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| Yeah, after being pg and bfing, I finally got AF at 9 months pp. Wow, I hate the feeling of plastic down there getting all hot and sweaty and sticky. I can't imagine babies wearing disposable dipes 24-7! I'm so glad to be using cloth dipes. I have yet to order my D.C. I should get on that but I have a few disposable pads to use up first. |
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| i do not think that huggies pure and natural dipes have plastic in them. i totally disected one and did not find one bit of plastic. those r the ones that i use when i do not have access to a washer and dryer. and according to one review i read the other day, they do not have the SAP in them either. if not, i wonder how those things are still so thin and absorbant. and my ds is nice and cool and happy and rash free in them just like the cloth ones. |
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The Huggies Pure and Natural have both SAP and plastic in them. Without plastic they wouldn't be waterproof at all and without SAP they'd be much thicker. According to the Huggies website the only difference is that they're unscented, contain some organic cotton (in the outer cover), are hypoallergenic and contain aloe & vitamin E.
Not much difference in terms of eco-friendliness but the unscented and hypoallergic features are probably great for babies that are allergic to other mainstream brands like Pampers or regular Huggies.
The plastic in any disposable is difficult to find in the sense that it's integrated into the outer 'cloth-like' cover... It's purposely that way to make them look and feel more comfortable, more like cloth probably. Years ago many brands had really plasticky outer covers (I remember some when my daughter was a baby), pretty much all brands have done away with that now.
Karen. |
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| The unscented feature of Pure and Natural is nice. I tried a package of those because I try to buy the smallest quantity bag there is and that is the only one although they are the same price. When I use a Pampers on DS, I can smell the fragrance and nothing else. The smell bothers me b/c I'm sensitive to that kind of stuff and b/c I'm used to the cloth diapers not smelling so strong. |
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yes i hate the pampers as well because of that smell. my ds and i would both cough and sneeze during diaper changes before we switched to the pure and natural. whenever someone comes on the bus with a pampers wearing baby, my asthma immediately kick in and i ask the person to move. same with luvs as well. he would also kick and push the pampers and all other dipes accept the pure and natural as well as the cloth ones away. the thing is, when i bend a pure and natural back and forth, i cannot hear the plastic. when i do that with all other disposable diapers, i can hear a plastic or a paper sound to them. oh and dont get me started on luvs. those were the worst. they r the most plastic-like out of them all and my poor ds diaper area would be like 2 or 3 degrees hotter and alot more sweaty in summer than the rest of his body. he was extremely miserable in those ones.
the thing is, y cant they find a breathable material to waterproof the disposables rather than plastic? plastic is horrible on pads as well. i wore a brand that had plastic woven strips touching the skin, as well as a plastic backing. always got a rash from them. so now i am wearing a light incontenence pad when my menstruation hits because it is alot more comfortable and feels exactly like soft cloth both on the area that touches the skin and the part that adhears to the panties. |
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| making the outer cover more like cloth is nothing but a ploy. the disposable diaper giants know that cloth is more comfortable if they r trying to make their product resemble cloth. oh and huggies should have put the organic cotton on the inside of the diaper that touches the baby's skin, not the outside. btw is that actually real cloth in the outer part of the diaper? i wonder how they hide the plastic in the cover so well. with pampers swattlers, a hole was accidently ripped in the diaper. they do not integrate the plastic with the cloth in those covers as i found out, the cloth is lain over the plastic so when the hole was ripped, it ripped through the cloth and not the plastic. god what a dirty ploy to make us think that disposables r more comfortable! there is no need to put cloth over or integrate it with plastic. and as for disposables being breathable, i wonder if that is true. |
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Unfortunetly there's probably not much they can use other than plastic to make disposables waterproof. Only other alternatives would be stuff like vinyl and PUL (like in cloth diaper covers) but that would ridiculously expensive and thicker as well (and you know how sposie parents love their trim diapers!).
They might be able to come up with a more breathable plastic of some sort but that would likely compromise waterproofness to a certain extent. It's the same with cloth diaper covers really, PUL can be made to be somewhat breathable but then the waterproofness isn't as good. I don't think cloth's coolness lies so much with the ability of the cover fabric to breathe (although it may be a tad more breathable than the plastic in sposies), I think it's more the fact that the diaper is thicker so ensures there's more air inside. That and the design of the cover, like with the Airflows (the airflow is achieved with the slight gap on the sides between the snaps).
