umbilical cord care/diaper question

[chrysalis]

ok. i've decided i don't want to deal w/ CD's...i wanted that softness for sheamas so much but i just don't think i can handle one more thing to be so concerned about...stinky CD's in my purse or car...ick. just the thought makes me cringe. any ideas to make this possible, i'm open to hearing them! (i will use 7th generation diapers as i liked those w/ megh a lot...)

my question is, my mom's boyfriend has asked her if i've bought a special diaper for the umbilical cord. lol she said she didn't know what to say, didn't want to insult his fatherly intelligence/experience. his sons are now 14 & 9. i did see something special w/ a little notch for the umbilical cord area-think they were huggies but i thought that was dumb and passed them up yesterday at target. i thought we were supposed to keep the belly button area covered up w/ the diapers where they are high enough to avoid any bonking/rubbing of it. or am i forgetting how this goes??? also, i do not want to use rubbing alcohol or whatever the hospital told me last time w/ megh...i would rather use something gentler...witch hazel? i forgot what to use as well. thanks mamas. : i am so ready to meet this little guy. my beautiful little man, my sheamas bodhe!!!

[marisa]

You want to keep the area dry as possible, so fold the top edge of your diapers down underneath the stump. They'll get yucky fast if they can't air out.

I'm not cloth diapering either. I can hardly keep enough clean underwear and socks going in my house!

I use a combo of goldenseal powder and alcohol.

[chrysalis]

ohhhhh ok so we do air them out and uncover them (at least w/ diaper...)! thank you marisa. my brain just is NOT there lately for remembering these things...

its so great to know other mamas aren't CDing either. maybe i'm just ignorant about how to do the CD thang but i just can't handle even more to think about. same goes for cloth pads for me...just got to be too much so i stopped...

ok so the guilt won't stop re. CDing......how do you store stinky poop/pee CD's when out of the house??? ziplocks??? how do u keep car from reeking? house? i do not have a garage, but i have an outside storage closet or my deck for a bucket or whatever i'd put them into... and i could use the diaper service for the prefolds...but i'd of course still have to wash the covers... i look forward to hearing what to do cuz i really would love to try CDing............seems to me to be the best choice for baby and the earth. and probably wouldn't be as tough on me as i think it would be...

[Free Thinker]

There are nifty little wet bags that you can get in cute prints that have zippers and don't let any of the stink or wetness out. I think they are great even for no CDing mamas for clothes that get yucky while out, I got one for my SIL who is expecting! Sometimes when you change baby in public their clothes get messy, diapers leak, and once my DD peed as soon as I got the diaper off, and it went all over her clothes! Definately get a wetbag or that stuff will have to reside wet inthe diaperbag and get other stuff yucky, too. I guess a ziplock baggy would work, too, but the wetbags are super cute!

As for the cord area, I did get 2 packs of newborn sposies w/ the umb. dip. THe Umb. area needs to be kept dry, you don't want it getting wet w/ pee every diaper change! I did use gause pads on one DD when hers was coming close to falling off and rubbing against her clothes, I didn't want it to get irriated or scrubbed off by her clothes, so I put a gause pad over it, then a onesie, then her sleeper.

[DeChRi]

nak

wanting to give my two cents on the cut out sposies. we had much better luck folding down regular diapers. the cut outs still bumped and rubbed a lot.

[GooeyRN]

I never put anything on the cord with dd and it dried up and fell off in less than a week. I folded the sposie down before using the tabs to close it.

I do 75% cloth diapers, the rest sposies. I won't deal with cloth when out of the house. We don't go out much. I am not carrying around dirty diapers with me. They also need to be changed more frequently than sposies. I am not going to deal with changing a baby every 2 hours while out when I also have my 2 year old to deal with who has to use the toilet every hour or so. What would be the point in going out at all? I would spend the entire trip out in the bathroom. I also use sposies during the night. After dd stopped pooping at night, I only changed her once a night. I can't imagine changing a diaper every 2-3 hours during the night. No thanks. I have a sleep disorder, so I am not about to worry about multiple diaper changes at night if they aren't poopy. I am good about using cloth during the day and when we stay home. (most of the time) Its a good balance for me. And no one will make me feel guily!

I never tried 7th generation. Where do you get them? I use pampers swaddlers in the first month, then switch to the cheapo dollar general brand. They work great!

