Heartland Dreams One Size Pocket Diaper (Tester) Review!

Jan 27,2011 / By Maria / 5 Comments

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I’ve had my Heartland Dreams Fitted for about 10 months. Fitteds aren’t my favorite, but Heartland Dreams (HD from here on out for lazy me) were recommended to me as an very absorbent fitted, and I turned to fitteds and wool when my son was a night time super soaker!

As it turns out, HD aren’t just absorbent, they are incredibly well made as well. I love a lot of work at home mom (WAHM) made diapers, but HD are amazing.

I found out that Heartland Dreams was working on a one-size pocket diaper (my favorite!), and I got a little excited. I put myself in the running to be a tester, and crossed my fingers and toes. For those who aren’t familiar with “testers,” usually a diaper maker will try their diapers on their own children, and babies that belong to their friends and family, then make tweaks to their pattern. Prior to selling for the first time, trying a new pattern, style or making tweaks to an existing one, they usually want them tested on lots of different age, size and shape babies.

If someone is brand new to making diapers, they may offer the tester diapers free for the cost of shipping, or the cost of shipping + materials. Prices vary based on where they are in the testing phase, and typically when a known diaper maker is just tweaking a product they’ve been selling, testers may just receive a small discount, or coupon for their next order, in exchange for their feedback.

I was excited when I found out I was one of 6 randomly chosen testers! We didn’t get to choose our colors, but I actually received the diaper that I liked best out of the pre-made tester diapers.

Heartland Dreams is great to test for because she is truly looking for feedback, including constructive criticism. She’s not just looking for pats on the back about how great her diapers are (even though they are.)

The pocket diapers are one-size via a snap down rise, and have a 4th setting to fit extra-small babies. I do not know the estimated weight range for these diapers. Rather than just arbitrarily say they fit 8-35 lbs (or whatever) Tina will probably compile tester feedback to set the estimated weight range.

1 row snap closures, 2 ea wing w/overlap

The diaper has snap closures, one row of snaps with 2 snaps on each wing, and two snap overlaps.

The stay dry inner is buttery soft, and has stayed soft after several washes.

The pocket opening is in the front of the diaper, and there is a flap to completely cover the insert, and prevent wicking.

I received both an organic insert and a microfiber insert (which are both made by HD). The organic insert is super soft, and is pre-washed three times, so you can use it right away (it will continue to gain absorbency as you wash it.)

The microfiber insert has snaps to adjust the size and keep it secure. I love this! Not many diapers have this feature, which makes it much easier to stuff the diaper.

When I was taking pictures of this diaper, my husband said “someone MADE that?!” OK, I’m quoting, but paraphrasing a little. He might have said “THAT’s homeMADE?” In any case, it was said in an incredulous tone!

I’m pretty sure Tina isn’t a robot or a machine (LOL) but her stitching is so even and neat, it puts most commercially made diapers to shame. The first two pictures are of stitching along elastic, so any unevenness is because the elastic is gathered. I couldn’t keep it stretched and take a picture at the same time. A third hand would come in very handy at times like these. Har har.

Here’s the diaper on the smallest (extra-small) setting both folded and stretched:

Small:

Medium:

Large:

My son is around 21 pounds, and wears the medium setting of most one-size diapers, so that’s what I put on him. I tried it with the microfiber insert first.

The diaper is cut with an intentionally narrow crotch, so it’s very trim. This is of course one reason Tina was testing the diaper, to make sure it still provided enough coverage for larger babies.

Even with the organic insert, it was still very trim, and also very absorbent. Some people say they don’t have to unstuff their pocket diapers before washing. For me, they just end up bunched up at the bottom of the diaper, unless they have openings on both ends. So, when Tina asked testers to indicate if the insert would agitate out in the wash, either as is, or with the flap flipped up, I tried it just to humor her. To my surprise, both inserts agitated out completely without unstuffing!

Prices haven’t been set for the diapers and inserts yet, that’s another reason for diaper testing, so the testers can give feedback on what they think a fair price would be.

FTC compliance: I paid the normal tester price for this diaper, I was not compensated for this post, and all opinions are my own.

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Uncategorized

“What’s a disposable diaper?” and My First “Dunk and Swish”

Jan 26,2011 / By Maria / 7 Comments

>Saturday, my son had one of “those” diapers. I commented to my husband that the, ahem, “deposit” (which was creeping dangerously close to the outside of the Fuzzibunz perfect size diaper) would never have been contained in a disposable diaper! It’s been a while since I used disposables, but I remember blowouts all too well!

My almost-6-year-old daughter said “what’s a disposable diaper?” I’m a little baffled by the question, since we used disposables on her brother for 4 months, and I’m pretty sure she’s seen other people change a diaper and throw it away. I’m guessing she was just confused by the term “disposable.”

In any case, I said “It’s a diaper you throw away,” and she said “Oh.” It would be pretty cool if someday we looked back at our “throw it away” generation, and didn’t understand it!

So that diaper led me to my first “dunk and swish.” In over 15 months of cloth diapering, I’ve never done that. But this diaper…let’s just say it was a little beyond scraping, but was too much to throw in the washer. I was asking myself why I hadn’t bought a diaper sprayer yet.

After I already had to reach into the potty to fish out a cloth wipe I’d accidentally dropped in, I used a tip someone gave me. I pulled the insert out, held the ends of the diaper in my hand (firmly) with the inner facing out. I dunked it in the toilet and flushed (several times.) I held onto it tightly, but let it kind of get pulled down with the flush.

