Cloth diapering: gDiapers vs. Flip and bumgenius 3.0

I swore growing up that I would never use cloth diapers on my children. My sisters and I were all cloth diapered as babies and I remember watching my older sister rinse out our younger sister's poopy diaper in the toilet, and that was something I did not want to do.

The reason we wore cloth diapers was because we had very sensitive skin and disposables would give us a terrible diaper rash.

During my pregnancy I stocked up on disposables assuming I wouldn't cloth diaper.

By the time my daughter was 2 months old, she had already had 2 very bad diaper rashes (bloody and blistery). Every time we changed her we would lather her bum with rash cream in order to either prevent rashes or calm and heal them. Nothing worked.. she was still getting rashes.

I took the plunge and invested in cloth diapers.

 My first initial buy was gDiapers. I liked how they looked and the fact they weren't bulky like some of the other ones I've seen. I liked how they actually looked like lil under pants instead of a diaper. The Gdiapers consist of the outer cover with velcro that fastens in the back, an inner snap in water proof liner that holds either the cloth or a disposable insert that can either be flushed, thrown out or even composted. I  prefer to use the gcloth and also prefolds because they are a money saver in the long run. The point of the snap in liner is to keep the outer lay clean, so if your baby has a messy diaper you only need to change the cloth and snap in liner and reuse the outer cover.
Gdiapers were working great for us until the snap in water proof liner started wearing out after only 3-4 months of use. The elastic had become stretched out and the water proofness was wearing away, meaning I would have to buy more inserts. Apparently the liners are only made to last 4-6 months or 100 washes! Hmm... I thought cloth diapers were supposed to be a money saver? True, a pack of liners is cheaper then disposables, but the fact that you have to replace them every 4-6 months really upset me, especially since we are on a budget! The fact that they are a sized diaper, wasn't a big deal for me, the mediums will fit my daughter for almost her whole first year!

Another issue we had with the gdiaper was during night time use. They worked fine for us for the first month until my daughter started becoming more mobile. She would kick her legs and squirm so much that the inserts (a flip insert and a doubler) would slide down in the liner causing her to wake up soaking wet in the morning. The solution? Bumgenius 3.0 pocket diapers!  They have a stay dry layer that lays against the baby's skin, and  the outer layer is waterproof. In the middle of those two layers is a pocket that you stuff an insert into. This worked out great for us because it kept the insert in place, we wake up dry every morning! The fastening on these diapers is velcro that closes in the front, they don't hold as good as I would like, but then again, we only use them for bedtime.

The last issue we have with the gdiaper was that the velcro wore out fast,and sometimes you can even buy them new with the velcro not sticking! Luckily, Gdiapers will send you free replacement velcro to sew onto your diapers! Gdiapers customer service is one of the best I have ever seen!

As for daytime, I decided to try a new kind of diaper that wouldn't require buying new liners every 4 months. My second initial buy was the Flip diapers. Flips consist of the outer cover which the inside of it is waterproof and has flaps to hold in an insert in place. It is also, along with the bumgenius 3.0, a one size fits most diaper, meaning it grows as your baby grows, this I loved! You can initially use the same diapers from birth to potty training, saving lots of money over the gdiapers, which you would have to buy different sizes. The closure on the flip is snaps, it lasts longer than velcro, but if you have a squirmy baby it may be challenging at times. Its also really slim under clothes which is a plus. The flip is a really simple diaper, no bells or whistles to it, just the cover and and insert! Super easy! So far we haven't had any issues with leaks or the insert sliding down and becoming misplaced. I havent tried it for bedtime yet, but i am planing to try it out soon. Needless to say, I am very happy with the flip and plan on purchasing more when my daughter grows out of her G's and I can sell them!