Posts Tagged ‘velcro’

So I decided to stock the Monkey Doodlez AIO after my friend Heather visited with her daughter.  She had managed to pick up a couple of pairs second hand to try out and she was “in diaper love”.  Heather is big on trim fitting diapers for her daughter, but they also have to work well, and this diaper fit the bill.  And it was cute as well!

The AIO comes with two choices of inner fabric.  Either a bamboo velour or a microfleece.  So if you want a natural fabric against baby’s bum, you have that option, if you want the true stay dry of the microfleece, then you have that choice too.

This is an AIO that will last through nap time, car trips and possibly even night time for the not so heavy wetters.  It has absorbency without a lot of bulk.  It comes in 4 sizes, small, medium, medium long and large.  Note the size “medium long”.  This is a size I had not heard of before, but it is the size that fits Braden, and as you can see from the photos, it fits him well.  It has a longer rise than a regular medium.  So if you have a long lean kid, this is going to be the fit for them.  Often I hear from mums saying that the rise on such and such diaper is just too short for their little one, if that is your little one, then you should try out the medium long in this diaper.  It is likely that this one will fit (providing of course your little one is in the weight range).

This diaper has nice large aplix tabs that grip well, including a place for overlap for skinny bubs.  The smallest size has been tested on two local newborn babies and it fit them from around 7-8 pounds.  The large size, well we have not tried this one out because the medium long still fits.  But it is nice to know that there is a size that will fit the larger tots.  Too many of Braden’s one size diapers are now nearing the end of their fit range on him, and he hasn’t even hit 30 pounds yet!  The Thirsties AIO was one that did, but sadly that one is no longer being made.  For those of you who loved the Thirsties AIO and mourn its demise, than the Monkey Doodlez AIO is a good replacement in my opinion.

So I asked Heather for opinion of this diaper on her daughter Natalie and she writes “This is the trimest most absorbant best fitting diaper we have.  This diaper eliminates all the bulk inbetween there legs letting my toddler run and play without the extra bulk.  This is the diaper I reach for when we go out as well, I know that it holds tons and I don’t have to worry about any leaks.  It can last my daughters 3 hours naps and the long nonstop trip to there Grammy’s house 4 hours because my husband doesn’t stop.  Lots of AIO’s you get trim but not absorbant or absorbant and thick but this has absorbant and trim, it is all cotton inners so no stinky microfiber.  Best of all there is the Medium long size which is great because Natalie is kind of in between.  Mediums (in other diapers) fit too good and larges are really still to big but give the rise we want.”

So the big concern that most have about AIOs is how well do they wash and dry?  Well I expected this one to be a real pain to dry, but it dries in one spin in my drier, and it on the line outside, it only takes a bit longer than a pocket does.

Ashley, mother of a newborn, started using this diaper on her son at 8 pounds (1 month), which is the recommended weight for a size small. And she writes “We love this diaper for a newborn!!! It lasted a 4.5hr nap. My little one is a HEAVY wetter at a month old and about 8lbs is fitting in the small. The diaper is trim even though it just barely fits him. I’ve not had a leak ever with this diaper. I like that the inside of the diaper is colored also. It’s different and different in this case is good & cute! I have no complaints about this diaper at all. It dries in one round in my dryer as well. I see it fitting for quite a while which makes me happy! Oh and my son is exclusively breastfed. This diaper has caught a major poop explosion with no issues :) yippee!!!”

And Beth, mother of Kherington (who has been wearing her Monkey Doodlez since she was a newborn at 7 pounds) writes “My little girl just loves the Monkey Doodlez! They have a great fit, and they absorb very well. I would recommend them to anyone interested in cloth diapers!”

Has the aplix died on your Bum Genius diapers? It has on some of mine, so I replaced it, and now these diapers are back being used again as intended. For a while there I was using one of my Nappy Straps to hold it on. It is pretty simple to replace the Aplix. The longest part was actually removing the old stuff, (and chasing the baby around the sewing room who kept getting into mischief). This will also work on diaper brands which have a similar closure.

Hook and Loop Die Cut Aplix diaper tabs

I used the aplix die cut diaper tabs that I sell in the DIY section of my store. But you could use strips of hook and loop tape cut to size.

 

 

 

 

 

Cut off the old tab close to the PUL.

To start with I cut off the old tab near where it is attached to the PUL of the diaper.  Be careful not to cut the PUL.  I found doing this made it easier to remove the old tab.

