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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.
5:06 PM
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
5:23 PM
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