G Diapers

I've never used the G diapers but I have heard from some who have, that they leak pretty bad so, they may not be good for over night. My sister in law uses the Seventh Generation Diapers and she really likes them.

We tried G diapers for a few months before I switched over to cloth. When my daughter would pee they would bunch up at the top, irritating her skin and if it wasn't changed before the next pee they would leek. I love the concept of these diapers and I wish I could have made it work for us. They really are biodegradable. I could see them start to breakdown in just a week. On positive note, I still use the G diaper covers with a cloth insert.

We tried them for the first 6-weeks or so of my sons life until they clogged the toilet in our older home. They leaked quite a bit for us (leading to more laundry), but that may just depend on how they fit your little one. They are more expensive than conventional disposables. I also question how they are *truly* biodegradable sealed in a plastic trash bag, which doesn't biodegrade...

I moved on to cloth, which works well for my little guy.

Hi K.,
We tried to use the gDiapers when my son was just a few months old. I had a lot of trouble with them leaking. They weren't as easy to use as disposables b/c you have to get them in between the legs just so - kind of like underwear (if that makes sense). They do have a video on their website that can show you how to put them on correctly.
I do have a few friends that use and love the gDiapers - so I could have just not been smart enough to figure them out :)
If you are going to throw them away make sure you don't put them in a regular plastic trash bag, as that will hinder them from degrading. There are biodegradable trash bags made of corn that you could use instead. I can't remember where I've seen them for sale, just google biodegradable trash bags.

HTH!

I have to agree with the previous poster. you still have to wash the outside of the G diaper (the pants). I understand if you don't want to do the extra laundry, but seriously, the water (and everything else) that goes into making the liners for the G diapers is probably more than the water you use to wash cloth. It's a choice for everyone to make, but to me, G diapers are not that environmentally friendly, sound VERY costly, and you still need to wash the diaper part of it. I'd rather just use cloth (which I do).

The first poster sounded very enthusiastic about her Gs, so you may want to talk more with her. But everyone i know that has tried them has gone back to disposables or gone to cloth because of the reasons I already stated. I've never talked with someone who stuck with the switch to Gdiapers.

I've used g diapers and have been happy with them. You can compost the wet ones but not the poopy ones. Those must be tossed or flushed. I understand that you don't want to waste water by flushing, but I believe that it would be more earth-friendly to flush them. Although it's true that they're supposed to break down quickly in the landfill, since everything in a landfill is packed so tightly and not exposed to much air, stuff takes much longer to break down than it should. And I really hate the idea of tossing ANYTHING that ends up in a landfill (though of course I do). Anyway, I don't mean to sound preachy but this is a topic I feel strongly about. I'd do some more research if I were you on flush vs. throw, but to sum up, I love the g diapers and highly recommend them. And the covers are super cute! Good luck.

Hi K.,

We use g diapers and love them. Even my husband who refused to use cloth loves them. Because you can flush the disposable part it eliminates the smell problem in the house. My husband is sensitive to smell and the disposables, even with a diaper genie that we emptied frequently, made our house smell distinctive. The g diapers are a little spendy but worth it. I do have to wash a the covers frequently but I am not doing nearly as much laundry as I would if we were using traditional cloth. We have a house built in 1971 with original plumbing and aren't having troubles with clogging. We buy the refills on Amazon. If you set it up to deliver on a schedule they give an additional 10% and free shipping. Much cheaper than buying them in the stores.

Do it, do it, do it!!! I use G diapers on my 1 year old and have since he was born. I LOVE them! I feel so much better knowing that I'm not adding to the pollution problem we've gotten ourselves into. My son has never had a diaper rash and they work great. (Plus he looks super cute in his litte G's!!) Do they work just as good as disposables?? Probably not, but a few leaks here and there is definitly worth saving the earth for. I would highly reccommend them. Also - some HEBs have started carrying them as well as Whole Foods. Good luck and feel free to contact me with questions; I'm a big G fan!

I tried GDiapers for a while but they just didn't seem comfortable and I figured since we already use cloth might as well just use cloth ya know? The laundry isn't that bad. I have 3 kids, 5 and under and it isn't too bad. If you do decide to go to cloth when you are in a pinch try to throw laundry in at the end of every night then on the days you miss your ok :) Or just take it easy and revert to disposable if you can't keep up, then when you are caught up cloth again. Just some suggestions if you ever decide you want to use them.

As for your night time problem we fought that with my oldest boy and what worked was always changing. First it was cloth all day and disposable at night (that was all that would work) then it became a different disposable. Then it was a bunch of cloth and that is what we have been using ever since. My 5yr old is huge, sleeps like a rock so we have having trouble potty training (he is 57lbs too so that makes a difference).

