The Baby Blog My thoughts on baby and toddler stuff

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.