[famousmockngbrd]

The other day, I was at my grandmother's house (she's 89) and I had to change Cole's diaper. He was wearing his Kool Sheep, and when my g-mother saw it, she was like, "Hey, that's pretty neat. You know what we used to call those? Soakers!"

Does anyone else have any intergenerational cloth diapering anecdotes?

 

[mehndi mama]

Mine is almost exactly like yours! I was showing J's grandma my sweater-soakers, and she said EXACTLY what your grandma said!
And when I asked my grandma about soakers (she's a knitter), she told me that my dad was the only baby on the block that didn't have to wear rubber pants, because he had hand-knit soakers! (She also said she knit hers out of NYLON yarn, and they worked beautifully and were soooo soft!)

 

[*solsticemama*]

My mom has a great story about my brother. She cloth diapered all of us with plain old prefolds and rubber pants. One day she heard the pitter patter of little feet going back and forth upstairs. She went up to investigate and there was my little bro, who was about 2, taking her freshly washed prefolds and stuffing them into the toilet. He looked up when she came into the bathroom and smiling proudly said, "I help, I help". I guess he'd seen her dunking and wanted to offer a hand :LOL

Also apparently the only time my dad changed a nighttime diaper he lost a pin and my mom ended up having to get up and they spent a half hour looking for it and never did find it. After that she decided nighttime diapering was easier if she just did it herself.

 

[LuvMy2Kidz]

Strangely my grandma has never said anything really about our diapers, except they are cute

: My step grandma only said, "Oh, all we had were those flat diapers and those plastic pants, those are cute" :LOL

 

[Bugga]

Here's a couple for you:

My son was born in 1962 (that's right, '62). I went on a cross country odyssey with my then 1-year-old, fleeing an abusive marriage. We took a Greyhound bus and I washed his gauze diapers out at the rest stops and dried them on the side of the bus seats during the trip. Not fun, but he was clean and dry!

Fast forward 12 years to a new happy marriage, and dd Phoebe (feebeeglee) is born. (Sposies are here, but aren't mainstream yet.) I washed her gauze diapers in a washing machine, not a restroom sink. Much better!

Today, Phoebe has 2 babies in beautiful, comfortable handmade fitted cloth diapers.

But she knows how to pin a mean prefold.

We love cloth in our family

 

[famousmockngbrd]

You know, I have heard that comment many times before, about how all they had in MIL's day was rubber pants, etc. but how could that be true if our grandmothers were knitting soakers?

They just must not have heard of it, I guess? You would think they would've known *somebody* who used soakers. Or maybe they thought it was too old-fashioned and rubber pants were the wave of the future. But surely somebody in our MIL's time must have thought the rubber pants were inferior to lovely, breathable soakers...?? I don't get it, really.

 

[Throkmorton]

My mom used soakers on both of my brothers (born in '78 and '81) because they would get terrible rashes with sposies or rubber pants. My grandma knit them all for her, and loves the soakers I make, except being a proper british woman, she calls them pilches.

 

[LoriG]

"You know, I have heard that comment many times before, about how all they had in MIL's day was rubber pants, etc. but how could that be true if our grandmothers were knitting soakers? They just must not have heard of it, I guess? You would think they would've known *somebody* who used soakers. "

Well, it's probably just like most people think nobody uses cloth nowadays, or how the majority of moms aren't aware of all the options available. It was probably just a matter of being uninformed

 

[Melaniee]

My GM is not here anymore

but my mom said our soakers look like what GM siad they had to use during "the war." She didn't knit, so I don't know if she'd crocheted them or where she got them from. When I showed my mother a Sandy one time, she said that also sounds like what my Grandmother said they had to make out of terry cloth towels back then. Apparently common items were not available around wartime.

My mother used Gerber prefolds & rubber pants. She used a disp. on me once but she didn't see the point b/c you still had to use rubber pants over them b/c they leaked so much. And it was the only diaper rash I'd ever had.

I know MIL used cloth, but I've never discussed it with her. Before Ds was born when we were talking about the early weeks she made a comment that it wouldn't be so hard for us b/c we could use disposable diapers.

 

[Trishy]

You guys are making me jealous! I wish I had an old timer to talk dipering with. And Annette, you are too sweet.

 

[natashaccat]

Quote:

Originally posted by famousmockngbrd You know, I have heard that comment many times before, about how all they had in MIL's day was rubber pants, etc. but how could that be true if our grandmothers were knitting soakers? They just must not have heard of it, I guess? You would think they would've known *somebody* who used soakers. Or maybe they thought it was too old-fashioned and rubber pants were the wave of the future. But surely somebody in our MIL's time must have thought the rubber pants were inferior to lovely, breathable soakers...?? I don't get it, really.

I have wondered this myself, my g'ma has been knitting since childhood but she used rubber pants on her kids and had never heard of wool soakers. she was very impressed with the snappi though.

she hated diapering and swears my mom was "trained" by 18 mo. I can only imagine......

:

 

[ctdoula]

My grandmother had 16 kids (all cloth), and for the first 6 they didn't have a washing machine

so she had to wash them in the tub by hand. One time my grandfather had to help her wash diapers & said, we're getting a washing machine! And to think that some mamas today complain about a little poop in the washer

: :LOL
Amy

 

[jackson's mama]

This could happen nowadays, but a story from my mom...

She was CD'ing my sister in the late 70's. Usually she would change her on the couch, and would stick the pins in the couch for "safe keeping" while she put on a new prefold. One day she changed my sis on the WATERBED instead of the couch (can you see where this is going?

)... and stuck the pins right in without thinking! Oops... dad was patching the waterbed that afternoon :LOL.

 

[aslmere]

When I decided to switch to cloth, my mom pulled out some old, but still in great condition, contours that she had made for me when I was born!
So my dd and now my ds are wearing some of the same diapers that I wore.
I LOVE IT!

 

[famousmockngbrd]

jackson's mama, that is terrible! But so funny!

 

[Artisan]

My grandmother was a knitter and had her first child in 1942 -- I bet she made soakers. I wish she were alive so I could talk to her about it. She would have loved my little chubby boy.

 

[jackson's mama]

Quote:

Originally posted by sharonal I wish she were alive so I could talk to her about it. She would have loved my little chubby boy.

Me too.

 

[tinyshoes]

When I showed my MIL my ubcpfs and covers, she dug out a real flat diaper she used on her youngest boy (born in 1980). It was nice to learn WHY pre-folds indeed are pre-folds, even though you fold a pre-fold to get it in the cover!

The other cross-generational cd tidbit is that my dad remembers wearing a wool soaker, and how much it itched, and how he detests wool to this day.

:

I think I need to re-ask him about this--I want to hear a 'BTDT' perspective before I put a cute soaker on my babe.

ALSO...I wouldn't be suprised if my dad's grandfather didn't knit the soakers he and my uncle wore. My great-grampy was quite the knitter! (A thereapy prescribed by a doc for my g.grandfather's hand injury!)