And in the world of competely useless inventions…
Enjoy porn-star quality acting, but don’t want to actually view porn? Log on to http://www.mymilkies.com/ and view their oh-so informative video! Apparently the makers of this ‘milk-saving’ device think that breast feeding “let down” is some huge issue. Now granted, I’ve only had one child and can only speak from my own experience, but… it’s just not! Yes, when you first bring home your newborn baby you will leak from your non-feeding side during nursings, but (again, in my experience), this response will lessen after the first few weeks. And even before that, just wear a cloth nursing pad, or stick a burping cloth under there, and you’re good to go! Seriously, how many new moms are going to want to bother with this POC (piece of crap - is that already a blogging acronym?) during 2 a.m. feedings? Oh and one more thing: if you’re going to tout the benefits of your chemical-free product, learn to pronounce the chemicals. It’s BIS-PHENOL, not “Bis-Fall.” Ugh.
Earth-Friendly Disposable Diapers!? OMG!
OK so by now most parents who are concerned about the environmental impact of disposable diapers pretty much know our alternatives – some sort of reusable (i.e. cloth) diaper, or gDiaper compostable diapers (yes, yes, I know there is also Elimination Communication, or “ECing,” but even those kids need to use diapers). But I recently found out that there is a company based in the Bay Area in California that offers truly Earth-friendly disposable diapers and diapering products. Earth Baby diapers are (from what I’ve read), comparable in usage and performance to traditional “disposable” diapers, however the difference is that they are 100% compostable. For a very reasonable monthly fee of $24.99, the company provides monthly delivery of diapers, wipes and other products, and a weekly pickup of soiled diapers and wipes. The diapers and wipes are then composted in their own industrial composting facility. Not only do the products get turned into nutrient-rich top-soil, but the composting process requires only a small amount of the energy required to launder reusable diapers! Wholly smokes! Many other companies offer “green” or “natural” diapers – for example Huggies has recently come out with “Pure & Natural” diapers which contains Aloe and Vitamin E and *includes* organic cotton in the outer cover, but while they may be healthier for your child’s skin, this in no way means that the diapers are going to be spending any less time in our landfills. So with Earth Baby, you get the convenience of disposable diapers, plus the peace of mind that you are not contributing to landfills (and BTW – traditional disposable diapers take something like 500 YEARS to decompose – yikes!). So what I want to know is – how is this company not making front-page news? (maybe it is in the Bay Area?) I mean, is it just me, or is this huge? Seriously. ALL the convenience of disposables, no actually they’re MORE convenient than traditional disposables because the products are delivered right to your door (no more trips to Target!), plus they haul away the stinky ones, plus no guilt over the negative effect on our planet! I’m pretty comfortable with my cloth diapers, but if Earth Baby diapers were an option for me here in Sacramento, would I use them? HELL YES.
Well in any case, they’re not available in Sacramento (yet), so if you’re reading this blog and you happen to live in the Sacramento area, please please please please please log onto http://www.earth-baby.com/home.php, click “Sign up Now,” and check the box to sign up for the waiting list. And if you’re not in Sacramento, do it too! Wouldn’t it be great if every city in California the U.S. had this service available? This is a product that not only would appeal to the die-hard granola-eating, tree-hugging, organic-vegetable-garden-in-my-backyard moms-and-dads, but to the general public. I mean given the option, why wouldn’t you use this service (other than the monthly service fee)? I seriously think this the best thing to happen to babies/parents since um… I don’t know, maybe the “Breast is Best” campaign?
Anyway, I’m hoping to get feedback from anyone using this service. The only reviews I could find as of yet are these: http://www.yelp.com/biz/earthbaby-compostable-diaper-service-mountain-view (all positive reviews – very promising! The only negative that could be said is that the diapers themselves are more expensive than inexpensive disposable diapers such as Costco’s Huggies, but I think most people would be willing to pay a little extra to help save the planet!). My brother and sister-in-law (from whom I first heard of this company) are expecting their first baby in 2 weeks, and are lucky enough to live in San Jose where the Earth Baby service is available – so I’ll be very interested to hear how they like the products and service! Happy Diapering!
Atypical Layette
Not into pastel Carters onesies? Tired of dressing your kid cap-a-pie in teddy bears and ducklings? No need to fret, just go to Baby Wit! http://www.babywit.com/ Cool categories include “pop culture,” “political,” and “rock baby!” You’ll find edgy designs ranging from the Sex Pistols to Kafka. There is even a great selection of organic clothing. My favorite designs include The Smiths, Tim Burton, and Stephen Colbert.
