Posts Tagged ‘gro-baby’

So the burning question, which biodegradable insert/pad is better? To be honest I like both so this is a tough one to say either way. There are advantages to both, so let me lay out my observations from having used both on my son.

gDiapers were my first system, and I am very loyal to them as a product line. But I am going to try and be very objective here.

gDiapers
* Larger Pad so takes up more space in your bag.
* Simple rectangular shape (which is one of the reasons why it is so easy to find cloth inserts to fit the gDiaper system).
* ALL of the unit is flushable, not just parts of it. (Though our cheap builders grade toilet never coped with flushing).
* Compostable (as is the Gro Baby)
* I have to use half a flushie or a small flushie folded in half under the main flushie to get good absorbency for my heavy wetter. I only had to use one of the Gro Baby.
* No adhesive which is both an advantage and disadvantage. The advantage is it doesn’t need it to do its job in a gDiaper pair of pants, but it is nice to have the adhesive on the Gro Baby when sticking it in other covers. That being said I have successfully used gDiaper flushies in other covers. I just have to be careful when putting them on the baby as nothing is really holding it in place.
*48 cents each for medium/large size. That being said you can get some good deals on them when on sale and you can buy them in bulk that will bring down that cost.

Gro Baby
* Shaped into a U with built in gussets. This means poop was caught by the insert rather than the cover itself, though not always.
* Smaller when folded up so fit in your diaper bag better.
* Adhesive holds the insert in place in the Gro Baby shell and other covers. That being said, the gDiaper inserts do not NEED any adhesive for them to work in gPants. The adhesive is actually a bit too strong as sometimes it sticks so well the plastic pulls away when trying to remove it from a cover. The paper that covers the adhesive is a little annoying though. They seem to manage to avoid getting thrown in the rubbish and I found them tucked in funny places in the bathroom. It is another part to dispose of.
* Very absorbent, but I have not done any measured tests.
* Only the paper core is flushable, which means you have to pull it away from the plasticy part and discard the plasticy part in the rubbish.
* Fully compostable just like gDiaper flushables.
* 40 cents each — so cheaper unless you get a good deal for by the case of gDiaper brand.

Size 2 Gro Baby on the left and medium large gDiaper on the right. The Gro Baby is folded into three and the gDiaper folded in half.

On top is the gDiaper pad opened out, and below is the Gro Baby pad. The Gro Baby will keep trying to curl back out. The gDiaper relies on the white liner component of the gPant to form the U shape.

Edit: I was asked if a Gro Baby pad will work in a G-Diaper. Well it would go in there, but would be more effort with the adhesive etc than what it is worth. The white liner already does the curving part and you would be applying another curving pad into it. I personally wouldn’t run with that unless there was nothing else to put in Braden’s diaper. ie I was stuck out and about and everything was dirty bar a pair of gPants and a Gro Baby bio pad :)

So end result, which ones will I use on Braden? To be honest I will have a packet of both on hand. I have both brands of diapers in his stash so it makes sense to have them both for me. I like both brands.

Which would I recommend to someone starting out and wanting to choose which system?

I think it would come down to this factor. GDiapers is a more flexible system in that you can use so many different cloth inserts in them. Most of the insert brands I stock will work well and effectively in gPants without any major modifications. Gro Baby pads have snaps on them to hold them in place and they are not the standard snaps that most DIY folk have in stock — most DIY folk will have a snap press that uses size 20 KAM snaps. The Gro Baby system uses YKK snaps.

So I would go GDiapers if you want a more flexible system, and Gro Baby if you want to use just their system.

The long awaited Gro Baby Biodegradable Soaker pads finally arrived late September 2009. I only ordered a couple of boxes because I wanted to be sure that these worked before I made a big time commitment to the product for the store. I love the Gro Baby diapering system already. It is a trim one size shell that you snap organic cotton pads into. You change out just the pad after baby pees, and the put in a fresh pad. I generally only needed to wash the shell after Braden would poop. There is a choice of snap or hook and loop closure. The only beef I have had with the system was a lack of colour choices! Functionally they are a great diaper. But Gro Baby is planning prints by the end of 2009, and I cant wait for those!

So I put Braden to work testing out these biodegradable inserts. Our first “cloth” diaper with Braden was the gDiaper system using their flushable inserts. So the concept is not new. And it is great that another company is coming to the green party of offering up choices for those who do not want to do laundry, or for travel and out and about. They inserts comes in two sizes. Given that Braden is 24 pounds at time of testing and wearing his Gro Baby diapers on the largest setting, we went with the size 2.

The biodegradable insert is very small when taken out of the pack folded (about 5 inches square), so they would pack into a diaper bag nicely and take up very little space. They are folded into thirds, and you unfold them and they look alot like the inside of a high end disposable diaper. They have a plastic back (which is biodegradable) and a paper front. There is a gusset edge on the pad for poop catching.

