Disposable Nappies - Brand Vs Brand

If you’re a regular reader of my blog, you’ll know that a short time ago I took part in the Bambino Mio Seven Day Real Nappy Challenge, where The Boy wore one Bambino Mio reusable nappy a day for a week, to see how much money I could save just by using a single reusable nappy each day and to see whether I would be converted from a full time disposable nappy user to a full time reusable nappy user. It didn’t convert me fully, but I love using my Bambino Mio nappies when we’re at home: For the majority of the time I use disposables.

Early on in his life, I found Pampers nappies to be useless for The Boy – I don’t know whether it’s due to his tall, slender build or whether a lot of other people find the same issue, but I found every time I used them he ended up with a wet back (in the days when he slept on his back) and once when he had a bad tummy and the messy nappies were particularly messy, a Pampers nappy practically exploded under the strain of attempting to contain it, leaving me with a very messy baby, bed and changing area, as well as a lot of washing to do. Now he’s on the move, on the rare occasions I have used Pampers, I found they leak at the legs, too.

With my trusty Bounty packs obtained throughout pregnancy, I had lots of samples of Huggies and lots of vouchers for Huggies. Combined with various special offers at different supermarkets I stocked up and found them to be great. They don’t leak – even when he had a particularly bad tummy – they keep the wetness away from his skin so that even after an all night sleep of 10 to 12 hours he was dry and the skin wasn’t red, and they fit him well and move with him well now he’s active. I rate Huggies highly, but the only downfall for a family on a budget like us is the cost of them – while they are undoubtedly worth the extra pennies, I can’t afford to spend out for them all the time, though I do take advantage whenever I find them on offer and generally buy a box or two at once!

Seeking a more budget friendly alternative lead me to the supermarket own brand nappies. The closest supermarket to our house is Sainsburys, so I tend to go there for whatever bits I can’t pick up at Iceland for the weekly shop, and I found their own brand nappies very good. I always get the ‘dry’ ones rather than the ‘active’ ones, not only because the dry ones are a few pence a packet cheaper but also because I’ve found them to be just as good as the active ones now he’s on the move. Again, under testing from bad tummy they hold up well – we’ve had a couple of minor accidents but nothing as disastrous as Pampersgate! The Boy always appears comfortable in them and they keep him nice and dry, he doesn’t get nappy rash at all and a lot of this I credit to the nappies for doing such a good job of keeping the wetness away from his skin, particularly for those long overnight stretches. They fit him well, leaving no gaps and allowing plenty of wiggle room for his legs, and unlike some other brands (I’ve had the problem with Pampers and Huggies as well as other supermarket own brands) I’ve never had the tabs tear off while I’m trying to put the nappy on, nor have I ever encountered an issue where the tabs don’t stick properly. Say what you like about Sainsburys, but I really rate their nappies!

My office changed location while I was on maternity leave and when I returned, it was to the new office, which is located quite close to an Asda store. I’d never really experienced Asda that much – the closest one to where we used to live was quite a distance away and we never bothered going – so sheer curiosity got me through their doors initially after a day in the office and it turned out they were in the middle of a Baby & Toddler event. I purchased some lovely things at wonderful discounts (I did immediately sign up for the newsletter from Asda when I returned home, so now I get notifications posted to me about the upcoming Baby & Toddler events) and even though I picked up a big box of Huggies on special offer I also picked up a pack of Asda own brand nappies at the same time. After all, I thought, I may as well see if they’re any good, because if they are then it means I know I can pop in on my way home from work and grab some should the need arise, and not worry about going home and then off to Sainsburys. I found the Asda own brand nappies a little less marvellous than Sainsburys – I find they don’t seem to fit quite as well, so if The Boy sleeps on his back he can get a bit damp around the waistband (but it’s rare for him to sleep on his back now anyway) and also when worn for the overnight sleep they are very heavy and sodden by the morning and he generally wakes up a bit earlier when he’s wearing them, I think because he’s uncomfortable; Nine times out of ten, a change of nappy, some milk and he goes back to sleep for another couple of hours. Also when they’re that wet I don’t find they keep the moisture away from him too well, and a few times he’s had red skin where the moisture has been against him. (Probably not helped by the fact he sleeps on his tummy most of the time so he’s pressing into it). When all is said and done though, Asda own brand make a good second to Sainsburys.

