g Diapers, 4 stars

Being a mom I know that we all struggle with the fact that the average disposable diaper takes 500 years to decompose in a landfill. Yikes! The solutions are not simple (or cheap) but in this case I can say that they are doable. I do know friends who use cloth diapers but I have found a fusion of disposable and cloth diapers that are really neat.

I first tried g diapers after reading about them in a Parent's magazine. These diapers are made up of three parts: a cotton outer covering, a plastic liner, and a disposable pad. At first I was a little disappointed. The pads did not seem to stay in place and #2's often got on the liners and made a really big mess. After giving them a break for four months I decided to try them again. They work great. I think four months ago the liners and covers were just a little too big and that led to more leaks, etc. Now they fit really well and I have not had a problem in the last two weeks of using them. I have not even thought twice about wearing them out in public, which I would have never done four months ago. It does help that my little boy does have more firm #2's now, but I think even if he didn't the fit is the key to keeping things un-messy. He weighs 20 pounds now and is in a medium cover and using the medium/large pads. He does still wear a disposable at night, but the website suggests doubling up on pads to help cope with the extra fluids during sleeping.

One of the neatest things about these pads is the options you have with disposal. They can be thrown away in the trash, flushed down the toilet, or the wet ones can be composted!! On their website there is a really neat video that shows the break down of the pads vs. a disposable diaper.

I did give these 4 stars instead of 5 because of the cost involved. An average disposable diaper will run you 10-25 cents a diaper and these are about 40 cents per pad plus the start up cost of buying the liners and covers. You can purchase these online, or I get mine at Earth Fare in Turkey Creek.