GroVia Hybrid Diaper Review - Part 2 - The Disposable Option

Last week we had a wedding to attend in Los Angeles so we made a vacation of it and took the week off, went to San Diego and then off to LA with the fam.  I figured this would be the perfect time to finally test out the GroVia Hybrid - disposable option.  The GroVia hybrid diaper consists of a waterproof shell, and the disposable insert known as the Bio-Soaker is flushable, compostable & bio-degradable.  It looks much like its cotton soaker counterpart - contoured with side-walls.  It has short bits of sticky tape on either end to secure the insert to the shell... much like a maxi-pad.

I bought some Green N Pack doggie bags before I left MD so I could dispose of my inserts responsibly, packed 4 GroVia Shells, a 50-pk of the GroVia Bio-Soakers and some extra gDiaper inserts I had left over from my last trip, and set out on vacation.

I used the gDiaper inserts first in the GroVia shell to see how they worked, and they were okay.  They fit fine, but still had the same issue I talked about before of pee being localized to one spot so I never felt like I got my money's worth as half the insert would be dry, and leaking would occur when that front portion was full.

gDiaper insert (top) vs. GroVia insert (bottom)

I was very excited to start using the GroVia inserts, but I must say, I was a little disappointed. At first glance the GroVia insert is clearly smaller than the gDiaper, and a little thinner.  So I was immediately concerned about absorption.  I figured the gDiaper insert is such a waste as it isn't fully utilized, so hopefully pee would wick through this GroVia insert and be able to hold alot of moisture.

I mentioned in Part 1 of this article that my daughter is on a drinking binge right? Not to mention the fact that it was HOT out there... we walked around the San Diego Zoo for hours one day so Becks was downing water and juice like crazy, plus being seated in her stroller the whole time led to compression leaks. She would start to leak after 2 hours of being in the diaper. :(  Another day though, we went to Sea World in the evening so it was cooler, she wasn't drinking that much water - and no leaks.  So, this leads me to believe that if your child isn't a heavy wetter and is drinking moderately you may not have any problem with this insert.  I must say though that the sidewalls in the insert handled poop fabulously!

All-in-all my thoughts are that the GroVia hybrid disposable insert could use a little more cushion, but, for a child who doesn't drink a lot, or isn't a heavy wetter it will be sufficient.  The disposable option is definitely not something I would recommend for an every day use.

After having to wash my shells in the hotel bathroom for a week, and dealing with the leak issues, I was extremely happy to get her back into her faithful cloth diapers when we returned home.