While staying with my parents back in November last year with The Boy, their closest supermarket is Tesco, and as we were snowed in and our only method of transport was to walk, we certainly weren’t about to go trekking for miles to the nearest Sainsburys for the sake of the nappies, so we purchased Tesco own brand. About the same price, they appeared very similar to the Sainsburys and Asda own brand nappies, and I used them. When we went for a walk to visit a friend, I changed The Boy before we set off. Admittedly what should have been a 15 minute walk turned into an hour thanks to the snowy and icy conditions, but even so when we arrived I was stunned to remove The Boy from the pram and find his clothes wet underneath his snow suit, his nappy soaked through and even the inside of the snowsuit was damp. Fortunately I’d taken a spare vest and change of clothes with us, so I could change him and put the snowsuit on the radiator to dry out before we left again, and while I was surprised it didn’t for some reason strike me as being due to the nappies. I put it down to the fact that he’d drunk a lot that morning, the fact that he’d been awake for the whole walk so possibly he’d wet more than normal in a shorter space of time, the fact that because he was lying down on his back in the pram the nappy was under pressure to perform! After we got home, I took him upstairs for a bath and found that once again the nappy was heavy and sodden, his vest damp and his skin red and sore looking. Still I didn’t put that with the fact that he was wearing different nappies to normal, and we continued our stay and I continued using the Tesco own brand – though I made a conscious effort to change his nappy much more frequently than I usually did, going from every 3-4 hours to every 1-2 hours to ensure his skin remained dry and he didn’t get uncomfortable.

Back home, we returned to using our faithful Sainsburys brand, with the occasional Huggies found on special offer, and I didn’t think any more of it. Then again a short while ago I went to visit my parents. This time, although it didn’t snow, I didn’t worry about travelling to the local Sainsburys specially for nappies, I simply popped up the road to Tesco and picked up the nappies when I got a few other bits and bobs and didn’t think twice about it. I was down to the last two Sainsburys nappies, so I needed another pack, and it didn’t cross my mind to worry that they were Tesco and not Sainsburys branded. That evening my mum put him in his PJ’s after his bath, gave him his bottle and put him to bed: The following morning he was awake and screaming at five a.m, which is very unusual for The Boy – he doesn’t tend to scream when he wakes up, he tends to start chatting to himself or singing, and he certainly doesn’t normally wake at five in the morning. Mum got him up and out of bed and found that his vest was soaking, his PJ’s wet through, the sheets and blankets in the cot were damp and his skin was red and sore, leaving one very unhappy boy. She washed and changed him, and blamed herself “I obviously didn’t put the nappy on properly” she said to me once we’d calmed The Boy down, he was in clean, dry clothes and happily throwing his breakfast around the kitchen. I said to her, “Never mind” and didn’t think much more of it. Then later that morning, around eleven, I took him upstairs for bum change, bottle and nap, and again found the back of his vest and around the leg holes was damp, despite the fact he’d been changed at 6am and again at 7.30am and 10am. Once again his skin was red and blotchy and looked quite sore; In fact it must have been sore, as he screamed blue murder the whole time I was cleaning him up and changing him. Usually he’ll happily lie there talking to you while you’re changing him, or else he’ll start on his bottle as if he’s waiting for you to finish! Each time I touched him with the baby wipe (Huggies fragrance free, ultra mild ones) he screamed a bit more, and there were tears pouring down his face and he went all red and sweaty. After a change of clothes, a fresh nappy and a bottle it still took much longer than normal for him to settle, and when he did he kept whimpering in his sleep and moving around much more than normal as though he wasn’t comfortable.

