u/b5_Kosh

How important is diaper free time? Do I NEED to do it? My little one is almost a year and frankly we haven't done much. Baby hates baths and being in the tub so we try to get them over with ASAP. Sometimes we do like 15 minutes in the morning after baby pees and before we get going with our day.

Our home (and lives for that matter) don't really have a good way to do diaper free time. Baby was on the later end for crawling and isn't walking yet but theres still time withing the "average" window.

We use mainly esembly diapers so that should give you an idea of bulk. We do disposables at night.

Do you do diaper free time? Do you believe it's totally nessecary or more of a helpful thing to do if you can?

Thanks in advance. I know I'm late to asking this question and would really appreciate kind input.

I read someone on hear say that there is a such thing as a "normal ammonia" smell. Specially, the person said that any wet diapers sitting in a wet bag for 3 days will have an ammonia smell even if the wash routine is sound. Is this something that everyone believes or is it not the case?

I'm debating on swapping completly away from wet bags to a tall plastic bin with holes. We do EC so I rarely have poopy diapers and when we do I plop, rinse, and hang them in the bathroom. My biggest draw back to swapping to a hole filled basket is that I'll have to totally rearrange my diaper set up. Our home is packed as it is so this is not something I want to do but if the ammonia isnt normal then I think it might be a good call.

I feel my wash routine is sound but the ammonia smell has me worried:

I have a top loader with an agitator and add extra agitators to the wash. We have soft water. I add tide free and gentle powder to both washes

1st wash heavy, warm, cottens setting.

2nd wash heavy, hot, whites setting.

Occasionally Ill do a cold bleach cycle between these two washes.I throw in towels to bulk up the secpund wash too.

My diapers only stink after sitting sealed for a few days. After 2 days there is sometimes a smell and 3 or 4 days there is pretty much always one. Airing them does seem to prevent stink but i worry about it long term because I live in an extremely humid area. Our dehumidifier can only do so much to fight it.

Please let me know your thoughts. Is my routine not sound or do I need to figure out how to air out my diapers?

This may be a dumb question but I figured it couldn't hurt to ask.

I, like many others, saw the circulating videos online thay you shouldn't life baby's ankles to change a diaper. I did also see pediatricians talking about it and saying that so long as you aren't lifting with excessive force or at extreme angles that it isn't harmful to the baby's hip development.

We've been doing EC for several months now and I hold my 10m old over the sink or potty in a deep squat. The deep squat helps him work stuff out faster. Peeing usually goes fast but it can take us a while (maybe 20 minutes on the upper end) to work out a poop. Baby will be grunting and pushing on and off the whole time. He's started having firmer poops as he eats more. Usually it doesn't take super long to work them out but it depends on what food he eats and how much water he drinks. I try to offer balanced meals good fiber and offer him water regularly. He usually poops once a day but sometimes (maybe once a week) skips a day.

Is holding him in a deep squat for a long period of time bad for his hips? He gets fussy sometimes and wants to do something else but I don't believe he's felt uncomfortable. I keep an eye on his legs and try to hold them evenly so the circulation doesnt get cut off. This is a secondary question but do you think this is a normal amount/normal time frame for pooping? I feel like he should drink more water and I worry sometimes that he is constipated when it takes a while to work the poop out. He is still breastfeeding as well.

Thank you in advance for your help!

I had a questionable wash routine (a loved one did it for me and didn't add agitators and took a got shower during the secound cycle). When I put my nose in the clean diapers I can smell detergent. Do I need to strip them? Can I use them now and strip them with the next wash? The smell is only there if i stick my nose in them.

How do you go about stripping them? Do you just do a regular warm cycle with no detergent or a heavy hot one?