Rumparooz Pocket Diaper Review

So I have had this diaper for awhile now, It's been great to me, so I thought I should review it!

Rumparooz G2 One Size Pocket Diaper in the color Bermuda (blue)



                          


Pros:

• Bulletproof! We haven't had a leak out of it yet!
• Double leg gussets, nothing can escape this thing!
• Pretty colors and patterns.
• Comes in snaps or aplix depending on your personal preference.
• Diapers with snaps has double row of snaps across the belly so there is no wing droop.
• Super soft fleece interior for stay dry effect, also poo sprays off nicely. 
• Comes with 2 inserts, a large regular sized 6-r insert, and a smaller  soaker that is contoured to fit even the smallest of babies.
• 4 rise settings, to fit from 6-35 pounds
• Super easy to use, great for daycare, dads, and grandparents, typical pocket diaper.
• Snaps on the inserts to make the large one smaller, and to snap the smaller and larger inserts together for easier stuffing.
• Good night time diaper for an average wetter, just use both inserts! 

Cons:

• At an average of $23-$25 per diaper,  it is not the most economical diaper to buy. Definitely a more pricier diaper out there.
• The rise is short. This means that it will probably not last until potty training. My son is pretty average build, tall and on the skinnier side and about 23 pounds, but he is already on the second to last rise setting. Completely unsnapped, unstretched, the rise is only about 13.5inches in total length of this diaper. 
• Pocket diaper. For me, stuffing pockets is a pain in the butt. So it is not on my regular to use pile of diapers.
• Small pocket opening, it does stretch, but I do find this diaper a tad difficult to stuff.

My overall view on this diaper is a grade of B-. If the price wasn't so much, it would be a B+ for a pocket diaper. This diaper has been super easy to use, and I get a fine fit with it. It will not last us till potty training however, for my tall and skinny guy. The belly snaps I don't see him ever getting to big for, but he will have plumbers butt once he gets older, because the diaper itself is just not tall enough.



Such a pretty color blue!

Inner of the diaper so so soft! And gotta love the double leg gussets to help contain any yucky mess!

Pocket opening in the back, elasticized.

Both soakers, a small for newborns that is contoured, and the regular insert. Add both for added absorbancy!

Size chart for rise setting

gDiaper Review

Since gDiapers seem to be pretty mainstream, I will do a quick review. I have always avoided them like the plague because they are a 3 part diaper. Yes, that is not a typo, 3 parts. You have the gPants, which is an outer cotton/spandex shell that is NOT waterproof, BUT is very cute, with fun colors or prints. You have an inner liner that is waterproof that snaps into the gpants sometimes called a pouch. Then you have your absorbant layer. I know that alot of people use these diapers because they are a hybrid, a cross between reusable and disposable. You can get their disposable/compostable inserts or you can use gcloth, or another insert like a prefold.

 I got two medium gDiapers off a swap board on facebook that are in excellent used condition. Practically brand new. They consist of the gPants in orange and green, 2 inner liners and 2 gcloth, which are 2 layers fleece on the top and 2 layers of hemp/cotton mix for the absorbent layers. I am a die hard cloth user, so I am not so much a fan of disposable inserts... but... I do have some flip disposable inserts that I will review in the gdiapers too.

With a prefold trifolded inside- It's a little bulkier like other cloth diapers

Trying to feed his cousin a bottle :)


gDiaper with gCloth- so trim!

Not too much more bulk to it than a disposable. That's because the gCloth is incredibly trim!




Pros.

• Being a trim diaper is one of the gDiapers claim to fame. Yes, using a gcloth insert in the diaper makes it a trim diaper. I am sure using a disposable insert would be very trim too.
• Sized diapers for optimum fit. The size medium fits #3 perfectly. 
• Disposable inserts you can toss, flush or compost because they are 100% biodegradable, very cool. Better for the earth than disposable diapers, but still super convenient.
• Velcro in the back so little ones don't try to pull off their diaper. #3 successfully wore them without any clothes on and did not rip them off like he does with all other velcro diapers.
• Waistband and leg gussets do not leave marks like other diapers do.
• GCloth inserts are a perfect combo of stay dry fleece and natural fiber hemp/cotton. A 6pack with cost you $30, so $5 a piece
• Cute
• Widely available, even at mainstream Babies R Us and some Target stores.
• Hold value well for resale.

Cons.

