Has Anyone Tried Seventh Generation Diapers?

I WANT to like them - especially because they are beige! and have no commercial branding on them...but have to say, the feel second rate in terms of quality/shape/fit. They are very wide in the crotch - which for a walker is tough. But - the beige/no character issue is such a big one for me - it might be worth the switch...
No leaks for us - but just not as trim as pampers...
Amazon also has a special deal when you buy 7th Gen...$40 off future amazon purchase when you buy $99 of 7th Gen. If anyone wants to stock up! (I'm considering myself)

Greg, didn't you post something a while ago about the toxic liquid-absorbing crystal goo in these things? I can't remember exactly, but didn't these (or another seemingly "natural" diaper) use the stuff?

I need to start stocking up on some kind of diaper; our girlie is coming in four weeks. Thanks in advance for any comments and recommendations.

Mom of a 10 month old -- We started using cloth, and compared to cloth frankly any disposables seem papery and uncomfortable. When we had to switch I chose 7th generation because I knew about the gels that frequently leak out of other diapers, and I was under the impression it wasn't used in 7th generation. A few months ago I read on this site that 7th generation also uses the gel, so I emailed the company directly. They emailed me back, telling me that the gel they use is "food grade sodium polyacrylate polymer (SAP),which has been highly tested and scrutinized for hypoallergenicity." Regarding the fear about toxic shock, they said: "Our research as well as the studies that have already been done have confirmed to us that there is no solid correlating information that links toxic shock syndrome to the use of SAP in our diapers or that of other diaper manufactures using this same ingredient."

Maybe I'm nuts, but that makes me feel a little better. Even if there's a slight risk with the gel, I've never had it leak onto my daughter's skin -- not something I can say with friends' babies I've diapered in Pampers or Huggies brand diapers. I've been quite happy with the 7th generation diapers once I got over not being able to use cloth anymore. I will say they didn't fit very well at first, but we only tried once or twice before she was about 6 months old. But until the kid's eating solids I swear by cloth, specifically kissaluvs. You'll do enough laundry for eight people those first few months anyway, so you barely notice that some of them are diapers.

They're so-so. We use 'em at daycare; I know they don't let poop out, but they do bunch up between the legs of my sorta-small 10-month-old. I don't have a problem with the fit, but we rock the cloth diaper lifestyle at home so I guess I'm used to an odd fit and less-than-trim profile.

We just tried our third package of non-Seventh Generation diapers last week - our daughter is 6 months old, and we've used 7G exculsively save these 3 packages. So far I've been impressed with only the Seventh Generation brand; with all other brands we've experienced at least one leak overnight at some point! The 7G are wider than other brands, and I don't know if that's why they haven't leaked, but I think I'll be sticking with them.

We use cloth except for when we're out of the house for more than a couple hours, but I too found the 7th Gen fit strangely on our 5 month old. She started getting sort of a rash around the top of her legs with them. I find the Tushies are much better, apart from the cringe-inducing name. And they don't have any absorbent polymer, nor annoying licensed characters.

I've heard that Tushies are good too. Because they are jammed with cotton and wood pulp instead of the polymer thingies, I would think that they are super thick and wouldn't fit very well. Or at least make your kid look like he/she's carrying heavy all the time.

Scott, how do the Tushies fit (your daughter)?

These are questions from someone who doesn't have any babies, yet (4 more weeks), so I apologize if I sound like the idiot from your birthing classes.

We've been using them since our Guen was a week old. We were going to use cloth diapers, but she really hated them (after the Pampers from the hospital), and, let's face it, Daddy couldn't deal.

We're concerned about the environmental impact, and the 7th Generation diapers seemed a decent compromise. Their main deal is that they're not bleached with chlorine (which is horribly nasty stuff).

They fit fine, although they're just rectangles -- no fancy form-fitting like the big brands. (So yeah, as others have said, some bunching.) But we haven't had any problems with leaking or anything.

I know I've posted this before, but the first thing I did after Madeleine was born was buy Seventh Generation and Tushies diapers. Unfortunately, the "newborn size" of both of these brands were much, much too large for Madeleine at 8lbs, 1oz, despite the fact that they are both rated for 6lb babies.

