4.0 out of 5 stars
After 12 Months of Cloth Diapering, June 17, 2012
By
This review is from: Tiny Bubbles Detergent, Net Wt. 60 oz., Yellow Box (Health and Beauty)
After extensive research and even a class on cloth diapering at the
local birth center, I settled on the Grovia system and have not
regretted that decision. My son is now 12 months and we have been using
Grovia since about 8 weeks. We have lots of cloth diapering friends so I
have had the chance to see lots of cloth diapers in action and I am
very glad that I invested in grovia to begin with. Here are the products
we use, why we like them and (in some cases) how they could be
improved. There is a lot of material covered in this review. I am doing
it this way because I wish there had been something comprehensive like
this on Amazon when I was shopping for my diaper stuff! If you are
considering buying a Grovia system, this will be helpful for you. If you
are looking for a comprehensive review on just one item, other reviews
may be more suitable.Our total system consists of the following:
Essentials;
*15 All In One shells in a variety of prints and solids = 6 velcro and 9 snap GroVia Snap Diaper Shell System, Nature
*36 organic inserts GroVia Certified Organic Cotton Soaker Pad 2 Pack
*Magic Stick diaper ointment Magic Stick All Natural Diaper Ointment, Clear, Net Wt. 2 oz.
*Brabantia Pedal BinPedal Bin, 30 Litre (White) (25.98"H x 11.54"W x 15.55"D)
*36 Grovia Wipes GroVia Cotton Cloth Wipes, 12 count
*Diaper Detergent Tiny Bubbles Detergent, Net Wt. 60 oz., Yellow Box
Non-essentials, we use these items for convenience,
*Diaper scraper Make My Day Two Birds Silicone Spatula and Scraper Set, Black
*Diaper sprayer bumGenius Diaper Sprayer
*Wipe Warmer (perfectly fits grovia wipes) Prince Lionheart Premium Wipe Warmer
*2 waterproof changing pad covers Carters Keep Me Dry Flannel Bassinet Pad, Ecru
*24 washcloths (for top layer of changing pad)Martex Hospitality Washcloths - 24-Pack (White)
*1 little pottyBABYBJÖRN Little Potty - White
*Disposable Biodegradable diapers for backup and travel Broody Chick 100% Natural Fully Compostable Diapers Jumbo Box (Junior 26.5 - 55.1 lbs. (96-Count))
*Disposable overnight diapers for heavy wetters Seventh Gen. - Baby Overnight Diapers, Stage 4, 24 Count (Pack of 4) = 96 total diapers
*Triple Paste Diaper Ointment for use with disposablesTriple Paste Medicated Ointment for Diaper Rash, 16-Ounce
There are a number of items that we have tried, but did not find useful and either returned, donated or gave away. There was quite a bit of trial and error and research that went into the above system. I have only listed the items that work beautifully and will simplify your cloth diapering efforts.
I will jump right in with some gripes.
Cloth diapering is not cheap and despite industry claims, I have not realized cost savings in the first year (as compared to buying premium disposable diapers at Costco). When you add up the cost of the diapers and accessories, the cost of your time doing all those extra loads of laundry (or paying a diaper service), the cost of the resources to wash and dry all those loads, and the cost of all the special "cloth friendly" accoutrements necessary to care for the diapers without ruining them, it really adds up. If you are going to use the system for more than once child, then you will realize some significant savings (be sure to buy gender-neutral covers if that is your intention). The bigger motivation to cloth diaper (at least for me) is the dramatically reduced environmental impact and health benefits of cloth diapering. Conventional disposable diapers are loaded with toxins that pollute the earth, the workers that produce them and of course, your baby. Not to mention that it takes over 500 years for regular disposables to break down in the environment. That means that your babies dirty diapers will still be polluting the earth when your great, great, great, great grandchildren are born. Talk about a crappy legacy to leave behind!
Now the good stuff.
I chose Grovia because of the convenience and simplicity of the whole system. I knew that if I was going to cloth diaper, it would need to be as simple and easy as possible, even if that meant I would pay a bit more up front. There is a massive amount of information about cloth diapering on the net and much of it is overly complicated. Cloth diapering does not have to be complicated. You can simplify things quite a bit by sticking with one brand/ one system.
Having said that, the grovia system was too big, hard and bulky for our 10 pound newborn (and Grovia products are pretty trim compared to most cloth diapering systems) so we used disposables for the first couple of months. It would look like he was sleeping on an incline because the grovia insert was so thick under his bum. Other cloth brands have special newborn sized diapers and inserts, but I chose not to invest the money for newborn cloth diapers that would only be used for a short time. We used Broody Chick 100% compostable disposable diapers for that period and the added convenience of the disposables was great during that initial difficult phase. We had some minor problems with diaper rash during that time, but the Triple Paste always cleared it up in a day (then we would go back to the Grovia Magic Stick).
