The flats challenge at Dirty Diaper Laundry DAY THREE

Check out the rules here

Day 3:  Remember how I mentioned in this post how I had this waaaay too thick diaper for overnight and how Samuel barely wet it on night one?  Well last night was a different story; last night went exactly how I thought the first night was going to go.  In the wee hours of the morning my husband muttered to me "he's soaked through everything" and boy was he ever!  The doubler, the prefold, the flat, the PUL cover, everything!  I changed him, but by dawn, when he needed another change, I noticed the red rash all over his bottom.  This isn't my first experience with irritated skin after using cloth diapers.  I was actually sort of expecting this to happen, to tell the truth.  I've researched it before and it could be one of four things causing the irritation:

1.  The diapers may not be completely clean.

2.  He may be wearing a wet diaper for too long.

3.  When he gets changed, he might not be completely cleaned.

4.  There isn't enough air circulation due to the PUL cover.

I tend to think #1 is unlikely.  I soak them, scrub them, rinse them very well and so forth.  I even pre-rinse.  Those diapers are clean.  (I have a test, actually.  They have to be clean enough that I will press it to my face and inhale deeply.  Now that's clean.)

I also have trouble believing #2.  There are occasions when we're out and changing is difficult or something but for the most part if he is dirty, the change is immediate because I can smell him right away.  And if he's wet, I'll figure it out in 20 minutes, tops, because he'll be circulating around me to nurse or show a toy or something at least every 20 minutes!

#3 is a possibility.  He's squirmy and wriggly, he might not be getting completely cleaned.  Plus, we use store-bought wipes and if they're a little harsh on his skin they may not be cleaning as well.

#4 is what I believe is the culprit.  Rashes happen when dampness isn't air dried.  That's why diaper free time often clears up a rash better than any cream (which only provides a barrier for the skin from wetness) ever could.  What can I do?  I have four covers in circulation right now, so I am allowed 1 more, perhaps I could find some sort of PUL alternative that will breathe?

I thought about the problem for a bit.  Clearly the obvious choice is wool.  I don't have the money to buy a wool soaker, though.  In the meantime I'm letting him run around naked.

Later on Day Three...

I keep thinking about why I'm doing this challenge - trying to prove that a family who claims they can't afford to diaper their baby could do so with cloth.  Except who are these people?  These incredibly broke, poverty-striken people?  Not to assume anything here, but are these new parents likely to be walking into a high end parenting store and getting expert advice and taking a look at these $25+ upcycled wool longies and thinking for a moment that this is an option for them?  I don't know, maybe.  I just think its unlikely.  Most people I know, regardless of their income level, default to disposable diapers unless they have taken a personal interest in cloth for some reason.  If my friends used disposables, my parents used disposables, my parent's friends used disposables...where would the idea, not to mention the support, to use and handwash cloth diapers come from?

I was in Walmart today and went to see what would be available in term of cloth diapering for someone just walking in off the street with no idea about cloth.  At my Walmart you could buy flats, 6 of them for about $10.00.  There was a single instruction sheet on the back of the package that illustrated a fold that looked complicated to me.  There were also plastic training pants, only available to fit children 25 lbs and up.  There were no pins or snappis, no diaper covers and the whole section was hidden at the bottom of the recieving blanket shelf.  To give you a vision here, the cloth diapers took up about a square foot of retail space; the disposables took up an entire wall.  Way at the back, on the bottom of a bottom rack, there were four wet bags.  Each was $8, they were small, and they had a little tag that advertsied 'uses', one of which, right there with 'carrying wet bathsuits' and 'snack bag' was 'great for diapers'.

Maybe these families that need this information so badly are also not the ones likely to be trolling a diapering challenge link-up.  What can we do to get the word out?