I had the opportunity to review a cloth diaper from
Glow Bug Cloth Diapers back in February, with my adorable nephew, Nico. We had a bit of a rough experience (the whole stinky story can be found below), and they ended up sending me a second diaper. I almost turned them down (curious about that story, yet?), but I gave it a second shot, and I am
so glad that I did! Before we go any farther, let me tell you a little bit about this company and their adorable cloth diapers...
Sara and Neta are best friends who started their own cloth diaper company,
Glow Bug Cloth Diapers, in 2010. Frustrated at the lack of available cloth diapers that were both good quality and affordable, they decided to develop their own. The result? An extremely cute, easy to use, and affordable cloth diaper designed to be used from birth through potty training.
Three packages of 12 cloth diapers are available for $150 each, in designs for boys or girls, or in a gender neutral solid spectrum set. You can also purchase booster packs of 6 cloth diapers in
spectrum ($75) or in
white ($70), and right now you can get single diapers in an adorable limited edition
citrus print for $20 each (no other diapers are sold individually, however when you break it down they come out to $12.50 each, which is on the lower end of the cost spectrum for this kind of diaper).
Lots of mommy bloggers have been
talking about these great cloth diapers for over a year now, and I am so excited that I was given the opportunity to try
Glow Bug Cloth Diapers out for myself! I was initially sent one back in March to try out with my one year old nephew, Nico, but we had some unforeseen problems with it, so they sent us a second diaper to try with Serenity after she was born this spring. In the interest of a fair review, I am going to tell you about my experiences with both diapers...
 |
| { Copyright @ Alena Belleque 2012 ~ DO NOT COPY } |
Nico rocked his stuff for my camera in this adorable Hawaiian print cloth diaper, and he seemed to be really comfortable in it, especially since he had never worn a cloth diaper before. Unfortunately, we made a few mistakes...
Turns out that pre-washing new cloth diapers is
really important. So is proper rise adjustment. And if your kiddo is a heavy wetter, you want to make sure they have enough liners in their diaper
before sleeping in it overnight. Yahhhh...
In a nutshell, I forgot to pre-wash this diaper, so it didn't have nearly the absorbancy that it should have had. Add to that the fact that his mommy and I didn't set the diaper at a tight enough rise adjustment (more about this later), causing his piddles to - you guessed it - leak right out the leg holes unopposed. Throw in the fact hat he is a heavy wetter, and Nico woke up in the morning completely soaking wet, with poop and piddles everywhere. Not a fun morning for his poor mom!
It got worse. I was quite pregnant at this point, and slept in that day, so when my sister-in-law brought the extremely stinky, sopping wet diaper over to her parents' house (where we were living at the time) I wasn't awake to wash it out right away, so she left it in the garage to avoid stinking up the house. Then everyone forgot to tell me it was there. Did I mention it was March, in northern Illinois? Yah, the diaper froze.
After scraping frozen poop out of an ice cold diaper for 45 minutes, and bawling into the toilet at 8 months pregnant, I was ready to throw in the towel with cloth diapering in general. Thankfully, reason and logic prevailed, and I reminded myself that it wasn't likely that I would have to deal with frozen diapers, well,
ever under normal circumstances, and I decided to contact
Glow Bug with my concerns instead of just writing a negative review - after all, all of the other reviews I had read were good! They told me that cloth diapers have to be washed at least once (and up to 5 times) for maximum absorbancy, and offered to send me a second diaper and a sample of
Rockin' Green laundry detergent.
When Serenity was seven weeks old, we tried again...
 |
| { Copyright @ Alena Belleque 2012 ~ DO NOT COPY } |
 |
| { Copyright @ Alena Belleque 2012 ~ DO NOT COPY } |
 |
| { Copyright @ Alena Belleque 2012 ~ DO NOT COPY } |
Here's what the
Glow Bug Cloth Diaper website has to say about these diapers...
- Each set of 12 diapers are packaged in a free wet bag!!!
- Two sets of cross-over snaps through the waist band for a perfect fit around newborn tummies
- Double rows of snaps with square tabs for a trim fit through the hip
- Four size settings fitting babies from birth through potty training (7lbs-35lbs)
- Coordinating coloured snaps for every print
- Waterproof flaps in the front and the back of each diaper to prevent leaks
- Double gusset through the leg for an extra barrier of protection
- NEW SlimDry™ fabric keeps baby’s skin dry without the bulk
- Two openings in the pocket makes it easier to get the absorbent inset in and out
- Snap-in inserts to keep it in place while baby’s on the move
These cloth diapers are very easy to use, however I do wish a couple of things were different. The square tabs poke into Serenity's belly, and while she doesn't seem too unhappy about it, they leave big red marks. The only way I have found to get around this is to pull the front panel up above the points, so that it acts as a buffer. I also wish that the waterproof panel in the back was made of a slightly sturdier fabric, as the existing fabric is hard to get to lay flat, and doesn't stay inside the pocket very well (on the other hand, the waterproof flap in the front of the diaper does its job extremely well, and always stays put). Another issue with this diaper may be common to all diapers with riser snaps, but I wouldn't know because this is the only one I have used. When the risers are in use, especially for the smaller settings, the outer gussets bunch up around the top of Serenity's legs. I discovered that it is possible to gently tuck and smooth them in, and so far they haven't leaked, but it does leave a bit of a gap in that corner. Finally, despite making sure that the risers were adjusted properly and that the waist band was snug, and despite using both microfiber liners, we had a repeat of the overnight soaking/leaking disaster we experienced with Nico and the first diaper. Serenity has worn the diaper several times during the day, and I had washed it 5 or 6 times, but when she woke up in the morning the entire diaper was completely saturated with urine, and she was laying in a big puddle. Serenity has slept 10 hours through the night since she was 5 weeks old, so perhaps they are just not suited to being worn that long; I really don't know.
Overall, I like the
Glow Bug Cloth Diapers, but I would not recommend using them overnight, unless you plan to change them at least twice during the night. If your baby sleeps through the night, I personally would not risk it. As daytime diapers, I really like the design and function of this diaper, and the fabric designs are adorable! My favorite feature of this cloth diaper is that the pocket is open at both ends, is nice and wide, and that the inserts snap into place and don't slide around. And the customer service at this company cannot be beat!
Speaking of which, the wonderful ladies at
Glow Bug Cloth Diapers are offering one lucky
Our Little Bit Of Wonderful reader a cloth diaper of their own! All you have to do to enter to win is complete the
Mandatory Entry in the Rafflecopter form below (and as many of the optional entries as you wish), be at least 18 years old, and be a resident of Canada or the United States. (This offer is VOID where prohibited by law.) Don't forget to visit them on
Facebook and
Twitter, and let them know Alena @
Our Little Bit Of Wonderful sent you!
{ Disclosure }
I received product from this sponsor in exchange for an honest
review. All opinions are my own. This post is in compliance with FTC
regulations. You can read more about my policies on my PR Friendly and
Disclosure pages.
This post is part of our Celebrating Serenity baby event! To read more posts, check out the events page.
Be sure to enter our many giveaways, and check back frequently for more
great guest posts, and opportunities to win sweet baby and mommy loot!