gDiapers… gee, if only they worked better
When I was pregnant with my daughter two years ago, my husband and I decided early on that we didn’t want to use disposable diapers (at least not 100% of the time). Something like 50 MILLION disposable diapers go into US landfills EVERY DAY! We certainly wanted to avoid contributing to that cesspool as much as possible, so I was pretty excited to learn about gDiapers – a revolutionary earth-friendly diapering system. The system is made up of a reusable cloth outer cover, a reusable snap-in liner, and the compostable/ flushable/ tossable insert. I decided that I’d use a combination of gDiapers and cloth diapers for financial reasons – gDiapers are pretty expensive. Not only do you have to buy the reusable pants (which can run you a good $17 to $18 each), but the inserts themselves are quite a bit more expensive than disposables. For the medium/large size inserts, each insert will run you $.45. Compare that to a typical brand such as Huggies, which runs about $.27 per (comparable size) diaper, or to Costco’s Kirkland brand diaper at $.18 per diaper, that’s a pretty big difference in price. So I figured gDiapers would be my “out and about” diapering system (as well as my “I don’t feel like laundering cloth diapers right now” system), and we would cloth diaper at home. After viewing the how-to video on their website, reading several rave reviews, and buying my gDiaper Starter Kit, I was ready to go! I mean, if movie stars such as Julia Robers were singing the praises of gDiapers, they must be pretty good, right? WRONG. In no particular order, this is why I no longer ‘gDiaper’ my daughter:
1. gMessy, messy, messy. One of the main reason for going with gDiapers instead of cloth diapers would be to avoid the whole having to clean and launder cloth diapers, right? You figure you just have to flush the insert, and go along your merry way… Well what I quickly found out was that gDiapers + a newborn breastfed baby = a HUGE mess. Anyone who has changed a newborn “Number 2″ knows the runny/ watery consistency of a breastfed BM. What happens when you use a gDiaper on a newborn is that the BM in question will pretty much alwaysrun onto the snap-in liner. Even the gDiaper website will tell you that poop (whether from a newborn or an older child) will get onto the liner. So you can flush the insert, but you still have to deal with cleaning poop off of the liner! Where’s the convenience in that? I did invest in a diaper sprayer, which worked wonderfully for cloth diapers, however I found that if I tried to spray a gDiaper snap-in liner, it just created a lot of unsanitary back-spray. YUUU-UCK. Plus, because the leg gussets of the liner don’t have a lot of elasticity, it was really hard to get all the poop out of all the crevices in the liner. So all-in-all, it was just a huge pain. I found that cloth diapers were much easier and more convenient – all I had to do was spray off the diapers (if it was a “number 2″) and launder them. With gDiapers, I had to deal with the whole flushing process (whether or not the baby had pooped), plus cleaning and laundering the liners (and sometimes the cloth covers too, if the liner didn’t contain everything).
2. gWhy does it Velcro towards the back? I may be in the minority on this one, but what the heck were they thinking when designing the cloth outer cover (or “little g” pants) with the velcro closures towards the back?! OK, I know what they were thinking (because I read it on their website) – they Velcro tabs are at the back to keep them away from “little hands” so that they don’t take off their own diaper. While it may be true that babies/ toddlers of a certain age like to undress themselves, I found the back closures to be a huge pain. Most of the time I couldn’t tell if I was securing both sides symmetrically or if I was aligning the tabs correctly. As if it weren’t enough of a challenge to try to get a diaper on a squirmy baby, then I had to deal with trying to crane my neck around to see if I fastened the Velcro correctly. And when (at least half the time), the Velcro was askew, I then had to reposition it. Maybe I’m being nitpicky here, but at a certain point in parenting, being able to do lightning-quick diaper changes becomes pretty advantageous. Plus, don’t most people put clothes on over their kids diapers anyway? I know the only time my daughter is only in her diaper is when she’s getting ready for a bath, or in between clothes changes, so front closures aren’t a issue. And if they were such an issue, surely other diaper manufacturers (whether of disposable or reusable diapers), would’ve made the same change? Did the creators of gDiapers intend them as outerwear?
3. gComplicated. Now I kind of knew what I was getting into here because I had read all about gDiapers and seen the how-to videos, but still, the whole snapping the liner in, stuffing the insert, and making sure I got the fit right each-and-every-timegot on my nerves after a while. It was much easier to slap on a cloth diaper (I used all-in-one diapers, which pretty much go on with the same ease as disposable diapers), than to deal with the whole gMess. I know it looks pretty quick and easy in the videos, but I found if I wasn’t meticulous with the stuffing of the insert and making sure the liner was snug against my daughters legs, there could be leakage problems.
Now even though gDiapers didn’t work for me, I certainly don’t want to discourage anyone from using them. If you use them and love them, fantastic! I myself however, did find the the cons outweighed the pros. And speaking of pros, here are a few things I DID love about gDiapers:
1. gWhat a great idea! I love love lovethe idea of a diapering system that’s so much friendlier for the environment. I know personally, having a child was an impetus for making more earth-conscious lifestyle choices. And what parent wouldn’t want a cleaner Earth for their children (and children’s children)? If they could tweak the design just a bit so that the flushable insert had elasticized legs that would actually contain the mess – what a winning product they would have!
2. gGreat for “Number 1″ and some “Number 2s.” I will say that the gDiaper did a pretty good job for “Number 1.” It’s not quite as absorbent as disposables or my cloth diapers, but that just meant more frequent diaper changes, which is easy enough. And when baby gets to the solid-food stage and the BMs become a little more ’solid,’ there are times when the mess is mostlycontained within the flushable insert (though certainly not every time).
3. gFlushing is a breeze! Yes, the flushing is a little bit of a process, but once you get used to it, it’s no big deal. And they really do break down and flush easily! Personally speaking, I find the whole “swish stick” a little disgusting. And where do you keep an unsanitary toilet stick anyway? But, I found out that a diaper sprayer will work wonders without having to use the swish stick! Instead of “swishing,” just give the insert a good spray, and the material will break down just as well so that you can flush without any problems whatsoever. Voila – no nasty poop stick required!
To those of you who have stuck with gDiapers, I say “way to go!” But I do sincerely hope that the product will continue to evolve. I would love to see this product reach a place where it would not only appeal to parents who are strongly committed to green living, but to the general public as well.