Finally!  Both kids are asleep at the same time AND there is an acceptably low level of laundry piled up, so I do not feel guilty about taking time out to blog.

Of course I am going to take this child-free moment to pause and admire “chunky” Charlie.  (Babies are addictive like that.  You crave a minute to yourself and then immediately start missing them when you get that minute)  He’s so darn cute…

And now let’s talk about the cloth diapers.  The ones I was super excited about.  It has been a month and I have to say, so far I’m really happy with cloth diapering.  It really isn’t a big hassle and with many of the types of diapers in my stash there’s little to do in terms of assembly or special washing instructions.

I’m really happy we chose to go cloth, because little Charlie’s skin reacts to everything.  The very first week we had to change wipes because he got a bad rash/hives from the wipes.  Even after we switched, his skin still wasn’t thrilled with the newborn disposables we used.  Once we got him into cloth (after his umbilical cord fell off), his bum seemed much happier.

Now I promised to give my opinion on the diapers we have been using, so my opinion is what you are going to get!

Gdiapers

The diaper system is a three part system.  There is an outer cloth shell “Gpants”, an interior “pouch”, and then the liner is stuffed inside.  The Gdiaper website goes into detail.

The PROs

1. They are a slim fit and pretty darn cute.  No “diaper bum” here!

2. As long as they are assembled, they are very easy to put on.  Velcro makes life for the less dexterous adult or squirmy baby a bit easier.

3. The interchangeable parts allow for only a worn out bit to be replaced.

4. There are disposable liners.  For some folks this may be a pro, but I’m listing it as a pro and a con.

Personally, I would rather not mess with disposable liners and will be happy to purchase some nice Seventh Generation disposables if needed.

5. You can stuff them with liners other than the gdiaper liners.  Their liners can be more expensive than other brands, so it may be that you want to try out a cheaper alternative.  I have used newborn size prefolds, Softbum mini pods, and a few other miscellaneous liners I got used in a box of random diapers.  All worked just fine.

The CONs

1. Unvelcro, unvelcro, Unvelcro, unvelcro. Snap, snap, snap, snap. Stuff.

This is the process you will repeat over and over and OVER to assemble and disassemble for washing.  My husband doesn’t mind this, as the trade off is that the diaper is very easy to put on when squirmy Charlie is on the changing table.  I find this repetitive requirement annoying.

If you are the type of person who manages to carve out time in the evening to knit or crochet while you soak in your favorite TV show, this may be the diaper for you.  That would seem like the time to assemble the diapers.  (Not when your child is diaper-less on the changing table and about to pee on you).

I’m lucky if I get hands free time to do anything.  And when I do have those free hands, they are put to use folding laundry, taking care of animals, doing dishes, or attempting to scrawl out a blog post.  Repetitive activity is just not my style.

2. They are not a one size diaper, so you will need to go up in size and buy more diapers.  We never purchased the newborn sizes and started with small.

Well, Charlie is 1 month old (started out as 8 lbs 3 oz).  As you can see, the smalls don’t quite fit anymore and let me tell ya… they don’t contain the mess even though we can technically get them on.

While I can sell them used and get a bit of money back, I feel like the amount that may be spent on these diapers if you bought a whole stash worth (6 Medium pants go for $79.99 on Amazon and $17.98 for for a six pack of pouches) may not be cost effective when your baby quickly outgrows a size.

3.  Some of the parts seem to wear out more quickly than expected  This can lead to more money spent replacing parts.  Did you notice that the plaid diaper above is already pilling?  That is after just a few washes (as directed).

And take a look at this pouch that started fraying after just one wash…

No other diaper I have tried and will be reviewing has had any part deteriorate this quickly.  In fact, some of them seem downright indestructible.  If we kept going with this system, replacements may be needed, thus increasing the overall cost of diapering.

4.  The gpants stick to everything in the wash!  Seriously. They come out as one tangled blob that you have to then deal with.  Even if you took the time to fasten the diaper or fold the velcro over like a laundry tab, they don’t hold!  They will stick together and to your other diapers.

5.  There are disposable liners.  They are flush-able… sort of.  I tried flushing the liners and our cranky old toilet did not agree with the “flush-able” claim.  Plus, I got poop or pee on my hands pretty much every time I pulled out a liner.  This has not been a problem for other styles of cloth diaper, even the pocket diapers.

 Also, if you use the disposable liners, you will have to purchase more.  One of the appealing aspects of cloth diapering for me is that there are options that minimize the amount of money spent after the initial up-front cost.

At the end of the day, these diapers will probably work well for folks who don’t mind the extra assembly, who prefer to flush the liners, and who may not be doing cloth diapering in pursuit of a more economical diapering option.

Since we have outgrown the smalls, we will not be stocking up on mediums.  I may just sell or gift the materials we have to somebody who grooves well with this system.

Now I think I hear a baby starting to fuss.  So I’m just going to publish this bad boy without a close proof reading.  I live on the edge like that.