Cloth? Disposable? How about both in one diaper?
Posted by Heather on August 28, 2007
Oh internets, how I love you.
I had planned to use disposable diapers for the first month after my baby’s born (until she can grow into her cloth diapers). I didn’t want to do that, but I just can’t afford to buy an entire supply of cloth diapers for newborns.
I was chatting online with a friend of mine about this quandary (be nice to the Earth vs. go flat broke), and she told me about this nifty little invention that’s gaining popularity on the West Coast—namely, gDiapers–a sort of hybrid between cloth diapers and disposables. And, awesome friend that she is, she up and sent me a starter kit.
These gDiapers are a weird critter, to be sure, but the concept is so logical I wonder why nobody thought of this before now. Essentially, there are three parts: the keeper outer pant with velcro closures, a nylon liner (also a keeper) that snaps into the outer pant and looks sort of like a shower cap, and the flushable refill (looks like a big honking maxi pad), which fits into the liner.
The outer pant is made of cotton with a little spandex for stretch, and is incidentally as cute as it can be (I have it in five different colors). I’ve read on several message boards that the outer pant also can be used as a cover for regular cloth diapers, for families that like to switch back and forth.
The nylon liner usually stays in after a wet diaper, but will probably get funky with a poopy diaper. But since it’s made of nylon, you can rinse it under the bathtub tap and it will air-dry in about 15 minutes and be ready to use again. As part of my admittedly non-scientific testing regimen, I squirted a liner with Hershey’s chocolate syrup and put a spoonful of salsa in there just for good measure, squished it around a bit, then rinsed it under the tap. The food came off without staining and the liner was dry by the time I finished reading Go, Dog. Go! to the Sprog. However long that takes.
And now, the best part: the flushable refill. The filling is made with sustainably harvested fluffy wood pulp, mixed with super-absorbent sodium polyacrylate crystals (the same stuff you put in your garden dirt to help it retain water). Now, I have found websites that claim sodium polyacrylate is evil, poisonous stuff, and I’ve also found websites that say it’s totally benign, and I admit that that is the extent of my knowledge on the subject. You will have to make up your own mind on that count. My thought is: don’t let your kids eat their own dirty diapers, and everyone will be a lot happier anyway.
So anyway, here’s the coolest thing about the flushable refill: just like the name says, you can flush it down the toilet. Should flush it, in fact, if it’s a dirty diaper. That way the feces will be processed through the sewage treatment system (plus, no stinky diaper pail, which is niiiiice). If a diaper is just wet, you can still flush it, but you can also just throw it in the garbage or onto the compost heap. There’s a nifty time-lapse video on the site that shows the gDiaper completely biodegrading after 53 days. Very cool, considering a disposable diaper takes at least 500 years to do the same.
The price is not too bad either: The flushable refills are about as expensive as Huggies, and the keeper outer pants aren’t too bad, either. You can buy them on the company website if you’re all out of options, but Wild Oats here in Lexington sells them too (and they were on sale for much cheaper than the company website prices).
Of course, in the interests of fairness, I should say that these don’t work out for everyone. I talked to one local mom who had tried these with her son, and she said they tended to get weighed down in the front when he wet himself. This echoes several comments I read on parenting message boards, so obviously a snug fit is a big factor in how much you will like these diapers (and possibly, the gender of the child, since boys pee more in the front of the diaper, and girls pee down in the middle). Some people also said they were leaky, while others never had a problem with this; many people on the message boards stressed the importance of doubling up on the liners when using at night. And some people said that their toilets got clogged up when disposing of the gDiapers, so beware if you have a notoriously ineffective flush or use a septic system.
Anyhow, forewarned is forearmed and all that, so I’m going to give these diapers a try and hope they’re as cool as they sound. Either way, I’ll keep you all posted about them. In the meantime, here are a few instructive links:
An article comparing and contrasting gDiapers and 7th Generation diapers
A brutally honest mommy board discussion about gDiapers
Has anyone else tried gDiapers? Any thoughts or tips?
patsycat said
Neat idea. But watch the “flushable” part. You know those “flushable” wipes, like Kandoo and others? Yeah, we aren’t the only ones who have ended up with clogged sewers and an incredible bill from RotoRooter. The RotoRooter man actually broke a snaky thingee getting to that stuff. I would suggest researching the flushable info; after I had my experience, just a few clicks on those internets showed me that it was a big problem. No flushy the flushable wipes (unless it’s one at a time three months apart each, in which case, sure, they’re flushable.)
Heather said
Oh yes, I am wary about the flushable part, even though most of the commentary leads me to believe it’s not a big problem. Still, my plan is to only flush the poopy diapers and compost the wet diapers. Besides, they add nitrogen to your soil, so it’s win-win.
And you’re making me really glad I skipped the Kan-Doo wipies and went straight to toilet paper. Because RotoRooter = kiss your $$$ goodbye.
Jamie Mcalpin said
I use wash cloths as wipes. They are reusable and you just put them in a bag and tie when you’re done so you can take it home to wash. We just wet them and don’t use any solution. We’ve never had diaper rash either. This is just an idea for others.
guinever said
I have never used these, but I did contact the company to see if they would send me some samples so I could try them and review them for my website. They told me I could buy a sample like everyone else. So, I didn’t do that. They are so expensive! I mean really really expensive, in my opinion. The instructions say to flush twice until you know if your toilet can handle it in just one flush. Well, for a diaper that’s supposedly “green,” that’s using a lot of extra, unnecessary water. I’m not even “green” and that’s way too much water for me. I’ve used Motherease cloth diapers for 8 years on 5 babies and I love them!
The other thing I don’t like about these g diapers is that you have to stir the diaper fibers with a stick. I don’t have a problem with that, but what are you going to do with the stick when you’re not stirring? Rinse it off everytime? Bleach it? Just shove it somewhere? Drive a nail into the wall and hang it up? I have other kids. Toddlers would love getting that stick and mouthing it. No thank you.
FYI, locally, you can get these diapers at Good Foods Market and Cafe.
Heather said
Jamie– That’s a good idea about using washcloths! I’ve been pondering the diaper wipe conundrum.
Guinever– They are really expensive if you buy them from the company website, but they’re much, much cheaper at Wild Oats. The package of small flushable refills goes for $14.49 on the site, but I got it for like $8.50 on sale at Wild Oats. So not too bad.
The water issue is a significant one. In most gDiaper discussions I’ve seen online, people who use the diapers tend to use the “if it’s yellow, let it mellow” approach to toileting, so it isn’t wasting much water when they flush the diapers at all.
When I tried flushing one myself, my (admittedly) mercurial toilet handled it in one flush, and I didn’t have to use the swish stick at all. Which is good, because I have the same concerns you do about small children getting ahold of it Yuck! Though it does come with a suction cup hook to hang it somewhere discreet, which is nice.
Anyhow, I don’t intend to flush many of them. Just the poopy ones–the rest will be chucked into a biodegradable garbage bag or composted. That should get me through to when Baby Girl grows into her Motherease diapers. ;)