We test drove the Babyland one-size pocket diaper for a friend who is opening a cloth diaper business. I was happy to do so since I have been wanting to try a pocket diaper. There is a lot of chatter about this brand on the internet mainly because they are so freakin' affordable. You can purchase 10 of these diapers for $50 on a popular online auction site (hint, hint). That is a steal for one-size pocket diapers!I prepped our sample with one rinse on the delicate cycle of our HE washer and line dried it. We were then ready to be guinea pigs! Hurdle #1: two college-educated adults with four degrees between them could not figure out the snaps on the rise. I couldn't find instructions online, but found a manufacturer picture on another blog and was able to figure it out. Hurdle #2: after adjusting the rise, there were more snaps to contend with around the waist. I never achieved a perfect fit because one snap inward was too tight and moving the snap out one space was too loose. Hurdle #3: the gussets around her legs were gaping, but nothing could be done since this brand lacked adjustable snaps in this area.
The test: I put Marlie down for a nap in the diaper. When I picked her up an hour later, I felt a wetness down the front of my shirt. She had peed and the diaper leaked!
Verdict: This diaper is supposed to be one-size, but it swallowed up my baby (she was a little over 8 lbs at the time). It probably works better on babies 10 lbs+. I am giving it a thumbs down for leaking, which I think is due to the gaps around the legs. Yeah, it's an economical brand, but IMHO you get what you pay for. I very much liked the cover pattern though (see photo). Baby girl looked so fly wearing it!
8 comments:
You are right, Steph. You get what you pay.
You baby girl is so adorable !
Have a wonderful time!
xxx
Baby Marlie IS a real cutie! Great review. This will save a lot of mums time and disappointment. Good Job!
Hmm.. i definitely want to try cloth diapers.. but I worry about some of the things you mentioned.
I guess we will see whenever I have another baby!
I've been cloth diapering now for a year so I know that there is a lot of variance between brands. One thing that I found in common with the "one size" is that I really couldn't start using them until our son was about 10 lbs. Since he was only 5 lbs when he was born, it took a couple of months before those diapers fit. When they are too big, they leak (just like how you mentioned the gaping).
I'm not sure what kind of insert you have, but depending on the material, you may have to "prep" it several times by running it thru your wash. Oh, and you can only use certain detergents too--regular detergent has all this stuff in it that will lead to repelling rather than absorbing. I use Charlie's Soap or Crunchy Clean Soap.
Sorry if you already knew all this :) A great site that I go to is theclothdiaperwhisperer.com or The Eco Friendly Family forum on TheBump.com
She is just adorable and I agree the pattern on the diaper looks great on her!
I was never brave enough to use cloth diapers but I did have to change one the other day. It had snaps for adjusting the size and velcro tabs. It fit my niece well but she's also almost a year old.
Great review though, I'm sure a lot of people will be glad to know they should wait until the baby gets bigger for that brand.
p.s. Thanks for all the comments ladies! I just wanted to mention that Marlie is exclusively cloth diapered with the occasional gDiaper thrown in the mix. We mainly use prefolds and some fitteds and we love it! We don't have pocket diapers in our inventory so I tried the Babyland brand for this review and it didn't work out...but that doesn't discount all the other terrific cloth diapers on the market. Read about our cloth diapering system in my previous post:
Chronicles of Cloth Diapering
I've never heard of the brand...just wanted to mention...do your research if you are using Charlie's Soap. I'm a diaper store owner/cloth diaper addict...LOTS of negative stuff has been coming around about Charlies. THe company is saying that they are a soap only. The problem is that while washing dipes..you really need something that has a bacteria killer in it. Charlies is fine for clothing. But, dipes need something added to Charlies (tea tree oil or bleach..something like that.)
I've had two customers w/ baby girls who've had chronic UTIs. One was hospitalized. THe bacteria they found was eColi. After they ditched the Charlies...not another infection.
My fav for dipes is Maggies Soap Nuts -- liquid. Because the liquid has tea tree and lavendar added in a perfect, tiny portion. :)
BTW...like, Teresha said...Leading is not normal for cloth diapering. :0)
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