Skip to main content

Diapering in the tropics

For whatever reason, my attention has once again turned to how I'm going to diaper my then newborn son and my then 7 year old special needs daughter in Uganda. Fortunately, Ana is doing great with potty training, so she's hopefully out of the equation when I ponder diapering!

One missionary friend recommended Fuzzi Bunz as they held up great in Kenya so I'm focusing my attention on Fuzzi Bunz brand (which makes extra large diapers special orders and are supposed to be good for special needs). I've also read that Happy Heiny holds up well overseas.

In the heat and humidity, elastic rots away very quickly and rough hand washing techniques ruin velcro quickly. Hemp diapers may last longer?

But I'm still not satisfied with the solutions for growing Gracie. She DOES use the potty, but (unlike last year) I have not been successful at keeping her dry during the day since she doesn't communicate when she has to go. My hope is that Ana can improve my timing and I'll just take Gracie every time Ana goes. My hope is also that with homeschooling we can be more consistent. My final hope is that we will work out a better solution for me getting the increasingly heavy Gracie on the potty and a system to keep her on the potty (as it is, I just hold her on a regular potty seat on the big toilet - she doesn't love it, she prefers the security of the big system that they have at school where she can even be left alone to do her business not limited by mom's fatigue).

Here are some links I've found - please share your comments, whether you diaper in the USA or abroad!

Diapering vs. bare bottom: http://www.gonomad.com/family/0101/brash_diapers.html

Special needs diapering:
http://www.bebewamu.com/category_33/Special-Needs-Youth-Cloth-Products.htm (these are all pull-on rather than snap-on which is preferable for a kid whose legs don't work well)

Patterns for special needs cloth diapers:

Comments

Gina said…
I forget whether I mentioned to you that the newer one-size fuzzi-bunz have fully replaceable elastic... that may be a plus in the tropics.

Also, if you go the sew-your-own route, I'd be happy to do some sewing. Might learn to make my own in the process ;) A source for plastic snaps would probably be a good idea, though.
Ann said…
Hi Abby,

Cloth nappies...
I had second hand Fuzzy Bunz small size for Letitia and they were great! When I'd finished with them they were still okay and so passed them on. So the elastics do seem really good.
I tried Pea Pods (Australian brand) when Letitia moved to M sizse and definitely don't recommend them. They just leak :-(.
I also heard only positive things about Ecobots (I believe they're American) but don't know what they're like for special needs kids.

God luck finding what's right for your family! Praying for you as you prepare!!

Much love,
Ann

Popular posts from this blog

Check out this progress!

A year ago, my friend Rachel http://josiecomehome.blogspot.com/ emailed a photo of her beautiful son standing on his own... I've since dreamed of having a photo to post of Gracie doing the same thing. It was always one of those wild-don't-think-it'll-ever-happen kind of dreams, a romantic, fairy tale type of dream. But this week, Gracie made another leap in development and muscle tone. It started when I leaned her up against the wall and planted her feet a shoulder-width apart. For the first time, she didn't lunge for the safety of my arms or hands, but rather, she allowed herself to stand steadily on her own two feet and she kept her center of gravity centered over her feet instead of wildly in front of her or to one side or the other. She even quickly figured out that she couldn't lurch around in excitement while standing on her own two feet with no support but a wall behind her back, but rather had to express her excitement over this new development with a gentl

Family of Three!

We are in Liberia - the electricity goes in and out because the generator is having trouble keeping up these days! So hopefully it will stay on long enough to post and the internet connection will allow me this luxury! We were united with precious Gracie on Thanksgiving day - I will write more about this later. But, oh! is Gracie a joy! She is so beautiful, so joyfilled, and a bit mischievious. Her physical limitations do not permit her to accomplish much mischief, but we can tell that she is trying to push some limits already. If we were not in love with her already, she is irresitable and such a treasure and blessing from God. In our two days together, she has not cried once. She spends most of her days smiling, she loves to snuggle (good match for us!), and has the most contagious laugh! Life takes more effort for her - her cerebral palsy is moderate and every activity is a challenge and is clearly tiring for her. Meal times (which she loves) take a long time and much patience and d

Amazing girls!

Gracie and Ana have taken to walking around the church together - Ana pushes Gracie's gait trainer as Gracie walks along. Between the two of them, they make a pretty efficient team (except for the steering part!). They love it and could do it for hours! Gracie has made amazing strides (no pun intended) in standing up - we'll get some video up soon of her standing, supporting herself ONLY with her right hand (her otherwise useless hand) - it's amazing! We didn't dream that we'd see her looking this strong and steady. Plus, now she's smiling and her little heart isn't pounding out of her chest with stress at the thought of standing up without human contact - God is SO good! Gracie went to music camp this summer at the Y which was somewhat fun for her, but definitely good to have her around other kids.