Was just thinking about the old plastic diaper pails with the little round tops on the lid that you'd pry off and drop in a diaper pail deodorant disk inside, then snap the little round plastic top back down on the lid to lock it in.

I never used deodorant disks, just baking soda and a little borax from time to time, and I didn't wet-pail either, as the weight was too much for me (as it was) when it came to lugging the pail down and up the basement stairs on diaper wash day.

I also remember the old pinked-edge flannelette diapers, which were terrible... always fraying and unravelling over time. I was happy when the maker of the cotton diapers I used went to selvedge diapers. No more fraying and unravelling of the fabric.

Cloth Diapers for two and rubber panties to cover the diapers. Boy, had to keep them dry or they would
burn. I couldn't stand wet stuff like that. That was in the 50's. Wow!

Yep, rubber panties, the whole nine yards. Lasted right up to the late 80's in my home. With my oldest I remember using both white and pastel rubber pants (1978), and with the others born in the 80's, plain white rubber pants.

Used diaper liners, too, though not for long... mostly for the first few weeks after birth. Cleaning diapers was made easier with diaper liners, because I could roll-up the dirty liner, flush it, and toss the diaper into the pail (no rinsing).

We checked and changed our babies more when they wore cloth diapers with rubber pants. Mothers today buy into all the commercials on television, where you can leave your child in the same diaper for 12 hours.

I used both but mostly disposables. Two of my boys were in diapers for a couple of years together. I actually prefer cloth though, especially thinking about all the waste involved.

I always preferred cloth, too. With me however, it wasn't so much about curbing waste or economics, as it was about diapering the old-fashioned way. I just always liked using cloth diapers.

Question for all. Did everyone jump into diaper changing as newbies after having their first baby, or did others (like myself) have previous experience changing diapers?

I grew up changing baby siblings (and babysitting)... cloth diapers both at home - and at the homes where I babysat, so I knew my way around a diaper pail long before my first was born.

knew my way too. started to change diapers at age 8. My sister came home, and about a week after, I learned how to do it. did the rubber pants and the whole schmozzle! When my son was born, we did disposable. back then it was the thing to do. I don't recall ever getting or seeing a diaper service around my block. when my sis was small. I remember seeing General Diaper Service all over town, with the General on the side.

I would have been around age 8, too, Lynnie, when I started diapering, and it was rubber pants and the whole shemozzle in our house, too. Mom took care of the rinsing. Youngest sibling was still in diapers when I was in my early teens, though by that point I was babysitting outside the home for neighbours. Cloth diapers and rubber pants at those homes, too.

Yes, I remember diaper service trucks, too, though all the moms I knew laundered their own diapers, at least those in and around our neighbourhood did. Everyone's clothesline boasted diapers.