I have been changing diapers non-stop for the past seven years. That is a lot of Pampers. A real lot, so many that I have enough reward points to get a Porche (ok, maybe that is wishful thinking.)
That is certainly too much non-biodegradeable landfill stuff. As each of my kids came along, I thought maybe I would try cloth and then Swaddlers turned to Cruisers and it just never happened.
Until now. I bought gDiapers. I got the disposable inserts (compostable, lol, picture that pile in my backyard!) and six organic cloth inserts. Now these diapers sure are cute and they come in all sorts of colors. Here is what I have learned... the disposables explode long before a Cruiser would even start sagging (stop questioning my parenting skills :-) and when they explode it is like a million teensy particles stuck all over baby’s bottom, and front, and belly, and the changing table, and your hands. It is really a mess. It convinced me that the cloth inserts are the way to go.
But, eeeew cloth and poop just do not make for a fun diaper clean up. However did my mother manage? So now, I only use them after the daily package has arrived. And my husband will not use them at all (nor does he appreciate it when I use them and then leave her on his watch...)
Even so, I am going to have three little girls in diapers and my conscience just can’t shut up about landfills, so my goal is to use at least one cloth gDiaper per girl, per day. That should be manageable, and over a year that will keep 1095 Pampers out of the dump, not to mention about $350 in my purse.
Anybody else using gDiapers or any other cloth diapers? Got any pointers for me?
13 comments:
I used cloth diapers with our third child (and will use them again with the coming 4th). I tried prefolds and covers and hated them, so I switched to bumgenius 3.0 one-size pocket diapers (they have snaps to adjust the size from little ones to big so hopefully you only have to buy one diaper to fit all sizes - the 3.0 comes with 2 different sized inserts, too). (www.bumgenius.com) I bought them from www.diaperswappers.com, so they were a little cheaper than retail. For a diaper pail, I just used an old 5 gallon bucket leftover from drywall mud from a remodel, and lined it with a $4 waterproof camping clothes bag from walmart (I bought 2 to switch them out) - I didn't use a lid which sounds horrible, but my diaper champ with disposables smells much worse. As far as getting the poop off, a diaper sprayer was invaluable (it's still great for those moments when you're feeling not-so-fresh, and also for spraying out undies of little ones who are potty training). I got mine from ebay for around $25. They attach to the toilet plumbing - it's kind of like a sprayer hose at the sink that attaches to the toilet, so you can just hold the diaper over the toilet and spray the goodies in and flush, then the diaper can just go into the dry diaper pail until wash day (I washed every other day). As far as detergents, I just used Purex free and clear - nothing fancy - and did a wash with Dawn dish soap every once in a while to strip any detergent residue off (vinegar in the downy ball also helps with that). I rigged a little clothesline outside so that I could dry them in the sun whenever possible (which made them not so soft, so I always finished them up for about 10 minutes in the dryer with a wet washcloth and a couple of dryer balls to soften them up). I would wash them and stuff them with the inserts (you take the inserts out to wash) so when I needed a clean one, it'd be all ready to go. For wipes, I just bought a big packet of washcloths (they're usually something like 20 for $5 or something) from walmart. I had an old disposable wipes container and filled that with water and a drop or two of baby wash, then dipped the washcloths into the water when I needed them, wrung out the excess water, and used it to wipe (you can also only wet half the washcloth and use the dry side to make sure everything is dry before putting another diaper on), then they went in the diaper pail and got washed right along with the dipes. Hope that helps! :)
I second the Bumgenius, although they just announced that they will be upgrading to bumgenius 4.0 (ooooh....). I was once told that Gdiaps were a starter drug, and I couldn't agree more. Gdiaps don't biodegrade in most city's systems, and are not supposed to be flushed in (most) city's tanks. Sure, I bought some because of the cute prints, but they sit in the back of my stash and are now used for swim diaps.
