Cloth Diaper Services

I just heard about a new diaper service opening in my area. Yes, this excited me! When I started cloth diapering there wasn’t a diaper service in our area. I’m not complaining. I found some great diapers and diaper inserts that I wouldn’t have found if I had been using a diaper service – so I’ll count myself lucky. But for those of you who are hesitant to go cloth, a diaper service may be just what you need!

Most diaper services use a standard prefold diaper insert and then they offer a few basic diaper covers for you to purchase separately. Sometimes they offer different sized prefolds for different absorption needs or according to the age/weight of your child. Most services ask only that you shake any extra waste into the toilet before putting the diaper into their pail. (This is no different than what disposable diapers ask of you though. Directions on the box of disposable diapers ask that you not throw away solid wast, it creates toxic stew in our landfills!) Diaper services pick up your dirty diapers approximately once a week and deliver a fresh stack of sparkling clean ones while they are there.

This is a pretty awesome deal if you ask me. You don’t have a ton of extra laundry (wash the diaper covers once and a while) or extra work! Instead of worrying about where it’s ok to throw away a stinky diaper when you are out visiting friends and family, just put your dirty diapers in a wet bag, take them home and dump them in the diaper pail for your service to come pick up. Many services will also include cloth wipes in your service.

To find a diaper service in my area I went to http://www.diapernet.org/. I then found ADORE Diaper Service. Some services require that you buy a stash of diapers and then they charge a fee for their pick up, washing and delivery service. ADORE charges $24 a week for up to 90 newborn diapers. As baby grows the number and type of diapers change but the fee doesn’t. You do have to purchase your own diaper covers but that’s part of the fun of cloth diapering. What style, color or pattern do you want on your baby’s bum?

How does this cost compare to disposables? Prices differ, but I found some Pampers Dry Max 108 count newborn swaddler disposable diapers at Babies R Us for $29. This breaks down to about .27 cents per diaper. Guess how much the diaper service cost breaks down for newborn diapers? They are just under .27 cents per diaper! Aaaaaand….. ADORE gives a discount for households with twins, or multiple children in diapers. Sweet!

So think about it…. With a service like this, there is not a ton of up front cost to get going right away. If you just didn’t trust yourself to wash diapers or thought it was gross, let the professionals do it!

And the Cloth Diaper Award goes to….

GroVia All In One with an assist from gCloth! I love this diaper and want to share. It can be really hard to find a cloth or hybrid diaper that fits well, doesn’t leak and keeps moisture away from baby’s skin. Did you think accomplishing all of these tasks was impossible? Think again!

GroVia (formerly GroBaby) has made this momma happy. I have great things to say about gDiapers but I couldn’t find a combo with my G’s that made it through most nights on my SON (boys are much harder to diaper) without a leak. GroVia changed that – but not without some help from gCloth!

GroVia’s AIO (all in one) diaper is made from great soft fabric. It has super stretchy side tabs which make for a comfortable fit. It is a one size diaper that grows from infant to toddler with three different snaps on the front to change the rise, along with snaps on the side tabs for waist size. The entire inside (except the waist tabs) is lined with organic cotton. It has one soaker sewn into the back of the diaper only. This allows you to use a second soaker (which comes with the diaper) by snapping it to the bottom of the first soaker. Greater absorption for bigger babies. Why not just sew all the soakers together? By keeping the soakers free to detach except in one spot, GroVia created a AIO diaper that is completely dry in one dryer cycle. That is pretty much unheard of. Yet again, creating a diaper that is better for the environment by consuming less energy to dry it. Cheers to you GroVia! (I understand that it takes NO energy to line dry but many of us can’t wait for our diapers to air dry! Twins people! I’m still blazing through 12-16 diapers a day).

Where does the assist from gCloth come in you ask? Do I ever do things the way the manufacturers might like? No. I have to add my own little twist. I found GroVia’s AIO to be lacking in only one department. When changing a diaper I found my kids skin to feel wet where ever the cloth was wet. Not cool. The double fleece top layer of my gCloth inserts kept them feeling nice and dry so I just added a gCloth as a top layer to my GroVia AIOs. Presto! Fabulous diaper plus a stay dry layer and a little added absorption to top it off (the double layer of hemp on the bottom of gCloth). I do have to make sure the gCloth is tucked in at the legs so that it doesn’t wick moisture out.

Did I mention that my kids sleep 7:30PM until 7:30 AM? I’m not rubbing that in the faces of those mothers out there who are still attempting to sleep train. I’m letting you know that my kids sleep 12 HOURS in ONE diaper! Wohoo!

I also use GroVia’s AI2 (all in two) diaper during the day – yes with my personal modifications… of course. In a previous post HERE I detailed my use of prefolds under a gCloth in the GroVia AI2 shell. More recently I found that if I use the GroVia booster (instead of a prefold) under the gCloth I get enough absorbency and a trimmer fit. It can be really difficult to find a pair of pants to fit an 18 month old with too much junk in the trunk. I’m just sayin’….

P.S. I got all my GroVia diapers on sale. They have great sales and just came out with a whole line of new prints! I also bought the shells alone at a cheaper price since I already had a stock of inserts from other brands.