So, Pampers Newborn Swaddlers it was for the first couple of months. Madeleine is about 13lbs. now, and these diapers fit OK, so we've burned through the Seventh Generation package and are now on the third pack of Tushies. I'll stick with the Tushies due to the non-gel content. We've also decided on Tushies wipes exclusively. No bizzare ingredients, but the non-scented ones are made from a much stronger material and are perforated, whereas the scented ones are larger and pre-separated, though tear easily. They must be made by two different mills.

Now if Tushies would just make their diapers in brown like the Seventh Generation stuff, I'd be pretty pleased. For the time being, it's Tushies for my girl, but the Pampers and Huggies really do fit a lot better.

The biggest problem I have is that the local Whole Foods seems not to order enough wipes. The Seventh Generation wipes are somewhat better than the Tushies, but cost almost twice as much. Every time I go to the Whole Foods, I generally clean them out of Tushies wipes refills (8-12 packages at a time). I'm considering talking to the manager about ordering them by the case lot. BTW, they're cheaper at Whole Foods than online, if you can believe that.

Can a current or former cloth-diapering mommy/daddy type out there give me a sense of what dealing with cloth diapering is really like? We have one friend who uses them and, at 11 months, is starting to get burned out. And online, the only opinions are from such far out pro-cloth people I don't feel like I'm getting an unbiased opinion. Thanks.

The Kid is just getting into Size 4s? My Dude was in Size 4s* at 6 mos. Is he just a bruiser? (*Pampers Cruisers, we have never, ever had a leak. Not one. While beige is nice and goes with everything, without Big Bird on the butt I would put them on backwards.)

we were given a pack of these from some crunchy friends. they did ok, but yeah kinda bulky. I dont personally worry much about chlorine, so I'd rather spend the difference paying off school debt and/or saving for college.

and thanks for the t-shirt. it rocks.

My 16-month old is still in size 3 pampers too. She's in between checkups, but weighed in at a little over 2 lb at 15 months. Not skinny--she's stocky and plump--just a little person.

Anyway, I recently stocked up on size 3 at a local grocery store closing sale, but I was thinking we may have to move up to size 4s soon. I was thinking about switching to a character-free brand--those tooshies sound promising...

We tried 7th generation way back in the early months. Bulky. Now that she's in daycare (no cloth allowed, so that's not an option), I'd hate to make her wear the kid version of hippie clothes just to salve my conscience. So we won't be sending 7th generation in with her.

Maybe cloth at home and pampers at school? How do other parents who work outside the home deal with cloth and the laundry issue? Now that her high laundry-producing days are behind us, I'm kind of enjoying the free time ;-)

In case anyone's wondering, I meant "20 lbs" above

I also preferred the Tushies, but mostly because they seemed to fit my little thunderthighs better. Unfortunately, he outgrew them before a year. He was a bit of a chunker, and was in size 6 diapers before he was 2.
Andy, cloth diapers are easy. I used fitteds and AIOs so they go on like disposable diapers, get tossed in a diaper pail with a waterproof, washable liner (some use a trash can with a lid) about every 3 days I would put the liner and diapers in the wash, give it a soak/rinse, a wash on hot and occasionally another rinse. Toss them in the dryer or hang to dry.
As for poop, I refused to do anything like dunk, so whatever didn't come off with a hearty shake came off in the rinse/soak cycle.
So much faster than travelling to a store for diapers. The closest cheap disposable diaper store is a 2 hour walk from my house.

Andy - we use a combination of cloth and disposable (we specifically prefer disposable at night), but we use a cloth diaper service (they pick up/drop off once a week), so the burnout is lower because of that, as well.

I know not all areas have services available, though.

For disposable, we use 7th generation, and I don't find them too different. Some of the things people have said (wide in the crotch) are true, but don't seem to bother our daughter...

We use cloth at home, and disposibles for daycare (the hubby and I both work.)

Our son is about 20 months old now, so he doesn't go through many diapers anymore. He comes home from daycare in a dry pampers, and generally stays in it until bathtime. After bath he gets his double-stuffed cloth diaper on and goes to bed. During the work week I just toss them in the bag. Since they are just pee, they don't smell up his room at all. Come friday I wash them just like I'd wash any other bag of stuff, except on hot. They also all go straight into the dryer like regular clothes.

