Can you use cloth diapers when your baby is passing meconium? Will the first newborn black poop stain and ruin your cloth diapers? If you have these questions about cloth diapering your newborn baby, this post will answer them for you.
Meconium is known as the first baby poop. It is thick, sticky, odorless and looks like a tar. Meconium is the result of what your babies ingested while they growing in the uterus. You might notice that your baby will pass meconium for a day or two and then gradually the poop color changes to greenish yellow to bright yellow.
If you breastfeeding, your baby?s poop will look like frothy mustard yellow in color. You might also see some white seed like things in breastfed poo
If you are substituting with formula, your baby’s poo might look anything from tan to brown color.
Many parents are scared of meconium and are being told that cloth diapers during the meconium phase is a no ? no. It is actually not the truth.
There is no issue with using cloth diapers while your baby excretes meconium. In fact, believe it or not, they are one of the easiest poops for cloth diapers to handle.
Will Meconium Stain Cloth Diapers?
While meconium is dark and sticky, it is water soluble and it does not need to be rinsed prior to washing. Yes! You heard it right. You can dump the cloth diaper into the washer and not worry about scraping every bit of your baby?s dark poop.
Although, I should let you know that meconium can stain your cloth diapers. It is no big deal though. Don’t worry if you see stains in your cloth diapers that’s just been washed. Stained cloth diapers doesn’t mean that they are not clean. If your cloth diapers smell clean, then you are good.
Most stains will come out will repeated washing. If the stains particularly bother you here are the three things you can try
Use liners:
Liners are a cloth diaper accessory that goes on the top of your cloth diapers and sits between your diaper and baby’s bum. It acts as a poop catcher and makes it easier to deal with poop. If you are not comfortable throwing mecomium straight into your machine, then you can consider using liners.
You can either use disposable liners or reusable cloth liners. Disposable liners like these work well. Just make sure to check if they can be flushed in the toilet. Most liners are not flushable unless it’s says so. You might clog your toilet if you flush these liners when it’s not meant to be.
Or, if you are more eco-minded, then you can cloth liners like these ones. For my frugal folks,here is a money saving tip. You can make your own cloth liners. You can cut a fleece blanket, or a old fleece sweater (or anything!) , and make your own fleece liners.
Use Stain remover stick:
My favorite tested and tried stain remover stick is Buncha Farmers. These little guys work amazingly well on any cloth diaper stains.
Try Sunning:
Sun is a natural bleaching agent. Sun can treat even the most stubborn stains. Just hang your diapers facing the sun, let them sit there for a couple of hours and remove them from sun. You won’t believe your own eyes to see how excellent it works.
Don’t worry if you live in a country that is cold for 3/4th of the year.During winter months, I place the diaper near the window or in a room which gets sun light and that works equally well.
How To Deal With Sticky Meconium?
Another important thing that you should know about Meconium is that it can stick to your baby?s bum. This will happen regardless of whether you use cloth diapers or disposables. The general advice that is given to new parents is to apply generous amount of Vaseline (petroleum jelly) after every diaper change, so that the tarry poop slides off easily and doesn?t stick to your baby?s bum.
I don’t recommend petroleum jelly on a baby for various reasons. Even if you are using disposable diapers, my advice is to stay away from petroleum products on your newborn skin. Babies have sensitive skin and petroleum jelly do not have any real moisturizing properties. There are better and natural options like organic diaper creams or good old coconut oil.
When it comes to using cloth diapers, anything that has petroleum in it can wreak havoc on your diapers. When using cloth diapers, you need to stay from diaper creams that contain petro chemicals. These materials are water resistant, can sit on the top of your cloth diapers and repel urine.
What else can you use?
Coconut oil: Excellent choice. It keeps your baby’s bum nourished and helps meconium poop slide off easily.
Natural diaper cream: There are so many good options available, we recommend this one.
Liniments: Liniments are a bit different from diaper creams. They not only moisturize the skin, they also act as an cleansing agent. They contain lime that neutralizes the acidic bum area. They also contain olive oil and beeswax that keeps your baby’s bum soft.
You would never need disposable wipes when you using liniments. Just take a cloth wipe, squeeze liniment in it and wipe your baby’s bottom to cleanse and moisturize.
How to Wash Cloth diapers With Meconium?
Easy Peasy! Just like washing diaper with breastfed poop. You don’t have to rinse them. It goes directly in a cold pre- rinse and then continued by a hot main wash. You can air dry them or throw them in the dryer at the lowest setting. You can refer to this post for general cloth diaper washing routine for a step my step guide.
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