Where's the Poop, Mommy?!

(Any HIMYM fans? I used to watch but simply don't have time for TV shows anymore. But the Where's the Poop query was funny whenever it surfaced.)

I have been using cloth diapers for just over a year now. Several things happened all around the same time that led to us making the switch from disposables:

• Leaks at night. We co-sleep. I was tired of wet sheets!
• Lil Dude pees way more than Chickadee ever did, and I hate the smell of disposable peed-in diapers! Yuck!
• I read an article about the explosion of a factory in Japan that makes the SAP (gel inside disposable diapers) and I was horrified at the loss of life and injury just so that my kid has a place to eliminate, that I spend tons of money on and then throw away.
• Target had Charlie Banana diapers as their Daily Deal at a price I couldn't pass up, especially considering the excellent resale value of cloth diapers. (Note: I took advantage of that resale value and have since converted my stash fully to AppleCheeks, my absolute favorite cloth diapers EVER!!!)

I took the plunge one morning, from my smartphone, by ordering 2 6 packs of CB diapers. Just to try them out. I couldn't wait until they arrived - my first fluff mail! I met the UPS driver just as I was heading out for an evening run. I excitedly prepped the inserts over the next few days, and then got them ready to put on. Lil Dude was so gracious as to christen one properly during a quiet Sunday afternoon - but I was so stoked to tackle a poopy cloth diaper with my diaper sprayer! I knew if I could handle the poop, I could cloth diaper. YOU CAN HANDLE THE POOP.

However...there are these handy dandy things called FLUSHABLE DIAPER LINERS. Yup. Lay them in the diaper, and then just plop them in the toilet. Very little, if any, spraying is needed!

I first tried some Charlie Banana bamboo flushable liners, since they were readily available at Target right before we were going out of town for a week, and I didn't think our host had a diaper sprayer. They worked...ok. They caught some of it. I wasn't totally thrilled with them and so once we got home, I didn't use liners because they just seemed to bunch up and were kind of messier to get off the diaper than they were worth!

After seeing several people discuss the AppleCheeks flushable liners on AppleCheeks Anonymous (yes, we have a group...no, we do not help end addiction to these diapers! We enable.) on Facebook, I decided to give liners another try. AppleCheeks recently changed their fleece to one that stays gorgeous, fluffy, white and non-pilly! Yippee! However, the consistency of the poop in this house seems to stick worse to it. Booooo. So I need a solution other than spraying it!!

Here is a comparison of the two liners: CB is on the top, AC is on the bottom:

As you can see, the CB is a bit longer and narrower than the AC one. Also, I'm not sure if it is very visible in this, but the "grain" of the material runs side to side in the CB, and lengthwise in the AC one. The AC one is perfectly adequate in size to cover the area of a diaper in question for the task at hand! The CB liners are a bit silkier than the AC ones, but also flimsier. I believe that those three differences - difference in relative shape, grain direction, and thickness/texture - lead to their difference in use! The CB ones just bunched up and didn't stay flat in the diaper, leading to only partial success. In the times I have used the AC liners, however, they have performed their duty quite well and provided coverage for at least 95% of the substance in question!! Which is...poop. I'm sorry. I'm trying to be all professional and delicate, and not talk about potty things, but, well, that's what I'm talking about, isn't it?!

Here are the liners inside a Size 2 AppleCheeks: (CB in Emerald City [Green], AC in Steel Me [Grey]).

 

You can really see how the AC liner provides wider coverage across the diaper. It doesn't need to go the full length to work very well! Remember, AppleCheeks come in 2 sizes, and these liners can fit in either size. Here it is in a Size 1 cover, folded in half!! If you were really bored, I suppose you could cut the liners in half if you mainly used Size 1. ;) 2x the liners! It provides approximately the same relative coverage to a liner in a Size 2!

 

 

 

I'm so glad the online AppleCheeks community convinced me to try the liners! They come in a roll of 100 and are packaged simply in a plastic bag. One thing I love about AppleCheeks is the minimal packaging! Starter diaper kits come packaged in a wetbag - how handy is that?! The Charlie Banana liners are in a paper box that is kind of bulky for the product.

 

Now then...are you ready for the best part?!! Charlie Banana liners cost $10.99 for 100. AppleCheeks liners cost only $7.95 for 100!! Have I convinced you yet?! They are available at many retailers! Some even have free shipping, but I'm sure you can find enough other cute stuff to bring an order up to a shipping minimum if needed - I usually do! ;)

 

Thanks for reading!

 

 

Stay fluffy!