I'm going to do a quick update post here and then link it to the Great Flushable Diaper Experiment post because I'm getting like a million hits since the gDiaper folks were on the Today Show this morning. If you are a regular, you've heard all this before so you might want to skip this one.
Overall, I think gdiapers are worth a try. They may work great for you. Some people love them. They didn't work well for me. Now, I use chinese prefold during the day with bummi wraps, and either disposables or fuzzibuns at night. my diaper costs and effort are nil with this system. One load of laundry a week and about a hundred dollar investment up front. Compared to a $60 or so dollar a month disposable tab, it was a good investment. Here is a email I sent to the president of gdiapers when she asked me for feedback:
Hi, Kim
I don’t know if you remember, but we have emailed before. I’ve always liked the service of your company, and like what you are trying to accomplish with these diapers. So I will try to be thorough in my response.
First of all, I’ve found that disposable diapers are far superior to gdiapers and cloth diapers in every way except for possibly cost and the impact it has on the environment. (No small issue.) So I am going to compare my experience with gdiapers to that of cloth.
When my twins were about a year old, I made the commitment to switch to cloth for environmental reasons and also to save money. I spent about 75 dollars on 8 bummi wraps, 24 organic Chinese prefolds, a diaper pale with a bummi bag, and a toilet hose. About that same time, someone gave me a gift of the gdiaper starter kit. I thought it was a great idea. No laundry!! No smell!! Great! And those little gpants were SO cute.
After that, I went back and forth between gdiapers and cloth and I just found that cloth is easier, cheaper, more convenient, and works better.
I started having to go back and forth to cloth because one package of gdiaper inserts didn’t last that long with twins, and they were just as expensive as disposables. (I see that now you have them available online in a case and that is a great idea.)
I never took to the flushing because it seemed like around 50% of the time, I had to run and get the plunger. I read all your tips on the web, we even talked about it a bit through email. I thought it might have been a learning curve thing that I just had to get the hang of. I tried all sorts of things like not doing both twin diapers one right after the other. Flushing
So even when I went to just dumping them in the trash (you had told me it only takes like 20 weeks for decomposition), cloth diapers were still more convenient. With my bummi wraps, I just quickly fold a cotton prefold and shove it in the diaper. With gdipes, I’ve got to snap in the liner and shove that flushable all up in there and I know I’m only talking about a few seconds, here, but it just takes longer. Then with cloth I just dump the old one into the hamper (if there is poo, I shake it into the toilet, first) I rarely have to touch the yucky part of the diaper because I hold on to the back and it is usually dry back there. With gdipes I had to tear it apart and get the mulchy stuff out and it was ickier. So then, once a week I just throw my whole diaper pale, bag and all into the washing machine and wash it with baking soda which I throw a half cup full in the bag at the beginning of the week and the smell isn’t usually so terrible. Washing that one load of cloth diapers (and I had usually a few gdiaper pants in there as well) isn’t that big of deal to me. Having to deal with my toilet clogging every day is.
Then, I found gdiapers to be inconsistent as far as leakage goes. I mean, NOTHING is as good as disposables in this regard. With cloth, though, I know that if I put the diaper on correctly and don’t let it go over about three hours, it will usually never leak. And when it does leak, you usually get just a bit of leakage around the legs or something first. With gdiapers, there have been numerous times when I’ve just put the diaper on a kid and not 15 minutes later, the whole front of my kid is wet as if he had no diaper on at all. I assume it is because the insert slips down out of place or something, but those gpants are not even close to being waterproof. It seemed to happen with one of my kids exclusively, and I never could figure out what I could do to make that insert stay in place. I guess it was just the fit or the way he moved or something. I do think that in general, gdiapers are more absorbent than cloth. For my other son, they stayed in place and worked fine.
I started getting afraid to leave them in daycare with the gdiapers as well (they go to daycare for two hours, three days a week) because of the leakage problem, and also because I had to keep training every one in how to change their diapers. (Its not that its rocket science, but it is a consideration when you leave your kids with people). People are just more familiar with cloth and don’t like to change the gdiapers. I think that’s dumb, but that has been what happens. I pick them up and they say, sorry he is wet, but we couldn’t figure out that strange diaper and didn’t know what to do.
