Deciding between Bumgenius AIO and GDiaper, please help!!! First time parents.

[betsyab]

Hi all, I've been searching these fantastic boards for all sorts of wonderful advice and am appreciate of everyone's time and energy. However, I haven't really found quite the answer I'm looking for, so I thought I would post a question.

We are first time parents, and looking at a more environmentally friendly, and more economical way of doing diapers. No need to get into how much water, etc. gets used, much research has been done on that and we are satisfied that both gdiapers and CD's will be about the same use. I know gdiapers are more expensive, but I'm wondering if the ease of use will make it that we are more likely to stick with it? I will be a SAHM, but am already amazed at the amount of laundry for the 2 of us, and I have heard that once baby comes it can easily double (even with their tiny clothes!)

So what is advice?? I really like the bumgenius AIO's as seem least scary of CD's for hubby, and my sister-in-law really loves the gdiaper. Thoughts? Use both (one for every day and one when out of the house)? Start with gdiaper for first few sleep deprived weeks and then switch to CD's?

Any thoughts are much appreciated!

[SnuggleBuggles]

I know that the AIOs are pretty easy but they are $$ and I think you have to do more laundry with them. Honestly, prefolds and covers are very easy and have a very small learning curve. They are less expensive because the prefolds are cheap and you don't have to wash the cover every time. With and AIO you have to wash the whole thing. For the newborn days you will need a lot of diapers.

I would try prefolds and a cover or gdiapers in the beginning. I have used gdiapers off and on with ds2 and have been ok with them but not wonderfully in love. I personally do not find gdiapers easier to use than a prefold and cover. Your AIO option would be the easiest, even if you have to do more laundry, but it is most costly.

Beth

[larig]

Have you considered a diaper service? We pay about $70 a month and have new diapers delivered every week--all I do is put them outside on Fridays. The service we use is very conscientious about keeping things sustainable and deliver in biodiesel fueled trucks and use environmentally friendly soaps. The diapers also are useful for many many children beyond my own, so they will have long lives and even when they are no longer fit to be diapers the company sells them as rags (oh are they great for cleaning!)

The drawback to using a service is that you have to buy diaper covers (most services use prefolds) and would likely end up being more expensive than AIOs, not sure how it would compare to g diapers cost (especially since they have covers too?)

When we are out and about and cloth would be too inconvenient (like when traveling cross country) we use seventh generation disposables. We saw a bill nye show that compared the environmental impacts of both disposables and cloth and he said that it was kind of up in the air which was less bad for the environment. But he did say that if you can use a product that doesn't use bleach (like 7th gen) that is beneficial for sure. I like cloth at home, because we all have sensitive skin (especially when it is hot), and I feel that cloth breathes better.

Sorry I didn't help you at all with your decision, but I'm so happy with our diaper service I thought I'd share that idea with you, even if you only do it for the first couple of months when sleep is hard to come by, you might consider it.

[SnuggleBuggles]

I should have mentioned that I used a diaper service with ds1. It was fabulous. Plus, I was able to lease the diaper covers or buy them. I leased when he was really little and sailing through sizes. I like the Prowrap covers and they are pretty cheap.

Beth

[joytiare]

I'm 7 months pregnant with our first, so you and I are in the same boat. I have a friend that works for G diapers and was turned onto the idea of the flushable for convenience, BUT...

Some other friends highly recommended the Bum Genius 3.0 One-size to use with a flushable liner (from Imvse Vimse or Kushies) for the poopy diapers. Lo and behold, I found a great video that convinced me to go the Bum Genius route - search You Tube for "Bum Genius diaper change"

In terms of cost-benefit, the BG 3.0 is a one time investment of ~$18 per one-size diaper vs. ~$19 for a G-pant, but you have to buy 3 seperate sizes (virtually tripling the cost!!) just for the pants.

We registered for (24) BG 3.0 diapers, (2) 12-packs of diaper doublers for night/travel and (5) 100-pack Imse Vimse flushable liners to start. Would love another opinion...

[amldaley]

Maybe it's me, but I just could not get the hang of G-Diapers. I couldn't get them assembled properly. I am not very good at that sort of thing - all thumbs.

I love pocket diapers (BumGenius is a pocket diaper because you stuff the absorbant part in to the pocket of the cover. A true "AIO" is all sewn together- they take forever to dry!) I have a few BumGenius and like them very much. But I found I prefered Tiny Tush Elites. Both the fleece and the aplix (velcro stuff) seem to wash better and live longer with Tiny Tush. I know others who swear by Fuzzi Bunz.