On the weekends I end up doing one more load of laundry, just because we only have 11 diapers for him. (He goes through about 5 a day.)

All we use on him are pocket diapers, we are SUPER easy, and, like I mentioned above, wash like normal clothes. There's not really anything to 'burn out' on, IMO. If we go out for long periods of time, I often bring some pampers with me. I don't feel like I HAVE TO use my cloth 24/7, so maybe that's why I'm more relaxed about it.

I'm pretty stocked up on fitteds and covers for the next baby (due this november!) and I'm sure that will involve a bit more laundry, but that doesn't particularly bother me. :)

Anyone who is interested in cloth diaper can feel free to email me!

We used them when Cobalt was in 3's. But when we went to 4's we switched to pamper's cruisers. They have the stretchy elastic around the top and simply fit him better.

The 7th gen did a great job at keeping him dry, they just leak a little around his chunky little body. They are also a bit bulky, and he is already a big kid.

BTW, I think I found the best price on Gaiam's web site. Plus, you get a coupon after you sign up and with your first order for something like 20-30% off.

Has anyone tried those Nature Boy & Girl disposable diapers? They have them at drugstore.com and I used them only once while I was visiting a friend in London (she uses them and I was out). They are pretty good and no horrible cartoon characters, but that said, I only used them once. The wipes are great though--no fragrance.

Nature Boy & Girl diapers (the US distributor I think) went out of business earlier last year. A few months later, new investors jumped in with some cash and kept the company going.

They do contain the super-absorbent polymers and use a cornstarch-based material instead of plasticy stuff for the outer layer.

The original Swedish company can be found at: http://www.naty.se

The US distributor seems a little sketchier for some reason. Maybe it's the comcast.net e-mail address. I'm not sure if the Swedish company makes 'em all, or if the US ones are a totally separate operation. The US ones are made in Mexico.

[wow, an astonishing level of detail for a guy who's still waiting for his kid to arrive... -ed.]

Andy-

The Tushies (God how I hate that name) fit our daughter fine, and don't seem significantly thicker than the 7th G.

we had to switch from from pampers to 7G because our son became allergic to pampers around 1 year old (diaper rash that didn't/wouldn't stop until we quit the pampers) they were wonderful, and we had no problems with them.

my favorite part is that because they got heavy and wet and yucky to have on (yes we changed him many times a day!), our kid was trained (on his own, he said no more diaper) by 23 months. i blame it on the 7G and will use them again when the next one is born.

as long as we're asking... drugstore.com also has a diaper brand called Mother Nature which seems to use wood pulp for absorbency; has anyone tried these?

I cloth-diapered my first son at home with AIO's and used disposables when we were out. Maybe I've gotten lazier with my second son but I don't seem to have found it as convenient to use the cloth AIO's this time around. Mr. Boy *is* a soaker and has very sensitive skin, so that could be why. Do diaper manufacturers just give up on quality by size 4??? I used to love Huggies but ever since we switched to size 4 it's gel beads all over the butt at practically every diaper change. Ugh! We may switch to White Cloud if we can't figure something out soon... yes, I know Wal-Mart is eeevil (and so is Yoko Ono) but we're running out of viable options here.

[Actually, I've met Yoko Ono a couple of times, and she was delightful. The kid apparently knows her from somewhere because when we stood behind her in the park, the kid shouted out, "Hey!" and Yoko turned around, and the two of them had a very nice chat. The kid's never met a Wal-Mart, though. -ed.]

We've just gone through a big stack of them with our little monkey, who is six weeks old. Time for her to move up to the next size. As others have mentioned, they are wider in the crotch than some of the other brands, and less "fitted" overall. We are going up a size as they seem to be a bit tight around the leg (still fitting well otherwise though). We will be sticking with them as the seem to be among the less evil disposables. Of course at this point the lack of bleaching really doesn't make much difference. All of our children will probably die horrible, early deaths from cancer or cancer treating drugs anyway, but at least we can feign innocence as we show them off in our bugaboos, slings, and our imported (organic) wool sweaters. As a side note we also use cloth-fuzzy bunz and wonderoos-because they seem MUCH more comfortable and breathable than any of the disposables. We keep the washing machine pre-filled with water and detergent, toss them in the washer (along with whatever else) when they are soiled, and do a load every couple of days. They are less absorbent than the disposables, in part because we are usually too lazy to really stuff them effectively. Typically just toss a hemp liner in or maybe a little fleece one. Kids seem to get changed more frequently when in cloth, which may be one of the reasons that diaper rash is less common on cloth covered asses.

