Wednesday, July 6, 2011

When NOT To Let Your Babies Run Wild And Free

Over the weekend my mom hosted her annual 4th-of-July-fireworks-party-spectacular.  As part of the festivities my mom set up one of those kiddie swimming pools.  Now, Toddler is not yet potty-trained, and being the organized, prepared woman I am, I brought exactly ZERO swim diapers.

“Whatever,” I thought.  “I’ll keep her in a regular diaper with her swimsuit on.  She’ll just have a little extra junk-in-the-trunk.”

So into the pool she went.  She splashed, she laughed, it was a wonderful family summer experience.  And sure enough, her water-logged bottom swelled about 5 times its normal size.

After she had enough, I took her inside to dry her off, only to find her COVERED in small beads of silicone gel.

The diaper exploded. 

“What did you THINK would happen?!” exclaimed Husband when I told him of this predicament.

“I DON’T KNOW?!” I cried.  “We’ve accidentally laundered disposable diapers before, and they never exploded!  They just get really, REALLY, heavy!”

We hosed Toddler off, and sent her back outside to play in her swimsuit sans diaper.  She didn’t realize anything was amiss, although I’m pretty sure she peed on her grandfather’s lap.

The next day my sister came over with her kids, and being a responsible parent, she DID bring swim diapers.  Which I scoffed at.

“Whatever.  I’ll let my baby run wild and free,” I thought.  Husband, on the other hand, felt differently. So we put her in the swim diaper, which turned out to be the right call.  If we hadn’t, the pool would’ve had to be evacuated due to a turd and my poor parenting choices. 

Lesson learned: There is a reason they make special diapers for the pool.  This is not a difficult concept, unless you're me. I like to learn things the hard way.

P.S.:  Also, I’m THIS CLOSE to using cloth diapers should I ever have another infant.  The only problem with that is I’m chronically behind on my laundry, and don’t see myself as catching up any time soon. And while the obvious solution is to use a diaper cleaning service, in my neck of the woods that would cost more than disposable diapers, because they require you to "rent" fresh diapers of their choice each week.  In addition, which "yuk" factor is worse: laundering dirty diapers myself, or covering my baby's butt with diapers that (although they were cleaned) once resided on another baby's butt?  I await your learned, professional opinions with interest.

This post also appears at Cheesy Bloggers!

14 comments:

Fox in the City said...

I am actually a part of the free and wild club as I let Buddy go diaper free pretty much the entire weekend at the cottage. Now, there was one pooh incident but it was only in his suit, nothing go out, plus my dad had to clean it up so I consider it a "no harm, no foul" event!

Lindsay Schultz said...

I love how you answer the what-if questions for us. Thank you!

Angela@BeggingTheAnswer said...

@Fox in the City - we're spending a weekend at a cabin later this summer. I may try the wild-and-free approach again.

@Lindsay - glad to be of service.

Betty Fokker said...

I used cloths diapers with all three of my babies. Here's the secret ... the poo (if baby is breastfed) dissolves and washes away in the washing machine. So line your diaper pail with a pillow case, then dump the diapers in the washer and toss the pillow case in after. Pre-soak out the poo and then wash with hot water. You don't REALLY have to fold them either. I was always raiding the laundry basket of clean diapers until the pillow case was full again.

Marianna Annadanna said...

This post offends me.

K, not really, but poo is upsetting.

:)

Angela@BeggingTheAnswer said...

@Betty - that is good information to know. The idea of laundering poop stains is very intimidating, but maybe it's not as bad as I thought!

@Marianna - Poo IS upsetting. You're on the right track with this.

Anonymous said...

My wild and free approach ended with my 2 yr old pooing on laundry floor and painting front loading washing machine with it! also ended up in his ear... poo is just not fun!!

Angela@BeggingTheAnswer said...

@Lil - I still haven't figured out why toddlers think poo is a legit art medium.

Maude Lynn said...

Rent a diaper? Really?

Angela@BeggingTheAnswer said...

@Mama Zen - FOR REALS. For $X you get a week's supply of diapers. At the end of the week they come to collect the dirty diapers, and give you your next week's supply.

Stasha said...

I erased all memory of diapers after I potty trained my kid. I am a robot like that. It was the only way for me to move on and live again.

Brandon Duncan said...

TOO funny!

I think we have all been here. When those little swimmers came out, they were better than sliced bread...

Cute story!

Visiting from S30P

Angela@BeggingTheAnswer said...

@Stasha - you give me so much hope for the future!

@Brandon - what did parents do before swim diapers? Use regular diapers and hope for the best, or keep them diaper-free and hope for the best? Either way is a risk.

Suze said...

That's pretty funny! And excellent advice. I'm expecting my first and, thanks to your blog, now understand the importance of swim diapers.

keep the hilarity coming!