Bumgenius - Freetime Review

I tested the Bumgenius Freetime for the Mother and Baby awards. I already owned a Freetime and loved it so knew we'd get on well with it.

Kellan in a Clementine Freetime

As from previous entries you'll know Kellan is a heavy wetter and most pockets had a hard time coping with him. The Freetimes cope amazingly well, in fact I was surprised they coped as well as they did as other Bumgenius nappies have struggled with him. They even cope with runny breastfed baby poo.

The Freetime is available in aplix/velcro or popper fastenings which is great if you have a toddler who loves undoing velcro you can then just opt for poppers or velcro is great for getting a fab fit on a younger baby. The Freetime is a birth to potty nappy so grows with your baby. I have poppered versions and have gotten on great with them. It's easy to adjust the Freetime to fit your little one with the popper system on the front of the nappy. For a birth to potty nappy the Freetimes aren't too bulky which is great and we could even get jeans over these without any hassle which we get problems with most birth to potty nappies.

The Freetimes aren't like the usual pocket nappy. The inserts are sewn in but fold out to the back and to the front which is brilliant for drying. They are one of my fastest line drying nappies in our large stash. These inserts are also great for changing where you need more absorbancy as they have little sewn in creases you can fold under etc. The fold out inserts also means no fiddly stuffing in a small opening in a pocket and means  once dry these nappies are folded in no time at all, my 6 year old can even do these.

The Freetimes wash well we've found it's very hard to stain them and usually sun light can get out anything that happens to get left behind after washing. They keep their shape and the inserts haven't worn or greyed at all and we've been using these since last summer.

The Freetimes are available in plain colored pul's and two patterned puls

    

    

   

I tend to reach for our Freetimes first in our stash they are just great all rounders. I highly reccommend Freetimes we love ours and I wish we had more in our stash.

Kellan in an Albert Freetime

Bumgenius Freetimes

FuzziBunz - Elite Review

I've used one size FuzziBunz nappies before but the old style which had microfiber inserts. These were an ok nappy but didn't fill me with confidence to use them more regularly.

FuzziBunz Elite

The FuzziBunz Elite is the new improved one size nappy. The inserts are now made from minky, the elastics for changing the nappy size are better hidden so don't come into contact with baby's skin and the sizing is slightly bigger.

When Kellan tested these he was in the medium setting, he's now in the large setting at 14 months old. The larger sizing makes the Elite a lot easier to put on as the old style were smaller and trying to get a small fitting nappy on a wriggly baby is no easy feat. There are more poppers so more room to adjust the fit around the waist and/or the legs. This was great for Kellan as he doesn't have the chunkiest of thighs which really proved a problem for us with a lot of nappy brands. The leg fit was brilliant and even though Kellan's waist was wide the leg fit didn't suffer which was a huge plus for us.

The minky inserts were great. They dried very fast in fact they are always the first inserts dry after a wash which is brilliant if you don't have a tumble drier. They also haven't stained which is brilliant, Kellan's poo could stain anything but these cope remarkably. They are pretty easy to stuff into the pocket too. The old style inserts I found were a difficult fit which was another reason I didn't use our old FuzziBunz so much. They are a smaller insert but if you get the minky the right way round they just glide in the pocket when pushed in.

They contained Kellan's nappy contents well except when he was sat in his pushchair. We had an incident at the park where he was sat in the seat and he did a rather loud sounding poo and we had back and leg leakage. We had to rush home to change him as I'd stupidly forgotten wipes so couldn't change him. That was our only leakage with the Elite and I've learnt to not use them when he's going in the pushchair. When around the house and he's not putting pressure on the Elite he can last a good 3-4 hours which is great as he wee's for Britain. We wouldn't be able to go overnight in the Elite but its a great day nappy.

To change the size of the nappy from small-medium-large you undo the elastic in the pocket at the back waist and the legs by undoing the buttons and moving them to the right number for the size. I didn't get a size guide with my Elites so looked it up on the FuzziBunz website. It's a simple process and less fiddly than the old style nappy which meant untucking elastic from a slit in the inner fabric and adjusting via the button and trying to tuck the elastic back in.

The Elites come in a large range of colours and there are Diaper Talk Elites which we have two of and adore. You also get a spare set of elastics with each nappy and we've not had a need to use ours yet so they are kept in our bits and bobs box just in case.