I'm sure the organic cotton content in the Pure & Natural is nothing but a gimmick, probably just barely any in there... Would have been much more significant if they'd used cotton as a significant part of the absorbing materials (Tushies diapers were like that). Although I suppose if they get popular enough they'll be using enough organic cotton to give the industry a boost, that's a good thing. The unscented thing is a step in the right directions although I wonder how many people (with allergic babies) who would previously have turned to cloth will now turn to the Pure & Natural instead. Smart marketing move on their part, they're recuperating a part of their market back from cloth - those with allergic babies and those who will let their eco-conscience be soothed by the words 'organic' on the package.
Karen. |
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| i have heard of tushies, but have heard alot of negative reviews on them. "it is like diapering with the sunday times, extremely soggy, hard and cardboardlike between the legs," etc. what are these diapers actually like? i have heard that they have no sap in them whatsoever. is the outer cover very soft? parents r taking advantage of the properties of the sap, letting their babies pee in the diaper until the thing is practically bursting because they r too lazy or say that diapers cost too much money to frequently change. when my ds was in disposables, i changed the diaper as soon as i felt the sap inside begin to slide between my fingers, way before the diaper began to swell. As far as my dh said about me doing very frequent changes like that, he would take off the diaper and feel the inside and tell me that it is dry. yes, the liner might feel dry, but the sap was wet. he also did not like me doing diaper changes if the diaper did not have some weight to it. i think i might get a case of tushies for my ds for back up where i do not have a washer and dryer. unfortunately i dont think they sell single packages of them. i think they r only sold by the case. and as far as sposie parents loving the trimness, i am sorry, disposable diapers are way too thin and skimpy in my opinion. looks like the baby is wearing nothing at all, rather than a substantial diaper, that is, until the baby pees. then the diaper looks like a basketball or something. frankly, i like my ds' smurf bubble butt even though i cant see the smurf blue of the cover lol. my dh tells me that the blue looks exactly like the smurfs, and having fairly good vision when i was a child, i am able to recall what the smurfs looked like, right down to their blue bodies and the white things that they wear on their butts and legs. |
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| I haven't been really happy with my Diva Cup. I can't get it in correctly. Either it stays in and leaks or it slides out. I've only been able to use it at night when I'm not moving around, and then (on my heaviest day) I fill it before morning so I have to use a pad as well. Maybe I'll call them and see if they have any suggestions. That said, if I could get it to work I would love it, and I think that as a teenager I would have loved how discreet it is. |
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I used Tushies once and didn't think they were that bad. Obviously without SAP their absorbancy wasn't like a mainstream disposable, the feel was a little different as well but nothing that seemed horribly uncomfortable to me. Then again, I'm not terribly picky for stuff like that... And they stood up to my heavy wetting toddler girls with no leaks. I can't recall what the outer cover was like, sorry, this was a while back.
I'm not even sure they're still available, they're not available anywhere around here anymore... Honestly I don't know if I'd bother with them though if I had a need for disposables. Unless you're really concerned about SAP they're not really any better than mainstream disposables or 'eco' ones like Seventh Generation. When you really start analyzing it, I personally think that most 'alternative' disposables are of limited advantages in terms of the environment. They're better of course, but not enormously so (in environmental/health terms anyway, for those with allergies that's a whole different ballgame). For someone with an unlimited budget then it probably doesn't really matter, you can support them if for no other reason than they're trying to do something positive. But for someone for whom that extra cost can make a big difference, I don't know just how much it's worthwhile. Then again, that's just my opinion... I will say that they are good for newborns in terms of knowing when/how much they're peeing (if you're watching to help judge breastfeeding intake for example). Without the SAP to mask the urine it's much easier to tell if a diaper is wet and just how wet it is.
tjhbahr, as well as emailing the company, you should check out support groups on the web. I remember when I first started using my Keeper ages ago I found this Yahoo email group for Keeper users and it was wonderful. Tons of support, advice, tricks, techniques etc... Worth looking into...