[*Lindsey*]

Originally Posted by GooeyRN

I never put anything on the cord with dd and it dried up and fell off in less than a week. I folded the sposie down before using the tabs to close it.

:


The hospital said they don't recommend putting anything on the cord now.

[scheelimama]

I did not put anything on dd2's cord or Piper's cord. DD2's cord fell off after a week. The mw I had this time is a bit antiquated and told me to use alcohol, but I chose to ignore her. I've been using (mostly) newborn Very Baby AIO's and they fit perfectly under her cord stump, so no wetness gets on it. They really are very easy for me. I have to change her every 1-2 hours, but that doesn't really bother me.

[GinaRae]

You mentioned stinky diapers and I have to say, cloth has been much less stinky than I remember disposables to be. I do not have a diaper pail yet so I am using a Wet Bag from Happy Heinys (get them from most CD companies I suppose) that I drop the diap and wipe into. Closed or open, there's no smell from the wet bag. Then I move them to the laundry area.

You could leave a wet bag in the car and even in your favored changing spot in the house and transfer them to pail or laundry machine at will.

Just a thought in case you're still considering cloth!

[chrysalis]

thanks mamas...all this info helps greatly... i will check into wetbags.

as for seventh generation diapers...gooeyrn, if you go to their site, www.seventhgeneration.com, you can go to store locator to find some by you. most wild oats or health food store like those should carry them... i love them and even the color is tan, as its made from wood shavings or something... non toxic and they work great. probably better in breaking down one in landfill... i really love them.

[xelakann]

You can find them much cheaper on amazon... our wild oats seems to never have the newborn size in stock.

We are CDing, but like the pp said, when I go out I am going use seventh gens and gdiapers. Oh and I was under the impression that cloth stink less than disposables too... something in the way disposables are made... this is my first so I'm totally going by hearsay.

[scheelimama]

The best deal I found on natural diapers was Amazon. We would buy enough to get free shipping when we used them w/dd1. We actually used Tushies since they don't have any chemicals in them. Seventh generation still have the gel in them, just unbleached. Thet aren't made from wood shavings. Tushies are made with real cotton and wood pulp. They will degrade much better than 7th gen or any other sposies. But for either brand, Amazon is your best bet.

[scheelimama]

Originally Posted by xelakann

Oh and I was under the impression that cloth stink less than disposables too... something in the way disposables are made... this is my first so I'm totally going by hearsay.

Very true. But you can toss sposies if you're out and about. I've always cd'ed out and about too and the stink never bothered me.

[GinaRae]

I should say that I may buy some Tushies or Seventh Generation for trips outside the house if I am going to be gone a while.

I won't buy Pampers or Luvs as they STINK when wet (to me). Most likely Huggies too.

[chrysalis]

only thing is online you pay S&H. or just shipping... i have never tried tushies...maybe i will. i was reading on seventh generation and it said wood pulp...but i did notice a gel they put in there. hmmm. well probably a better one than your mainstream disposables...i'd think. i'd hope. seventh gen didn't make newborn size when megh was a wee one but they grow so fast as it is and she was already 9.7 and the size 1 is for 8 lbs to 14 so i think that should fit fine unless he's smaller. oh i just wish he'd come out already... i want to meet him so badly!!! can't wait to post something...anything...that shows labor is coming or in action.

[Googy]

I used sposies with DD--folding them down for the cord stump got really bulky and awkward for us, so I just cut little dips down in the front of all of them with regular scissors--it worked great! We needed it too, since her cord didn't fall off for two weeks (and then her ped had to help it along a bit).

[xelakann]

On amazon I found some with free shipping:

Seventh gen:
http://www.amazon.com/Seventh-Genera...5489026&sr=8-5

Tushies:
http://www.amazon.com/Tushies-Diaper...5489119&sr=8-1

[Isaac'sMa]

Originally Posted by GinaRae

I won't buy Pampers or Luvs as they STINK when wet (to me). Most likely Huggies too.

They have a funny smell before they even get wet/pooped in IMO.

[GinaRae]

Originally Posted by Isaac'sMa

They have a funny smell before they even get wet/pooped in IMO.

Actually, you're right. We got this one disposable in the mail and because I was SO unprepared to have this baby, when we had him the MWs were asking for a diaper and all they could find was the disposable one. The smell was so gross.

I used to use sposies on all my kids, but I have gotten more aware, I am home now so it's easier and I am chemically sensitive now so CD is the only way for me it seems. The smeel of sposies would make me sick!