• Sized diapers means 3 or more different sets that you have to buy. Diapers right now are priced from $17.99 to $19.99 on their website. It comes with 1 outer gpants and 1 liner. Their blog suggests 6-8 gpants per size. $18x8=$144 Plus add the gcloth inserts and they suggest 4 packs of 6 for a total of 24 gcloth inserts. 4x$30= $120. So $264 total for small size, then gcloth inserts are m/l so you just need new gpants in medium and large. So you are looking at about $264 for small, medium $264 and large $144. So total $672. Yes you can sell the smaller sizes to recoup some money, but still spendy!
• If you go Disposable inserts, its going to get spendy, at $14.99 for 32 m/l inserts, its more expensive than disposables! 
• There are 3 pieces to deal with instead of 1 or 2.
• Snap in liners snap in at 4 different points, takes way longer than 1 snap in the back to take apart or put together.
• Gpants and liners should not be washed in hot. So seperate loads of laundry. I wash my pants and liners with my kids' clothes, gcloth with the rest of my diapers. I also hang dry the pants and liners with the rest of my covers.
• Velcro is on the back so its a learning curve how to put it on a squirmy baby or toddler.
• Velcro wears out faster than snaps.
• Gcloth does not have very many thirsty absorbent layers, only 2 hemp/cotton, so often times have to use 2 gcloth or a doubler, or change way more often when you have a heavy wetter.

I have a cloth diaper group I belong to and one of the ladies uses gDiapers as the main part of her stash. I asked her if she would write up a little blurb for me from a real gUser. I hope you enjoy what she has to say about g's!!!

And to show you how adorable gDiapers are, I have my gMum's even more adorable little girl CaitlinJoy (10 months) to model them! How stinkin' cute is she rockin' the gBloom set, the newest girl's set from gDiapers?!

one gMum's perspective
Several months into my last pregnancy, I started researching different cloth diapers primarily because I was worried that my baby girl would have sensitive skin and know there are many chemicals that go into making a disposable diaper that could irritate a baby's soft skin. After hours upon hours of research (no joke, I even made spreadsheets of pros and cons along with info on the companies I looked at), I decided on gDiapers. gDiapers was started up by a husband/wife team from Australia but who are now in Portland, OR. It’s a small company with only several employees including the founders, but they are one of the most friendly, family-oriented companies I’ve ever encountered. Customer service is friendly and will take the time to answer your questions, concerns and do whatever it takes to help you as a parent be able to use their product successfully and want to spread the gLove to others!

So, it's been 10mos since my daughter was born. How do I feel about g's? Well, I love them! Although there is a high learning curve to using them, they aren't OS like many pockets/AIO's and they have several parts to them rather than one or two like other CD's, they are my go-to diapers during the daytime and the only diapers I use and bring along when we are traveling (we've flown to visit family every 3mos since dd was born).

One of the reasons I went with gDiapers is because they are super trim (and incredibly cute)! g’s are touted to be one of the trimmest CD’s on the market. We started baby girl in tiny g's (for newborns) as soon as she was born. These are a little different than the small/medium/large/XL sized gPants in that they have a built in waterproof liner rather than using the snap-in waterproof pouch. There’s only one style (white with gWords vs the many colors, prints and styles available in all other sizes) and it has snaps to change the rise of the pant which lets you protect the umbilical cord stump while it's healing by making the diaper a little lower in the front. My daughter stayed in tiny g's for her first 7-8weeks but many babies stay in them for shorter amount of times or move straight into the small gPants from birth if they're a little bit bigger. gDiapers recommends using their biodegradable gRefills with the tiny g's. For us, having the option to use the gRefills was great, even if the refills themselves are as expensive as using ‘sposies. I could compost her wet refills outside in our compost pile and either flush or dump her poopy ones. Plus, I didn’t have to worry about washing her diapers constantly during those first few weeks of adjusting to a newborn in the house. Once we moved into smalls (fit for 8-14lb range), I started using our cloth inserts rather than the refills. We’ve used a variety of inserts; gCloth, GMD unbleached prefolds, gFlappers (made by The Nappy Shoppe), and still the occasional gRefill when out of the house for more than a few hours or traveling. Some mamas even use flour sack towels from Target/Walmart as a super cheap yet absorbent alternative. I appreciate the fact that there are so many options available to use as a cloth insert. Now that we are in mediums (fits 13-28lbs) and almost into our larges (fits 26-26lbs), I have only been using all-bamboo or bamboo-hemp gFlappers from The Nappy Shoppe. Another reason I like using our g’s is that I don’t have to wash them after every single change. Unless the pouch gets poop on it or pee gets on the outer pant, I just let the diaper air out in between changes and reuse it for the next diaper change. The only part that gets put into the diaper pail each time is the cloth insert. That means less laundry for me!! It also means you don’t need as many diapers on hand to CD full-time. gDiapers recommends about 6-8 gPants in each size to diaper with relative ease. I found this to be pretty true. You’d want at least double the number of their snap-in pouches since those can get dirtier faster and the number of inserts (whatever you use) would depend on how often you change your baby and how often you want to do laundry. g’s are widely available online (gdiapers.com, diapers.com, Target, Walgreens) or in-store at retailers like BRU.