I breastfeed our baby so the diaper changes are more frequent (than formula fed babies). I wanted enough diapers to last three days. I did not want to do an extra load of laundry every two days. I kept adding covers, inserts and wipes until I had enough to last three days, hence the numbers above. If I had known in the beginning how many covers and inserts were going to be required, I would have saved some money by buying some of the larger Grovia combo deals.
The 30 liter Brabantia garbage pail is all steel, easy to clean and self sealing (no stink outside the pail) and the perfect size for three days worth of Grovia wipes, covers, inserts and changing pads. It has an inner plastic pail with handle that makes trips to the laundry room a breeze. I reuse use the plastic liners (that came with the pail) by putting them in the sun and alternating every three days. The sun eliminates all the odor from the liners.
I primarily used the 6 velcro covers (more convenient than snaps) through 11 months when our baby was finally able to figure out how to open them (and they are pretty worn looking velcro tabs at this point). Then I transitioned into primarily using the 9 snap covers and keeping the velcro covers only as backup. Grovia has a service that will remove the velcro tabs and replace with snaps for $6 a diaper. I wish they would offer a service to just replace the velcro, but I am happy with the durability of ALL the covers. They have held up better than I expected.
Our son gets a lot of time in nature. We don't worry about his clothing or diapers getting dirty if he is having a great experience. The darker colors and the patterned shells hide dirt and grass soiling better than the light solid shells. The gentle cloth diaper detergents aren't great at getting out dirt or grass stains either. If I had to do it over, I would not buy any light colored solid covers.
We bought some Grovia Booster pads to try before we went to the disposable overnight diapers, but our guy would soak through the regular "Soaker Pad" and the Booster Pad and wake up with wet clothes and bedding. There just wasn't enough absorbency for our breast fed baby. Changing him several times a night just added to the stress of those early days so we transitioned over to the disposables for night time and have been happy with that choice ever since.
The Grovia Magic Stick is truly brilliant! It is all natural, effective and does not require you to dip your fingers into diaper ointment while wrangling a diaper onto a squirming baby several times a day! It also does not adversely affect the absorbency of cloth diapers they way regular ointments do. Do not use the Triple paste (or any regular diaper ointment) with your cloth diapers. The waxes and petroleum oils in regular diaper ointments coat the cotton fibers and prevent them from absorbing liquids. We tried several top rated "natural" ointments for our occasional diaper rash, but Triple Paste worked where the natural ones failed. We used it sparingly whenever bumps appeared (which was pretty rare compared to our disposable diapering friends).
Grovia wipes are fantastic. I wrote a separate review on these that compared the three types of wipes I bought. Grovia wipes were the best of the three and they work with the Prince Lionheart wipe warmer perfectly.
Little Potty. We started our son on his Little Potty when he was about three months old. Whenever he would cue that he was "going", we would take him to his potty to go. Now at 12 months, we take him to his potty after every meal and when he cues and he uses the potty pretty consistently. It is easier to dump and rinse the little potty contents into the toilet than it is to change and wash his diapers so we encourage him to use his little potty as much as possible. He gets lots of positive feedback and interaction when he "makes it" to the potty so he enjoys using it. At 12 months, he is very comfortable sitting on a potty to pee or poo. We keep the Little Potty on the bathroom counter and stand with him while he is sitting on it. I have seen lots of people start out with the Little Potty on the floor, but if you have the counter space in your bathroom, this will save your knees and back and make it easier for you to interact with your baby while on the potty. In another month or two, we will transition it to the floor for his use.
Grovia Little Bubbles diaper detergent. I have used the 5 top rated diaper detergents and honestly, I can't tell a lick of difference between them. I do a prewash with 1/2 indicated amount detergent and then a full wash with extra rinse using the full amount (per detergent instructions) of detergent. The most important thing is that you use a detergent designed for cloth diapers. Regular detergents have enzymes that will deteriorate the waterproof barriers in your cloth diapers. Cloth diaper detergents also do not have the dyes and perfumes that can irritate baby skin. I am currently using Grovia detergent and it is at least as good as the other top rated diaper detergents. I can't say that it is anymore effective at removing stains than the others. My diaper inserts are stained, but they are clean, soft and have no smell whatsoever when they come out of the dryer. I have always used cloth diaper detergent and I have never had to "strip" them. I use 14 ounces of wool dryer balls to dry my inserts and wipes. The dryer balls shaved ten minutes off the 80 minute dry cycle required to get a load of diapers dry. It takes only 70 minutes with the added wool balls.
I will come back from time to time to update this review. I hope it was helpful for those trying to wade through all the cloth diapering info out there and find a simple set up!
