Cloth nappies - where/how to get rid of poo

[growyourown77]

Hello

I'm considering using cloth nappies for my baby due in April. I've been lent lots of different types from my SIl to try and plan to use disposables for the first 6 weeks or so (on MN advice).

My one big questions outstanding still is how, and more importantly where, do you get rid of the poo before dry or wet storing the dirty nappies or changing your baby?

Lots of people talk about putting a flushable liner down the loo and/or using shower hose to rinse the poo off over the loo. This sounds fine in theory but....

Our nursery (and main changing area) is on one floor and the bathroom is on another. (No space in bathroom for a changing area)

So I'm failing to see how I would manage this - what would I do with a wriggly pooey baby while I'm fiddling with the nappy/hose/toilet?

Do I then carry a soggy nappy and pooey baby upstairs to the changing area?

Any help or advice welcome!

I would change the baby and then take the nappy to the toilet. So baby will be in a new nappy rather than wiggly and pooey.

Good question, here goes....
Remove nappy in the nursery (or in the loo, depends where suits you) and put to one side, clean and renappy baby.
Take poo filly nappy to loo and gently toss it down the loo. Put soiled nappy in a nappy bin/sink to soak or in the wash, whichever suits you.
Hope that helps x

EBF poo is pretty inoffensive, so just put in nappy bucket as is, poo will come out in wash fine.

Once weaned you need to get worst off nappy before washing.

You are insane to change baby outside the bathroom. Seriously. You are aware there is a very high chance baby will wee poo everywhere once nappy is off.

You do have space in your bathroom. You don't need a changing station, just a portable changing mat on the floor.

Flushable liners shouldn't actually be flushed btw.

Depwnding on the type of nappy, poo is usually reasonably easy to roll into toilet, though you may want to invest in a poo spatula. Or you can flush nappy in toilet (without letting go!) I always found this completely ineffective though.

Fold pooey nappy in half and leave until you have got baby sorted.

Oh and dry pail (no soaking in nappy bucket unless you particularly enjoy dealing with shit soup)

I found ultra liners good for bf poo. Once you've taken the nappy of fold or roll it up so the poo is contained within it. Then when change is complete take nappy, dispose of liner (i put them in the bin as don't like flushing) and put in bucket. If your baby doesn't poo a lot you could prob get away with using fleece liners and sluicing the worst off under the flush.

Prob best to change on a mat on floor when you get started as you're bound to forget things and they're safe if you have to run to fetch something.

The nappy lady has good articles about washing on her website.

Its been a couple of years, but I had nappy buckets with those wire flip up bits to seal the lids (from a hardware store) under the changing table and a plastic tub with cloth wet wipes (ready damp and with some lavender oil added to keep fresh and anti-bacterial). Also I put lavender/tea tree oil on the lid of the bin to keep smells at bay.

Wet nappies/wipes and EBF pooey nappies usually went straight in the bucket. If they were particularly bad then for the first time I found a use for the bidet (which is helpfully in a different room from the toilet so not strategically placed if we had wanted to use it for its intended purpose!) as the poo just rinsed off down the hole.

Later on I did use the liners and they do just flush down the loo, but early on I just found they became a soggy mess.

I never did the wet pailing idea, just dumped the whole lot in the washing machine when there were enough for a load. If you do a cold pre-wash or 'super' wash with vinegar and (more) lavender/tea tree oil then they come out smelling fresh and clean.

Btw I spent a fortune buying really big net bags so I could just lift all the nappies out and put them in the machine, but found the nappies didn't wash properly in the bag - and even leaving it open not enough of them came out to wash, so after a couple of uses I gave up... so I'd advise you to save money there. :)

These are the wipes I used . About 20 of them fitted in the reusable flip-top pampers wipes box that came in a bounty pack.

Oh and I used fleece liners too - to save money so could get 1 and use it as a template to cut more from a cheap fleece blanket.

Sorry, I'll stop talking about nappies now!

My logistics are the same as yours (changing table on different floor from bathroom). This is what we do:

Pre-weaned breastfed baby: no need to get rid of solids. They don't really get caught in the liner anyway as they're so liquid. Most likely they'll be mostly absorbed into the nappy.

Post-weaning: use a paper liner, take paper liner with poo out of nappy and temporarily put into a nappy bag. Change baby as usual. Afterwards take bag to the toilet and shake liner into the toilet.

