Diapers are a poopy matter

The first question I get asked ,immediately after the "you really use cloth diapers?" is " What do you do with the poop?"

Well when you use cloth diapers, just like disposable diapers, you will come face to face with poop. Let me tell you, after a few diapers it really won't be a big deal. With disposables most families just toss the diaper and it's contents into the garbage. Did you know though that in quite a few places you are not supposed to dispose of human waste in the garbage? You should check your local bylaws. You are supposed to dispose of human waste in the toilet and then toss the diaper.

So with cloth, what do you do? You dispose of poop in the toilet. There are a few methods that you can use to do this.

1. The Diaper Sprayer

This is a funky little shower head that attaches to your toilet tank and uses the water from the lines. You basically use the shower head to spray off the soiled diaper into the toilet and you are done. When I told my husband that we are going to cloth diaper, this was his requirement. While I would cloth diaper without my sprayer, I love it and it is one of my can't do without accessories. I purchased the BumGenius Diaper Sprayer for $50 and it was the smartest $50 I spent. You can purchase less expensive brands also on Amazon or Ebay.

2. The Flushable Liners

Biodegradable, flushable liners are available from several brands including Bummis, GroVia, Charlie Banana and Applecheeks.  These come on rolls and you lay them into your diaper. When you change the diaper the liners simply get flushed down the toilet and then the rest of the diaper goes into your pail.  The solid poop stays on the liner and no need for a diaper sprayer. Wet liners may also be tossed into a compost pail instead of the toilet. Most brands are safe for septic tanks, but always double check.  I use these when we travel and I will be using them with daycare. I do find that some of the liners like to stick to my sons bum but they all do their job. If you are breastfeeding exclusively you won't reap all the benefits of these as breast fed poop is really runny and will go straight through the liner.

3. The Dunk and Flush

I have tried this once or twice and it is not my preferred method by far. It is basically what it sounds like. You dunk the diaper into the toilet and flush repeatedly to get the poop off. I found this to be the least effective and messiest method. I would rather spend the $6 on a roll of 100 Bummis liners.


 4. The Wash Machine

This is ONLY for exclusively breast fed babies.
Human breast milk poop is water soluble. You do not need to rinse poopy diaper off just store them in your pail. The initial rinse cycle in your wash routine will take care of it for you. If you wanted to you could run a cold or even a warm short cycle without any detergent added instead of just a rinse.  Breastfed poop can stain more but it also suns out the easiest.