Lilypie - Personal pictureLilypie Kids Birthday tickers
Lilypie - Personal pictureLilypie Third Birthday tickers
Lilypie - Personal pictureLilypie First Birthday tickers

Wednesday, April 18, 2012

Seven Days of Diapers - All-in-Twos and Hybrid Diapers

I wanted the majority of my diaper stash to be diapers that were not simply one-use diapers. Pocket diapers, while very convenient, can only be used one time and then the entire diaper must be washed. Since I knew I would be doing laundry more often, I wanted the loads I was doing to be as small as possible. I liked the idea of a diaper made up of parts that could be used for more than one diaper change. So, most of the diapers I tried fall into this category: GroVia, Flip, itti bitti, best bottom and gDiapers.

GroVia are my favorite diapers at a splurge price. The introductory system (two reusable diaper covers and four stay-dry soaker pads, which are snapped into the liner) was over $60. However, I LOVE THESE DIAPERS! The fit is great, and I absolutely love that the soaker pads have two layers and gussets on the side to contain messes.
The stay-dry soaker pads have a waterproof layer on the bottom, five layers of a hemp-cotton blend, and a micro-fleece liner on top to keep your little one comfy and dry. These pads are EXTREMELY absorbent!  I have never had a leak, either pee or poop, with these diapers, even during long errands or longer naps. They’re not very bulky, and the prints are adorable.
I like that the diaper covers are one-size, so they’ll grow with Zach as he grows. GroVia also has highly rated biodegradable soaker pads, which offer a disposable option for travel. I have a package of the soaker pads in Zachary’s closet, which we’ll be using when my sister and I travel upstate in May.

Flip are my favorite diapers at a saver price.
The introductory system (two reusable diaper covers and six stay-dry inserts) was just under $50. I really like these diapers as well. The inserts are very easy to use – they simply lay in the cover, with the front being folded if you have the one-size diaper cover on a smaller size.
(The undersides of the pads are labeled small, medium, and large, so you know how long the pad should be and can fold it accordingly.) In the one or two instances when poop has escaped the pad, it was well contained in the diaper cover.
I also like the stay-dry pads – they are absorbent, wash and dry well, and the top layer of “smooth stay-dry suede cloth” feels dry to the touch, even when the pad is wet, so I know Zach’s little tush is comfortable. Flip also offers a disposable option, which I will try once we’ve tried the GroVia disposable liners that we’ve already purchased.

Another of my favorite diapers is by an Australian-based company called itti bitti. I purchased a sized diaper for Zach from their bitti d’lish line.
(While Zach was a few pounds smaller than the size Large diaper, I bought it anyway, knowing that Zach is growing quickly. He’s had no problem fitting into it. I guess he’s a “cuddly size” baby, as itti bitti refers to chunkier babies!) This diaper is referred to as a snap-in-one: it has customizable inserts that are snapped into the liner.
I love the outside of this diaper – it is so soft that it makes me want to rub my face on Zach’s behind. I also like that the amount of absorbency is customizable with one to three layers, so I never worry about Zach leaking through. It’s also a very trim fitting diaper, even with all three layers snapped in. The one aspect of this diaper that I’m not a huge fan of is the inside of the shell: it is a soft fleece. While I love the idea of something so soft being next to Zach’s behind, I also worry that any leaks that escape the soaker pads will soak into the fleece lining, thereby making the diaper single use, instead of reusable. I have not encountered this problem myself, but it’s always in the back of my mind.

I also ordered a best bottom diaper to try that system. I purchased a reusable cover and two boosters. The diaper is a bit bulky with both boosters, but I’ve found that during the day, the second booster is seldom even wet. I like that the boosters are snapped into the cover, so they stay put. The reusable cover has an extra elasticized gusset around the legs to help contain messes, which is great.
I also think that Zach looks pretty adorable with a cow print bottom! However, while the top liner does have some sort of stay-dry top layer, I don’t believe it feels quite as dry as some of the other liners we have. So, I do like the diaper and will continue to use it, but I probably will not purchase any more of this brand.

The final type of hybrid diaper I’d like to discuss is gDiapers. This system includes a reusable cloth gPant, a breathable waterproof liner, and either disposable or cloth inserts. To be completely honest, I wanted to try this brand of diapers because if I ever needed additional supplies, I could drive over to our local Babies R Us, rather than ordering online and waiting for a package to arrive. I purchased one pair of gPants and a set of 6 cloth inserts. I have to say these are one of my least favorite diapers and my least-favorite hybrid diaper.
I hate the fact that the tabs for these diapers fasten in the back. Don’t most people change their children while said children are lying down? Perhaps the gDiapers people put the tabs in the back to ensure that children don’t open their diaper. However, I’ve found that I often have difficulty opening the tabs on the gPants, so I would applaud the kid who can unfasten their own gDiaper. I also don’t feel that the cloth liners stay put – whenever I change Zach, the liner is bunched up between his legs, which tends to lead to leaks.
The gDiapers website states that their cloth diapers should be changed every 1-2 hours. Every hour?! I’m sorry, but if you would like me to buy your product, I need it to soak up urine for more than 60 minutes. I’d read that you could stuff the gPant with two liners, cotton/hemp sides facing each other, to increase absorbency. I did this, in hopes of increasing the amount of time I could go between changes. After just over 90 minutes, Zach was soaked right through and in danger of springing a leak. (And this was just a normal amount of urine – nothing crazy.) So, the cloth gLiners are at the back of my line-up as back-up boosters, but I’m really not a fan…

So, the All-in- Twos and Hybrid diapers are definitely my favorite diapers, in general. The GroVia diapers and Flip system are my favorites, but the bitti d’lish and best bottom diapers are also reliable diapers that are used on a regular basis.

Please join us tomorrow on All Things Ng for a discussion of Fitted Diapers.

No comments:

Blog Widget by LinkWithin