Stripping diapers today.

For all of you mamas with babies in diapers I would REALLY encourage you to check out cloth diapering.  In fact, I'm going to post more about that in my next diaper post.  My main reason for cloth diapering is this:  I wouldn't allow my children to pee and poo all over my entire living room furniture (including TV) just to throw it out, but when you use disposables that's how much money you're spending from birth to potty training.

Kinda hits home doesn't it?  4 grand.  That's 1/4 of your car.  btw- that's per child!  I have one in diapers now and I'm expecting 2 more in just 2 months.  Can you imagine throwing out 12 grand?  12,000?!  that's a new car.  That's a down payment on a house.  That's ridiculous!

So, what I'm doing to the diapers today:
Nate got a horrible diaper rash a few months ago, and I think it was a combination of things.  1- he wasn't being changed enough. (my fault!) 2- he wasn't getting enough air to his little bum.  3- he wasn't drinking enough water.  4- the diapers needed to be stripped.

The first 3 I understood, but what did stripping diapers mean?  I had never heard of it.  Long story short:  uric acid can build up over time in the diapers and when it meets with the sulfide agents in the washer, it holds on to them.  Well, this can cause a slight burning sensation on the skin when it gets wet again.  hence the vicious cycle of diaper rash.

In my cloth diaper research, I found that vinegar helps neutralize the acid in the urine.  Whoulda thunk?  I keep gallons of vinegar on hand because of how much I clean with it.  Anyhoo, that worked for a while and then his diaper rash came back with a vengeance.  So, my wonderful husband put desitin on him.  Desitin is a petroleum based product and shouldn't be used on cloth.  Yeah, I know that now.  Not to mention it has fish oil in it (which explains why my hands itch EVERY time I used it on all 3 of my children!) and that fishy smell gets stuck, (no, S-T-U-C-K!!!!) in cloth diapers.  talk about nasty.

So I read MORE about stripping diapers and someone recommended Dawn dishwashing liquid because it's a little stronger and cuts grease.  **ding** light bulb moment!  greased up desitin cloth diaper, meets dishsoap. So, it's in my washer right now on the hottest setting.  I plan on washing these diapers anywhere between 3 and 5 times today to make sure there is no soap left, with extra rinse cycles if I have to, but these diapers WILL be clean and stripped today.

Now to "normally" strip a diaper there are TONS of videos on youtube on how to do it.  It's my firm belief you can find just about anything on youtube.  That should get you started in the right direction!

Blessings!