Nappy covers - Wool Longies by Little Pants

I've been meaning to publish this review for ages. Wool covers have been used for cloth nappies for ages before PUL came along. I won a review competition May 2014 on The Cloth Nappy Tree and my prize was a pair of Wool Longies. I've always fancied trying wool and was going to knit my own but after researching it and discovering it sounded to complicated. Well after a message from Ali the owner of Little Pants after receiving my prize I felt confident and took the bull by the horns.

Manufacturer:little pants
Nappy Name: Alpaca Longies
Type of Nappy: n/a
Fastener: cord
Material:Alpca wool
Size: small

Reliability: 10/10
Absorbency: n/a
Cuteness: 10/10
Drying Speed: 7/10
Slimness: n/a
Value for money: 10/10
Use: nappy wrap

Overall Comment:
Fabulous!

Detailed Comments:
Oh my god wool is amazing. I was a bit worried how this would work but dd didn't leak and her legs were nice and warm. The fit is lovely and the colours are great. I was concerned it would stink in the morning but I was surprise to find it didn't stink. Wool really is magic, I expected it to feel damp but it doesn't. I can see me needing more wool wraps.

To wash them you simply do it by hand using a wool wash after a weeks use as you can let them air during the day. Once washed fill a bowl with warm water add one sachet of Lanolin allow to dissolve then submerge wool Longies in and leave over night in the morning remove from water and roll Longies in a towel to remove excess water then dry flat.

Tots Bots Easyfit V4

Manufacturer:Tots Bots
Nappy Name:Easyfit V4
Type of Nappy: AIO
Fastener: hook and loop
Material: Minky, cotton and bamboo
Size:BTP

Reliability: 8/10
Absorbency: 8/10
Cuteness: 10/10
Drying Speed: 6/10
Slimness: 7/10
Value for money: 7/10

Overall Comment:
Highly recommended

Tots Bots Easyfits V4 are super easy to fit as they fit like a disposable, which makes it easy for other family members to use. Easy nappy comes with a booster that attaches with poppers to the nappy then can be folded if necessary (for a boy) then stuffed into the nappy. Tots Bots have a wide range of prints in Easyfits they also team up with Frugi ( my favourite clothing brand) and bring out 4 nappies twice a year in around April and October time. They have an adjustable rise on the front which helps them to fit from Birth to potty training.

The main disadvantages  with this nappy is that with the booster in it makes dd's bum look huge and they take quiet a long time to dry in the winter.

Tots Bots Bamboozle

 Manufacturer: Tots Bots
Nappy Name : Bamboozle Stretch
Type of Nappy:shaped
Fastener: Velcro
Material: stretchy bamboo
Size: size 1 (6-18lbs) and size 2 (9-35lbs BTP)

Reliability: 10/10
Absorbancy:  10/10
Cuteness:  7/10
Drying Speed:  8/10
Slimness: 10/10
Value for money: 10/10

Bamboozles are a two part system the consist of the nappy and a waterproof wrap. Bamboozles are very soft and absorbent and fit like a disposable nappy. They last a night with the addition of the clip in extra booster. They are slim fitting and have a slight stretch which makes them fit perfectly every time. They are available in two sizes; size 1 (6-18lbs) and size 2 (9lbs -35lbs BTP).

The red is the Flexi wrap and the blue is the Bamboozle.

The inside of the bamboozles showing the booster.

We have 5 of the bright colours bamboozles and a flexi wrap which is the old style cover. When you first get them they take up to 10 washes to reach full absorbency. My only real criticism is that you have to watch that the colours don't run on your other nappies. The red one had a warning label attached to it when I purchased it. These nappies take quiet a while to dry in the winter. These work really well and easily last a whole night. These nappies are good as the rise is adjustable at the front with snaps.

Reusable nappy week 2015 Competitions

Reusable nappy week 2015 starts on Monday the 20th April 2015, with competitions and special offers to try to get people converted to cloth nappies. With social media competitions on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. There are also two main competitions; the reusable nappy associations Reusable Pursuit, where you need to solve cryptic clues to find the special logo and The Great British Nappy Hunt where you have to find a cute baby called Billy and his friends. The prizes up for grabs are really great.  The Clean Green Nappy Machine are also running a trading card game every day for three weeks during reusable nappy week with a daily prize and a grand prize of £125 to spend in their shop.