Karen. |
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| I think that when I was a teen, I would have been completely "freaked out" by the idea of cloth pads -- I'm still feeling awkward about it -- but that was 20-some years ago, and today's teens seem much more interested in "saving the environment" measures and willing to be different from other kids for the sake of a cause. If you made the cloth pads available to her without requiring her to use them (as opposed to disposables), maybe she would take the initiative on her own? |
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i dont think my son is allergic to the sap,, unless u count the dry patches on his diaper area and the constant fever around his anal opening. sorry if tmi. i just do not like the thought of those superabsorbants next to his skin, sucking away the natural moisture. that is y i would want to use tushies. and u can get them on tushies.com. also, just started my period today and this pad that i mentioned above is not seeming to absorb the fluid from the top of the pad. any alternative recommendations? the pad is called options, i think. it is an incontenence pad because the regular plastic period pads r way too uncomfortable to me.
i am saving the money and debating on getting either a cup, or some reusable pads called cerella-luna which means sister moon in italian, according to their website. the only problem is, i do not know when to change, nor take care of cloth pads. |
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I think the idea of reusable sanitary products is fairly normal for my dd. She's seen me use cloth pads and a menstrual cup for years and all 4 of my kids have been cloth diapered. Plus there's the fact that I'm the one that does laundry around here and I'm sure she's just assuming that I'll be washing her pads for her (which will likely be true to a certain extent, for a while at least). Don't know how she'll be with actually using them and if she'll ever change her mind in order to fit in with her peers, but for now at least, it's all pretty normal for her. Besides, cloth pads come in funky colors!
Firedancer, makes sense to me that the dryness could indeed come from the SAP, it's powerfully absorbant stuff! Certainly worth a try anyway. It's too bad, Tushies used to be reasonably easily to find here (pretty much all natural food stores carried them) but they've totally disappeared now and the US website doesn't ship to Canada.
Karen. |
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Have you considered buying your daughter a sea sponge instead of a diva cup? In my experience, they are much more comfortable, although I would suggest a pantiliner back-up while she gets used to it. The diva cup has a much steeper learning curve and can have a mind of it's own sometimes!  The consensus in my family has been that cups are great but NOT a good "first insertion" item... Hope this helps! |
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Hmmm, that's an interesting suggestion, hadn't thought of that at all. I've never used a sponge before and you're the first I've even heard of that has.
I did a little reading and it does seem like insertion would be easier, but then removal may be an issue. If she's not comfortable inserting anything I don't know how comfortable she'd be reaching in to get it. I saw some use dental floss as a 'string', what do you do? Gotta say I'm not fond of the idea that it could tear or disintegrate inside. Nor the idea that it may be contaminated from pollutants in the sea... Doesn't sound very convenient (especially for a grade school girl) to have to remove and rinse it out every 3 hours. They say you can just bring a spare and rinse at home, what's your experience with this?
For the cup, I guess everyone's experience is different but for me I can't see how anything could be more comfortable. I can never feel mine and often even forget I'm having my period, you can't get any better than that!
Just curious, but has anyone in your family actually tried the cup as a 'first insertion' item? I don't know anyone who's tried it as a young girl, only grown women who tried it long after they'd gotten used to pads/tampons.
I wonder if part of the issue isn't just being introduced to something so new and different. Many of us have very little support for it either, other than sometimes a few casual net acquaintances, most of us are completly on our own in learning. Tampons are so common and 'normal', I wonder how that factors into it. How different would it be if cups were the 'normal' thing and not some weird tree-hugger experiment we got ourselves into (at least that's how I felt when I first tried it). I compared it to learning to drive and standard vs automatic. Sure, a standard has a bit more of a learning curve but for those of us that learned on a standard right from the start it really wasn't that big a deal. I can imagine that if you were to try to learn it after years of driving an automatic, that it would seem much more difficult. I wonder if it's not the same with the cup? Sure, it's a little more complicated but I wonder if it's really that much of a big deal for someone who's never done anything else?
Anyway, not very relevant to sponges or anything, just some random Tuesday morning thoughts... Maybe it's lunch time and my brain needs food... LOL!
Karen.