Kellan in a FuzziBunz Elite Diaper Talk

 

Kellan in a FuzziBunz Elite

In conclusion the Elite is a great nappy if your little one has small thighs. If you don't own a tumble drier then it's the perfect nappy for you as it'll dry fast indoors. I wouldn't suggest them as the only nappy in your stash but they are great for during the day when at home. I do find that we get red marks on the waist and legs after Kellan has worn one which could mean I need to change the sizing but they are a smaller fitting nappy than most one size nappies. They are very adjustable and can be hard to get on a wriggly baby but I think that's the case with a lot of poppered nappies. These are worth trying out.

Bambino Mio - Mio Solo Review

So here's my first review for the reuseable nappies I tested for the Mother & Baby Awards 2012.

Back in 2008 when Jorja was a toddler we tried out Bambino Mio prefolds. We didn't have such a great time with them sadly. The wrap would fold in on itself at the belly and cause wicking which defeated the point of wearing them so we gave up on them.

The Mio Solo is a relatively new nappy on the market. There are no prefolds and wraps involved this time it's a simple pocket nappy with a fold out insert. It's a one size pocket and claims to be from birth upwards. The colours are based on retro sweets from parma violets, flying saucers to cola cubes. Bambino Mio have very recently released prints too.

The Mio Solo

When we tested the Mio Solo Kellan was 8 months old and he's not big for his age, his waist is quite wide but his thighs aren't that chunky which has caused problems for us with nappies before. I had to set the Mio Solo on the medium setting for Kellan as they are quite generous in sizing. Kellan had just started moving on to the large setting on one size nappies around then and he still had plenty of room for growth at that medium setting.

So Kellan had an ok fit with the Mio Solo. The waist was great for him especially the velcro which allowed for more range of fit but there was one very big draw back with having velcro as a fastener for us........ yes Kellan loves undoing velcro and laughing as I run to go do it up before we have a puddle on the floor, don't you just love babies lol. Now this wouldn't really be much of a problem if your baby wears clothes a lot but Kellan doesn't really wear much except a t shirt or if we go out then I dress him. So yes it was annoying for us. The fit around the legs was another problem. As I said before his thighs aren't that big and we had gape at the legs, aka I could easily put my finger between the nappy edge and the inside without having to stretch the elastic. This posed a big problem 1. he's a heavy wetter and he'd leak quickly from the leg and 2. he is breastfed and his poo's, sorry you can't escape the poo talk when it comes to nappies can you, were runny and so we had escaping poo, booo!

But............ I also used the Mio Solo on Gwen who at the time had just turned 3. She seems to have had a sudden growth in the hip area which has meant a lot of her stash, collection of nappies for those who aren't there with the lingo yet, has become useless until Kellan grows in to them. The Mio Solo fit Gwen with room, not a lot of nappies are like that with Gwen so I was impressed. Gwen can undo velcro but with her being older she knows to leave it alone so she gets on well with them. Gwen used to be a heavy wetter but seems to be less so as she's gotten older and she can go overnight in a Mio Solo which Kellan stood no chance of unless we wanted him soaked with wee in the night. She is in the large setting and the rise, measurement from the top of the front of the nappy down between the legs and up to the top of the back of the nappy, still had plenty of room.

Now when it came to washing the Mio Solo it was simple. Fold the velcro tabs on to the washing tab and put in the machine along with the other dirty nappies. The fold out insert makes it easier and quicker to dry. We don't have a tumble drier so it takes a while for our clean nappies to dry and when compared to other brands the Mio Solo is one of the fastest to dry. It's also easy to get the insert back in the pocket. You just put your hand in the little pocket at the end of the insert and push the insert in to the bottom and then tuck the flap over at the back of the nappy. Then just velcro the Mio Solo up and put it with the rest of your stash until it's next use.

So in conclusion the Mio Solo worked better on our older child mostly due to it's sizing. If there were a popper version of the Mio Solo then I'd be willing to try them again with Kellan now that he's grown a little.

It's definately worth giving them a shot especially if you see them on offer or on pre-loved nappy groups. Don't invest all out as you may not get on with them but that can be said for every nappy as each baby gets on with each brand differently.

Kellan in the Mio Solo