The next day I was changing him every hour or two to ensure that he didn’t get sore again (I coated him in Sudocream overnight which helped, though the nappy had leaked again by the morning). It was false economy as I thought I’d saved money on purchasing Huggies by getting the own-brand nappies yet because I was changing him so frequently I was getting through the packet twice as fast as normal. The day after that we were travelling home – a long, 100 mile journey in the hot sunshine, just The Boy and I in the car (The Hubby had travelled home a few days previously as we couldn’t leave the Hairy Hounds of Hell on their own for too long, plus he had work to get back to) Added to that, the fact that we got stuck in traffic at the usual spot (on the approach to the Dartford crossing) The Boy started whinging just as I was slowing down as we hit the beginning of the traffic – and he didn’t stop for some time. I passed him his bottle of water once we were totally stationary but it didn’t pacify him for long and soon he was chucking all his toys around in the back of the car, hollering and wailing and carrying on like he never had before in the car. All the talking, singing and turning the radio up didn’t help to chill him out and he continued creating a fuss for the next hour and a half (by which point I felt pretty stressed out too) Finally, twenty minutes from home, he fell asleep and I was intensely relieved!

However as soon as we got home, The Hubby came out to meet us as I parked up and once he got The Boy out of the carseat he frowned at me and said that he was wet. I presumed it to be from where he’d had the water bottle and had been fiddling with the valve while we were stuck in traffic, making it leak onto his lap, but we soon found once we were indoors that instead the nappy had leaked again. Despite me changing The Boy shortly before we set off, in the space of a two hour 10 minute car journey he was soaked through; his vest was wet all the way up his back and to his chest at the front: His trousers were soaked through and his top was drenched. Added to this his carseat fabric was sodden and even when I stripped it off the carseat shell underneath actually had a puddle of liquid in it – as though The Boy hadn’t been wearing a nappy at all.

After we’d washed him and put him in a fresh nappy and dry clothes, he was once again happier and pleased to see his daddy. The pair of them played for about an hour while I unpacked the car, cooked dinner and put the carseat fabric into the wash. Just before dinner, I said to The Hubby, “Better check his nappy” and he thought I was mad because he’d only changed The Boy an hour or so before – but sure enough, when he checked, the nappy was soaking and The Boys skin was red and sore. More concerning, The Hubby noticed something else – tiny crystals on the surface of the skin. The crystals that should have been contained within the nappy to absorb the liquid, and as the inside of the nappy appeared to be disintegrating the crystals had got stuck to his skin and were a nightmare to clean off, even with a baby wipe.

That evening we dealt with his nappy changes by doing it much more frequently than normal and putting lashings of Sudocream on him. Overnight I used a Bambino Mio reusable nappy as the disposables were so useless, and I went to Sainsburys the next day to pick up some of the usual ones. I’d had enough worrying about the Tesco nappies and the leaking, the crystals, the red, sore skin and the screaming and crying from The Boy as soon as I tried to wipe him clean when changing him. I’m so disappointed in these nappies I’m never going to buy them again, and I’d advise anyone else to steer clear, too. I have written to Tesco, though I haven’t heard back yet, if I do I’ll let you know here!

Bambino Mio Nappy Challenge: Day 7

For our final day of the Bambino Mio challenge, I decided to bite the bullet and put the nappy on The Boy for an overnight sleep. I used the boy fold that I’ve always used as this is for extra absorbency and the nappy would have to survive about 12 hours and The Boy has a tendency to roll onto his front while he’s asleep. I used the additional Mioboost which is specifically designed for overnight and long journeys, and I got everything prepared before I needed it so I was confident that I had it right before I even attempted getting it on The Boy.

The Boy has a bedtime routine which works well for us all: We go upstairs around 7 and has some nappy free time to play in his room, then I sort the bath out and he’s in his PJ’s drinking his milk by 8 and usually asleep by half past. Last night The Hubby was home from work by 5.30 so I had his assistance with getting The Boy all sorted out for bed which made it easier to prepare the nappy before I needed it. The Boy has been throwing mega temper tantrums about nappy changes recently, screaming and wailing, kicking and hitting, turning red and purple and wailing so hard he can’t catch his breath, real tears and snot and everything – it’s been quite spectacular, quite scary and quite annoying all at the same time!

So while The Hubby was bathing The Boy, I got the Bambino Mio nappy all sorted out, with the Mioboost as well, and chose a sleepsuit as we’ve just started using the next size up and they’re quite baggy on him. Once again I was doubtful at the sheer size of the nappy once the Mioboost pad was in the Miosoft as well, but I decided as The Boy had been busy all day and was quite tired, and I figured it was as good a time as any. I’d been putting off this challenge because I was apprehensive about what might happen, but realised that it was now or never!

