Hybrid Diapers

In the beginning, we were doing just disposable diapers since LE was going through about 10 or so a day, and we wanted to ease into the hybrids. Hybrid diapers are a cloth diaper with a disposable insert. There's less waste that way.

For disposable diapers, Pampers were best for newborn; Huggies leaked every time. Huggies Newborn size were good once LE outgrew Pampers Newborn but was too small for Pampers size 1.

We still have a lot of disposable diapers to go through since we bought a case of size 1 Pampers right after she was born. Right now she's using those about half the time and gdiapers about half of the time.

We are fortunate to have a store here that has a try 'em, love 'em, or return 'em policy that lets you buy their cloth diaper shells (or even the cloth inserts) and try them for 15 days. If you don't love them, you can return them for a full store credit. Then, they have a sale a few times a year to sell the returned washed and stain-free diapers.

So, I tried flip diapers, gdiapers, and Gro Baby diapers with flip diaper inserts and the gdiaper inserts, and the winner for me are gdiapers for both the insert and the shell. Gdiaper diposable inserts are also flushable (see a video on their website) and compostable (biodegrade in 50-150 days in the compost).

Gdiapers fit well and don't seem too bulky. They have a removable/reusable snap-in liner inside the cloth shell so that the mess gets on the liner instead of the cloth part. That way I don't have to wash the shell every time LE pees.

The downfall of gdiapers is that you buy sizes for them (small, medium, large) whereas Gro Baby and flip diapers are both a one-size diaper. You use snaps on those diapers to resize them so that you don't have to buy the expensive ($13-16ea) shell when they grow.

The flip diaper was bulky. The liner was built-in (instead of snapped in like the gdiaper), and the insert didn't attach to anything, which caused it to bunch up and get pee on the shell (and sometimes on me). The shell has to get washed every time she goes. I ended up returning the flip diaper to the store.

The Gro Baby diaper fits well, and I really like it except it doesn't have the snap-in liner like the gdiaper, which means that the shell has to be washed more frequently.

How do they compare price-wise? The inserts for the hybrids are about the same as disposable diapers. You're just helping out the environment/landfills. Cloth diapering is where you'll find the real savings, and once you get comfortable with the hybrid option, you could switch to the cloth diapering option and use the same shells.

Organize Your Diaper Space

Apparently, I'm not the best at being a consistent blogger. I'll work on that.

I've seen some blogs where people ask how others organize their diaper changing area and whether or not they use a changing table. I read before we had Lauren that changing tables were one of those things that you can opt out of if you're looking to save money. John questioned my idea of loading her bottom dresser drawer with diaper supplies and changing her on the floor, but it's worked out well. We also have a basket that holds diaper supplies downstairs, too, so that we don't have to go upstairs every time she needs to get changed. I think my favorite part is that everything is easy to access yet tucks away to leave no evidence of diapering (see the downstairs basket in the image below).

Upstairs, we put her dresser in the closet instead of out in the room. It's not a particularly pretty dresser, and we considered painting it... but when it came down to it, the closet seemed like the best place. Plus, I like having the space on top as a drop-off point to put her clothes that still need to be hung up but time doesn't allow at the moment.

The drawer and basket each have the following:

1. A cheap cloth diaper (used as a rag and not as a diaper)
2. Waterproof cloth
3. Supply of diapers, stacked
4. Diaper rash cream and/or barrier cream
5. Wipes
6. Lined trash can nearby

You can see the cloth diaper and waterproof cloth folded and stacked on top of each other. In actuality, we keep the cloth diaper folded inside the waterproof cloth so that we don't have to unfold them separately. The waterproof cloth unfolds to a couple of feet to protect Lauren from the floor and the floor from Lauren (from now on called LE (pronounced "Ellie") in the blog). The cheap cloth diaper goes just under her butt to catch any waterfalls and such that may occur during the change. That allows us to launder the more expensive and sensitive waterproof cloth about once a week instead of about once a day.

In the photo, you see just disposable diapers. We are using up the last of our supply of those as we integrate the hybrid diapers into the mix. Our downstairs basket has the supply of hybrids whereas our upstairs drawer just has disposables. Eventually, we'll just have hybrids in both places. Future generations, I'll be waiting for my thank-you card.