Ode to Diapers

So I guess my obsession with eco-baby stuff started with diapers. When the munchkin first arrived, I had been given packs of Huggies and Pampers at my baby showers. So of course I started with those. But throwing away upwards of 10 diapers a day into the bin made me want to vomit - and not from the smell. Of course I had seen schmultzy articles in parenting magazines at the doctor's office about the "great debate": cloth or disposable. But I figured there had to be some other alternative. Thus began the search.

First I tried Nature Babycare, because they said they're chlorine free (good for all), disposable (good for me), and made of all natural materials (read, no petroleum-based products, I think). While quite a few people like these (reviews), I found the tab was sharp and cut into my little chunk's chubby legs. That was the end of that.

Then we tried the gDiapers. These are the equivalent to a hybrid vehicle but for diapers - on the plus side they have many of the earth friendly benefits of cloth (primarily, nothing in the landfill), and some of the convenience of a disposable (don't have to wash every dirty diaper). On the down side, I have had trouble with leaking, but I also had that problem with the Pampers, so in my mind that is a wash. The other issue is they are a bit bulky; that hasn't slowed down the munchkin (he's 6 1/2 mos. now and has been sitting for almost a month, and started rolling at about 3 mos.). The only thing is his onesies get a little snug.

The biggest pain about the gDiapers is getting the time to flush them. Let me explain. The diaper is in 3 layers - an outside cotton layer that velcros on (comes in an assortment of colors) and can go in the wash if it gets dirty; a middle layer is a waterproof nylon that snaps into the outer layer; and the inside layer is a chlorine-free insert that you take out and either throw away (I don't flush the poopies - its too messy), flush, or garden compost (more on that later). I end up with a stack of diapers in the pail and about 3 days worth takes me 10 minutes to flush. It makes me feel good when they are all gone, knowing that big pile of diapers isn't going into a landfill.

Hubby doesn't do gDiapers, though - he can't seem to figure them out for some reason (I'm calling you out sweetie). So we still needed some "traditional" diaper solution for him and for at night (while the gDiapers worked fine at night if I doupled up the insert, I am just lazy at that hour). So we now use Seventh Generation diapers for dad, night and travelling. They are also chlorine free (read about why that's important here) - but the best part about them is the tabs are super stretchy and soft. Downsides: they use an absorbent gel in the diaper, they're most likely made with petroleum based plastics (I don't see any claims that they are not), and they are not compostable.

For more basic but detailed info on diapers, here's a good article: http://thegreenguide.com/reports/product.mhtml?id=45

If you are interested in gDiapers, I would suggest getting a starter kit from Diapers.com. Here's a tip to save $$ - if you like them, its cheaper to buy a couple more starter kits, than buying individual extra diapers (you're going to want about 6).

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE - post if you have other feedback on diapers. I'm not 100% happy with my options now and would love to hear others' experiences. BumGenius, cloth diaper services, compostables - anyone?