I feel a bit bad for using nappy bags every time DS does a poo (only once or twice a day though, so not too bad), but it's just what works best for us. I'd love to use fleece liners or take the whole nappy to the toilet and shake things out over it, but with the stairs it's just not realistic to keep going up & down.

Also re: what someone else says about needing to change in the bathroom. It definitely isn't necessary and with both me and DH having back problems we cannot change on the floor. We've had our changing table in our bedroom for 21 months and counting and never had any problems with poo/wee everywhere. With a newborn just make sure you have a muslin to hand to quickly put over them if they wee during a nappy change (happens a lot in the early months! Apparently it's the change in temperature when you take the nappy off that makes them want to wee).

Before weaning (runny poo) just throw straight into nappy bucket and cold rinse before washing. After weaning (solid poo) I used fleece liners (or no liner if using a Bumble nappy as they are fleece lined), the poo just rolls off into the loo or needs a little shake then wash with the nappies. Never used paper liners as they can block your loo.

ItsAll, we could not change our baby on our bathroom floor, it was a horrible layout, and really not doable. Besides, didn't feel that hygienic. Our bedroom was upstairs, bathroom downstairs. We changed his nappies on the bed. I never ever had an issue with poo or wee going anywhere. Plus, I felt it was easier to change his nappy without my having to bend to floor level.
So OP, it is perfectly doable. You'll see how easy it is once your baby arrives.

I haven't used liners with DD as she isn't on solids yet. I just put the whole nappy in the pail and wash it - milk poo isn't bad at all.

I plan to change DD in the nursery, pop her in her cot then take the nappy to the bathroom, flush the liner, pop it in the pail, wash my hands and then return to DD.

I think the worst part is the bf poo. It doesn't come of liners so flushable are useless (and I not very soft). Doesn't come of fleece liners either but catch majority of poo so keeps nappy cleaner.

Once my DD was a few weeks old she started only pooing every 2 to 3 days. So I dry pail the wet nappies until she has a poo and then wash. Quick cycle on 30 first, then full cycle on 60. That way the poo doesn't stain the nappies.

She's 3 months today, so far I never had to go to the bathroom while changing her. And I do use a changing unit so that I've got everything handy. So if she's had a poo I fold up the nappy and put it on the floor, then change baby (I use normal baby wipes and put soiled once in a nappy bag), once cleaned and changed put her somewhere safe and put all nappies in washing machine and wash straight away.

I'm sure by the time baby is on solids and u can flush the poo down the loo u will have found a practical way of doing it.

I just have an old dishbrush in my laundry sink, next to a nappy bucket full of water with Napisan. I brush off the poo from the nappy, wash it down the sink, pop the nappy in the bucket, wash my hands. The napisan stops any smell or stains from happening. Then every day I do a wash which includes all the nappies and most of our family clothes/bedding. That's worked well for 2 kids/2 years.

Both DD's were on the potty for most of their poos by 9 months so it's not that long that you have to deal with poo anyway.

Potty with 9 months? How did u manage that?

We just put them on from the time they could sit up happily, at certain times of the day when we knew they were likely to poo or wee. For example, every time they wake up we do some potty time and immediately after lunch. We catch 80% of poos and wees that way. It's not toilet 'training' as such (as they don't have bowel or bladder control that young), more like toilet 'timing'. DD1 was toilet trained (as in, asking for the potty and knowing what was happening) by the time she was 17 months. DD2 is only 10.5 months so it's a work in progress.

It's the old fashioned way, but it works! No tantrums or strops about the toilet, just part of their day. Also, we've avoided lots and lots and lots of disposable nappies going into landfill, which I'm really happy about.

(I also secretly hold the view that a lot of the 'poo withholding' or 'my 3 year old won't potty train' complaints you see on here stem from having them in nappies for waaaaaaay too long) (I also think the nappy companies have a leeeetle too much to gain from promoting the view that children can't potty train until they're almost 3. The environmental effect of late potty training isn't something that they have to take into account when counting all of their profits, after all).

I agree kiwi. My dd is 13 months and mainly poos on the potty. Dd1 was a withholder and scared of the potty and pooing in nappy at 2. Thankfully she did get over it b4 2.5 so not as bad as some but she got really distressed about pooing it was horrible :(

I use the disposable liners that get flushed away with the poo. When I'm changing DS, I put the poo-ey liner on the lid of the pail, get DS into fresh clean nappy, and then dispose of the poo that I've got on the lid. Easy peasy.