In the run up to reusable nappy week I entered the reusable nappy associations Meme competition and was lucky enough to win 5 nappies. (I'll update this post when I know what they are) Here is my winning entry.

Close Parent Popins new generation v1 & v2

Manufacturer: Close Parent
Nappy Name: Pop-in bamboo
Type of Nappy: AI2
Fastener: Velcro
Material: Bamboo core with
Size: BTP (7lbs-35+ lbs)

Reliability: 10/10
Absorbency: 10/10
Cuteness: 8/10
Drying Speed: 5/10
Slimness: 10/10
Value for money: 10/10

Overall Comment:
Fabulous!

Close Pop-ins are AI2 nappies which have a popper in booster and soaker and a waterproof outer shell with Velcro closers. They have a double leg gusset which I really like. At night they can be used with the nighttime booster which makes them leak proof but bulky . We currently have 6 of these nappies, 2 pink turtle, 2 pink owl, 1 yellow monkey, 1 Russian doll v2 & 1 Robots v2. They range in price from £15.50-£16.99.

V1 Outer shell, booster and soaker and night time (grey).

What I really love about pop-ins is that they have a handy weight guide to adjust the poppers. Size chartWhich enables parents to adjust them to fit. Close parent are quiet clear that the maximum waist size is 56-57cm and the warn that you may be on the largest setting by 8 months. However once mobile babies shape will change and you might be able to go down again. My daughter had chunky thighs pre walking but never got up to the largest setting. Popins come in either Minkee or bamboo, we choose Bamboo as it's more absorbent but does take longer to dry.

Size comparison monkey stage 1, turtle stage 2, owl on left stage 3 and owl on right stage 4. 

Bamboo V2
The main differences are the rear laundry tab has been replaced with a hidden laundry tab, the back elastic being removed to speed up drying and the poppers have been replaced with a tab popper like how the booster attaches. V2 on a whole are much softer in the outer shell and the soaker and booster seem softer.

V2 outer shell and soaker with booster attached.

Pop-ins are very absorbent and last a long time. With the night booster we have got 12 hours without an issue at all.  My only really criticism of them is if your little one has liquid paracetamol the insides of popins does get a bleach type stain. Close Popins tend to be my nappy of choice if we are going on a car journey when I know she will be having a nap. I love their trim fit which means she doesn't have such a huge cloth bum. The only down side is with them being bamboo in the winter they take over a day to dry. I personally find the fit of the V2 Pop-in much better than the V1 as the outer shell is softer and more flexible.

Cheeky wipes

Well when I was pregnant and researching alternatives to cotton wool in the early days. I stumbled onto Reusable baby wipes as I had already decided we were going to do cloth nappies so wipes was an easy choice. After a bit of research we decided on cheeky wipes.

We brought the baby mini kit which includes :- 25 wipes (we brought terry as Bamboo were out of stock at the time) 1 fresh wipes container, 1 fresh wipes waterproof out and about bag, 10ml of Lavender & Chamomile fresh wipes essential oil blend.  At the same time we also purchased an extra 25 terry wipes and a mucky wipe bag.

(Note oil in picture is not original bottle)

How does it work?

You take the fresh box and for every 25 wipes you need 2-3cm of water (the box has fill lines marked inside so first line for 25 wipes) and 3 drops of the fresh wipes essential oil blend. Throw 25 wipes in and turn over a few times until damp. If any excess water squeeze it out and tip away or wipes start to go musty smelling quickly. Cheeky wipes say wipes are fresh in the solution for up to 3 days I've never managed to make them last that long. When you go out you pop some wipes in the fresh bag and your ready to go. Then when used place in mucky bag or wet nappy bag then when you get home into the nappy bucket and wash with the nappies. You don't need to dry the wipes after washing they can go straight back into the solution. We only use the mucky bag at home for after food clean ups.

