We decided that it's high time we do our part on getting on the going-green train, and do a little environment saving ourselves. It just so happens, that our environment-saving decision is also going to be a huge money saver for ourselves. We're going have our baby do her little waste business in cloth diapers.
Turns out, there's a lot to learn about cloth diapers.
First- they are not the big rag and scary diaper pins that our moms likely used on us.
Second- there's a whole bunch of types of cloth diapers, all-in-ones, pocket diapers, hybrid diapers, covers, inserts and a whole bunch of lingo that I can't ever get right.
Third- Sizes and Fitting. Some come with Velcro, some with snaps, some require you to get the snappy (very cool alternative to the scary pins). Some are all size fits all adjustable and others are specific sizes from Newborn to Toddler.
So after tons of research, pricing comparing, review reading and asking friends, I decided that I liked the shell/insert type of cloth diaper. There seems to be less laundry to do as when the diaper is messed in, often times you just have to change the insert and reuse the actual diaper shell. So we wouldn't have to buy as many diapers, just buy more inserts which are cheaper than the actual diaper shell.
I started really liking the Gdiaper because they have both reusable (washable) and biodegradable disposable inserts for those times when we're out and don't want to carry around a dirty diaper. Only thing I didn't like about the Gdiaper is they didn't have the one-size-fits-all option, we'd have to buy diapers for all sizes, newborn, small, medium and large, in addition to two kinds of inserts, small and medium/large.
While looking for better deals in the classifieds I discovered GroBaby. A diaper that met all my wants, shell/insert and the one-size-fits-all option so we just have to buy them once, and both the washable and disposable inserts. I read the reviews, and found them all positive, unlike all the other diapers I researched which all had mixed reviews, everything from Love it, wouldn't do anything different, to Hate it, they're leaky and don't fit right. I did not find one single negative, or even luke-warm review about GroBaby. (If anyone does find a bad GroBaby review, don't bother telling me because I've already made the plunge and I'm not going back... on second thought, I'd like to see it as I am curious...)
We bought our diapers from a woman who purchased the whole package while she was pregnant, then her husband got cold feet about cloth diapering and made her sell them, so we got a great deal as she had to sell them "used" but they've never touched a baby's bum.
I was super excited to try them out when we got home and tried them on a "newborn" sized bear and a large bear. The newborn bear is more the size of a premie and is drowning a little in diaper, but it still works! I even put on a premie size onesie over the little guy to see how that fit, and still looked fine!
We feel really good about our decision, we're excited to save money on diapers, and do our part in keeping a couple thousand diapers out of the landfills.