It really worked quite well and wasn’t terribly gross! I was able to flip it back around with the PUL side out again and carry it to the wet bag (I need to put one in the bathroom!) without dripping.

So now I feel a little more initiated, and more like a real cloth diapering Mom. Ha ha!

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Winner Winner Chicken Dinner

Winner of the GroVia AI2 from Bippy Diapers

Jan 26,2011 / By Maria / 1 Comment

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183 people entered this giveaway, with 301 enties total.

The winning entry is #8, which is Keely Anderson. Congratulations Keely, I’m sending you an email now!

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Smartipants Smart-Fit Cover Review and Giveaway (CLOSED 2/1)

Jan 25,2011 / By Maria / 10 Comments

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I ended up really liking my Smartipants diaper. I initially didn’t think it was anything special, but my opinion changed, and after using it for 8 months, it landed in my favorite things.

Though fitteds/covers or prefolds/covers aren’t my favorite, I was very interested to try the Smartipants Smart-Fit Cover, which retails for $13.95.

One thing that’s pretty unique about the Smartipants cover is the waist adjustment. There are snaps at the rear on each side, allowing additional sizing customization.

The covers are available with Aplix closures, while the one-size diapers are not (newborn diapers are).

The cover has a wipeable inner, so it can be reused for multiple diaper changes.

The diaper cover has 5 rise settings. That combined with the waist snap adjustment and overlapping tabs, gives you a lot of options to find just the right fit.

That said, the cover is quite large overall, considerably larger than the smart sleeve diaper.

I do not think this cover would fit newborns or small babies. The smallest setting seems similar to the medium setting on one-size diapers. For simplicity, I’m labeling the size settings 1/smallest through 5/largest.

Here is the smallest setting (first snap) folded and stretched:

Setting two:

Setting three:

Setting four:

Setting five/largest setting/fully unsnapped:

While the cover can be used with inserts, it seems to be sized to better fit over bulkier systems like fitted diapers.

Here is my 21ish pound son in the Smartipants cover, smallest setting (waist and rise) with a Flip stay dry insert:

It also fit over my fluffiest fitted, my Heartland Dreams.

If you are looking for a highly adjustable cover, that will fit your larger baby for a long time, this is it!

Giveaway: Smartipants is offering one winner their own smart fit cover, in their ~~choice of color! The covers are available in Clever Clover, Aqua Breeze, Think Pink and Bright White; the diapers have even more color options!~~

Here’s how to enter: All entries go in the form below. I love your comments (leaving a comment is a good way to remind yourself you entered), but comments don’t count as entries! Mandatory entries include name, email address and what other ~~Smartipants~~ ~~product you’d like to try (or what you’d like to see them add!). You can receive a bonus entry if you “like”~~ ~~Smartipants on Facebook~~.

I will accept entries until Tuesday, February 1st, 2011 at 9:00 P.M. Eastern. I will select a winner using random.org’s true random number generator and notify him/her by email. Winner has 48 hours to respond before the prize is forfeited and a new winner is chosen. View my giveaway rules page for complete details. This giveaway is open to residents of the U.S. only.

# of entries received as of Giveaway close: 181

https://spreadsheets.google.com/embeddedform?formkey=dDExbUFlZ29Td3gxZ21xS0xrdDVCUXc6MQ

FTC compliance: I received the pictured item at no cost in order to write my review. Smartipants is also offering an item to a giveaway winner. I was not otherwise compensated for this post and all opinions are my own.

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Mailbox Mondays

Mailbox Mondays 1/24/11 – Discolored inserts

Jan 24,2011 / By Maria / No Comment

Every Monday, if I’ve received a submission, I will answer reader submitted questions. Questions don’t have to be cloth diaper related, just email maria at change-diapers.com with “Mailbox Mondays” in the subject!

Rachell says:

Hi Maria

I have a question about inserts.
Some of my Microfiber inserts have discolored to a light brown with darker brown streaks. Is this ok? And what can cause this?

Rachell

Hi Rachell. The first thing that comes to mind is discoloration from mineral deposits in your water. Do you have hard water? Do you notice buildup/stains in your sinks, bathtubs/showers or toilets?

Is your other white laundry (non-diaper laundry) discolored too? Are you having stink issues? Was the discoloration gradual or sudden? What is your wash routine?

I know that’s a lot of questions! If you have hard water, you will most likely be having buildup issues in your sinks etc. and be having stink issues with your diapers. If that’s the case, you may need a detergent designed for washing cloth diapers hard water, like Rockin’ Green’s hard rock.

If you’re not having any of the other typical hard water issues, you may need to switch up your wash/rinse routine a little bit. I do get a little bit of streaking staining when a messier BM seeps into the insert. The best treatment for stains seems to be some good, old fashioned sun!

Another thing to try (if you don’t have an issue with bleach) is to wash the inserts only with about 1/4 cup of bleach. Then, continue to rinse the inserts until there are no suds and no residue in the water, and you no longer smell the bleach.

I do think the cause of the discoloration is most likely to be deposits from your water, but if you aren’t having any issues with stink or repelling, it’s really just a cosmetic issue!

How about the rest of you, have you had this type of discoloration? Did you discover what was causing it?

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Heartland Dreams One Size Pocket Diaper (Tester) Review!

“What’s a disposable diaper?” and My First “Dunk and Swish”

Winner of the GroVia AI2 from Bippy Diapers

Smartipants Smart-Fit Cover Review and Giveaway (CLOSED 2/1)

Mailbox Mondays 1/24/11 – Discolored inserts

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