Cloth Diapering with Special Needs or Circumstances

Sometimes even though we wish for pefect health in our children, we get dealt another hand. Sometimes our perfectly healthy children hit road blocks and have special circumstances. Whatever the reason, these are potential road blocks and detours on our cloth diapering journeys. But those circumstances don't mean we can't use cloth!

It wasn't until I was pregnant with my second son that I even entertained the thought of using cloth diapers. And it wasn't for any other reason than trying to save money on the cost of diapers. The thought of having two babies in diapers made my single income budget shudder in fear and despair. In retrospect, I'm so thankful for instinct leading me to cloth. You see, my Kili has some special circumstances that pose a diapering challenge. We have no technically named diagnosis, but we know that my almost 3 year old son has the large intestine the size of a grown man. He has no sensations of needing to eliminate, and there is no end in sight. He also has to be on large doses of laxatives to make sure he doesn't develope another blockage. It makes for a lot of poopy diapers, like 12 a day! That's a lot of waste when you're using disposables!! And it makes for a lot of dunking and swishing (don't worry, a diaper sprayer is on my Christmas wish list!) And he'll more than likely continue using diapers for the next 3-5 years.

Kilian isn't the only child with long term diapering needs. There are so many different challenges facing so many children and many of them will be in diapers for the entirety of their lives. Isn't it wonderful that we have an amazingly talented plethora of WAHM's that can design and create diapers for all ages and stages and needs?! And that as a WAHM we can help some of these children who already face challenges have healthier tushes while helping the environment and their parents already strapped pocket books at the same time?

I'll be forthright. When we first learned of Kilians challenges earlier this year, I balked at the thought of using cloth. I hated the thought of that many diaper changes (when in reality it is now less than it was then, 24 poopy diapers a day!), doing that much diaper laundry, essentially being changed to, well, changing diapers. But it's my reality. I have to change that many diapers a day (when you factor in how many his baby brother uses as well). And I have to change them regardless of them being cloth or disposables. But the converting incident was around my tenth diaper of the day (disposable) and finding my poor boy broken out in horrible blisters. In an hour, his skin deteriorated horribly because disposables just can't hold poop explosions like cloth can. And though we're in a better spot financially now than we were 3 years ago when I first decided to use cloth, throwing that much money away just pains me.

I can't speak for all the moms of special needs children. I don't know their stories and I would hate to tell it wrong. I'm just speaking from my heart on our situation and saying that cloth is possible even if you have a 3 year old poop monster, or a 5 year old bedwetter. Now we just need to find more WAHMS to fill the diapering needs of the special needs children.

Do you make big kid diapers, briefs for the older special needs person? There is a great need in the WAHM market for patterns and products geared towards our kids who face challenges. Do you know of another WAHM that does? Leave a comment, leave a link, and maybe some other mothers will be able to find what they need! Thanks  ~ Dustie from Dustie Bottoms