Finding the Right Diapers

My husband and I were very concerned with the potential carbon footprint of our household when we first learned of our pregnancy. My sister-in-law, who is quite the environmentalist (check out her nonprofit at ioby.org!) explained to us that there is no real difference between cloth diapers and disposable diapers. According to her, the water, detergent and electricity used to maintain cloth diapering (not to mention the gasoline if one chooses to use a diaper service) have about the same environmental impact as diapers that fall into landfills. I was blown away. I always assumed that cloth diapers were more environmentally friendly. However, I think I am going to take her word for it, she is, after all, a graduate of the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies.

She then told me about gDiapers, these awesome corn based diaper hybrids. They are part cloth diaper, part disposable liner. But, get this, the liner decomposes and can be flushed down the toilet. I was sold, so we bought a starter kit when our son was big enough for them, and we gave gDiapers a try. Five days and an overflown toilet later, my husband and I decided that gDiapers weren't for us. We love the idea, but breaking up a diaper with a magic wand in the toilet everytime you change a diaper (which is often, they aren't as absorbent as disposables) is not exactly easy. And our son (along with most breastfed babies) has these enormous poops that go up his back and down his legs, and this problem was even worse in gDiapers. We realized that we might as well be using cloth diapers because we had to wash the gPants a lot (like, every day) and we don't have a lot of disposable income to spend on $15 baby panties. So, alas, we went back to using Pampers.

Then, while at Whole Foods, I noticed a new diaper brand called Nature Babycare. With their earthy looking babies on the cover and neutral colored packaging, I couldn't help but try them out. Started by a Swedish mother? Produced without the use of Petrol? Made from Sustainably harvested trees? Honors the environment without compromising the quality of a disposable diaper? SOLD!

We started using Nature Babycare diapers and I was convinced this would be it. The diaper we would fall in love with, the diaper that was still destined for a landfill, but got there with a smaller carbon footprint, the diaper that I would tell people about and encourage friends to buy.
WRONG.

Nature Babycare diapers have excellent reviews online, which makes me wonder if maybe I got a reject bunch.

The Positives:
Eco Friendly

No cartoon characters on the front (which is great, if, like me, you plan to limit your child's tv exposure)

Umm...they stay on...

The Negatives:
My son has had more than one occasion where two hours into wearing the diaper he is soaked in his own pee

The diapers are unscented, which seems good in theory, but baby boy junk gets smelly fast. Since using the diapers I've had to bathe my son several times a day.

The tabs don't stick to the outside of the diaper, so you can't easily fold them into a neat little package to put into the garbage. I've had to start "tying" them shut, which means more smell and more mess.

I'm starting to think the most eco friendly thing you can do as far as diapering goes is potty train your child asap. My abuela "potty trained" all of her children by six weeks. I realize this sounds crazy, but according to my mother (who is the second oldest of the 7 kids) my abuela had trained herself to recognize when her children would go to the bathroom and put them over a little potty chair starting at six weeks. She then put the baby waste into a compost pile. Although my abuela is not an environmentalist, her awareness of every penny that goes into raising a child resulted in some of the greenest living possible. Although she raised seven children, I am willing to bet that they all had a much smaller impact on the enviroment than the average 2 child family today. Her children all walked to school or took the bus places. She nursed all seven of them, sewed their clothes and lived for hand-me-downs, and now I learn, she had them all "potty trained" by six weeks old. Crazy? Possibly. Green? Definitely.

Alas, I am not the woman my abuela was/is. I have a hard enough time recognizing when my son is going to take a nap, let alone figure out when he is going to do his business. For now, those disposable diapers will have to do.