Good Luck
J.

I don't know anything about G diapers, but as a rule, things do not break down very fast in the landfill. If an otherwise biodegradable thing is inside a plastic bag under 500 pounds of other trash bags, it will take longer than 60-90 days.
I'm with you on the water usage and trying to find the lesser of all evils when it comes to diapers, or any of the choices we make these days with thought to our environmental impact. One of the best tips I've heard is to buy very cheap plastic kitchen bags so once it is mashed by the garbage truck and dumped in the pile it will have broken open. Then your items will break down faster (oxygen, water & sunlight help). Do you have a home compost pile? They are pretty easy and save so much great stuff from going to waste at the landfill.

Dear K.,

Gdiapers are wonderful. I use them instead of cloth when we travel or go on outings. You can flush the inserts or compost the wet ones. I don't have a backyard for a garden and haven't tried the compost method, but I have flushed them and they are even supposed to be safe for septic tanks. Go to www.gdiapers.com they have videos to watch. I chose gdiapers because other disposables gave my babies rashes. Also the little gpant covers are soooo cute.

M. k.

I use cloth diapers (pockets and prefolds) and chose not to use G's because it didn't make sense to me financially. You have to buy all the covers (so there is one investment), then you have to continuously buy the inserts that you throw away. Also, I would assume you have to wash the cover? If you wash the covers, you may as well wash what goes inside the cover as well, since you can't wash covers that might have poop and pee on them with other clothes. I guess that's a good question for the last person who responded!

I actually bought some for my twins and never used them. I ended up taking them back. They are now 4.5 months old and I may invest in them when they get a bit bigger, and are not growing so rapidly. In the meantime we decided to use biodegradeable sposies. We use Natures Babycare as they are made from sustainable scandinavian forest and breakdown nicely. The things that were very important to me in a diaper were/are one that it is not harmful to my baby...most diapers on the market are made with petroleum products. UGH! The other thing I had to have in a diaper was a responsiblity to not contribute to the landfill. These diapers can actually be composted which is nice. I also use Natures Babycare wipes...which I love...all the ingrediants in them are biologically healthy! Natures Babycare can be bought off of diapers.com The other diapers I have tried are seventh generation, earths best, and one other one that I am drawing a blank on that HEB sells. I do actually like Earth's Best as well for night time diapers...Babys R Us is the exclusive seller of these and now they have a new program when buying diapers. Buy so many and get a pack free. HTH.

Oh and I applaud you women who use cloth diapers!! I don't think I could do this with twins!

I read an article a while back comparing cloth, hybrids and disposables and the impact it had on the earth. Surprisingly the resources and/or clean up that go into each of them werent that far off from each other. In otherwords all of them had similar amounts of impact on the earth. Just each of them did it in a different way. It was an interesting article I wish I could share here.

I love G diapers!!! I use them as well as other cloth diapers. You just wash the outside with your regular laundry but you don't have to wash them but every week or so. I use the flushable inserts in them but only when out and about or out of town. I use cloth inserts in them mostly. I have used them for 9 months and haven't had 1 leak in them. I can't use them at night because my daughter is a super night time soaker so I use other cloth diapers. But I can use them at naps and during the day just fine. They were very easy for me to put on and get used to and they are just as easy as disposables. The only difference is you can't over tighten the waistband. If you do then you will break the seal so to speak. It is totally normal for them to "bunch" in between the legs and the snap in liner is made to get a little poopy or wet. That's what its there for and you just hand wash it if it needs to and then let it air dry and that's it. I really love them and would say go ahead and give them a try. You can find them at HEB. :)

I was one who advised you on diaper doublers, and I guess I did not mention that I tried washable diaper liners and they did not work. In fact, when she pooped during the night, they caused the poop to push out the sides of her diaper.

Do you use plastic garbage bags? If so then it won't even matter. The diapers need to have air and water to degrade and the plastic bag they are in won't be degrading along with them. The new disposables aren't as slow to degrade as the older versions were. If you'd like to save water AND use the Gs I suggest saving them up and then flushing a few at a time. You swish them around with a wand until they begin to dissolve like toilet paper before you flush them.

If you are washing diaper liners, I don't think it's much more to wash cloth diapers. But that's just me. I love my cloth diapers and although I already wash 2-3 loads of laundry a day I hat to use the disposables.

S., mom to 5 (only 1 fully potty trained.)

G diapers are awesome! I use them and have only had ONE leak... I just left it on him too long. You can either compost or flush them. I usually flush them. The ones I have composted do biodegrade, usually quicker than 6 days, due to the extreme heat in Texas. You can get a sample pack at HEB-- I highly recommend these diapers. They are a little more work than disposables, but way better for our planet.