teething
cloth diapers & teething support
Teething is a miserable time for both baby and parent. It can be an emotionally challenging time, and full of distraught for everyone. My babies were not good teethers; they teethed early, and they teethed hard with screams and all the fun side effects.
Teething impacts cloth diapering because some babies get diarrhea, and diarrhea is never fun. Teething diarrhea is a little extra acidic, for that extra burst of rash causing awesome.
How do you survive teething poops with cloth diapers?
#1 – Use SIMPLE CLOTH DIAPER SURFACES – use the diapers that are easy to clean, even if they are not your favourite diaper. This includes the following consideration:
Fold prefolds and flat diapers around baby. This provides an extra pocket of protection for poop clean up. A folded on flat is much easier to shake out than a padfolded prefold (at least, it was for me).
Use Pocket Cloth Diapers or Liners – If you use an all in one diaper with a pocket, place the inserts in the pocket (I’m thinking of the Blueberry Simplex), and if you use pockets, these will be your best choice.
If you don’t have pocket diapers, check out #2.
#2 Liners, big ones, really big ones. Take your choice of disposable or microfleece and add it as your top layer of the diaper. For many family’s liners are a normal part of their day-to-day routine, but if it’s not, this is a great time to use them. Sometimes liners create more mess – again this is an experiment to find what works for you. I really like a wide liner that sticks out the edge of the diaper. Anything that sticks out once on baby, I tuck right in.
The GroVia Liners are a fantastic choice – they are available directly from GroVia or at your favourite retailer and offer a nice wide design for functionality and performance.
#3 Rash Control – it’s not your diapers fault if your baby’s skin is starting to break out during teething season. It’s hard to have all that poop, acidic poop, on the skin.
Change the diapers ASAP and/or more frequently. Best practice is to change cloth diapers every two hours and immediately after a poop – especially if struggling with teething rashes and cloth diapering.
Consider Diaper Free Time – or a loose flat folded around them on a peapod mat or some sort of towel/blanket.
Use a liniment, or cream-wash like Noleo Care, to cleanse the skin and moisturize. It is also fantastic time to use cloth wipes with a water/soap mixture to clean the skin.
Apply a rash cream – Modern Botanicals, Delish Naturals, GroVia Magic Stick are a few favourite items.
Oatmeal Baths or your favourite soothing bath is a great choice during this time.
#4 Caregiver Self Care – don’t forget to take a minute to take care of yourself. If you’re breastfeeding parent, you might be 10 hours into a never ending clusterfeed. If you’re in toddlerhood, you might be in a never ending babywearing session trying to keep the calm at bay. Trade off and take a walk around the block, lay in the grass, cry in your car, just take some time to decompress safely away from baby, and remind yourself that you are doing an amazing job.
Teething can be an exhausting time for everyone involved. The Cloth Diaper laundry might pile up, you might run the dishwasher a few times, and rely on take out for a few too many nights in a row – but, what’s most important to remember is… This too will pass.