G-Diapers: So, how are they?

Our recent conversation on Fuzzis have led to mention of the new G-Diapers. The g-diaper family, the Graham-Nyes, moved from Australia to set up their g-diaper headquarters in Portland. Yup. Wouldn't you? Because Portland is one of the greatest cities in the world, especially for a earth-friendly, family-friendly company that produces a flushable diaper!

SO, have you used the g-diaper? What do you think? We're interested in some product reviews!

Comments

[poop patrol]

i tried the gdiapers and although i love the idea, i don't think they work for us. we have a 1923 bungalow so, suffice to say, they do not flush. in addition, it takes too much time and hands to get the diaper ready to put 'em on. also, when you jump from a small to a medium, the mediums are gargantuous (sp?). but, keep trying, gdiapers! i want some biodegradable goodness on the market soon. i just found these fab diapers:
http://www.naty.se/
i haven't tried them yet but as soon as i get through my seventh generation, i will try those.
good luck to all of you soupy poopy moms!

[Tia]

Can't comment on the G-diapers, but in response to "poop patrol": we tried the Nature Boy & Girl diapers and just DESPISED them. Awkward, overpriced, and prone to ripping apart. We've tried other brands, too, and always end up back with Seventh Generation (still our favorite, even after last year's stupid redesign).

[Jennifer]

We used gDiapers for a week when we were out of cloth diapers due to a stupid planning mistake. I like them for daytime use, but they did not hold everything in all night long. For that, we now use Seventh Generation (or double up on cloth). Also, although the gDiapers *usually* flush well in our house, I tried flushing too many in one day (and didn't "swish" them enough) so we ended up with a stubborn clog on our hands. I think that if you have decent plumbing, use the enclosed swish stick, and don't flush too many in a row, you will probably be fine. (I've thought about composting them instead of flushing them, but the idea sort of grosses me out.) I do love the cute little covers, and I use them with our cloth diapers now. (I wish you could buy them individually).

[Art Wells]

We tried gDiapers several months ago and gave up. They flushed okay (though we have a normally problematic sewer) and, after talking to someone who was doing product demos at New Seasons, fairly easy to work. The biggest problem was their lack of absorbancy. They leaked about half the time, it seemed.

[poop patrol]

tia,
thanks for the info! you just saved us $159. we'll stick with the 7th gen and cloth combo we've got going!

[Kim]

I love the G Diapers. For me it is a good inbetween cloth and disposable. Once you get the fit right, I had no problem with leaks. Also, I just keep an extra liner with the pad so changing is quick and easy. I would definitely recommend.

[Katie]

G Diapers are great for day time use! I have a 1940s house and they flush fine. They are a little more work than the conventional diaper, but I feel good using them. As long as they are changed every 3-4 hours, leaking is not much of a problem, however I do use a disposable diaper at night. I would recommend trying them.

[Julie]

I love g diapers too. I agree - it's a great compromise between cloth and disposable. I just discovered them, and have started using them on my 4th child who is now 10 months. My hubby thinks they are MORE inconvenient (than disposables). But you know what attracted me the most? NO ODOR! Of course the diapers themselves have no odor, until they are soiled - then they are disposed of just like big-people's odorous waste - IN THE TOILET! No stinky diaper pail of cloth diapers needing a wash, no extra laundry, no stinky diaper receptacle of any kind for disposables - WOO HOO! As a prego-mom for the 5th time, I really appreciate the lack of STINK! Just as Kim said, I keep an extra liner pre-filled in a wrap so I can do quick-changes - no different than what I did with cloth. The only challenge is when I am out and about and not near a toilet when changing a diaper (like in my van). Oh well - small price to pay for the benefits. :D I'm recommending them to all of my eco-friendly friends.

[Julie]

oops - one more note - At night, we just put two liners in the g-diapers and it seems to prevent any leakage.

[jo]

Hi I just have a question about the g diapers. How is it effective for economical reasons? If you use them for 2 yrs and have a total of 6 covers per size you will spend between 2200-2400 $ to cloth diaper for 2 years. Disposables cost about the same. I know it is good for the environment I am just wondering if there is a cheaper way where one still avoids poop. I make and sell cloth diapers as a business and love it but lots of freinds I have hate cleaning up the poop.

[olivia]

You're right, Jo, I think the g diapers were priced to be comparable to disposable, only g diapers have the added earth-friendlier benefit. For handling poop with cloth diapers, we've used kushie flushable diaper liners so we didn't have to scrape as much.

