From g to Genius

We have been using gDiapers since Lilia was a newborn. I discovered and began obsessing about gDipes early on in my pregnancy. I am hardly the greenest mom I know but something about littering up my babies planet with plastic balls of her own poop that would still be around when she was ready to have kids of her own just didn’t sit right with me.

I did a lot of research on sites like Mamapedia, checked out diaper services and while I entertained the idea of trying cloth, the “just flush it or toss it” convenience of the gDiaper won out. Aside from that, the side, by side, by side, diaper comparison presented in The Great Diaper Debate raised a set of energy and sustainability concerns I hadn’t even considered as far as cloth diapers were concerned.

Overall we felt really happy with gDiapers. They were a few extra steps but it never really bothered me or my husband. In fact stuffing Lilia’s diapers at night often felt relaxing and made me feel like I was prepared for the next day. Sounds weird I know, but I was happy when I saw another dad had the same feeling.

The flush method didn’t work for us unfortunately, but we didn’t mind tossing them in the trash knowing they would still break down completely in under a month. We never had any issues with leaks and we felt really good about doing our part.

We did have a small issue with fit. No matter what size we used or how loose we kept the tabs, Lilia always seemed to get some red chaffing around her hip bones where the liner met the gPants. We didn’t like the look of it but it never seemed to bother her so we didn’t let it concern us much. When she outgrew the small size and had to move up to the medium size I noticed a difference in the diaper immediately. They had undergone a redesign and at first it seemed like improvements across the board. The outer pant seemed softer and thicker and the velcro seemed sturdier. It was. In fact it was too sturdy. On one of our pants the velcro was so stiff it cracked and broke off while sticking to something in the wash. The new velcro sticks to everything, except it seems, to itself.

One of the appeals of gDiapers for me is that since you’re flushing or tossing out the liner with the pee and poop, you can wash the pants with your regular laundry. Not making it a separate load saves time, money and energy. These suckers were grabbing a hold of all of our clothes and each other even though we were being very careful to stick the velcro tabs together before washing them, as instructed. It frayed the waist of the pants pretty badly making my new diapers look shabby and old way before their time. This was annoying, but after a dozen or so washes the issue lessened. Unfortunately the velcro lost nearly all its grip to itself as well. The diapers weren’t falling off as Lilia rarely wears nothing but her diaper and a onesie or pants keeps it secured nicely. Lilia could (and did) remove it easily when she wanted to, but it still wasn’t a deal breaker.

When I told people we were using gDiapers, most of them thought I was nuts, and the next question was always how much do they cost compared to other diapers. I did the math and was able to console myself that they weren’t a bargain diaper but after the initial start up cost I wasn’t spending more than I would on disposables, and it’s just so much better for the environment, I was okay with the trade off.

I still believe G-diapers to be the most eco friendly diapering method available but I have to say, I no longer can count them as the most convenient. One of the many things we gained upon moving to the burbs was our very own washer and dryer. Ahh, bliss. I don’t know how I mothered without one for over a year.

Coinciding with our move to the land of life changing appliances, Lilia was growing out of her medium gDiapers and was about to need the large. I don’t know what got into me but I started thinking, you know, I’m washing the outer pants anyway, let’s take a look at those pocket style cloth diapers again. The main reason I had ruled them out previously was because we lived in a flat with a single coin operated washer and dryer shared with 5 other units. Washing your own cloth diapers requires a second rinse which is not possible on coin op machines even if you feed it extra quarters so unless I wanted to do a whole second wash, it really wasn’t an option. From my previous research I knew I had a strong pull toward bumGenius diapers so when I was getting some other supplies I ordered one from Diapers.com to check it out.

I loved it instantly and decided to make the switch. First of all, they’re so soft, it’s silly. I want to sew the liners up into a blanket they’re so yummy. The fit is perfect and they stay so incredibly dry against Lilia’s skin. I haven’t seen a hint of diaper rash or chaffing. The velcro is amazing. It sticks to itself like glue and stays put both on Lilia and in the washer and dryer.

Believe it or not they seem a lot easier to me.

Now I actually can flush her poop down the toilet, no swish stick necessary! The key to easy flushes are Kushies. They come on a toilet paper roll and you just line the diaper with one each time and when there’s a poop, pick it up and flush it down. It’s gone off the liner once or twice when Lilia’s poop was on the squishy side, but 98% of the time it’s all contained.

I can now go weeks without emptying our Diaper Champ as it only contains Lilia’s overnight pee dipe and wipes, and her room doesn’t smell at all anymore!

Have I mentioned I haven’t bought diapers in over two months? Cha-ching!

The start up cost is rather substantial but they have already paid for themselves in two months. At $17.95 a pop I was trying to get by on 5 diapers, but I recently had to add a few more to the fleet as we were finishing up the last of our gDiapers at daycare but are now using the bumGenius there as well.  On the daycare topic, ours is a champ and has happily diapered Lilia in whatever we have supplied her. We keep some disposables there in case she needs them but she’s barely touched her supply.

One last investment to make transporting and storing the wet liners painless were these great dry bags. I just wash them right along with the diapers and they have made it so I don’t even feel the need to use disposables when we’re on the go anymore like I did with the gDiapers.

A friend of mine is considering making the switch from disposable diapers to gDiapers and mentioned the middle ground she felt the choice put her on. From an environmental standpoint I actually think they’re the high ground but as far as bridging the gap between disposable and cloth, I couldn’t agree more. They were the right choice for us for awhile but after a couple months with bumGenius I wish I’d been able to use them all along.

Happily we do plan on giving Lilia a little brother or sister at some point so I paid the $2 extra per diaper for the one size fits all (7-35 pounds) style and kept the colors gender neutral for the most part.

I had no idea I could be this passionate about diapers, but there you have it, our journey from g to Genius!

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