Thursday, January 21, 2010

Let me count the ways

Cloth diapering seemed like a great place to start to be more eco-friendly with a new baby around.  In our first weeks we used disposables and they worked fine, but the massive amounts of trash leaving our house was just gross.  I felt like I was changing the trash bag as often as I was a dirty diaper.  Prior to the arrival of our little boy we had purchased and prepared (washed several times) a variety of cloth diapers.  Here is the break down.
6 Little Gpants with 6 cloth inserts
3 organic bum genius all in one
3 bum genius pocket diapers
3 gro-baby diapers
Our baby is 6 weeks and 10 lbs.

I will start with the gdiapers.  I love them.  We started using the biodegradable inserts, and have moved to the cloth inserts, which I find to be so absorbent.  At the changing station we have the gpants loaded with their plastic liner, and the cloth insert in that.  Changing time could not go any smoother.  Once baby is changed and happily secured in his bouncer, I rinse and throw the cloth insert into the waterproof laundry bag.  Easy as a disposable, better for the environment and baby's bum!  We only had one leak with the gdiapers with the cloth insert.  The outside shell of the gpant can be used several times before being laundered.

The BumGenius diapers are great too.  I like the all in one organic.  It is super soft, and with that diaper you just rinse and throw the entire apparatus into the bag for laundering.  We have not had any leaks with the BumGenius organics.  I really like the snaps, as they don't get tangled up and stuck to all the other diapers in the wash.  They have an excellent fit on our 10lb baby.

BumGenius pocket diapers are also good.  I have found that they are very resistant to staining.  It has been very rainy out so I have not been able to sun dry any of the diapers.  But so far these have no discoloration.  The pocket diapers are a little harder to use, because you have to stuff them prior to diapering (no big deal, I have a stack ready to go) and you have to unstuff after changing before you throw it into the bag.  Again, it is not a big deal, but compared to the all in one organic, there is a little more work.  That being said, we have had no leaks with this style either.

The last one we tried is the Gro-Baby.  I love the look, and the velcro that they have (very sticky), but our baby doesn't have the chunky legs required.  The outer shell always gets dirty, though you are suppose to be able to use it for several changes.  We have had several leaks with this diaper.  I hope that once he plumps up a bit they will fit better, and the leaking problem will be solved.  For now, these are at the bottom of my list.

There are so many reasons why people choose cloth diapers, and for those of you who think it is difficult, I am here to tell you it is not!  It is easy! I chose to cloth diaper for the environment, but now, cloth diapers how I love you, let me count the ways.

Ease of use
Less trash
No chemicals on baby's bum
Soft, soft, soft
Believe it or not less stink
Easier to clean bum with wipes!
No midnight trips to the store because we ran out of diapers
Lastly they are so cute!

If you use cloth dipes and have any input, I would love to hear it!  If you are considering cloth diapers and would like more info let me know.

No comments: