While riding the bus today I overheard a couple of young women who have young babies talking about diapers. One was talking about how easy the diapers today are to use. She mentioned that her mom had a diaper service for a year when her and her sister were first born. That was about 30 or more years ago when cloth diapers were all the rage. She explained how odd it was that diaper pins were used instead of Velcro. Her friend pointed out that Velcro probably wasn’t invented them. She replied, “They should have used tape then.”
My daughter Jamie just turned 42 on August 1, 2009. From my experience, cloth diapers with diaper pins were still the rage and mostly the only choice for her. You had regular diapers for daytime and heavy ones for nighttime. The diaper pail, even if you kept up with the laundry, still had that hint of ammonia smell. Folding diapers was a daily chore. The girl babies were folded a certain way to pad up the middle, while the boy babies had the bulk in the front. Rubber pants were snapped over the cloth diaper to keep everything in tack. I don’t remember Velcro being invented at that time nor were post-it notes or other snazzy adhesive products. It was mucilage and rubber cement for glue and snaps, buttons and elastic for fit. Scotch tape was just plan old cellophane crinkle tape with no special qualities that made it see through or double sided.
Paper diapers were invented about the time Jamie needed diapers in 1967, however due to the cost we only used them infrequently if we were going out for the day. At age two, when she was at daycare, I probably had to provide paper diapers as I can’t remember carrying home any wet cloth diapers. The paper diapers were different than what is used today. The paper was a thick strip of material that was laid into a plastic panty that snapped on.
By the time John came along in 1975, I still had a diaper pail in the nursery and used some of the same cloth diapers from Jamie. Old habits die slowly. We also used paper diapers more frequently. They had really improved and were in one piece with easy open sticky tape for a better fit.
In 2009, my little Granddaughter Anya uses paper diapers only. They are form fitting, collect all that is needed so no spills escape from the elastic legs.
Anya’s mom Rachel is sure missing a treat to use the old diapers as dishcloths or rags. That was really great sturdy fabric.