BTW, for you NYC dwellers, just got back from the Atlantic Ave Target in Brooklyn, and they are *NOT* one of the Target stores that is stocking Seventh Generation. Figures.

We use cloth diapers 70% of the time, and 7th Gen the rest (disposables at night and on weekends and long trips). I have an 8 month old and have been cloth diapering since the beginning. I tweaked with cloth diapering quite a few times before I found something that worked for us. First and foremost, I found that merely lining a diaper cover with a cloth diaper did not work. Second, I use diaper prefolds but I fold them with 2 safety pins (lay baby flat on diaper, bring over both edges over front and pin on either side same as disposables but using pins instead of tabs). Third, use a high-quality cloth diaper cover. After experimenting with 3 different brands, I found that Bumpi's (made in Japan by Imse-Vimse of Sweden) work the best and I have 3 in the same size at any one time. Have never had a leak. There is also a paper liner that you can get from Imse-Vimse or Kushies that you can use to make sure the poo doesn't stain the diaper. And finally, I started "potty-training" at 6 months, right around the time she started on solids. It was obvious that she was pooing because she would become all quiet and grunt. Also, once you transition to solids, the pooing schedule becomes much more predictable. I simply put her on the potty in the morning, after lunch and before she goes to sleep. I make a shhh-ing sound and she almost always pees and I sit her there for at least 3 minutes and more often that not, she poos. As a result, I have not had a poo-stained cloth diaper in about a month. As for laundering the cloth diapers, I just put them in a simple bucket, no baking soda (didn't find it necessary) and wash as per usual by themselves.

I hope this helps, if anyone wants more details, please email me at m g h i g g i n s r e g AT y a h o o.

dude, the straps are designed far better than conventional diapers, and they absorb much better, too. We've heard the same from other parents who've also compared. More importantly, they are less irritating to the baby bum, in regular use and overnight...

When combined with urine it gave off a really chemically smell. I tried a few other brands and only this one did that so I stopped buying them.

The Tushies were like trying to fit the Yellow Pages between my poor son's legs. We're trying 7th Gen for the first time today; I have also noticed an increase in gel instances (including one that left him covered from belly button to bottom in the stuff after an overnight) with the Pampers we've been using. So, back to the diaper experimentation!

In our house it was 100% cloth diapers all the time. Flat fold flannelettes, diaper pins, and rubber pants. My husband even became quite good at changing diapers towards the end.

the 7th generation is recently redisigned! I got a NB size sample from my Ob's office the other day. I went home to compare them with the newborn size that I had left over from my first baby 18 months ago. They are very different! Much thinner in the crotch now, stretchy velcro tabs instead of thin tapes, softer and with better leg gussets. I don't know if they are in stores yet, but I will be buying them for this new baby for sure. They look better then Pampers.

We tried the 7th generation, redesigned, after using the older kind for years (with first child, alternating with cloth; and with current baby, also alternating with cloth 'til recently when we went all-disposable). The fit is indeed different -- probably better for all kids but mine, who are pretty big all around as babies and thus the 5's don't really fit any more (they say they now have a 6 but I have yet to find a store that stocks them).

And then to my HUGE DISMAY, they leak gel pellets! At first I thought it was sand because my kids had been playing in the sand box and the little gel bits look like clear sand grains, but when I paid attention I figured out that's what it was. They were leaking with every use -- daytime only (we didn't try the new ones at night) and even with just one pee in them. I'm so bummed I'm not going to buy them any more.

I wrote to 7th gen gustomer service but don't really expect any helpful response from them. Diaper companies don't seem to realize gel bits on babies' bottoms are a deal-killer.

So now we're using Tender Care and so far so good, though I'm skeptical that they'd make it through the night like the old 7th Gen ones did.

Sigh.