Gro Baby Diapers: A Review

What better way to kick off this blog than a review of our favorite cloth diapers. Granted, we still haven't tried many (there are more on the way for us to try from Diaperjunction.com), but having used the Gro Baby system for three months, we're happy with them thus far.

Let me preface this by saying that we started out with a diaper service. I knew I wanted to use cloth, but when our son was born, we found the diapers provided by the service to be less than helpful. There were leaks everywhere, both poo and pee alike, and no matter what size of diaper or cover we used, we still ended up with a mess. We had to change his clothes at every diaper change--which for a newborn is a lot! And of course he didn't like having his diaper or his clothes changed at the time, so each encounter was torture for all involved.

So, sadly, we bade farewell to the service and resorted to disposables. We still had blowouts from breastfed baby poo, but at least fewer leaks. I couldn't escape the idea that we were slowly killing the environment with each change, but I couldn't deny the convenience, and the boy did seem to stay dry for the most part.

Fast forward to a visit to our local lactation store, Baby Beloved. I went there for another purpose, but noticed a display of the Gro Babies and was interested. I purchased the smallest package they offered (which is identical to the packages you'll find on other cloth diapering websites) and gave them a whirl. Here's my report:

FIT
The first big sell for these diapers is that they're all-in-ones, built to grow with your child (hence the name). They have three snap settings to choose from--newborn, infant, and toddler. I have heard from other bloggers that the newborn setting is a little small to comfortably contain the soaker pads, but I never knew this for myself, as my little guy was already big enough at 3 months to wear the infant setting (he was roughly 14 lbs. then). He's now over 5 months old, approaching 18 lbs., and still wears it on the infant setting comfortably.

One of the features I also enjoy in terms of fitting is that the velcro closures can be placed anywhere on the top-front of the diaper--ensuring a perfect fit every time, even as they grow. You can also purchase snap-fronts, or have your old velcro-fronts retro-fitted with snaps if you send them in to the Natural Baby Co. Since Matthew is figuring out how to grab on to the velcro and pull it, this might be something we look into in the future. The velcro itself is amazing--it's so soft, both on the "fuzzy" part and the "sticky" part--it never rubs or scratches my son at all. Three months of constant use and washing haven't worn it out, either.

Elastic around the legs and in the back make sure that everything stays in place. Sometimes I think the fit around the legs is a little snug, but it doesn't seem to bother him.

ABSORBENCY
The Gro Babies come with an organic cotton soaker pad that is six layers of absorbent material. This makes it considerably thicker than a standard prefold, but it is also hourglass-shaped to contour to the baby's body, which is nice. The result is a little bit more bulk on the butt than some moms might like, but we haven't had a problem with it. The soakers snap in and out, so no folding or stuffing of sleeves. This makes them very daddy-friendly, and we'll soon be requesting our daycare provider use them, too.

I suspect Matthew is a bit of a heavy wetter, so he absolutely must be changed every two hours in a soaker alone during the day. For overnights and traveling, you can throw in a booster pad that increases absorbency. We have worn these overnight several times without any leaks.

FLAIR
I have to admit, one of the first things that attracted me to the Gro Babies was how cute they were! The colors are lush and gorgeous, and just recently they came out with some prints, too. I can't wait until summer so the little guy can run around in his diaper!

The covers themselves are great--besides being stylish, they have a quick-dry mesh inside that helps keep baby dry. If the cover itself isn't soiled and might only be a little damp, you can set it aside to dry and switch it out with another in the meantime. They also have the laundry tabs already built in, although I'm finding I get a little lazy about making sure they're attached. I'm not too terribly bothered by diaper chains, though.

I really enjoy being out and about with my son in these diapers. They attract a lot of attention when I change him in public, and I'd like to think I've turned some moms on to cloth diapering who wouldn't normally be. When they see how easy they are to use, cloth diapering seems possible. Just throw a few soakers, an extra cover, and a water-resistant tote in your diaper bag, and you can go wherever!

Overall, we're really happy with Gro Baby. I have heard some discussion amongst bloggers that the company-recommended amounts of soakers and covers to have on hand might be more than one really needs, but we haven't found that to be true. We have ten covers and maybe 16-18 soakers, and find that it's perfect to get us through a couple of days between washes, with a couple left over for while the wash is running.

I would like to add that the company suggests washing them a minimum of 3-5 times before use (the soakers, not necessarily the covers) for maximum absorbency. This is absolutely true! Please don't wash them once and then be disappointed by leaks. Once we had our first set of them in service, we bought another bunch to use, and even after 3 washes, you could definitely tell the difference between the new ones and the ones that had been washed more than 5 times. It takes 10 washes to reach full capacity, so be patient!

Welcome to Issa's Mommy Blog!

Hi everyone! My name is Issa, and I'm a first-time mom to Matthew. At the time of this writing, he's five months old. It's been a wild adventure getting to know him, learning how best to care for him, and figuring out what a baby needs!

But that's why I started this blog. I realized the value of other bloggers' reviews of products, ideas, and so forth early on--it guided many of our choices early on, and continues to do so (although we get more and more adept and confident as we go). We are firm believers in breast feeding, cloth diapering, and earth-friendly baby products and practices, so expect to read a lot about that here.

I also created this space as a way to keep friends and family updated about Matthew and his growth. There will be many pictures!

Thanks for stopping by!