[Jeff]

We just started using g-diapers after some friend introduced us to the product. We were using a diaper service, but weren't using many cloth diapers. Day care requires disposables, so we send 7th Generation diapers with our son. At home, we prefered cloth, but the covers the company sent were horrible. The velcro was aged and wouldn't hold. We bought a couple of Bumpkin covers and loved them. Still, we found the g-diapers more convenient --and cheaper, since we pay only for what we use. I am composting the wet diapers and flushing the rest. This seems to be working well. The challenge is storing the diapers until I can take them out to the compost. I don't enjoy the process of tearing and flushing the poopy ones, but it gets easier with practice.

Environmentally, it is a good compromise for us. We don't waste as much water and we don't contribute more than is unavoidable to the garbage dumps. Is it perfect? Well, no, but we are are taking small steps in the right direction.

I would recommend these for anyone in our circumstances (two working parents with a child in daycare). By the way, we have been using the Bumpkin covers with the g-diapers just fine. We have had less leakage than we did with cloth and the insert stays in place. We haven't tried the g-covers, but having observed our friends using these, I think the Bumpkins might even be easier (although I like the idea of the velco fastening behind).

Are there any comments form people who are composting these diapers. I have some concerns about the absorbing gels, but I haven't found convincing scientific evidence that these are harmful to the soil. In fact, it seems that there absorbent properties may be beneficial in holding moisture in the soil --less watering?

[Calen]

We just bought the starter kit yesterday and LOVE them (plus they make our son's tush look cute enough to bite into!) He wore his first one last night and my SNOOZER of a child (yup - 7 months old and sleeps 10-11 hours a night) woke up without even a leak - which is more than we can say for the disposables we used prior. Our plan is to use them at home and when he's at my mother's once a week. He'll still use disposables at daycare. We are THRILLED that there's an alternative to disposables.

[Danelle]

I just bought the starter kit for my son at Whole Foods Seattle yesterday. So far these are my thoughts:

- The covers are adorable!
- They do flush in a 1940s toilet but I have to be careful to break it up and flush 2 times per liner. Don't know how much more my water bill is going to be?
- It's more work/more involved than a disposable; not sure this is going to fly on daddy's shift long term.
- I'm not even going to try them for nighttime as my son is peeing through everything, but day use is great so far.

I feel good using them as I'm trying to help my son's sensitive skin kick this rash he's got. I'm not a "dark greeny" but I am concerned about the toxins in our environment and will continue to spend my dollars on responsible products.

[krista]

Just found this blog on g-diapers and I have to post. We've been using g diapers for about 5 months now and I have to say I'm really impressed. We have a total of 4 diaper covers and about 8 liners. Once we got into the rythym it wasn't so hard. I try to get all the covers set up with liner and disposables all at once so changing is a snap. Some poop diapers are a bit messy, but rather than dealing with the mess I just have a tupperware bin filled with water and 1/4 cup borax that I throw liners and covers in until I get around to washing. I even had some questions about flushability when we first started using them and was really impressed with their customer service. I sent an email and they called me right a way willing to help me out. I was a little skeptical about the cost (costs about $60/month for us since we use the med/large size), but I think its pretty reasonable considering the benefits to the environment. My son just recently started potty training and occasionally I will throw one in the bottom of his little potty so that when we are out and about and he needs to use the potty we don't have pee sloshing around. Doubling them up seems to work pretty well at night too. That's my two cents.

[Anne]

As to flushability, we always throw a few cups of water from the sink into the toilet with the diaper and that seems help it go down...and I think it uses less water than the repeated flushing method.

[Melissa]

Considering this is the most planet-friendly option I found besides cloth, I think they are terrific. I just keep thinking...500 years for a regular diaper to biodegrade. The absorbent cores don't seem to fit the liners perfectly, but if they are positioned right and baby is changed relatively soon, they seem to hold up pretty well. We had a night time pee leak, but the pampers leak too (The small Seventh Generations were way too big for our newborn.) I've not had any trouble with a mess when flushing and they go down just fine. I rip open the diaper, dump the middle, swish once, then hold the rest until the middle is almost down like they suggest. I use them during the day and am going to try them at night again. If they make a few small improvements in the design, I think they will be the best thing that I've seen on the market.

