the dirty diaper debate

Just to clarify, the debate is dirty, not the diaper (yet).

We’re doing cloth diapers. ThereIsaidit.

Maybe it’s to hug a tree (did you know that Christopher Columbus’ diapers would still be sitting in a landfill if he’d used Huggies? Those suckers take more than 500 years to break down), maybe it’s to save a buck (or $800 a year), or maybe it’s so I’m not soaking my baby’s bum in chlorine and chemicals 24 hours a day for the first 2 years of his life, but we’re doing the cloth thing for nugget, for our budget, and for the earth (Whoa there. Me thinkest my Oregonian roots are showing).

We’re not the only couple on this bandwagon, either. Cloth is making such a comeback right now that there are literally dozens of brands of cloth diapers and even more styles/models/features/colors. These are not your mother’s pinned cloth diapers complete with the rubber-pants, either. I have recently familiarized myself with technical vocabulary like pocket diapers, AIOs/All-in-Ones, tri-folds, inserts, liners, and prefolds, Oh my!

After exhaustive research online, in magazines, and with other cloth mommas, we’ve decided on a brand and a type of diaper. I know you’re on the edge of your seat, so without further adieu, I introduce to you the gDiaper:

gDiapers is a Portland, Oregon based company (You would, Allison.) that makes these adorable and, for lack of a better term than the ‘S’ word, sustainable diapers (When did that happen? Now I’m the quintessential pregnant lady and the I-want-to-be-cool-so-I-talk-about-how-green-I-am lady?¬† ::yikes::).¬† I’ll save the non-diaper-enthralled readers the pain of an exhaustive review, but I do want to hit some highlights of why we chose to go with ‘the g’.

The main component is the ‘little G pant’, the cute bum-swaddling green thing in the picture above. Don’t you just want to squeeze them? Then, the gDiaper company sells chlorine-free, plastic-free, biodegradable diaper inserts to catch, well, you know, what diapers catch. These can be thrown away (break down in 150 days) or flushed down the toilet when they’re dirty. An alternative (or in our family, alternate) to the disposable inserts is to use a cloth one, which can be laundered and reused infinitely. Ok, so not literally ? uses, but a lot more than you’ll need. (Unless you’re Octomom, who’s really not just Octomom, but nobody knows the numerical prefix for 14.) Wash and re-use is where the money savings come in. We plan on using cloth when we’re at home or with family and disposable when we’re oot ‘n aboot because they’re just so darn convenient.

So, as giddy as can be, I officially ordered the mother load of diaper supplies last week. By coupling a free shipping promo on the website right now and a 20% off coupon code found in a parenting magazine, I pretty much hit the cloth diaper jackpot. It was like Christmas in March or a Wells Fargo Wagon delivery or the  first time I tried french fries dipped in a Frosty: glorious.

Enjoy it now, Dan-o says, in 6 months you’re going to want to never see a diaper again.

And oh how I’m enjoying it! Look at all those adorable colors! Can you believe Nugget’s bum will be that teeny-tiny? The fabric is so soft! What great design! Have I told you about gDiapers, complete stranger in the baby aisle of Target? ::continues on in praise of gDiapers::

This is where you ask yourself: Has there ever been a woman more excited to use a waste removal system?! I think not.