I was so surprised the other week when I was walking through
WalMart and saw a display for rubber pants in the infant section of their clothing
department. These were the first I’d
seen since our children were babies. Of
course, I had very little reason to need these since we finally ended the task
of potty-training our children (almost fifty years ago).
For those who have no idea of what I am talking about, let
me fill you in.
In my days as a young mother, there was no such things as
Pampers—or any other disposable diaper. Disposable
means you have to replace over and over. Our diapers, once bought, lasted for as long
as we needed them, for we used good old fashioned cloth diapers. There were thin gauze-like diapers similar to
the diapers I’ve seen sold in today’s markets. But the best, more absorbable, and longer
lasting, were the flannel diapers. Through the years I’ve
even seen the special diaper pins, but I never saw the rubber pants needed to
go with them.
Wet diapers, being what they are—wet diapers—needed some
kind of a barrier to protect the laps of those lucky enough to be cuddling the
baby when the water works erupted. That’s
where the “rubber pants” came in.
Although, I do not remember them actually being rubber so much as a pliable
plastic (which became more rigid with the washings they received).
So when a baby was changed of a wet diaper, we’d just lay
him or her out, take off the rubber pants and the wet diaper, and scoot a clean
diaper under him. Of course if the
diaper had more of a “discharge” in it than just urine, the step of washing him
clean fell in there, too. Then we would
powder him (heaven forbid! Powder?! How Barbaric!), pin him up, and put the
rubber pants back on. He was again ready
for cuddling, smelling as sweet as babies can smell.
But what did we do with the wet diaper? Soak it in the diaper pail until the next day
when we would wash the diapers—yes in the washing machine. Of course, if the diaper was soiled, we would
dunk it in the toilet to get rid of most, if not all, of the residue and resign
it to the diaper pail, too. How often
did we do the task of diaper washing?
Well, it depended on how many diapers we had and how often a clean one
was required.
A good supply of cloth diapers was anywhere from four to six
dozen. Where did they come from? Not only Baby Showers, but a lot of us
expectant mothers spent time sewing, knitting, or crocheting things for the little
ones comming our way. The most common
diapers were twenty-seven inch squares of hemmed material.
However, when I was expecting our middle child, my mother saw
a “formed” diaper. She made me a couple
and I sewed up several dozen of them. I
do not remember the exact measurements but they were like twelve inches wide
and maybe sixteen inches long? In the
middle of the length of both pieces (a front and a back), a half circle, maybe
two to two and a half inches deep by four inches long would be cut out to form
a crotch and accommodate the legs. These
four half circles were sewn on one of the long pieces in that crotch area with
the straight sides together in the middle.
This made it more absorbent. Then
the back and front were sewn together, leaving a space of about two to three inches
open to turn the diaper inside out. (I
made sure when I sewed them together that the circles were on the outside so
that when it was turned inside out, they would be on the inside.) Then I sewed the open spotclosed and then all
around the diaper about one-quarter inch in from the sides to give it a
finished look. By having the circle sewn
on the one side, only, I used that side towards the baby and was able to keep
most of any staining on the inside of the diaper and the outside, where people
could see, was smooth. Sometimes, to add
variety, I would do the back side (the side not against the baby) in either a
color or a print flannel.
These diapers, just like the square diapers, could be folded
to adjust to the size of the child, from newborn up.
Washed diapers, just like about everything else at that
time, were line-dried, even in the winter!
There was nothing softer than a freeze-dried diaper! It was also a matter of pride to show the
world the Lord had blessed us with a little-one.
Diapers were not only used as diapers! They were also spit-clothes at burping time,
with the formed diapers fitting so nicely at the neck. What on earth did we do with them after the
baby was grown and no longer needed them?
After they were potty-trained, the diapers didn’t lose
either their value or their worth. The
nicer looking ones were set aside for the brother or sister we hoped to provide. And NOTHING makes a better cleaning cloth…especially
for shining windows…than an old diaper.
Cloth diapers were, and still are, expensive. Even the flannel to make them was somewhat
dear. But I really feel sorry for today’s
parents who spend a good hunk of their paychecks for disposable diapers, week
after week. Our cost was a “once”
expense. Yes, we had to spend more time
on the care of the baby, if you count the rinsing of the diaper from the diaper
pail, the washing, drying, and folding for storage. But that was time we spent thinking about our
new addition, dreaming over what they might become, and praying for their
safety and good health.
Enough about the diapers.
Back to the subject of this blog, the rubber pants.
Rubber pants came in many sizes from infants to at least size
three, and the sizes, like infant clothing today, usually were the same as the
age of the child. Infant, three month, six month...so a size three was
for a three year old.
I remember as a young mother, going into the drug store and
seeing a display of rubber pants, and was amazed to see some size three rubber
pants for sale. At that time, babies
were started to be potty-trained soon after attaining the age of two, when they
were able to stay dry all night. When
progress was being made, training pants replaced diapers during the day, and
the chore was usually finished well before the age of three. So my immediate thought to myself was, What child is not trained prior to being
three?
Well, one of mine!
Our middle child was born in early January. His sister was due in December, almost three
years later. No matter what I did, I
just could not get that boy to comply to my wishes that he use the
commode! I begged his father to let my
rebellious one know I was not the only one who was not satisfied with his
performance, or lack of it, by giving his a swat on his rear. And before you start with the cry, “Child
brutality,” it was perfectly acceptable, praise the Lord, to discipline a child
by using either a hand or a hairbrush, or even a belt on that particular part
of a child’s anatomy that God had prepared for that purpose! (I wish it still were. Maybe today’s children, and especially those
who have to exist with them, would be better off.) In typical male fashion of that day and age,
he ignored me. It was, after all, part
of the wife’s job, to do this particular training of the child.
When I was still in the hospital after the birth of our
daughter, (yes, we could stay longer than a couple hours or overnight…usually
up to a week.) Jerry came to visit me with a big smile on his face and his
chest puffed out. No, in this instance
it wasn’t pride of our daughter. His big
news was that he had potty-trained our son.
I asked him how he was able to do in a couple days what I
couldn’t do in almost three years, he replied, “It was simple. When he dirtied his panties, I gave him a
swat on the rear and told him ‘No more.’”
I am so glad he did that, but a whole year after I had asked him to do
it?
But, again, what caught my eye with WalMart’s display is
that all the rubber pants on that rack were size three! Our truly needed sizes were infant to three. Of course, the thoughts of today’s young
mothers is that potty-training should not even be started until the age of
three, when the child has a better grasp of the whole procedure. All I can say is, I credit you for having more
patience, not to mention MONEY, than we, in our day and age, ever had.
No comments:
Post a Comment