The first time I ever changed a baby's diaper was in 1957. The baby was my little sister, Diane. I felt so grown up and privileged; I had arrived to a place of responsibility and trust. After a couple of months of practicing with the diapers and clothes, I graduated to the task of giving her a bath (in the kitchen sink). Mama trusted me to poke the giant safety pin only through the diaper and get it closed properly, no matter that the baby was wiggling and kicking and trying to turn over. If there was going to be any blood, it better be from my finger and not from any part of the baby's anatomy. And no matter that in the kitchen sink she was slippery and active as a happy eel, her face better not go under. I was very careful not to breach that trust.
The diaper pail, on the other hand, has not ever been a pleasant thing. In our house in 1957 it was a metal pot with a metal lid. I think Mama put a little Pine Sol and a few inches of water in the bottom of it to take the edge off the ammonia smell that built up as wet diapers were deposited there. Soiled diapers were rinsed out immediately, but even so the pail would fill quickly and have to be emptied into a larger covered receptacle out in the attached garage by the washing machine a couple of times a day, and once they were laundered they had to be hung out on the clothesline to dry. That was usually my job, especially in the summer. I remember braving the hot summer sun on 100+ degree days in Delano to hang out diapers. The first diaper hung on the line was usually dry by the time I hung the last one.
When Diane was six months old, we did a road trip to Oregon to visit relatives, and Mama used disposable diapers for that trip. They were fairly large rectangles of plastic, covered with a thin layer of absorbent fibers of some kind. You still had to pin them in place with diaper pins. They were okay for the road trip, but would have been awful for every day use.
Twelve years later, 1969, I had my first daughter Rachel. I used a diaper service for a short time after she was born. We lived in a trailer park and I only did our laundry once a week, driving to a laundromat. I didn't want soiled diapers piling up that long. We found the diaper service to be less than satisfactory, so I began to use disposable diapers, which had evolved to a plastic side-snap pantie with pockets front and back to hold absorbent pads. I continued to use them until Rachel was about two years old and potty-trained.
Disposable diapers were expensive. By the time I had my son, Jon, six years later, I had a washer and dryer, and used cloth diapers. When Beth was born seven years later, and disposable diapers had become a bit less expensive (comparatively), I used both cloth and disposables.
I recently visited Beth in Oregon, and babysat her six-month-old son Martyn for a couple of days while Beth and hubby Eli were working. Now she uses cloth diapers because, as she says, "I like them... they're way better for the baby." That surprises me a little, but I like the diaper covers which are not like plastic panties to keep everyone else dry, but which "breathe" a bit. I suppose it's the new thing with this new generation, and I agree it's better for the environment. They have little "T" shaped, stretchy clamps that will not stick the baby but holds everything firmly in place until the adult removes it. I applaud this "cool" invention.
So diapers as well as other baby-related items have come full circle in just two generations. I remember visiting with an elderly Eskimo woman in Mountain Village, Alaska, who told me, "Before disposable diapers, we made seal skin panties and filled them with soft moss... We changed the moss when it was soiled..." That was fine for cold places (and believe me it was cold when I was in Mountain Village, Alaska) but I'm sure mothers in the deserts or jungles throughout the ages found ways to keep their infants relatively dry and clean.
There may be "new" inventions and improvements as time goes by. There may be "new and improved" baby diapers, toys, car seats (I don't think we ever had one of those for Diane), and high chairs. It's good to take advantage of new ideas if they are good ideas. Just keep in mind the basic and most important thing: provide for the baby to grow and learn and experience life and love. Food, toys, clothes and even diapers are all necessary provisions for taking care of babies, but the most important provision is love.
This I recall to my mind, therefore I have hope.
Through the Lord’s mercies we are not consumed,
because His compassions fail not.
They are new every morning;
great is Your faithfulness.
"The Lord is my portion," says my soul,
"Therefore I hope in Him!"
Mom.You are so cool. I love you.
ReplyDeleteSister, you are so cool. I love you...
ReplyDelete