I bought the Canadian-made Grasshopper Bamboo AIO diaper after reading some great online reviews.  Since my daughter outgrew most of her diapers, I was in real need of some trim AIOs for going out.  I didn’t have much time to design and make top-stitched AIO diapers at that time, so I decided to buy a couple online – one Rain Shine Designs and one Grasshopper AIO.

When I first saw this diaper, I thought it was very small and wasn’t sure it would fit my 32-lb daughter for very long.  Once I tried it on her, I was pleasantly surprised.  The diaper fit and there’s still some room to grow.  The elastic is not encased like with most other top-stitched diapers, but it doesn’t bother me.  Actually, my daughter has no red marks on her thighs because the elastic is not encased.

What I like about the diaper:

• Very trim
• High quality
• No red marks on my daughter’s thighs
• Natural fibers on the inside, so no polyester touching baby’s skin
• Sized diaper

What I do not like about the diaper:

• Not sure this diaper can fit up to 40 lbs as mentioned on the site.  I suspect the rise will be a bit short for most 40-lb toddlers.
• Not a very absorbent diaper if you have a heavy wetter.  I think heavy wetters might need a doubler in this diaper.
• The price is quite high.  I think I paid $24.95 CAD + tax and shipping for this diaper which makes it one of the most expensive diapers I’ve ever bought.

Overall rating: 4.25 out of 5

I have not been paid to write this review. The Grasshopper diaper was purchased by me.

Today, I wanted to tell you about a beautifully-made diaper from Rain Shine Designs.  I’ve wanted to try this diaper for a while, but it usually doesn’t make sense for me to buy diapers when I can make well-fitting and cute diapers for my daughter myself.  Sometimes I get bored with my own diapers though, so I do purchase a cloth diaper made by someone else every few months.

Photo courtesy of Rain Shine Designs

When I first looked at the diaper after opening the envelope, I thought it was very cute.  I then started looking at the stitching, fabric, etc. and was very impressed with the workmanship.  Megan, the creator of the Rain Shine Designs diapers, is a very talented and hardworking seamstress.  I rarely see such incredible top-stitching.

What I like about the diaper:

• High quality
• Soft fabric
• Very absorbent
• Cute print

What I do not like about the diaper:

• There really isn’t much I do not like about this diaper.  It’s one of those diapers I wish I had when I first started cloth diapering.  It would’ve made my life a lot easier back then :)  I do think the Large diaper is a bit big for my 32-lb daughter, but I’m sure this will make a lot of moms with big toddlers very happy since a lot of diapers out there fit up to only 35 lbs or so.
• I did find the diaper a little wide in the crotch, but I can sometimes get obsessed about trimness (although I do not like super narrow diapers either since that removes quite a bit of absorbency).

Photo courtesy of Rain Shine Designs

I’ve tried this diaper during the day and at night and we’ve had no leaks or wicking whatsoever even though my custom diaper is made with natural fibers on the inside.  I do add a 3-layer bamboo fleece doubler to the diaper for night-time though.

Update (2010/06/24): I’ve stopped using the diaper at night completely since my daughter was getting some red marks on her legs from it.  Again, I’m very picky about things like that, so it might not be a problem for most people.

Overall rating: 4 out of 5

I have not been paid to write this review. The Rain Shine Designs diaper was purchased by me.

I bought a Large DreamEze AIO Cloth Diaper a while ago after reading some good reviews about how absorbent and trim it was. It took me a while to find a store in Canada or in the US that had it in stock and would not charge an arm and a leg for shipping to Ontario, Canada.  Once I received the diaper, I was really excited and was hoping it would work well for us.  Unfortunately, my excitement did not last long.

What I did like about the DreamEze AIO diaper:
1. Inside of the diaper is organic.
2. The soakers are attached at one end only for faster drying.
3. The front of the diaper is quite trim.
4. The diaper is quite absorbent after a few washes.
5. The side snaps are hidden, so they never caused any red marks.

What I did NOT like about the DreamEze AIO diaper:
1. The soakers are very wide for the diaper. I sometimes had trouble fitting them inside the diaper.
2. The tight leg elastics left red marks every single time we used the diaper.
3. I was always paranoid that too much of my daughter’s buttock would pop out because of how narrow the diaper was at the back.

I ended up putting the diaper up for sale and the leg elastics were the main reason for that.  The fabric is really bunched up in the leg area, and the waterproof fabric is not exactly the softest thing in the world, so there is no avoiding red marks.  I’m one of those people who hates seeing red marks on my baby, so this was a big no-no for me.

