Where do YOU put the poo?

Carla - posted on 02/11/2010

I run an in home child care, and deal with alot of poo! I too, dump solid poo into the toliet, and flush, and only the looser stuff gets to stay in the diaper, which I subsequently take to the outside trash as I have too much poo to deal with that odor inside my child care room. It is also a valuable tool to train a child when they are old enough to begin. You dump the poo in the toliet, say poo goes in potty, and have the child flush it away. Some children have anxiety of their poo being flushed away, so since they have been doing this since day one, it seems to leave them unaffected and they learn to poo on the potty when they are ready just fine!

Juanita - posted on 02/11/2010

Yes, I put it in the toilet, but if you can't get it off easily and you're using cloth, then you'll have to rinse the rest off in the sink before washing it.

Jane - posted on 02/10/2010

if i'm home, it goes in the toilet. if i'm out at the park or in a mall or in the car, it goes in the diaper.

Lisa - posted on 02/10/2010

In the toilet. The water districts know how to break down the waste. Also, remember that if your baby is getting booster shots there are some people that would be adversely affected (compromised immune systems from cancer treatments, etc.) so putting them into the trash with poop just doesn't sound right. If you DO use cloth diapers (I did both) then as long as you put it directly into the pail it will also be treated. I know it's gross, but I think it's the right thing to do!

Nancy - posted on 02/03/2010

I would say it's up to you. If you want to place the poo in the toilet. Myself I would put it in the toliet. I have not heard of any diaper manufacturers or anyone stating that it has to go into the toliet.

Carolyn - posted on 02/03/2010

I am a Mother of five, Grandmother of ten, Great-Grandmother of one and have cared for many Children in my home over the years and when possible I flush the poo! No way I want that in the trash. Just mt opinion ladies.
C. Tripp

Katie - posted on 02/02/2010

Hey Melissa, I would recommend getting prefolds and covers. They're easy to use, easy to care for, and very cost effective! :) And then the switch doesn't have to be so gradual either. You can start CDing full time right away if you want to.

On another note, I haven't had my period for over 22 months now. Wow, I didn't even realize it had been that long until now (I just counted haha). Anyways, when mine comes back I plan to use the Diva cup as well. And for my light days, reusable panty liners. So I guess my response to Sharon would be, "Me! I'm giving up my bleached tampons and feminine pads! And I think more women should consider making the switch."

Melissa - posted on 02/02/2010

Shanon Grey, Oh. Dear. God. The visual of a field of poo, littered w/tampons is enough to make my hurl my lunch. And switch to the diva cup..when I get my period back. lol (happily free of AF here for 21 months..Woo Woot) ;)

Melissa - posted on 02/02/2010

Oh, forgot to mention, I almost always dumped my kidlet's poo into the toilet (I've never used cloth diapers, BUT have wanted to switch to CDing since a couple of months after my 1 yr old was born..I'm going to start the gradual process of switching over. (Getting a few at a time due to initial expense..so if any of you have suggestions on where to buy, I'd love some feedback!)

There are times that the poo stays in the diaper (when it's inbedded in the diaper as in breastmilk poo--(Only 1 of my 5 babies was formula-fed & YES, I did dump her poo into the toilet..there was no way I'd ever leave that in a trash can IN or NEAR my house..lol)

Anyways..if I'm at home, after I've changed the baby, it's easy to put the poo in the pot, flush, wash hands, & be on our merry way. I haven't done it as much this time around though as my daughter hasn't had solid enough poo to do so, until this past week!

Melissa - posted on 02/02/2010

We do flush our dog's mess..ALWAYS if he's had an accident in the house (but not always if he goes outside..if we pick it up from our own yard..then yes, at times..but I don't bring the mess bag all the way open just to open it & flush.

Valerie - posted on 02/02/2010

i've used cloth and dumped in toilet when my girls were infants and I have dumped in toilet when i had disposable if it is solid enough dump it

Susan - posted on 02/02/2010

Whatever you do, don't flush the diaper wipes or anything else like them. Yes, the package says "flushable" but if you have ever had a toilet backup, you will realize how quickly the can clog the pipes. And if you live in an area with septic tanks, be even more careful about what you let go down the sink and toilet. It all ends up in the groundwater not to mention your septic system.

Melissa - posted on 02/01/2010

We do EC so poops go in the toilet when we catch it for the potty or I clean them from my cloth diapers also. When I do use disposables, I do put it in the toilet unless its not solid enough to dump easily.

