So you've figured out a solid wash routine for your stash. Everything's going great, and then, dread of dread, your baby starts solids.
For the first few months of your baby's life,whether they're fed formula or breastmilk, the poop they produce is completely water soluble. (Some will argue that formula poop is not water soluble, and some formulas produce poop which isn't, but if you have a solid wash routine, it should be able to deal with most standard formulas.) Those diapers can be thrown in the pail as-is (though meconium poop may stain).
But once your baby is eating solids, you have to remove the poop in some fashion, or your home washer won't be able to fully clean your diapers. Cloth diapering parents have come up with a few different methods.
The Sprayer
By far the most frequently used is a cloth diaper sprayer, which is a hose which attaches directly to the water input on your toilet. Easy to install, and good at removing even the most stubborn waste, it's not hard to see why people swear by them. They have two main drawbacks: they sometimes leak (usually fresh O rings will fix this), and sometimes the angle or pressure of the spray leads to spraying poopy water on the floor, or worse yet, yourself. To deal with the later issue, many parents choose to use a spray guard, a sheet of plastic the diaper is placed in before spraying.
The Spatula
Some cloth parents swear by a dedicated poop spatula. This is just a kitchen spatula which sits next to the toilet and can be used to scrape poop off of the diaper and into the toilet.
The Liner
Liners come in two types: disposable and fleece. Disposable liners are placed on top of the diaper, and thrown away every change. They should not be flushed, even though some will call themselves flushable.
Fleece liners are placed on top of the diaper as well, and are reusable. Most parents will reuse them until there's a messy poop, at which point they throw them in the trash. Some brands sell them, but most parents choose to make their own.
The Dunk and Swish
For this method, the diaper is placed into the toilet bowl water and swished around while the toilet is flushing to dislodge the majority of the soil. This is low fuss, but can give less than stellar results for stickier poops.
The Diaper Service
One of the big perks of using a service is that you don't have to deal with messy poop at all. If the poop is "plopable" we ask that you drop it into the toilet, otherwise just throw the diaper into the diaper pail and let us take care of it. That's it!
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