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| I have to say that I couldn't even get a small tampon in all the way the first time, and it took some learning to get that right. That being said, I didn't have anyone to ask advice of, just the instructions in the package, whether it was supposed to feel like that, etc. I learned pretty quickly, and imagine that with support and open discussion kids could learn to use just about anything. I suspect that first insertion of *anything* is going to be miserable. For me not having to use monster pads and feel the moisture was worth any learning curve, and I think if there were a product that would have allowed me not to mess with it at school I would have stuck with it, especially if I had some coaching and support. |
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| I think the issue with a cup vs. sea sponge for a young girl is basically for the same reason that all of the tampon companies recommend starting with the "junior" sizes rather than the super-plus variety - it's all a matter of absorbancy needs and basic anatomy differences between an adult and adolescent. As for my family, when my sister was younger, she was very excited to try a diva cup, (having already used tampons) but found the process painful and difficult because of the size and popping-into-shape action, and decided not to use it. I know with practice that can be reduced, but as an eleven year old I think I would have freaked out if that had happened, and that would have eliminated any chance to practice . Of course, others may have different experiences. Now that she is older and ... more experienced... she uses the diva cup with no problem. A couple of companies' FAQ sections on cups say that insertion could be uncomfortable for virgins, especially if they have not already used a sponge or tampon. This makes sense to me, and seems in line with my sister's experiences. My own experience has been that on some days of my cycle a diva cup is comfortable, and on others it's really not. As far as the sponges go, there are a few options for school use. You can technically put in two at a time for more absorbancy, or you can just take one out at lunch, put it in a baggy for washing at home, and replace it with the other one. Truthfully, I would be most likely to just leave it in and put a pad on at lunch for any overflow, but that's not for everyone, I know. The ones I have came two in a pack, with a little carrying bag, and included instructions for disinfection. I don't use a string, but you certainly could. I find them easier and more comfortable to remove than either a cup or tampon. Oh, I also just remembered that before my sister was comfortable using the diva cup, she did use the "Instead" cup. They're designed to be single-use, but she just rinsed it out and used one per period, which other women have done as well. Although they are larger in diameter than a diva or keeper, they are much more soft and flexible, so if insertion doesn't go well at first, there's no pain-and-panic moment! They don't sell them in my small town, but I think she just bought them at a chain drug store. |
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For the moment I totally agree aavt, anything internal just isn't an option. I'm hoping that once she starts having real periods that she'll be ready to try it but for the moment she's just not ready. And that's fine, I'm certainly not going to push any of it. I got the Diva Cup I ordered and showed it to her. Her nose just wrinkled up at the mere mention of it. Of course, it does for tampons or even just the mention of 'period stuff' too...
I can definetly see how it would be well suited to young girls in terms of absorbancy. And I can definetly see it being a gentler introduction to wearing something internally, that's for sure. For that reason alone I'm seriously considering getting one for her to try. I can see it being useful to get her to wrap her mind around wearing something internal. I'm not particularly worried about pain or anything, I really think that's largely a psychological issue (pain in that area is often linked to psychological issues of fear etc...) and many women report the same pain and difficulties when using tampons for the first time (my neighbour tried a tampon for the first time a couple years ago and just couldn't do it because of the pain, and she's a 40 something year old mom of 4, all delivered vaginally, including a set of twins!). I do however think that the fact that sponge does seem much easier to insert (even than a tampon) could make a difference in her willingness to try it and open her mind to the idea.
All that said, I'm not sure it's an idea that I really love as a more permanent solution. It's more expensive, more of a health risk and seems to have the inconveniences of a pad in terms of how useful it would be at school. I think I'll need to research it some more but I'm concerned about her wearing something internally that could be contaminated with toxic/carcinogenic chemicals from the ocean, especially that she is so young.
There are two cup sizes exactly to address the differences between older women and younger women. But perhaps an even smaller cup for teenagers would be a good thing though, I might email them to suggest that. I don't know if maybe the market of willing girls that age is too limited but it's an interesting thought nonetheless...
Where did you buy yours? I only found one store that sold them online. I'll have to look around at my local health food stores too. How do you remove it if you don't use a string though? I can see that being a serious issue for someone her age that doesn't necessarily have the same body comfort level that an adult does.
Karen. |
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Oh, and yes, I've seen and heard of the Instead cup. They're not expensive either and fairly widely available around here, I'll have to consider that as an 'intro' to the internal idea as well. Man, between tampons, disposable pads (regular and 'natural'), cotton pads, cups, sponges and Instead cups, the poor thing will be overwhelmed with choices! LOL!
Oh, and a bit of an fyi for everyone, I have tried the 'natural' disposable pads and they're fine. Using pads definetly got me feeling the love for my cup again but they were certainly no worse than regular pads. Definetly more expensive but a perfectly good option and probably what we'll buy for my dd if she choses not to go with cloth.
Karen. |
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| I've seen the Instead cups at mt local REI (think EMS, whatever camping store), near the racks with misc. camping stuff. They also had the Diva and maybe even another kind. Just mentioning that if anyone is looking locally and can't find them; try the camping section! |
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