Kristina - posted on 02/01/2010

Toilet is the place to put the waste. I do cloth and disposable
but I understand the that not everyone does so. If we think about
it though much more of a green choice to use the toilet than for
our landfills to be piled with more unnecessary trash.

Katie - posted on 02/01/2010

Shawny, I'm just curious about what you mean when you say you say, "...sacrificing my childrens comfort..." ?

Do you think that cloth diapers are less comfortable than disposables? Would you rather wear plastic underwear or cotton underwear?

KIYONDA - posted on 01/31/2010

YOU PUT IN THE OUT SIDE TRASH AND IF YOU DONT HAVE TIME LIKE IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT WRAP IN UP IN A PLASTIS BAG AND TRASH IT OUT SIDE IN THE MORNING

Charlene - posted on 01/31/2010

I have never heard of people putting poo from a disposable diaper in the toilet, only for cloth diapers...

I just do like Iysha does, put the used wipes in the middle of the diaper, roll it up as tight as possible and toss it into the diaper genie. Even if I wanted to dump her poo in the toilet, my daughter is only 6 months and still has mushy/sticky poo.



Cloth diapers is one thing I don't think I could do. Props to the moms that do.. it's just not for me.



I, like Sharon and others who have mentioned it am not too concerned about my carbon footprint when it comes to diapers as I reduce it in other ways. Like only using cold water when washing clothes, short showers, dishwasher is only used once or twice a week on energy saving mode at full capacity, lights and appliances are turned off when not in use, I drive a fuel efficient car, take the bus whenever possible etc.

Shawny - posted on 01/31/2010

I have an adopted son who is 2yrs and a daughter who is just 5 months younger. Im a full time working mother of these two babies and I have a million things going on. I would rather provide my kids with a healthy meal and just throw the damn diapers in the trash. We recycle in other ways, sacrificing my childrens comfort & my sanity isnt one of them.

Jessica - posted on 01/31/2010

I always put the "poo" in the toilet after my boys got bigger and the waste was more solid. Plus I thought it was good for them to learn where the waste went so that when we started potty training they wouldn't be scared of the toilet.

Amy - posted on 01/31/2010

Mine goes in the trash (diaper genie)!! But, I use disposable diapers. If I were using cloth, of course it would go into the toilet. I wouldn't just drop poo in my trash can! Who would do that? I believe that is what you are SUPPOSED to do when using cloth diapers! BTW, kudos to you mom's who do use cloth diapers.

Alisa - posted on 01/31/2010

In the toilet! I used a combination of cloth and Elimination Communication with mine. It never occurred to me to put in anywhere else than in the toilet.

Melissa - posted on 01/31/2010

Hey Sharon, I just made it myself (am into reusing things as much as possible) it is a really simple one I just raised 3 old car tyres off the ground with two concrete blocks. used a mesh at the bottom of the tyres to stop anything but the tea getting out into a tray that is slid underneath, then you just layer it like you would normal compost but add your dog poo too - I also have a lid (piece of wood) on top - I then just added some worms - tiger worms are good, and they love it, I have heard that you can take normally feed worms and put them into dog poo compost but not the other way round... hope that helps :)

Kelly - posted on 01/30/2010

When my kids started solids - I put the 'poo' in the toilet. In saying that if I was out and about and had to do a nappy change (in a public toilet) I would put the nappy in a nappy bag and put in the bin provided. At the end of the day - you just do what you know is right for you:)

Elena - posted on 01/30/2010

We use mainly cloth diapers, but some disposables. I always flush when she goes in cloth (we use flushable liners, which make it easy), but only sometimes flush when she goes in disposables (depending on solidity). I flush my cat's poo, but not my dog's...can't imagine carrying around a bag of dog poo for a whole walk and then flushing it! I understand not putting poo in the trash, but maybe the bugs that eat it would help the rate of decomposition?

Iysha - posted on 01/30/2010

I get the diapie, put the wipes I used in the middle of the diapie, roll it into a little ball and stick the tabs to tighten and close the diapie (so poop and dirty wipes won't fall out) then throw it into the garbage. If I'm out and there isn't a nearby garbage I put it one of those little baggies that have oder blockers and keep it in the car, stroller, diaper bag until I can find a garbage can. I have never heard of a law stating the poop must be put into the toilet and not left in diapers. It never occurred to me to flush the poop. lol =]

Sharon - posted on 01/30/2010

Melissa - did you buy a pet waste compost system or did you devise one yourself?

if you bought one, which one did you buy?

if you devised one yourself - what did you use?

