So, diapers that are good for the environment and easy to use. Sounded like a bit of a challenge. There are actually several options that meet that. And then there are so many other choices in cloth diapering that became overwhelming until we settled on what points were important to us. With everything, I believe there is a compromise and with those compromises, hopefully, the majority of what’s pertinent to us comes out on top. We found 2 systems that met our needs: pocket diapers and gDiapers.
Pocket diapers are where there is a fabric cover with an inside opening and then there are terry cloth inserts that are stuffed into the pocket opening that is lined with polyurethane laminated (PUL) for waterproof barrier purposes. The ones we got are also size adjustable so as our baby grows, so does the diaper. It’s a great feature that’s cost effective over the life of the diaper and the growing baby. For heavier wetters, there are additional cloth inserts or “doublers” for double the protection. We have Velcro-ish fasteners, so no pins to hold these onto baby.
Our other choice is gDiapers. (I must say as a designer, I totally LOVE these aesthetically. So. Darn. Cute.) Anyway, these also have a fabric cover and have snap in polyurethane coated nylon liner. The diapers fasten with Velcro-ish stuff also. Then there are two options for inserts: gCloth and gRefills. gCloth are shaped like the doublers, made of hemp/cotton/microfleece and washable that get stuffed into the snap in liners. gRefills are inserts made from tree pulp and polyacrylate (for absorbancy). These refills are compostable, flushable and biodegradable! We also got flushable liners that go on top of the cloth inserts for those poo diapers that will lift out the solid! We can use them in both systems thankfully. We also have a sprayer for the bathroom but more about that in another post.
There are of course pros and cons to every diaper system. Upfront costs with cloth diapering is expensive instead of buy as you go disposables. Over the time though, investment is worth it since I’ll still have the diapers when the baby is out of them and can either sell them or give away. They won’t be thrown away to not rot in the landfill. Laundry will have to be done on a more frequent basis. I’ll be home for the first couple months so I can do laundry. I’ve heard about odors being a problem but honestly even in a diaper pail like one of those popular Genie’s, there’s still smell unless you take the diaper outside to the garbage. And I expect there will be something, but nothing that will be too hard to deal with since I can do laundry anytime!
There’s a lot more stuff I could go on about cloth diapers and what not. I’ll leave that to other posts for our adventures of cloth diapering. For now, I’m happy with the choices we have made and can’t wait for the baby to get here so we can try our new diapers out! The newborn size is absolutely adorable! Hopefully, my baby won’t be too big and will still fit them!