(I used a drop of squash to show water level in photo. For the curious this is 400ml of water)

Using cheeky wipes

We have used cheeky wipes from day one they get Menconium poo off really easily. My sister is a midwife and could believe that I only needed one white not 15 balls of cotton wool. They easily do the job of 7 disposable wipes. I'm not new to changing bums I've looked after lots of babies over the years and changed hundreds of bums. With disposable wipes you can never seem to only get one wipe out of the packet at a time so they are quite wasteful. Recently on holiday with no washing facilities we used disposable wipes and in 1 week we had used up 3.5 packets which is stupidly expensive. Well cheeky wipes are so simple quick wipe and throw in nappy bag. They wash really easily and if you do dry them they don't take long on the line. 10mls of the oil blend lasts us 3 months so it's really good value. We have a fresh box of microfibre wipes on the dinner table great for cleaning Isla and Daddy up after food.

I have only tried the Lavender & chamomile oil blend, I love the scent and the healing properties. I might try the other blends in the future.

After our initial purchase we have since brought the 100ml bottle of oil blend, 25 bamboo terry wipes, double wet bag, extra fresh box for weaning and got 25 microfibre wipes for free.

The different wipes

Bamboo terry, terry, microfibre

Bamboo Terry wipes- These are suitable for for hands, faces and bottoms. They are super soft and gets poo off easily. They stay soft in a hard water area. I prefer the bamboo terry over the normal terry ones. These are the most expensive £18 for 25 wipes.

Terry wipes- These are suitable for hands, face and bottoms. They don't feel very soft in a hard water area when dry however when they are wet it makes little difference. You can strip them with white  vinegar every so often it really helps. They are cheeky wipes original product so should last. They are grippy and get poo off easily. Even with the messiest breast fed poo I have only had to use 3 wipes on one nappy change. These are the cheapest ones at £13 for 25 wipes.

Microfibre wipes- These are great for weaning for hands and faces. Cheeky wipes sat don't use them for poo as it would get trapped In the fibres so I avoid using them for nappy changes.The clean really well and the come in lots of colours. We have a rainbow set. They stay soft in a hard water area. They cost £12 for 25.

Conclusion 

I love cheeky wipes and how well they clean up baby. They smell stays strong on the wipes all the time but is delicate enough for baby. My only real criticism of cheeky wipes is that the fresh bag logo fades badly after a short period of time, my daughter is only 5 months and this bag has been washed 

twice on delicates due to hubby getting poo on it by accident. Also logs on wipes fade after one wash but that doesn't really matter.

New bag on left as you can see logo fades!

If your doing cloth nappies you don't really need a mucky bag at all as you will have a wet bag for out and about. I don't soak my dirty wipes as I put them with my nappies. A scoop of miofresh keeps them fresh and stain free.

gNappies

Manufacturer: gNappy
Nappy Name: gNappy
Type of Nappy: hybrid
Fastener: Velcro
Material: gPants 92% cotton and 8% spandex; gPouch is a breathable nylon; gRefills are made of cellulose rayon, fluffed wood pulp, and sodium polyacrylate (SAP) & gCloth are made of 2 layers of polyester microfleece and 2 layers of hemp/cotton
Size: sized newborn 2-4kg (6-10lbs), small 3-7kg (8-14lbs), medium 5-13kg (13-28lbs), large 10-17kg (22-36lbs) & extra large 15+kg (34+lbs)

Reliability: 10/10
Absorbency: 10/10
Cuteness: 10/10
Drying Speed: 10/10
Slimness: 10/10
Value for money: 8/10
Use: hybrid for holidays can be used with cloth or biodegradable insert.

Overall Comment:
Fabulous!

We visited the baby show on Sunday, although I had seen gNappies before DH didn't see why we needed them (I wanted them for holiday).  DH looked very intrigued about them after watching the demonstration he said he thought they would be great for holiday and when Nannie is looking after DD. We ended up purchasing 5 gPants, 2 gPouches, 1 pack of gRefills and 1 pack of 6 gCloths to try. The colours we brought are:- gPant goddess pink, gPant great orange, gPant Gulf Stream (minty green), gPant gauze (white), gPants go fish (blue). 

gNappies are a hybrid nappy that bridges the best of both world between biodegradable disposables and cloth nappies. I would recommend hybrids for holidays abroad when you do not want to be hunting washing facilities.

How they work?
There are 3 parts to a gNappy:- gPant (Gulf Stream in photo's), gPouch and gCloth or gRefill.

