Alright. So, it’s time to get honest about diapers.
Sarah and I had thought a lot about diapers before Caleb came along…I asked for advice here on this blog and on Facebook & Twitter, and Sarah did a TON of research into all the available options when it came to disposables/cloth/hybrids/etc. We eventually settled on gDiapers (cute bum, small footprint). gDiapers are hybrids, because you still throw away the inside liner, which can sometimes be even bulkier than a disposable diaper.
So we’ve been trying to use them…Sarah more than me, probably. But I feel like we gave them a shot. And it gets very old having to clean poop out of the super-cute cloth portion…and then washing both the cloth portion as well as the plastic liners…every now and then you’d get lucky and not have to wash everything after a poopy diaper, but generally, there’d always be some poop on the plastic liner. Plus you had to snap in these plastic liners (4 snaps) and then get the disposable liner to put in…
Anyway – cute bum? Yes. Pain in the ass? Double yes.
And besides, we have been using a good green, company, Seventh Generation diapers…and I think they would take up less room than just the disposable liners from our gDiapers.
But then Sarah signed up for a free trial with Jessica Alba’s new company, The Honest Company. You can read all about the story behind the company, their principles, and how they are a socially-conscious company, but my favorite part is that they have diapers with skulls & cross bones on them (photo below). Well, that’s part of it. But basically Jessica wanted to make products that were natural, free of all the chemicals used in so many baby products, and make them be affordable – a big part of it.
So, we’ve made the decision to switch over to disposable diapers, and we’re going to be getting them from Jessica Alba’s company. That means super-cute diapers (so we still get the cute bum) that are natural and good for both Caleb and the earth, and also extremely competitively priced. It’s essentially the same cost as if we were sticking with Seventh Generation diapers through Amazon.
Does part of me feel like we are “giving up” and not really trying as hard as we can with the gDiapers? Ehh, maybe a little. But I think it’s a small thing we can do to make our lives a little bit easier. Turns out….having a baby is a LOT of work. It’s not all a walk in the park…and it adds a lot of stress to your life. So…if we can just throw a diaper in the diaper pail, and not worry about having to separate the disposable liner from the plastic liner from the cloth outer portion…that feels like a good use of our time.
In the early months cloth diapers are hard. You are already sleep deprived. The poop is goopy and frequent. We switched to cloth around 5-6 months when Eddie started eating solid foods. Stools were harder and therefore easier to clean and on top of that I received a tip that if you paid attention to their bowel movements you could put them on the potty to poop eliminating the need to clean poopy diapers at all.
It was hilarious putting his 5 month old bottom on the big toilet to poop, but he did it and consequently has always gone poop in the potty making a poopy diaper a rare occasion for us.
We also decided to stick with disposables for night-time wear. Cloth got too wet and he woke up at night. We decided sleep was worth a disposable diaper.
I think bottom line is that you have to balance your ideals with what’s practical, workable and good for your family. It’s so fun watching you embrace your relationship with Caleb and to see him grow month by month.
I agree with the previous poster. Pick the cloth diapers back up in a few months if you feel so inclined. We have used G-Diapers since the beginning but only use them during the day and not at night. I use the disposable flushables and we hardly get poop on the liner or cloth portion anymore. In fact, I hardly ever have to take the liner off anymore. But, my kiddo is older. At the end of the day, you are being aware of your footprint when it comes to diapers, so just keep on keeping on. We all do what we can, but no one expects us to be perfect at any of it. : )
Thanks for the great review, Adam! Caleb is uber-adorable!! We’re so thrilled that we can make your life a little easier. It’s really our M.O. because we understand that despite our best intentions to do it all – there are only so many hours in the day and we’d love to have a little more time to actually enjoy our kids – or a little more time to sleep 😉
Thanks again and have a delightful day!
Janelle Sorensen
Communications Manager
The Honest Company