g diapers/international travel

[D'sMama]

Who's used them? How do you like them? What about overnight? What's with the backwards velcro? How many of the cloth pants and waterproof liners do you have?

We're a strictly CD household, but about to take an international trip... and I can't bring myself to use sposies (and not willing to haul half a suitcase of cloth and wash them 4 times while on vacay ). So I got a starter kit for g-diapers and like them well enough for the day or so I tried them out. Do you think it's feasible to wash any poo-leaked-on liners/pants in the hotel tub? My formerly once-a-week pooper is now totally random, runny and a couple times a day, unfortunately. Should I just buy sposies?

I feel like I should be able to handle this , but I'm stressing about the trip in general, so my brain is going like :

[My3guys]

I think you should be able to wash the cover in a hotel sink no problem. I would not worry about that.

I think I would have concerns but they wouldn't be washing. I don't know where you are going but I can tell you many countries have sewer systems that are not as strong as what we are used to in the US. So, the chance of being able to flush the diaper could be very slim in which case you would need to toss so it would be just the same as a disposable. I have heard anecdotal evidence that even in the US the diapers are causing problems with sewage system back-ups. Also, g-diapers do leak. They are not ...yet at least...as leakproof as the majority of the cloth options.

It really depends on where you are going. If you want to keep using cloth then I would try some other approach. I would do prefolds and covers. Prefolds are easy to wash even in a sink and dry relatively quickly. Same with covers. Otherwise, I would probably do disposables.

Have a great trip. We love to take our kids on adventures. They already have quite a few stamps in their passports!

[sunshynbaby]

I haven't used my gdipes yet, but I plan to wash out the covers and liners in my bathroom sink on a regular basis for quick turn around. I have also heard that people put them on backwards with the "g" in the front without any problems.

[katie9143]

i have only used them inside my thirsties and bswws and liked them fine - never bought the g pants. i always wash my covers in the sink with a squirt of soap and hang to dry, so i dont see why that isnt feasible. with my 2 yr old when i used them back when we first bought our house, i used 2 of the m/l ones at a time cuz she is a heavy wetter and that was a bit pricey. i felt better about using them tho since even in the land fill they take up less space and biodegrade WAAY faster than a sposie.

GL and have a great trip.

[JudiAU]

We use gs about 75% of the time and 7th gen the rest. Poop almost always takes out the liners which we handwash all the time in the sink. DS poops twice a day. We handwash the covers on occasion but only one gets poopy ever 10-15 days. We wash once a week for vague "heath" reasons. No problems with flushing here but I would probably toss wet ones on the road. They are biodegrade quickly. I would still try and flush poopy ones.

If you normally use cloth, I think they are a good choice. I would probably only use them part of the time on a trip.

[Ifluffedthree]

I am usually strong voiced in the cloth side of the scale. But if I were traveling internationally I would probably choose a disposable with less chemical impact on baby than traditional disposables and go from there. Keeping in mind that many international sewage systems are not what we are accustom to here and most likely not a good fit for the concept. I would not want that bogging down a big trip.
I suppose 7th generation would be getting my business -- even though I am not happy with them (to the best of my understanding) for their not so distant mis-representated comments about cloth using more water than disposables. :

[luckygreen713]

I use little g pants with cloth inside. I don't use the new "gCloth", I just tri-fold a pf, or wrap a piece of flannel around a microfiber soaker pad (left over from fuzzi bunz). They work fine, I like the fit of the cover. They don't leak at all when I use the microfiber FB insert because it's so thin. The pf's allow a little gap and the outer part of the cover curls around, inside the diaper and wicks a little moisture. That never happens with the thinner mf inserts, so I think the flushable inserts should work fine too, as long as the cover fits properly.

For nighttime you could use 2 inserts. I have 7 covers, but I use other types of covers as well, so I don't know how many you'd need for full-time use. Depending on how often you want to wash covers, I'd have at least 6, considering your child has runny poop that's likely to soil the cover. It might be a good idea to have some extra nylon liners too.

They velcro on the back because so many babies/toddlers like to remove their diaper and it's harder for them to get it undone. I think that's actually what makes them fit so nicely, the front is flat and trim. I've never used the flushable inserts. I don't trust them, I like cloth. If I were you, I wouldn't mind using a hotel tub to wash covers, but like a pp said, I would be afraid to flush and cause a toilet probelm. I'd throw them away in trash, after solid poop has been dumped in the toilet. To be quite honest though, I'd really consider disposables if I were you. It's a vacation, you should be able to enjoy yourself. I'd get a chlorine free sposie, like Seventh Generation or similar. I'm all for cloth too, but I'd be able to justify using the "greenest" sposie for a short period of time. Just test them out first to make sure you don't end up with a surprise rash issue while on vacation!

Good luck with whichever diapering system you decide to go with, and have a great trip!!

[kentuckyfriedgirl]

Originally Posted by Ifluffedthree

I am usually strong voiced in the cloth side of the scale. But if I were traveling internationally I would probably choose a disposable with less chemical impact on baby than traditional disposables and go from there. Keeping in mind that many international sewage systems are not what we are accustom to here and most likely not a good fit for the concept. I would not want that bogging down a big trip.
I suppose 7th generation would be getting my business -- even though I am not happy with them (to the best of my understanding) for their not so distant mis-representated comments about cloth using more water than disposables. :

Although GDiapers suggest that you flush them (since sending poop to a landfill is a biohazard), they can be thrown in the trash just like a disposable (if you are somewhere were the plumbing might not be so good). If your choice is between 7th Gen. (which are pretty much exactly the same as regular disposables except that they don't use chlorine bleach) or GDiapers, I would go for the GDiapers which are more biodegradable.