The Blowout Blog: A Debate of Doo Doo Pooportions

What diapers handle blow-outs better: CLOTH or DISPOSABLE?

I'm sure by now, we've all seen this commercial. I've heard some pretty interesting comments about it from several people, including my mother. And like her, I am a little bit grossed out by watching this. At first, yes, it is very funny. But then you realize exactly what's filling those diapers...then, you think back to the last blowout you had to clean up....then you remember all the poop everywhere. You had to clean poop from nooks and crannies that you never even knew existed on your little bundle of joy. Then, and only then, do you think about this commercial and maybe get just a little bit queasy!

Since I am a CD'er 99% of the time*, I'm not sure how well these Luvs actually work and I don't want to purchase them for fear that the chemicals in them may just suck the life out of my son making him baby jerky. OK, that probably won't happen but have you ever really wondered what kind of magic chemicals go into absorbing THAT much poo and pee??? I'm not real comfortable putting that next to my baby's skin.

*To clarify on my disposable usage, we use the ones that are given to us for vacations and longer stays away from home and if we have to purchase them we buy the expensive natural kind...which aren't that good at catching blow-outs in our experience.

Back to Blowouts... Lindsey and I use several different brands/styles of CD's and here's a list from best to worst on how well they've worked for us (knowing that all babies are different, these results are from our experience):

1. 
   
   FuzziBunz One Size


2. 
   
   BumGenius 3.0 Fitted (Small so far)


3. 
   
   Tots Bots EASY FIT One Piece One Size Pocket Diaper


4. 
   
   BumGenius 4.0 One Size


5. 
   
   Prefolds with Thirsties Diaper Covers


6. 
   
   GroVia All In One

Again, let me say that these are from our experience and with our baby's poop and pee. You may or may not have had similar experiences. The one that really confuses us is the GroVia, we're not sure why it's not holding in as well???? We've stripped the diaper, we've asked for help at the local CD store, we've tried everything. I don't want to put all the blame on the diaper, so we'll take some of the blame (the same goes for the prefolds and covers....I'm sure we're doing something incorrect). With that being said, this is our list. Take it or leave it, but please comment on it!!! :)

Of all the diapers you use, how would you rank them? I'm curious to know if there are any similarities or differences? For one, Nathan poops off to the side most of the time and on rare occasion, it wraps all the way around the front above his manhood. Another is I am not sure how tight to make the diaper. I feel bad when it pushes in on his stomach too hard. But again, what experience do you have?

Oh yeah, I almost forgot about disposable diapers. If I had to rank them, I'd put them right along with the prefolds and diaper covers. When Nate has a blowout there always seems to be poop coming out of the legs or up the back. We've not seen that with the FB's yet (knock on wood). Like I said earlier, we haven't tried the new Luvs so I can't give you a completely fair assessment of disposables. But I still don't think they'd be a match for the FB's.

One thing we have done with our diapers is add in hemp inserts. This has been a huge help in the battle against blowout. The hemp, although slow at absorbing, in combination with another insert (microfiber, cotton, etc) proves to help with keeping the mess at hand. Yes, it adds some extra weight and bulk, but not nearly as much as doubling up on the inserts. We found a great deal on 10 of them used on eBay! If you use cloth and don't have hemp....get some! If you don't use cloth....start to!

Please, please, please commend on this post. I'd really like to know what is working and what isn't for other people. I also want to know if anyone has any suggestions on the GroVia....it can't be that bad, can it?

As always, thanks for reading!

Dan the Diapering Dad!