[Christie]

We recently started using gdiapers, although not purely for the eco benefits. My daughter has horrible allergic(nonyeast) rash from disposable diapers. Pampers actually caused her bottom to bleed, and 7th generation caused blistering. Cloth led us to persistant yeast rashes. Sigh.
So for a 6months we moved on to Nature Boy and Girl diapers. They seem to be inconsistently sized, tear often, and are now causing rashes, too.
So, on to gdiapers...LOVE them. For all the reasons everyone stated, and more. My daughter leaked out of disposables (sleeps 12-14 hours a night), so a small leak now and then isn't a huge issue. I don't find them any more complicated then other types once you get the hang of it all. And NO MORE RASHES!
Use 'em in good health!

[Dina]

I just bought a starter kit and really do love G diapers, my son is 23 pounds and the medium are a little snug but I cannot find Large in any Whole Foods stores. We have a horrible crapper and they flush fine! I love the look of them and find them to be quite easy to use.
I too like the Seventh Generation diapers but they will still be around for 500 years so Gdiapers are great!

[Sara]

I am a mother of two and recently purchased the G Diapers starter kit. I love these diapers couldn't say enought good things about them. My daughter slept through the night(9 hours) in one and NO LEAKS!! I was amazed. The new proccess of changing and flushing takes some getting used to but is totally worth it. If you keep some extras close by that are already put together changing them isn't that much diffrent from a disposable. And we live in an older home that doesn't have the greatest water pressure, I was very worried they wouldn't flush, but they go right down no problem!! I am very impressed, no more smell, no more leaky diapers, and I feel like i'm doing somthing great for the earth. THANK YOU G Diapers!!! Everyone should try them.

[Sarah]

Glad to find this blog, I live in the UK and have been looking for something like G Diapers for months (luckily I still have a few months to go before I have to resolve my diaper dilemma). My plan, as I go home to the US every Christmas, is to stock up on starter kits in each size, buy a couple of refill packs and make some liners of my own using theirs as a template, since I suspect they'll be a while coming over the Atlantic and I dread to think how many suitcases it would take to bring over a year's supply of liners!
For those of you whose wholefood stores don't sell all the sizes, the G Diaper website has a Shop and you can buy massive refill packs and individual covers online.

[Codi]

I just found this blog and am so happy I did! We were planning on trying the g diapers and wanted some feed back on what they are like and how well they work. Now I know for sure we are going to try them. They may not be as earth friendly as cloth but its better than the disposables weve been using for the past year! Cloth just would not work for us. Thanks

[city mama]

I have been using g's on my son for 2 months, and WE LOVE THEM! once you get the system down and the sizing right, no leaks, no problems at all! I have no complaints at all, they are great! and they work with other inserts/cloth just fine also, I will be sticking with these forever(well until we potty train). Thank you g-diapers!!ps I will say we had a few leak problems/flushing problems/fit problems at the beginning but the company is great at helping over the phone and this was all resolved very quickly.

[Heather]

I LOVE G diapers! We have a 1906 bungalow with low flush toilets and as long as I swish well, we are ok. Even my husband can deal with the poopy ones. They are a little more work than other diapers, cost about the same as disposables (for your wallet, much cheaper for Mother Earth). And for us, living in a drought state, better for our water bill. We have noticed no increase. Two inserts at nite works fine and once you get the fit right, no leaking.

I would highly recommend them!!!

[Kali]

We love the G diapes! At home we use cloth inserts or doublers instead of the flushable inserts which we save for when we're out. It saves money and is a great mix between disposables and cotton.

[Jen]

We tried g dipes for a month and never had any success. We had leaks every time we used them and found that they were more expensive than disposable dipes! So we switched to a pocket cloth diaper and couldn't be more happy. Anyone want my g diaper wraps? We have 1 green and 1 blue.

[Daisy]

Kali I would love your wraps, I am going to try these. daisymathison@msn.com

[Daisy]

Sorry it was to Jen, I would love to try your wraps if you still have them.

[Robin]

Has anyone tried the new 365 diapers at Whole Foods? I switched from 7th Gen. and I really like them but recently my son developed a rash just around the diaper. I was wondering if anyone has had a similar experience.

[Sarah]

We love these, too! We've been using G Diapers on our 22 month old for 6 months & love them. If you buy the refills by the case @ Whole Foods you get a 10% discount (call first to make sure they have enough in stock). We just wash them in the sink with baby shampoo, since we are sans washer/dryer. This works great & is super fast. I am purely selfish so not having a diaper pail is reason enough for me to use these. I'll be using them on #2, due in 5 weeks!