UPDATE: This diaper is an older version of the DreamEze AIO.  I recently found out that the newer version has better elastic.

Overall Rating: 3 out of 5

Just as most cloth diapering people, I occasionally use disposable diapers. Since plastics and the chemicals found in disposable diapers are a concern for me, I do try to look for diapers that contain as few of those chemicals as possible.

Over the past few months, I’ve tried diapers such as, Nature Babycare, gDiapers with gRefills, Moltex OKO, Seventh Generation and PC Green. With every brand of these “eco” diapers, I found something lacking. Then I discovered Broody Chick diapers, the first 100% compostable diaper on the market. So far this diaper is my favourite disposable diaper.

When I received the diapers in the mail, I was very surprised by the packaging.  The diapers are sold in a cardboard box which I have never seen before.  I’m used to seeing disposable diapers in plastic or compostable bags.  The other thing that surprised me was the expiry date.  It makes me think that there’s something more natural in those diapers.  Unfortunately, I do not know all the details of the components making up this diaper.

What I like about this diaper:
1. Chlorine free
2. More “breathable” than diapers with plastic components
3. Fragrance free
4. Diaper and packaging are fully compostable
5. Created by a Canadian mom
6. The diaper does not smell as bad as other disposable diapers when dirty. Whenever my daughter wore disposable diapers in the past and peed in them, I thought she pooped the smell was so bad. I suspect that those who use disposables all the time are used to that smell, but to me that smell is quite strong.
7. No leaks even overnight.
8. No marketing on the diaper itself.

What I don’t like about this diaper:
1. The tabs are not stretchy. Even though I did get used to this, I still hope they will change those tabs.
2. Contains SAP (Super Absorbent Polymers)
3. Cost – I can’t find the diaper locally, so I have to pay to get it shipped from British Columbia

Overall, I really like this diaper and I even ended up using it for night-time for a bit because my daughter was such a heavy wetter at night that the soaking wet cloth diapers affected her sleep. Since last night, I’m back to cloth though because she wets her diapers a lot less now at night than she used to.

If you’re interested in purchasing this product, please check them out at the Ecobotts store. In case you decide to purchase from Ecobotts, please check their Facebook fan page for coupon codes.

I have not been paid to write this review. The Broody Chick diapers were purchased by me.

The AMP (Annie Marie Padorie) AI2 diaper has been created here in Canada by one of the friendliest women I’ve ever met (via email).  Today, I own three large AMP diapers.  I bought my first AMP diaper, when my daughter was 4 or 5 months old.  I was impressed with the quality and decided to buy two more a month later.

What I like about the diaper:

• Great quality.  The beautiful serging made me a little obsessed about how well I serged my diapers :-)
• It’s quite trim.
• Elastics in my AMP diapers have never left any really bad marks on my daughter’s skin.
• Still fits my daughter at 32 lbs.
• Comes in two sizes – not too few and not too many.
• Easy to clean insert.

What I do not like about the diaper:

• The leg elastics on the first AMP diaper I bought lost some of its elasticity.  It’s possible my early washing routines had something to do with that though.
• The microfleece is not the best I’ve seen however it seems to be a popular one for diaper making.

Overall rating: 4.5 out of 5

NOTE: I bought my AMP AI2 diapers more than a year ago, so please keep in mind that AMP diapers might have gone through some changes since I bought mine.

A few months ago, I decided to buy a GroBaby cloth diaper probably because I wanted to try something new.  I must admit that now, after a few months, the diaper gets used very rarely.  I thought that at least my husband would like the diaper, but it looks like he has more trouble using it than I do.

What I do like about the GroBaby diaper:
1. The insert can be snapped in and out.
2. Can use other inserts with the shell (they will not snap in though because of the different snaps).
3. The diaper is quite trim.

What I do not like about the GroBaby diaper:
1. Elastic at the back is way too tight and leaves major marks on my daughter’s back.
2. Velcro does not stick to the laundry tabs in the wash.  When I take the diaper out of the washer, the velcro is usually stuck to the lining of the diaper and not the laundry tabs.
3. It’s not as absorbent as other diapers I’ve tried.
4. I find that I have to wash the shell after every poop.
5. Can’t make my own more absorbent snap-in inserts for the diaper because of the different snaps.

Overall Rating: 3 out of 5