poop explosions with prefolds

[mmaimp]

Help!!!!

I've been using mostly prefolds with covers for daytime for Andrew. He usually only poops every couple of days and they are huge BF poos. We usually have blow outs with sposies and was hoping that would change with cloth but not yet. I'm using a sidewall (Jellyroll) fold and a prorap or litewrap cover.

What am I doing wrong? Is there a better fold to contain BF poo?

How can I get rid of the stains on the covers?

Thank you!!!

[mudder17]

Okay, let's see...can I assume you've been snappi'ing? I found that if I did the angel or newspaper fold, snappi'd it firmly, and then adjusted to leg gussets, the poop was usually contained. Both litewraps and proraps worked just fine (bummis did not). However, I did notice that when Kaya started outgrowing the preemies, and then later when she started outgrowing the infants, I would get more leakage and would size up.

If you go to http://www.dy-dee.com/html/Folding/folding.html, you'll see some diagrams of the various folds.

For getting rid of the stains on the cover, I found rinsing off as much as possible right away and then spraying them with spray and wash (most people here seem to use Zout) seemed to help.

Good luck!

Eileen

Mother of Beautiful Kaya, www.chemicalgraphics.com/kaya
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http://www.gynosaur.com/assets/ribbons/ribbon_gold_12m.gif , 14 months & counting
Kaya's cousin, due October 9th!!!

[tarahsolazy]

Are you getting blow-outs onto his clothes, or just the covers? I was never able to completely avoid poo on the covers, but I never had trouble with poo on clothes. I used the angel wing fold, but the jellyroll fold should be even better. I just let the stains come out gradually, or laid the covers in the sun for a few hours, even on a windowsill inside. Works great.

[ktshea]

Hi! I don't have much in the way of advice -- just wanted to say I feel your pain. It didn't matter what fold we used, DD could blow her way out of anything. I probably would have given up the ghost and switched to disposables, but she'd blow out the back AND sides of those. With cloth it was usually one or the other. I got pretty sick of stain-treating her clothes. Let's see... your covers have gussets, so that's good. Have you tried changing folds? At different stages we used different folds. When one would stop working we'd just switch and I'd have to teach DH a new way to fold. :) We did the jellyroll, the newspaper and the bikini twist with some degree of success at different times. Also, like pp said, it may be time to size up the dipes. When we consistently had blowouts in the back I bought the next size of prefolds. Since doing this we've been *virtually* blowout free. Finally, are your covers completely covering the diaper? I've found I have more leaks when I forget to tuck everything in.

As for the stains on the covers -- I do a cold water prewash before a hot water wash with Tide and that mostly takes care of it for me. Hope this helps -- good luck!

[DebbieJ]

My favorite fold for boys:

http://www.butterbeanbabies.com/store/piclink.asp?pageID=HowtoFold

~ deb
DS 12/03
And a niece or nephew arriving in early August!

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[mommyj_2]

I agree with the PP that you might need to size up. My DS went through an explosive poo stage where he always got poo on his covers. I figured that was better than getting it on his clothes, though. Do you have a mini-shower? If you spray the poo off the covers right away with the mino-shower, that helps a lot in preventing stains.

[MMEand1]

I have never tried the jellyroll fold on my DD, so I really don't know how it would hold up to her poop, either. My DH uses the bikini fold, but always has poop on the cover (contained, but out of the diaper). I have modified the angelwing fold (or is it the newspaper fold...they are both so similar it is hard for me to remember which is which!!). I fold the back over a bit so it is not big and bunchy (is that a word??) up front. Then I bring it up in-between her legs and spread out the two ends that normally touch each other and snappi it. I find that my diapers have a lot fewer leaks than the bikini, but since my DH is comfortable with the bikini and he does most of the laundry, I really don't care how he folds them!!

As far as stains on the covers, well, mine are not really stained. Are you talking about the areas in the leg gussets? I think someone mentioned that they got an old toothbrush and scrubbed that area before washing. I don't really bother with it that much.

I hope you get it figured out. I know when I first started I felt like a failure because it seemed that every diaper was a blow-out. Now, as long as the cover contains it, I am okay with a little poop on the outside of the PF. Good luck!

Mariah P.

[mmaimp]

Thanks for all the responses! The prefolds I'm using are 13x17. Do I need larger? Andrew is a Big baby at 17 lbs and 26 inches at 3 months. I am using a snapi for the jelly roll fold but maybe not pulling the it tight enough. These are the directions I'm following but this seems to be very, very snug.http://www.littleturtleknits.com/sidewallpf.htm Do I need to pull the diaper that tight? I think it would leave marks.

Today we had a blow out on his clothes from the sides. The cover was full of poo too. I washed everything right after I gave Andrew a bath because there was poo everywhere! I sprayed the cover with shout gel and washed it twice but it still looks pretty bad. I'll have to try the sun. I don't remember Anthony's poo staining as much as Andrews. Because he only goes every few days the volume is amazing! He does have blowouts with sposies too.

I'll try that new fold that Deb posted. I was really hoping that CD would help this issue. I think I need a prefold lesson like Rashmi gave Helene.

[mommyj_2]

With my DS, I found it was both the snug-ness of the prefold, as well as how well I had made the gussets to catch the poo. So, the dipe doesn't need to be really snug. I also had better luck with whisper pants containing poo leaks that with wraps. They were more disgusting to take off, since they're pull on, but they seemed to do a better job of containing poo....but that also probably depends on the build of your baby.
Do you have a mini-shower? That helped prevent stains for us better than anything else.
Also, you could always just accept that you might have stained covers for a while, but that the explosive poo stage is just a stage, and it will pass :)
Good luck, mama!
Where are you located? Maybe one of us lives nearby and could give you a PF folding lesson.

[mmaimp]

When I told my husband this afternoon about the blow out he was impressed that only one leg leaked and nothing up the back. So I guess it's just perspective!

I don't have a mini shower. Maybe I'll look into one. I live in Delaware, close to Philadelphia. I will probably perfect my folding technique in time for solids and then I will need a different fold!

[mommyj_2]

Hmmmm...I'm nowhere near you, but maybe someone else is. Good luck!