We only get to use cloth at home evenings and weekends as DD is in daycare and they don't allow cloth. But even when I was a SAHM, I never really found issue with the laundry required for diapers. We just made sure to have enough diapers to last at least three days, so that if I needed to beg off laundry for a day, I could.

And now that I do both 'sposies and cloth, I can attest to the cost effectiveness of cloth, even at the price of pocket diapers!

----

ETA: "One size" diapers, are notoriously inappropriate for most newborns. Just too darn big. I used 'sposies until her umbilical stump healed and then a few pre-folds and covers at first and a few fitted diapers. I also tried contours. That might work for you. It's like a sposie, made of cloth, then you put a cover on. Easier than folding and tucking etc etc.

[JBaxter]

I would say bumgenius OS. I have gDiapers but only use them for vacations and trips. I found bumgenius are much better overall. I tried the prefold route and I SUCK at prefolds I ated pins and I hated the snappi. I use a combo of fitteds and pocket diapers. Bumgenius OS, Haute pockets os, fuzzibuns (Im using petites now) and Happy Heinys OS. I suggest you get a couple of different kinds before commiting to buying a bunch of one kind and you deciding you dont like them.

I am not unhappy with the gDiapers but i would definately NOT use them for nights with my little guy we would have a wet mess.

Jack did fit into bumgenius at birth but he was 10lbs.
PM me if you have any other questions

[SnuggleBuggles]

I would say bumgenius OS. I have gDiapers but only use them for vacations and trips. I found bumgenius are much better overall. I tried the prefold route and I SUCK at prefolds I ated pins and I hated the snappi.

I never used pins or snappis- I just used a diaper cover.

Beth

[edurnemk]

I use both, Bumgenius most of the time and gDiapers for long outings and travel. I love them both, but there's a stage around 4-5 months where you get a lot of poopy leaks, and BG's are better at containing them. I've had the AIO (organic and not) and pockets. My son can't use the organic ones anymore since the damp cotton gives him a rash, but aside from that I love them and since they're one size, they're very economical in the long run. The pockets are great too, also one-size and I just use more inserts for nighttime. For a newborn, though, fitted diapers with a cover are usually a better fit.

I've gotten used to the diaper routine now, I wash them about 3 times a week, there's so much laundry that 2 or 3 more loads in a week aren't that noticeable, LOL.

BTW, when I researched, I found information about diaper services not being much more environmentally friendly than disposables, since they wash diapers about 7 times, and their delivery trucks use gas and all that. I don't know if they'll provide any kind of diaper or just prefolds. But washing them at home doesn't use as much water and energy. I do have to say that getting your washing routine down takes a few tries since a lot of factors come into play: type of diapers, water hardness, detergent type... check out the boards at www.diaperpin.com for more info on cloth diapers and washing them.

At first I wanted to use gDiapers full time, but it was too expensive, and they were harder to find when DS was born, that's why I tried cloth. Getting the right fit takes some practice, but once you learn, they're super easy to use. I love them.

I think the best thing is to try both options and decide which you prefer. I used the trial program at Jillian's Drawers, which is fabulous! And gDiapers also has a starter pack. Oh, and you can use a prefold or insert inside the gDiaper cover to save on flushable inserts (this I know because a lady at gDiapers customer service told me!). For the first weeks choose the easiest option for you since you'll be changing 8 to 10 poopy diapers a day, and getting little sleep. I used disposables the first few weeks.

Oh, and finally if you choose cloth, do get a diaper sprayer and/or use flushable liners when you start solids. It makes life much easier and less yucky!

[carolinamama]

Seriously, I would buy a few and try them in conjunction with sposies if need be to figure out what works best for you. I started out with 4 Bumgenious Pockets to make sure that I liked their fit and that CDing really worked for our family and then bought more. I just did laundry virtually everyday and filled in with sposies. I prefer pockets to aios for the reasons others have said but I do have some fitteds and covers and like those too. As for gDiapers, I've never tried them but I will say that the people I know using them have poop leaks and I don't with my CDs. After all the explosive bf poops that DS1 had in sposies, I was very pleasantly surprised at the containing power of a pocket dipe with DS2.

I do like the fit of BG OS pockets and use them, but they are not my favorite. I have discovered that I much prefer snaps - and I would never have known this had I not tried different ones. My favorite are Snap-EZ and Blueberry OS in that order.

Happy Diaper shopping! It's fun!