Overall, I really love the flexibility of using g’s and would recommend any parent considering cloth diapering to give them a try!

Softbums Review

Like I mentioned in a previous post, few months ago, I thought I could live without my Softbums. I was battling microfiber stink issues and was getting rid of diapers with microfiber. So I sold them. :( A few months pass by, and I still wish I had them. Like I REALLY wished that I still had them. So I was on the prowl for more. I sold mine for a steal of a deal. I wasn't about to pay full price, so I had to go used. Through Craigslist, a local diaper store selling used and a couple swapboards online, I managed to get almost the same amount I had before, minus 1 shell for what I sold mine for. So I have 6 shells and 18 pods(inserts) and about 8 minipods or newborn pods that are great for doublers. This can last me about 2-2.5 days.

Lets go over the Softbums anatomy. This is a TRUE birth to potty training diaper.

First we have an Echo shell. This is the waterproof part of the diaper. It has fun colors or prints on the outside printed on PUL fabric. The inner is a soft fleece. There are no snaps on the front of the diaper to adjust size. Softbums have slide2size, its a toggle system on the inner part of the diaper that you adjust to get the perfect fit on any baby because the sizing is so custom to each child! It has a snap on the back that the insert or pod snaps into to create an AI2 or All In Two diaper, meaning it has 2 parts to it, the shell and pod. Most people use 2 shells and rotate them each diaper change so they can dry and air out since the covers aren't wipeable.


Omni is similar to the echo with slide2size but its a little wider of a diaper and it has a pocket in the back of the diaper. Many people use Omnis at night time because they can stuff it with an insert and also lay one on the top. This also has a snap in the back. So the Omni can be used as a pocket or an AI2! Omnis are my personal favorite.
NEW SoftBums Omni Shell!  All-in-2 at home, pocket at daycare, prefold cover at night... Omni is the only one you need!

There are 3 great ways to use your Omni!

Snap It!	Stuff It!	Cover It!

Pods- There are a few different types of pods to choose from. I personally have used them in gDiapers,  Flip covers and several wahm(working at home mom) diaper shells. They are extremely versatile, and I even use them permanently in a couple wahm covers that didn't come with very good inserts!
Let's start with newborn pods. There is a microfiber Drytouch mini pod and an organic bamboo mini pod. These are great for newborns! Once out of the newborn stage, you can use them as doublers for naps, nights and heavy wetters.
Dry Touch Pod or O-Pod. These used to be called O-Pods and alot of people reference them as O-Pods. They are fleece topped for a stay dry effect and have 4 layers of microfiber.
Super Pods are fleece topped and have 3 layers of microfiber but are extra long and have a wide back end so when folded its 6 layers of microfiber.
Organic Bamboo Pods are organic bamboo and cotton and are an all natural option for those who only want to use all natural fibers for diapering. Most people love them (me not so much) and seem to be pretty absorbent and are really trim.

Tips!
Don't use the same shell every diaper change. Rotate two shells every other change, that way the shell has time to air dry before going back on the bum.
I usually like 1 shell per 3 pods. So about 2-3 shells a day.
Make sure to use enough detergent to get the microfiber clean, but not too much! Each individuals wash routine may be a little different and it may take a little time to perfect your wash routine. That's OK and Normal!!!
Line drying your shells will prolong the life of them. (This goes for any cover!)
Play with the leg elastic if you feel its too tight or too loose.



Pros.

• Affordable! Depending on which pods you decide is best for you, for about $300, you can diaper your baby full time! That includes 8 echo shells, 24 pods, and 8 mini pods. If you look at a smaller package, just to see if you like them, 1 shell and 3 drytouch pods is $35.95. That's $11.98 per diaper change! That's a great deal!
• Fun colors and prints
• Locally made and family run(to me at least, it's a MN company!!!)
• Super adjustable and can fit any sized baby, teeny tiny, to chunky monkey! #3 is long and lean with some big(ger) thighs and these fit him so well!
• Comes in velcro or snap closure
• Different options for inner absorbancy, natural fibers or stay dry?!
• 2 different shells options  for an even better fit for your child.
• Resale value holds well
• Actually lasts through potty training and onto the next child!
• This year Softbums has Calendar Bums, a new  limited edition color/print every month!

Cons. Honestly I can't think of very many! And it's not because I am biased and love them so much!