Once The Boy was finished in his bath, The Hubby brought him back into his bedroom to get dried and dressed and eyed the nappy. “You’re putting that on him? Overnight?” He asked. I nodded. “It’s the final part of the Bambino Mio challenge.” I told him. He went to pick it up and I stopped him. “I’ve got it folded perfectly; I don’t want you messing it up!” I said. I dried off The Boy and got him into his Bambino Mio nappy, vest and sleepsuit. When I lifted him up from the changing mat I couldn’t help but giggle at him, which made him giggle too. His top half looked so small in comparison to his huge, bulky bottom! The Mioboost seriously adds to the bulk of the Bambino Mio nappy! But what the hey, I figured, better a bulky bum than a leaky nappy, right?

What struck me as odd was that it didn’t seem like it should be comfortable – it feels heavy, solid, like there’s a lot of fabric and not much space, and it makes his legs stick out differently to a disposable nappy – but these issues I have mentioned before, and they’ve never seemed to bother The Boy before. I admit with the Mioboost the nappy seemed even heavier and more solid, but The Boy didn’t seem unduly worried; When I put him on The Hubby’s lap for his final feed of the day he didn’t wriggle about any more than usual getting comfortable and I kissed him goodnight and left them to it.

An hour or so later, The Hubby came downstairs with an empty bottle and told me that The Boy had gone to sleep without issue – as normal.

Every hour or so from then until I went to bed I kept checking the monitor and he hadn’t moved any more than normal, nor did he seem restless or wake up at all, so I presume he was comfortable enough. When I went up to bed I checked in on him and put the covers over him and he was dry and snoring softly.

As much as I anticipated a disturbed sleep, thinking that the Mionappy would leak, or that The Boy would end up getting too wet and uncomfortable and waking up, he slept through til 6.30. Now this is early for him – usually he’ll go from 8.30pm-8.30am – so when he started up at 6.30 it was with very bleary eyes that I staggered into his room.

The Boy was also bleary eyed (he’s not good with early starts either), so I shushed him but didn’t speak too much (a tip I learned from Super Nanny if you don’t want them to wake up properly don’t interact too much!) I put him on the changing mat and undid his sleepsuit ready for the nappy change. I was greeted with a very soggy, very full Mionappy – but between it and the Mioboost it had absorbed 99% of the wee and the rest of it had simply made the inside of the Miosoft damp. The vest and sleepsuit were completely dry – no early morning wash, change of PJ’s or bed covers required! So I just changed him as usual, swapping the dirty Mionappy for a clean disposable, gave him some formula, and put him back to bed, where he slept for another two hours before waking up wanting breakfast. I dropped the Mionappy, Mioboost and Miosoft into the washing machine with some towels and some Miofresh and The Boy started his day with Weetabix.

I was very impressed by this performance of the Mionappy! I’d not had a fantastic week with the Bambino Mio nappies but it hadn’t been awful, I put a lot of it down to me being inexperienced and not knowing what to expect, and if I were to continue with using them I’m sure I’d get the hang of it quickly and become more confident with using them. For now, the Bambino Mio supplies will be used as and when I feel comfortable with them, like when we’re indoors or with family or friends where I can change The Boy easily. I’m not confident enough to deal with them in the supermarket, or while I’m out in town for the day!

I can see why the reusable nappies route works for some people, and I can see why it doesn’t work for others. For me, in all honesty, it hasn’t made me a complete convert, but it has opened my eyes to the alternatives, and made me realise there are many more options available than I initially thought. I will definitely be looking at all the reusable options more closely, and for Baby 2 maybe we’ll start off younger and use them more frequently, who knows!

I haven’t used any other brands of reusable nappies so I don’t think I could fairly say that I’d recommend Bambino Mio over any other brand as I don’t know what other brands are like, but I would recommend that a friend who was considering reusable nappies has a look at the Bambino Mio range as I think it appears to be one of the most straightforward types of reusable nappy to use, and with the added advantage of the Mioboost I’m happy for The Boy to use this nappy time and again because as difficult as it was initially to get to grips with, now I’ve dealt with a nappy a day for a week I feel I could cope with using this option more often. I’m considering purchasing another couple of Mionappies so that I can use them more often when I’m at home with The Boy to make it easier on the whole washing and wearing front, as with only two you’re kind of limited!