The gPouch is popped into the gPant and the gRefill or gCloth is pushed into the gPouch. Then you put on baby ensuring the gPouch is right up in baby's leg creases (where knickers would go), Velcro tabs at the back (more about this later) and check gNappy is pulled up high enough.

gCloth

gRefill

The gPants are 92% cotton and 8% spandex. The gPouch is a breathable nylon. The gRefills are certified Cradle to Cradle so everything in them goes back into the earth in a positive or neutral way. They are made of cellulose rayon, fluffed wood pulp, and sodium polyacrylate (SAP). The cellulose rayon and fluffed wood pulp comes from sustainably grown and harvested softwood. Sodium polyacrylate (SAP) and is a green and non-toxic water absorbing polymer. The gRefill can go into your compost bin and will complete break down in 50-150 days. (Normal disposables take over 182,625 days or 500 years). The gCloth inserts are made of 2 layers of polyester microfleece and 2 layers of hemp/cotton.

The review

Right so loading the gNappy was very easy even though the inserts look like they won't fit at all, they do and make the gPouch form a 'u' shape. I tried the gCloth insert first, put it on Isla which was a little tricky at first because they do up at the back. You have to make sure you get the gPouch right into their knicker line (where pants would go). Isla fell asleep for 3.5 hours which I wasn't expecting, the gNappy held everything in really well. I got a slight leak at the back (by waist band) due to doing the nappy up too tight. But over 3 hours without a massive leak. When I tried again with another gCloth and ensured I could get two fingers under the band of the gPant it worked perfectly and got 2 hours with no leaks what so ever.

Next I tried the gRefills as I am desperate to use only this combination on holiday. They were easy to pop into the pouch, put it on Isla and remembered not to do it up too tight. She then fell asleep again (my daughter sleeps lots) for 2 hours. When she woke I changed her and she had done a poo. Well my first thought was I bet it's everywhere, the joys of breast feed poo is it's very runny. I have to say I was very impressed the pouch does it's job of catching any escaping mess and the gPant was spotless. I just clipped in a new gPouch and was off again with a new gRefill. This is going to be brilliant on holiday.  

Well after trying both combinations of inserts for gNappies I have to say not only are these good for
holiday they would be brilliant every day. I love the choice of colours for gPants as they are beautiful. I love that you can compost wet gRefills and that they don't contain nasty chemicals. The gCloth would be my favourite as it's so soft and lovely next to a baby's bum. Once you get the fit right they are super easy to use. I actually love that they do up at the back as it will make it harder for little monkey's to get them off. I have to say I found this nappy super reliable. The lovely thing about gNappies is their slimness they are one of the slimmest reusable nappies I've ever used. The gPant, gPouch and gCloth all wash really well and are super fast drying.

The cost of gNappies well you can buy a starter bundle for £31.95 which contains 2 gPants & a packet of gRefills. gPants are sized so the fit is much better. The sizes are newborn 2-4kg (6-10lbs) which popper down at the front for unbiblical cord, small 3-7kg (8-14lbs), medium 5-13kg (13-28lbs), large 10-17kg (22-36lbs) & extra large 15+kg (34+lbs). The gPouches, gRefills and gCloths come in two sizes n-s (newborn-small) and m-l-xl (medium, large and extra large) which means they will last longer. gPants have two prices £14.95 for block colours and £17.95 for pretties. The best thing is for full time use you only need 6-8 gNappies so considerably cheaper than some systems. To use gRefills all the time would be comparable to using premium brand nappies daily as they work out to be 23p each roughly.

Increasing absorbency

With gNappjes you can increase the absorbency very easily their website suggests a few methods and when I first read it I was a bit unsure as I needed a picture to help me out. 

The sushi roll – tuck in one disposable insert like normal. Then take a second insert and roll up so it makes a smallish rectangle. Place it on top of the first insert, in the middle for girls, up front for boys.

Girls

Boys

Insert plus doubler – tuck in a cloth insert. Lay a disposable insert on top of the cloth insert.

Hemp sandwich – Using two cloth inserts, place the hemp sides together so that they're in the middle, fleece side faces baby's bum. With the g tickets on the inside of the sandwich. Then tuck them inside the gPant.

Conclusion 

I really love gNappies flexibility to be both cloth and eco disposable. I think it's great that you need so few gPants for full time use. Also the large range of gPants has something for everyone's taste. Since our initial purchase we have also ordered the Going to Grandma's white lace one as it will look lovely under dresses. The real test will be my weeks holiday abroad when I am only taking gNappies I'll post results when I get back.