• Not as many colors/prints in Omnis
• No Omni packages on the website, haven't called though to ask about this!
• Can't always find what you want used because everyone loves them and hangs onto them!
• Some prints are limited editions, so once they are gone, they are gone, and are hard to find!
• The slide2size toggle system has a learning curve.
• Addicting! You will always want the latest shell color/print so be prepared to be tempted by super cuteness!(This could be a pro right?!?!)
• If you get all velcro diapers, you may have a diaper-puller-offer, like #3, so pants or onesies become a must :(
• Velcro eventually does wear out so will need to be replaced or converted to snaps.

And now comes the photo bomb! I will just add a bunch of photos of my little man in his Softbums!

About 5 weeks old when we started in cloth! Buttercup echo with a drytouch mini

About 6 or 7 weeks. I think this is about the time we switched to a regular sized pod.

And because they are all so cute here is all 3 :)

2 months

July 2011 about 6 months


July 2011 7 months





16 months- Here you can really see how trim they are, this is with a stay dry insert, that is shaped like the superdrytouch. (Which is the old style) So the insert even is folded over in the front!





Can you tell he has a Cloth diaper on?! Softbums are trim diapers!!!

Capri Diaper Cover and Capri Inserts Review!

Its been awhile!
So I have had my Capri Diaper Cover and inserts by Swaddlebees for a while now. I think its time for a review on them!
Cover in size 2 on my 20lber-
Pros:

• Cute colors and prints
• 2 different sizes to allow for a better range of fit and to fit a smaller or bigger baby better
• Double leg gussets
• Trim!
• Available in hook and loop or snaps depending on your needs and preferences
• Large strong flaps in the back and front to hold a prefold or insert in place when trifolding, "feature "stay-put" flaps that insure your insert stays in place."
• Breathable
• Really good quality PUL
• Washes and dries well

Cons:

• A more spendy cover at $16.95 for size 1 and $19.95 for size 2
• 2 different sizes means twice the cost when your child grows out of size 1, (I prefer OS covers)
• no cross over snaps
• No elastic on the front on the tummy 

Capri cotton inserts in size 2-
Pros:

• Stay dry micro fleece topped to keep your little one nice and dry
• Its a long soaker so it dries fairly fast
• Option to have natural fibers or stay dry side against baby's bum
• Comes in 2 sizes for premium fit

Cons:

• 2 sizes means more money spent when you have to go up in size
• When you have to fold over, it becomes bulky
• Spendy inserts $12.95 for size 1 and $15.95 for size 2. Inserts come in a two pack.

 My two other go two covers are Thirsties Duo Wraps and Flips covers. My review on this diaper is a resounding yay! It is everything I have looked for in a cover! It has the double leg gussets like Thirsties covers, but flaps actually better than Flips. It mixes these two covers perfectly! My son is already in size 2, so the cost of having to replace once he outgrows is non existent. This cover seems very durable and I have used it with prefolds, the capri inserts, and fitteds. Works great with all of them! I now reach for my Capri cover first :) I really have no complaints on this cover minus the cost. It is a spendier cover, but I expect it to last quite a long time. The inserts fit in very well, also fit in other covers too. Again, a little spendy for my taste, but I love the fact that it is a natural fiber insert with the stay dry effect! I love having options with my diapers, and you can fold the insert to have the fleece agains baby's skin or not. I will be buying more of these covers, but I doubt  I will buy more inserts, because of the cost. (Well maybe 1 more set when I sell all my infant prefolds!)
Now to just choose which print I want next! Any input?!

Overall I give this diapering system an A-. If it were a little cheaper, it would have an A+!

Dino Capri with an infant prefold on #3 who is about 20lbs. Smallest rise setting with 2 snaps showing on the waist snaps.






More Photos to come using the Capri inserts and showing with a fitted :)

Capri Diaper Cover and Capri Inserts

Fluffy mail today! Or rather meet to get fluffy mail today! I have been drooling over the new Capri Diaper Cover and inserts from Swaddlebees, so I ordered from a local online store, Diaperco, and the mama behind it so graciously met me today so I could get it! I was instantly impressed with the quality of both the cover and inserts. I just washed diapers last night, so the inserts will have to wait to be washed, but I am going to throw the cover in with a load of laundry so #3 can wear it tomorrow!  I will have a full review to come once the inserts are all prepped and ready to go. Just was so excited to get it! So tomorrow I will just be using my prefolds trifolded into my super cute new dino cover :)

All the fabulous colors and patterns the new Capri covers come in.... We got Dinos!





On another note, visit Bouncing Babies Blog and their FB page for a chance to win a great prize from Fuzzibunz! Just mention that you found it on my blog!