was summer and sunny (rare in Alaska!), so we spent time outside with no diaper on her to give the sun access to her backside. I was fortunate to have a washer and dryer, and I would assemble the diapers with the liners so diapering change was as simple as using disposables. (I hear disposables have all kinds of chemicals in them in order to absorb and hold the amount of fluids that they claim can be held in a diaper. What are those chemicals doing to babies behinds and sexual organs??)
April 1, 2010 at 10:38 PM
Thank you for this response (and the other one..I’m putting a seperate reply on that one).
Great advice, however I dislike the comment about disposables. Everyone I know (personally that is, not through internet forums/chat sites..etc.) was raised on disposable and the fact that I’m younger than most moms and about 1/4 of my friends I grew up with are also mothers/fathers…I have to say our sexual organs are just fine thank you
April 2, 2010 at 4:51 AM
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