Endora

OMG... the old wringer washing machines! I so remember!

Helped my mom with the care of baby siblings being the oldest, and remember helping her wash diapers in her wringer washing machine. Occasionally a pair of rubber pants would explode when accidentally fed into the rollers the wrong way. Boy, did they ever make a loud bang when they popped!

Endora

Cloth here, too, always.

I was a fulltime stay-at-home mom, so good old diapers were the way.

Do remember a neighbour that used disposables, and her kids always had red, sore bottoms.

Endora

Diaper liners, yes, I remember them.

I used diaper liners (flushable ones) for the first handful of weeks after each of my babies were born. Being able to unpin a dirty diaper, rollup the diaper liner and flush it, made for easy cleanup, especially during those early meconium poop days.

Found that once my kids were up and mobile (crawling and toddling), the diaper liners never stayed put. I'd lay a liner inside the diaper, pin-fasten the diaper, put on the rubber pants, and the kid was off, and when I'd check them for wetness an hour later, the diaper liner would be sitting in a rolled up, bunched-up ball inside the bottom of their diapers, but do remember adding a liner for nighttime occasionally if one of my kids had the start of a diaper rash or irritated bottom.

With my baby siblings they had plain old white vinyl pull-on pants, which we always called - "rubber pants".

As for drying, I used a clothesline, too. I remember the long row of diapers and rubber pants that stretched from back porch, all the way out to the far corner clothesline post in our backyard. Back then all of the neighbourhood moms had diapers drying on their clotheslines.

Endora

Remember double diapering? Did everyone double diaper?

I did, daytime and nighttime, even remember triple diapering occasionally.

What about babysitting? Did everyone babysit growing up? Do you remember your babysitting rate?

I made a whopping .25¢ an hour when I first started babysitting, and by my senior high-school years I was making .50¢ an hour. And yes, everyone used cloth diapers and rubber pants back then.

Endora

Must say how much I appreciated having that stack of diapers and rubber pants at my disposal 24/7, when my kids were little.

Being able to reach for a freshly laundered diaper at change-time no matter what time of night or day was a blessing. No emergency runs to the store for Pampers, no ongoing expense, and nothing beat seeing my kids do the bulky double diaper waddle!

I can still hear the plastic rustling sound of those old rubber pants at change-time, and when my kids would crawl and toddle around the house. Swish, swish, swish...

bearisgray

I also used cloth diapers ( 1961 -1969) and had a wringer washing machine and no dryer. We survived. DH actually was a better pinner than I was.

sure glad that i had access to disposables for periods. My mom mentioned having to wash out her "rags" when she was young.
probably not that much grosser than rinsing poop diapers.

Wonder what people did before cloth and disposables?

Endora

Oh yes... disposable for pads.

As for diapers in the past (way back), I, too, have often wondered about that.

I am so grateful that rubber pants were around when I was diapering, otherwise the thought of using straight plain old cloth diapers like in the olden days would have pushed me to use Pampers.

Quiltwoman44

from what I keep reading, not many children are using diapers nor taught to use the toilet. Teachers are not happy with this new way of raising children. I was so happy for diaper service. Now, with all the trash problems all over the world, we need more biodegradable things.

Endora

Toilet training definitely isn't what it used to be.

I do not, and will never understand a child entering the school system who is not fully trained. Society and the world we live in has lost so much ground.

bearisgray

At tthe other end ot the road, adult incontinence is a big bother and inconvenience. Any way of overcoming it?

The connection to disposable diapers is disposable urine and feces catchers for adults. Do you think we should figureout a way to get/make/use cloth for adults instead of disposables?