To put into the Gro Baby shell, you have to peel away the adhesive strips on the back. There is one at each end of the back of the pad. These stick to the mesh inner of the Gro Baby shell just fine. Its quite strong. A bit too strong in fact because I found if it gets a good hold on the snap at the back, you can tear the plastic backing of the diaper when trying to pull it off. This gets a tad tricky if the insert is full of poop!

The built in gusset does its job. I have not had any leaks with this insert in the Gro Baby shell. The pad holds quite a bit of pee too. We put it on Braden at nap time, the pad was full and heavy when I took it out after his nap. No leaks. Braden is a heavy wetting baby too.

I took the test a little further and tested the insert out in some other covers I have here. I tried it out in Otter Blotter covers and Thirsties Covers, and it worked well. If I placed the adhesives on the shiny side of PUL it did however stick a little too well and it was a little tough to get the insert out.

A pack costs $19.99, and there is 50 in a pack, so they work out to 40 cents each. So this system will cost you like a disposable does. BUT here is the big difference. This insert is compostable and biodegradable. Meaning it will not clog up a landfill for the next 500 years like a disposable will. You can also flush away the paper part of the unit. You still need to throw away the plasticy outter.

So what place will this have in Braden’s cloth diaper stash? For travel, for out and about, I will keep a couple in his diaper bag. Also when he gets a teething rash, I will use these as I don’t like to put creams on my cloth diapers as it can ruin them.

The addition of the Gro Baby Biodegradable Soaker pads to the Gro Baby line up makes them a very versatile cloth diapering system that should last most of baby’s diapering career.

Dream-Eze is made by the same folk who make the Gro-Baby. And when I put in a recent order for Gro-Baby, I bought one of these in a size large to try out on Braden who was around 16 months and 22 pounds at the time.

This diaper is an All-in-One diaper that closes with snaps. It has an organic cotton inner. It actually dries pretty well because there are two flaps that make up most of the inner lining. Those flaps are longer than the actual diaper so you need to fold them into the diaper. To my mind this makes it the ideal diaper for a boy as I fold the flaps into the front of the diaper. It does create a little bulk at the front because of this. It is also a bit challenging to tuck these folded flaps into the diaper when you are closing it up on a squirmy infant who thinks he has better things to do than get his butt changed :)

The snap closure has a double row of snaps so you don’t get bad “flap droop” that I found single row snap closing diapers tend to suffer from. Because of its many layers of absorbing cotton in the wet zone, I have found this diaper to be a good nap time diaper. I have not yet tried it at night. If I do, I will update this post accordingly.

This is a sized diaper, not a one size. The size large was a snug fit on Braden at around 22 pounds. This is a diaper you do not need to stuff or anything. But the flaps may confuse some care givers — like my husband. It is not one I would leave out for him to use because I can see him not getting all the flaps stuffed in correctly and we would end up getting leaks because of that.

The verdict on this diaper at time of writing. I like this diaper but not planning on adding it to the store at this time. I may do so in the future. I will however order it in for any customer who wants me to. If that happens, I will likely order them for the store at the same time. There is only one of this diaper in Braden’s stash at this time.

I had heard good things about this diaper, so I applied to become retailer before trying.  Something I don’t normally do.  Well thankfully, I didn’t regret that decision.

Gro-Baby is an outer cover that uses snap in organic cotton pads.  It is a one size cover that should work from about newborn to around 30 pounds.  I am not sure its going to make it to 30 pounds, we shall see.  At writing Braden is around 22 pounds and wearing it on the largest setting.

When changing a wet diaper, you just unsnap the pad, and re-use the cover.  I tend to use another diaper rather than using the cover right away.  I like to air covers out between uses.  Generally after a poopy diaper, you need to wash the cover too.  I find a ratio of buying one shell set and one pad set is a good way to go.  This gives you a cover, 3 pads and a booster.

I have had one customer with a heavy wetting 1.5 year old tell me that she gets the gro-baby diaper to last through the night with the booster pad, and another found she couldn’t get through the night at all.  I have not tried it at night myself.  Best I can get is a good nap out of it. 

I like this diaper for a day time choice.  It is trim fitting, so its great for fitting smaller clothes on his butt.  I used it when travelling with g-diaper flushable inserts.  At the end of Aug 2009, they will be coming out with their own bio-degradable inserts.  I will try them out and review them seperately.  If they are good, I will work out if I have the space to stock them in the store :)

Pros:

Trim fitting

Cost Effective with only needing to buy pads rather than complete diapers.

One Size

Comes in Snaps or Velcro

Cons

Only 4 colour choices

May or may not last to 30-35 pounds.  Remains to be seen.

Score 5/5 and stocked in the store.