 

 

 

 

 

The end of the tab cut off.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Insert scissors into the tab and cut as far in as you can.

I then inserted scissors into the hole left from cutting off the tab and cut down as far as I could.  This made it easier to get my seam ripper in to remove the stitches. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Using a seam ripper, remove the old stitches.

Take your seam ripper and carefully cut the old stitching until you have removed the old tab.

 

 

 

 

 

Sandwich the tabs on each side of the PUL

This part is important.  You need a hook tab and a loop tab.  Sandwich them on either side of the PUL.  You will want to make sure to do a test closing of the diaper to make sure that the hook side is grabbing onto the large strip of loop on the front of the diaper and close it.  You don’t want to sew this part the wrong way around, as you will be unpicking your stitches!

 

 

 
 

 

Line up the tabs on the old stitching lines.

At this point you could use a pin to hold the hook and loop tabs in place.  Be warned the aplix is thick and it can be tough to stick a pin through.  You could use a bulldog clip to hold it in place too.  I just very carefully moved it under the foot of my sewing machine and lowered the needle into place when I was satisfied everything was lined up ok. 

 I just lined the tabs up on the stitching lines of the old aplix.  The diapers were faded enough that it was easy to see and do this for me.

 

 

 

 

Start stiching in the center on the PUL.

I found it best to start stitching in the middle on the PUL where shown in this photo.  That way you had it tacked down in place before turning corners etc.  If you have needle up/needle down on your machine, this feature will be useful here. 

 

 

 

 

 

Be sure to stitch both tabs together.

 

I did a straight stitch the first time around, and the went around the whole lot again using a small zigzag.  Be sure to go all the way around the edges so you sew both of the pieces of aplix hook and loop together. 

 

 

 

In the end it comes down to personal preference, rather than which is best, for snaps or aplix on diapers.  (Aplix is like velcro but better for diaper applications).

I have both aplix and snap diapers in Braden’s stash and this is what I have observed with the two types of closures.  Oh and both are way better than nappy/diaper pins!

Snaps don’t form a diaper train in the washer and dryer.  Diaper train you say?  What is that?  It is what I call the tangled mess that gets made of diapers with aplix closures when they stick to themselves, other diapers, wipes or anything else they can grab on to.  While most of Braden’s aplix diapers have “laundry tabs” to stick the aplix to, somehow some of them never stick to the tabs, but manage to stick to everything else just fine.  The train forms more readily in the dryer than the washing machine I find.  So during the summer when I line dry, I don’t have a super big problem with it.

Aplix is easier to use for many, especially casual caregivers and many dads.  This includes my husband.  He far prefers being left to watch his son with aplix closing diapers.  They are more like disposables to close.  So if you have a resistant spouse, grandparent etc to cloth diapering, aplix is in my opinion far easier for them to use.

Aplix diaper versions of the same diaper often are priced cheaper.  This is true for several of the brands I stock.  It seems alot of diaper companies price their snap versions a buck or two higher than their aplix versions.

Snap closing diapers are harder for tots to pull off.  It is very easy for a determined toddler to rip off many brands of diaper using aplix closures.  So many parents like using snaps because it is tougher for them to undo.  Although I have heard of some very dexterous tots who can master the snap too :)

Aplix is not as long wearing as snaps.  Aplix gets gunk in it, it curls and eventually just wears out.  I have replaced quite a bit of aplix on diapers but next to no snaps.  Snaps will last longer than the diaper fabrics themselves will.

And a final observation.  Snap diapers make my very ticklish son giggle and squirm when I do them up!  Because I need to put a finger underneath the flap of the diaper, it tickles my son’s tummy and sometimes he giggles and squirms so much its tough to do up his diaper!

As to which do I prefer personally?  Well I have not really decided either way.  I have both in Braden’s stash and I will continue to buy both.  I know that with some brands of diapers where you can choose the closure, I have found I prefer one snap closing type over another.  For instance, Rump-a-rooz, I like their snap closing version better than their aplix closing version.  They seem to fit on Braden better.  Same with the bum genius organic all in one diaper.  The snap closing one is nicer than the aplix closing one.  They no longer make the aplix closing version though.

So tell me, which one do YOU prefer.  Please post a comment. I am curious as to what others think.