I use Kushies all in ones dipaer..I love them!The only time we use disposable is when we are gone from home for the day.The kushies diapers wash up nice.I throw a little baking soda in the washer along with all free and clear detregent.They have nevr stained and never have they leaked.
I did the prefold and covers too and HATED that! We settled on bumgenius or something simaliar but homemade. We ended up doing disposable this time around. We were going to do the g diapers but the money was way too much for us plus several friends and online reviews said they got stuck in the plumbing and made everything a disaster. I love cloth diapering my husband however does not. lol.
We used cloth for 80% of our diapering days. It's been a decade since we had a diapered kid, but I loved the feel of cloth. I know there are many more options available, but we used Nikky cotton covers. I had a traditional diaper pail in the bathroom and just sloshed the dirty diaper in the commode and shlurked in into the adjacent pail without much of a dribble. Back then I had a top loading washer, so it wasn't a problem to dump the whole pail into the machine. Nowadays it would be trickier to get them in the washer without some mess...
Have you thought about a diaper service? That might make good sense.
I'm currently using the bumgenius M size. I was fortunate enough to get them in excellent condition as hand-me-downs; never thought I'd be so excited about used diapers. They've been a lot easier than the pin cloth diapers I used with my second child. I'm sure you'll want any convience you can grab having 3 in diapers. I don't know if your space allows it, but having the changing table in the bathroom makes it easy to dump anything out of the diaper when need be. It's funny because my husband is not a fan as well.
My son uses gdiapers (the cloth). I LOVE them and I will admit that we use disposables at night, boy is he a WET sleeper! I have 5 covers and 24 cloth inserts and have to do laundry about everyother day. They only last my son for about 2 hrs before I have to change them, DON'T wait...then you will have a soggy mess. LOVE, LOVE,LOVE them Good luck!
I do not have any experience with the new cloth diapers for all that was around when I had kids was the pin kind that were horrible. LOL!!
However, I do have a good friend that loves cloth and she never uses disposable period. Her hubby is okay with them as well. She tried the GDiaps and thought that were okay until she was given one by Baby beehinds and she fell in love with them instantly. Now she only uses the bbh ones. She says the gdiaps are a bbh wanta be (her words not mine).
The website is http://www.babybeehinds.com.au/store/pc/Home-d40.htm
Good luck on what you choose.
Carol
I just started using cloth too, in expectation of twins in November. I have an assortment of pockets, prefolds, and AIO. Pockets are my favorite so far, but prefolds are looking pretty good too for the young-ins. I love cloth diapering so far.
Check out diaperswappers.com. There's a marketplace where you can get used dipes for super cheap AND there are forums to answer all your questions. :-)
we use cloth diapers on my 2 boys. I like the all in one diapers best. and poopy diapers arent bad once you get used to it. hang in there.
I use Gdiapers as well and I LOVE them!!! As far as catching poop... hemp silk diaper liners are great!! http://the-giggling-green-bean.com/hemp-babies-raw-silk-diaper-liner.html?___store=default Just put the GCloth in first and then stick a diaper liner over it. The hemp silk washers off so easy and you can just rinse it right in the toilet! Good Luck!!
I would love to send you some of the diapers that I made for my children. A foster daughter with very severe eczema did so well on them- I just couldn't use waterproof covers until her behind had healed. When I had 3 in diapers though, I was a little too sleep deprived to have much affection leftover for the environment and used an excess of cheap baby wipes for every need under the sun and found that to be a huge time saver. If I did it again, I would probably make my own baby wipes which would be much cheaper and safer. I would also probably try to use cloth more since I was doing the laundry anyway...!
Save on the costs of wipes by using ALOE VESTA by ConvaTec, a Perineal/skin cleanser and a wash rag. This little pump spray DISSOLVEs the fecal matter so it wipes off clean! It's very gentle to the skin! I've been cleaning up Jillian's messes for 18 years now and swear by it! It cuts down on care costs significantly!!
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