Although I had some initial difficulties, perfecting the fold and getting the right size Miosoft for The Boy (he had to be awkward!) overall the nappies have been absorbent and apparently comfortable, though I think perhaps the design of the Miosoft could be altered slightly to include a stitch or two underneath the Velcro band that the tabs attach to, just to stop it rolling over when the child is being active would be a great benefit. When washing a dirty nappy I always used Vanish powder in the wash and the staining didn’t always come out first time – but I tried my mum’s recommendation of some lemon juice in a water spray bottle, lightly sprayed the damp Mionappy while it was hanging on the line in the sunshine and a couple of hours later it was brilliant white just like a washing advert which was great! Though there are a great range of designs for the Miosoft covers I’d like to see something funky, brightly coloured and jazzy rather than the spots in soft pastels and citrus colours that seem to be in fashion at the moment for baby stuff (I had the Citrus originally, then the smaller size sent was in Berry, both lovely, but I think the funky Heart Print is lovely and bright, though perhaps not so suitable for The Boy!). Once the sizing was right and I got the hang of the folding it all worked well and I give the Bambino Mio nappies a solid four out of five!

This is Summer Mama and The Boy signing off from our Bambino Mio Real Nappy Challenge! With much thanks to all the lovely team at Bambino Mio for sending us the Real Nappy Challenge pack and all your support & advice.

Bambino Mio Nappy Challenge - Day 6

Our Bambino Mio challenge hadn’t gone as easy as planned and I must admit that by Day 6 I was trying to work out which nappy to use the Bambino one for that would potentially be least hassle.

As it happened, everything that day was much more hassle than anticipated, and we had a stressful morning of me trying to juggle being mummy with being working employee with being good housewife. Moments before cleaning the fridge with the laptop and attempting to do some catching up online using the chicken that was destined for dinner I caught myself and thought Wow, I’m stressed today. Since I’d accumulated plenty of hours already over the course of the week for my work, I sent an e-mail around saying ‘unavailable’ and turned off the laptop. I dropped The Boy into his lovely Scoot Along car (a birthday present that I will be doing a review on soon!) and as he was entertained making engine noises and playing with a variety of buttons for more noise, I quickly finished the housework and made myself a cup of tea.

“What can we do today then?” I asked The Boy, and he smiled at me cheekily and made a grab for my mobile phone. As I swept it out from his reach I realised there was a message on it that I hadn’t noticed before, and it was a message from a friend of mine who lives locally asking if I was free for a catch up that afternoon. I quickly replied to her that we’d love to go round, and whisked myself and The Boy off upstairs to get ready. I realised as I was getting him dressed that it would be a good opportunity to give the Bambino Mio a test run out of the house, but in an environment where it would be easy to change The Boy’s nappy if the need arose. So I folded up the nappy with a liner, stuck it in the Miosoft and dressed The Boy before sorting myself up, packing up the nappy bag and getting all of the junk and us into the car. It wasn't until I was harnessing him in the carseat that I realised I'd folded and put on the Bambino Mio nappy without even thinking about it! So after only five days of using it once a day it was already a lot easier to do than I thought it would ever be!

We arrived ten minutes later, and The Boy was quite happy in his carseat talking to his bunny. I got him out, and carried him to the front door. My friend has two children, a daughter of junior school age and a son who is seven months old. She also has a very friendly dog and a sleek three legged cat! The Boy very much enjoys going round to their house, as he can roam around the front room freely (our front room is smaller, and contains more junk, so he’s limited!) he can also go out into the hallway and into their kitchen (where the dog biscuits are! Yummy!) As well as lots of crawling around the place, The Boy also did lots of bouncing while sitting on the rug in the front room as my friends daughter did lots of dancing and singing for us, and also once he was a little bit more relaxed The Boy did lots of dancing and singing with my friends daughter, plenty of crawling after the cat, lots of rough and tumble with the dog and some playing with his seven month old mate too. We stayed for almost three hours, and The Boy had been very active the whole time. When I checked his nappy just before we left, I realised he’d wet it but nothing else, so I quickly changed him before we set off so he wouldn’t then be squished in the carseat wearing a soggy nappy for a ten minute journey home!