The long awaited Gro Baby Biodegradable Soaker pads finally arrived late September 2009. I only ordered a couple of boxes because I wanted to be sure that these worked before I made a big time commitment to the product for the store. I love the Gro Baby diapering system already. It is a trim one size shell that you snap organic cotton pads into. You change out just the pad after baby pees, and the put in a fresh pad. I generally only needed to wash the shell after Braden would poop. There is a choice of snap or hook and loop closure. The only beef I have had with the system was a lack of colour choices! Functionally they are a great diaper. But Gro Baby is planning prints by the end of 2009, and I cant wait for those!

So I put Braden to work testing out these biodegradable inserts. Our first “cloth” diaper with Braden was the gDiaper system using their flushable inserts. So the concept is not new. And it is great that another company is coming to the green party of offering up choices for those who do not want to do laundry, or for travel and out and about. They inserts comes in two sizes. Given that Braden is 24 pounds at time of testing and wearing his Gro Baby diapers on the largest setting, we went with the size 2.

The biodegradable insert is very small when taken out of the pack folded (about 5 inches square), so they would pack into a diaper bag nicely and take up very little space. They are folded into thirds, and you unfold them and they look alot like the inside of a high end disposable diaper. They have a plastic back (which is biodegradable) and a paper front. There is a gusset edge on the pad for poop catching.

To put into the Gro Baby shell, you have to peel away the adhesive strips on the back. There is one at each end of the back of the pad. These stick to the mesh inner of the Gro Baby shell just fine. Its quite strong. A bit too strong in fact because I found if it gets a good hold on the snap at the back, you can tear the plastic backing of the diaper when trying to pull it off. This gets a tad tricky if the insert is full of poop!

The built in gusset does its job. I have not had any leaks with this insert in the Gro Baby shell. The pad holds quite a bit of pee too. We put it on Braden at nap time, the pad was full and heavy when I took it out after his nap. No leaks. Braden is a heavy wetting baby too.

I took the test a little further and tested the insert out in some other covers I have here. I tried it out in Otter Blotter covers and Thirsties Covers, and it worked well. If I placed the adhesives on the shiny side of PUL it did however stick a little too well and it was a little tough to get the insert out.

A pack costs $19.99, and there is 50 in a pack, so they work out to 40 cents each. So this system will cost you like a disposable does. BUT here is the big difference. This insert is compostable and biodegradable. Meaning it will not clog up a landfill for the next 500 years like a disposable will. You can also flush away the paper part of the unit. You still need to throw away the plasticy outter.

So what place will this have in Braden’s cloth diaper stash? For travel, for out and about, I will keep a couple in his diaper bag. Also when he gets a teething rash, I will use these as I don’t like to put creams on my cloth diapers as it can ruin them.

The addition of the Gro Baby Biodegradable Soaker pads to the Gro Baby line up makes them a very versatile cloth diapering system that should last most of baby’s diapering career.

must confess I have alot of the Bum Genius Organic One Size AIO Diapers in my Stash. Around 10. For a diaper to make it into the store, there is more than one in my stash. It means I believe in the diaper’s effectiveness, and I believe in this diaper.

This diaper is an All in One. It has been constructed in such a way that it doesn’t take forever to dry like some All in One diapers I have tried. It doesn’t dry as quick as a pocket diaper would but quick enough for me.

It has an organic cotton inner and this absorbs well. And it is one of the trimmest diapers in my stash. It is often one of the diapers I reach for when we are going to be heading out and I am not sure I am going to get to change Braden as I would like. And I can get all of his clothes over it easily. The other reason for so many of them is that it is very daddy friendly, or it was. It used to come in velcro, which is how most of mine close. And my husband is more comfortable with velcro than snaps. But he did cope OK with the snaps when he had to. So this diaper did lose some of its daddy friendliness when it moved to snap closure only.

That being said, the velcro will wear out eventually. I have extended the life of mine by cleaning out the velcro and using hook tape over the top of them to hold them on. Bum Genius will send replacement velcro so you are not out of pocket hunting for velcro tabs that work when velcro does die.

Bum Genius moved to snaps because they do not have the wear out over time issues that velcro has.

This diaper is also a one size diaper, though I don’t think it will work on smaller newborns until they put on a pound or two. It should last to potty training depending on the build of your little one. My little man at 23 pounds is pudgy and comfortably wearing it on its largest setting.

Being an All in one this diaper does not require stuffing or anything. You just wash and reusing with no extra work. This is a great cloth diaper to get if you do not want to do more work than necessary. Basically you only have to wash and dry them every 2-3 days and you are done with any kind of work.

I give this diaper a 5 out of 5 and fully recommend it.