Krista - posted on 01/30/2010

Right now it's not really possible to even GET poo out of my baby's disposable diapers, as it isn't even close to being solid. So the whole diaper gets rolled up into a ball and tossed in the garbage bin. I feel a little bit bad for not using cloth, and might go in that direction someday, but I do recycle and compost most everything (our county has a very strict recycling program), so not counting the diapers, our family of three only produces one kitchen-sized garbage bag of garbage a week, on average. So no, I'm not doing everything I should be, but at least I'm doing something.

Kristin - posted on 01/30/2010

Oh Teresa - That would be hard! Much more difficult living in that type of arrangement with poopy diapers to deal with!!! An idea: Do you have a deck you could leave them on until you're on your way out (especially in winter when they would freeze!)? I understand!!

Teresa - posted on 01/30/2010

Kristin, I think it was... sure, if you'd like to come take the poopy diaper downstairs and throw it in the dumpster for me every day. ;) Otherwise... it's not worth the hassle for me to worry about it... or smell it til I get it in the dumpster myself.

Melissa - posted on 01/30/2010

Interesting reading??? i don't have the answer, we use both reusable and disposable nappies, the disposables are definately convienient especially as our son sleeps for so long, but it leave me with a guilty conscience... I know there are energy concerns with cloth nappies, but we live in a tiny island country with only so much room for landfills - so I think it is a tradeoff? whats more important limiting landfill waste or conserving energy? - there are a few particulary interesting comments? one about not wanting to wash nappies in machine? I personally scrub all poo nappies so theres no poo on them, i also soak them first and never wash anything else with them, i also use a drop of tea tree in the wash to kill any germs and sanatise my machine. Someone else mentioned that they didn't care about their carbon footprint with Industry making such a mess of things - Yes I agree, but imagine if everyone felt defeated like that and never did anything and continued consuming out of control then things would really be a mess... if everyone does something environmentally friendly in their everyday lives it would make a difference - it doesn't mean you have to use cloth nappies, but compromise - use disposables but do something else to off set it? Oh and I liked the comment about pet waste!!! I can't remember the statistics but the amount of dog poo in bags sent to Landfill is enormous.... I have just made a special dog poo compost in my yard - it doesn't smell, and the tea produced by the worms is great for the garden (not veg garden :)) and means my toddler never runs through any poo... It is interesting seeing what people think about these environmental issues.... I am not a greenie but do try and its not that hard to make a few changes in your lives to contribute to a better environment for our grand children - cause it is them that will suffer :)

Ailysh-Hope - posted on 01/30/2010

We have this bad system that our Garbage bin is emptied ONLY ONCE every TWO weeks.... It stinks so bad through out summer that i try to help by flushing a poo... BUT sometimes... i think YUK and don't do it. As for CARBON FOOT PRINT???? i am not at all worried!! We live in a time when INDUSTRY is holding the winning hand there. I tried cloth and it gave my first child SEVERE infections.

Amie - posted on 01/30/2010

If a city/town has a high temperature compost site disposables are recyclable. There's also the flush-able ones, which are also taken out during the water cleaning process and used in compost. The plastic in disposables is nowhere near what it used to be and can be broken down if the right measures are used.



Landfills take forever to break down because they are not like compost heaps, no oxygen can get into them.



I'm not worried about my carbon footprint either. Like Sharon, our families list goes on for quite some time about the things we do do and have in our home to reduce our carbon footprint.

Lynda - posted on 01/30/2010

When Colin was a baby and I used diapers, I would throw the poop away in the trash. When he started becoming more aware of us going to the potty, I transitioned him to cloth trainers (using pull-ups at night and he never pooped at night) and when he pooped in them, the poop went into the potty but more make him aware of where poop goes than anything else. It also helped to keep the trainers less stinky and they washed better if cleaned off before washing. Colin was poop trained at about 2 1/2 so from then on to now, his poop only makes it to the potty. I had no issues putting a poopy diaper in the trash though.

Kate CP - posted on 01/30/2010

When my kiddo was in diapers I would flush poop that was really formed or hard. If it was squishy it stayed in the diaper (I used disposables). We would recycle plastic grocery bags and put the dirty diapers in there, tie it up really tight, and throw the whole shibang into the Diaper Champ (awesome invention, btw).

