Tuesday, July 6, 2010

Diaper Tester

As we prepare for baby # 2 I've had the chance to "improve" on some of the things that we used with the Little Guy. One of the biggest/funnest (diapers - fun??) things to look into has been cloth diapers. It is amazing to see how much the options have improved in just the past 3 years! You can read about cloth diapering in an earlier post here.
One of the biggest improvements has been availability. While many stores in Japan still have the old-fashioned cloth diapers as the only kind sold, there are places online where you can get your hands on the newer styles.
One such site is the Comfy Baby Store.
This is one of the "trial packs" that they offer on the website. For about 10,000 yen ($100) you get 4 diapers and some special detergent. Since I really am interested in seeing options I thought this would be a good way to go. Keep in mind that we already have a basic set of diapers from when the Little Guy was a baby so these are to add on to what we already have.

The set came with 3 newborn size diapers - 1 Fuzzibunz (red), 2 different types of LoveyBums, and a free-size (one size fits most) Blueberry deluxe.
After I placed my order I was asked to give a baby size and color choice (boy / girl) so I asked for small since that is what we'll be using first.
Here is what the inside of the diapers look like. 3 came with inserts to increase absorbency as needed. You can also see the different fastening styles. From what my friends have told me the Velcro is preferred for ease of use but as the babies get bigger they figure out how to "help" with the Velcro making the snaps a better option to guarantee the diaper stays on!
On of my friends pointed out that my son should still fit into the Blueberry one-size diaper. I actually hadn't thought about that. So, when he was in a good mood I had to give it a try!
This is the Blueberry on a 2.5 year old. He weighs about 15.5 kilos (34 lbs.) and yes, the diaper fits! He actually wore it for an entire morning and had no complaints about the size or fit. As you can see there are many snap options and this is the largest setting. We tried the diaper on a stuffed animal too and I think a newborn should also be able to fit without a problem.

So, to sum it all up there are a lot of choices and thankfully more and more of them are becoming available in Japan. I'm leaning towards the one-size diapers as the diapers of choice. While they may cost a little bit extra to start with, they don't need to be replaced as the baby grows into a toddler. Of course you'll have to check back to see if I like them as much after the baby is born!!!

Just something to consider...
If you use even just 5 cloth diapers a day it makes a big impact of the diaper buying budget without creating tons of extra laundry.
Use them as the first five of the day, wash them right away and they should be dry and ready to use again by morning!

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