To sum up, cloth give me better leakage protection, more convenience, and cost less, and are better for the environment. (I think one laundry load a week with baking soda is probably better than flushing multiple times or throwing them away. And since you still have to wash and dry the gpant, it works out better for the environment.) The fact that the flushables cost the same or more than even disposables is kind of a drawback.
Since I don’t use them very often anymore, I haven’t bought them. I still have some left. I usually only use them on that last day of the week when I should be doing laundry but I’ve procrastinated and haven’t done the diaper laundry yet. I don’t know if I will buy them again. My only reason to buy them now is because I already have the gpants. I assume you are asking for feedback to make improvements, so I’ll keep you on the radar and if things look like they will work better for us, I might consider buying them again.
Sorry to be so critical. I really do wish you luck with your company and hope that this has helped in some way.
I don't know the first thing about diapers (ok, I know how to fold cotton ones from a square of cotten as in the olden days), but that was very informative. I'd be bumming if I was the company owner of them g thingies but as a reader, it was cool.
Posted by: cluttergirl | May 04, 2006 at 06:38 AM
I saw the segment on the Today Show and thought these were the worst idea for convenience. Your story didn't change my mind. We use cloth diapers, and they are 1000 times easier than this flushable mess. I only have to flush poop, which is once or twice a day and takes 30 seconds max. Washing is easy because you just dump the diapers in and start the cycle. No clogged toilets and only a few trips to the bathroom witha diaper.
Posted by: Namarang | May 08, 2006 at 07:11 AM
We just started using gdiapers on our 20 mo old son 3 days ago. They seem to work great. We had one leak when he was in them for 2 1/2 hrs and had 3 drinks in that time. Otherwise they make it through naps just fine. We haven't tried them overnight yet because we have so many disposables right now. I don't see the gpants as being that much of a burden on my laundry cycles. They definately won't make their own load. I am very interested in cloth diapers as well, but will maybe wait to try them with our next baby. For now though, I just wanted to add that for around the house, the gdiapers are working great for us. I don't mind the flush because if our son were to use the toilet it would take a flush anyway. Maybe with twins and flushing two at one time it would be a concern, but we have had no toilet problems, and to save a flush I can sometimes use the toilet at that time as well. If you decide to nix the gdiapers, let me know... would be interested in buying the gpants from you. PS~ We have to buy the inserts off the internet since they aren't sold in our area yet, but gdiapers now has an auto-ship program, so we may sign up for that. Thanks for your blog... it's very useful!
Posted by: wanamingomommy | May 08, 2006 at 12:02 PM
I will admit that I didn't take the time to read all of the comments, so if this is sounding familiar, you can ignore it. I just switched to cloth diapers this week. I had been using disposables for almost 2 years (part of the reason I chose to switch was because of the feel of cloth...they feel they are wet...). I have found that the Fuzzi Bunz pocket diapers are just as easy to use as the disposables and my daughter tells me every time how nice and soft they feel on her bum. I've also noticed that her diaper rash has gone in a matter of a few days. Disposables were getting far too expensive...I only wish I had switched sooner!!!!
Posted by: Amanda | July 13, 2006 at 06:44 PM
don't waste those lil' g pants - throw a prefold in them! i got a box of these as a gift - and although i never tried their "flushable inserts", i have gotten plenty of use out of the covers. =)
Posted by: jenna | August 11, 2006 at 05:25 PM
I just recently switched to gdiapers from cloth. Actually, right now, I'm using a combination of cloth, gdiapers, AND disposable. I find that for overnight, disposable is still the best. I don't like leaving my 7month old in a wet cloth diaper all night though I sometimes sleep her naked, just on cotton pads. I haven't really tried the gdiapers overnight yet. I decided to switch to gdiapers to replace the disposable part of my hybrid diaper system. I use cloth at home, but I travel a lot, and hate having to pack a giant bag of cloth diapers when I'm on the road. Gdiapers are something I can buy in most major cities, or at least when I bring them with for a trip, I don't have to lug the dirty ones back. I've found them to be great so far. No leaks, and the mess factor seems about the same to me as with cloth. I think they seem better for the environment than cloth even, though I live in Arizona where wster is scarce. I just leave them in the toilet until someone uses it.
Posted by: Natalie | December 02, 2006 at 05:07 PM