I thought about doing cloth diapers with my daughter but what cinched the deal towards disposables was the fact that there aren't any diaper services in my area. And I *really* didn't want to wash dirty diapers in my own washing machine. Blech. :P

Sharon - posted on 01/30/2010

LOL - bleaching the disposable diapers an evnironmental issue - SPARE me.

I cut my carbon footprint where ever I can. I use travelmugs for my coffee on my way to work, instead of buying a foam cup every time.

We compost.

We bury strict paper waste rather than cart it to the landfill.

The list goes on and on for what I do for my part in the environment.

FYI - lol I live in the country and we use a septic tank. Once every 5 years all the waste is sucked out of it and sprayed onto some field. According to the septic guy that field is littered with used tampons and undigested pills. BAWAHAA

How many of you are going to give up your bleached tampons & feminine pads?

I think I'm justified in using a few hundred diapers for my convenience and kids comfort.

Michelle - posted on 01/30/2010

Seriously, this is even a topic of discussion?

Kristin - posted on 01/30/2010

Olivia - Please check with your municipality with that. I have always heard that recyclables need to be clean and pure, or you risk contaminating the whole load. Disposable diapers are NOT recyclable.

Kristin - posted on 01/30/2010

I am transitioning to cloth pants with our two year old because we're potty training, but sometimes still use disposable diapers too. Regardless, we put the poop (as much as possible) in the toilet, as I think that's the better thing to do for our environment. Of course, there might be times when it's not possible (public restrooms, very mushy poop, etc.) Diapers that have or have had poop in them go outside in the garage to wait for trash day as they are still stinky.

For Teresa, below, that must add up to a LOT of ziploc bags!! Please consider the amount of plastic, etc. that you are putting in landfills. Might there be another more cost-effective and landfill-saving option?

Kelsy - posted on 01/30/2010

IF you do disposable, I think its convenience over sanitation. It goes in the trash. If you are cloth diapering, might as well dump it in the toilet!

Susie - posted on 01/30/2010

I have only put the poo in the toilet when it came to toilet training time to show my daughter that this is where it needed to go, and so she could see what happened to it, so no one had to smell it until the trash went out.

Olivia - posted on 01/30/2010

We also use disposable diaper, i fold it and put it inside the plastic then tied it up. You can dispose the diaper w/poops in a garbage can where you also put plastics. Coz some diapers has a plastic strap on it, so it has to go with the plastic garbage :)

Donna - posted on 01/30/2010

i had to use cloth.the rubber irrated the skin. i would hold onto the diaper and flush. but hold on the swirl will wash away the poo. and into the hamper it goes. i would also wash daily .

Helen - posted on 01/30/2010

I used washable nappies so it was easier to flush it down the loo but on the odd time i used dispoables it was put in the bin. Surely the idea of a disposable nappy is you don't have to mess around, just fold it on itself and put it in the bin.
Hugs
Helen

Alli - posted on 01/30/2010

Amie,

The next time you get a moment, take a look at how much water it takes to bleach the paper to make a disposable diaper. The bleaching process for paper uses so much water that CREATING 12 disposable diapers uses the same amount of water as doing ONE load of diaper laundry. How many diapers do you use in a day? I wash diapers every four days. Now, I concede that cotton is a water-intensive crop. But trees to make paper are also quite water-intensive (and a poor use of land and timber stands) and the fossil fuels that are used to create the waterproof barrier are not renewable at all, and the absorbant gel is made from acrylic acid, which is also created from fossil sources.

Shona - posted on 01/30/2010

I use reusables & flush the poo. When we go on holiday & I use disposables I flush the poo to as I am concerned about water getting contaminated, which end up in our rivers etc

Alli - posted on 01/30/2010

I also use cloth diapers, so it goes in the toilet. The little bit that won't come off the diaper goes in the washer, but since we have a drain field (not city water/sewer) I'm not worried about contaminating some open water source!

Melinda - posted on 01/30/2010

in a diaper bag and in the bin. Never even thought about flushing it

Lindsay - posted on 01/29/2010

I've never dumped poo out of a disposable diaper into the toilet and since we are past that stage, never will.

Johnny - posted on 01/29/2010

Oh, and we flush our cat poo too.

Johnny - posted on 01/29/2010

In the toilet, but then I use cloth. But I would worry more about all that plastic spending forever in a landfill than the poo that will be filtered away over time.