Of course when my friend saw his nappy she immediately started asking me questions, because the first thing she noticed was the funky Miosoft cover, and so we started chatting about using Bambino Mio and reusable nappies in general, and she asked me if I thought they were any good. I had to be honest and tell her that while I can see the benefits of doing it if you can, personally I didn’t feel they were right for me on a full-term basis. The fact that I can wash it in the machine is fantastic, a huge bonus point for me, but I can’t wash it with anything else that I want to use fabric conditioner with, which limits me to washing them with towels or washing them alone. As I’ve only got two, I think that’s pointless, but if you had enough to use them on a constant basis you would frequently have enough for a wash load. This would mean though that you’re probably adding an extra washing machine load to every day – I already do at least one washload per day during the week, and as we’re on an electricity metre I can tell you it costs about £1.20 each time I use the machine. I’m having to use Vanish powder in the wash to ensure all the stains are gone as I’m not finding the Miofresh does anything for stains, though it’s my understanding that’s more of a sanitiser than a stain remover, but that to me just adds to the expense of using reusable nappies. It’s an expensive layout and it’s not a cheap upkeep either – certainly the money saved on buying them vs buying disposable nappies is there but only if you didn’t then need the other extras over course of time, such as Vanish powder, the additional washing machine load, and then there’s the travelling with them. I don’t see reusable nappies as being particularly quick or easy to deal with while I’m out and about. I’ll need a spare Mionappy, the Mioliners, plus a spare Miosoft just in case of accidents, along with the baby wipes, the nappy bags, the folding changing mat, the cream etc etc it all adds up, and for me space saving with a disposable or two folded in the bag is more beneficial.

I realise I’m being completely selfish about the environmental viewpoint, and so I will touch on that now. I think it is pretty disgusting that in the space of time between being born and becoming fully potty trained that a toddler will use a huge amount of disposable nappies, and I understand that they won’t degrade particularly quickly so in years to come we’ll all be sitting on hills made of used disposable nappies, and this reason alone makes using reusable nappies a worthwhile thing. As I finished chatting to my friend and putting The Boy into a normal disposable again and bagging up the Mionappy to take home, I found myself telling my friend that while The Hubby remains to be impressed by the idea, I’ve actually started to come round to it, to a certain extent. If a friend asked me, “Would you recommend disposables or reusables?” having now tried both I would tell her to buy a trial pack of each and give them both a go to see what works better for her and in which situation. While we’re at home I think the reusable nappies are a lovely idea, they’re better for his skin, they’re better for the environment, they’re lovely and soft and easy to use and there’s something essentially baby about seeing that patterned Mionappy cover as The Boy crawls round the bedroom floor wearing only his Bambino Mio nappy and a t-shirt as he plays. When you’re at family or friends house weigh up how easy it is going to be to find somewhere suitable to change baby, the friend I visited has a young son herself so a changing mat, creams and bags and wipes and all kinds of essentials were right there, but if you’re struggling to do it on your lap it isn’t as practical. When you’re out and about shopping or something I wouldn’t rate using reusables, as every dirty nappy has got to be bagged and dragged round with you for the rest of the day! I am definitely now happier putting him in a reusable nappy if the situation is good for both of us throughout the day: But for conveniance I still prefer a disposable when we're out and about.

Only one more day for the Mionappy Challenge – Tomorrow Night: The Overnight Nappy (with MioBoost!)

Bambino Mio Nappy Challenge Day 5

The smaller size Miosoft arrived in the post this morning. A slightly different design to the original one (blue and lilac dots this time, the design called Berry) I was once again very pleased with the level of customer service offered by Bambino Mio as this delivery was very prompt from the time I was told that they would send another size to the point of receiving it.

I changed The Boy and put the nappy on him around 3pm. The smaller size didn’t seem to make a huge amount of difference in how well it fitted him around the bottom and how far up the body it came, but certainly when I did it up (with the tabs angled, as advised, for optimum leg space) it seemed to fit much more snugly around his waist than the larger size had done. Even though The Boy is 23lbs now, so should be in the larger size Miosoft, because he is very slender it seems the smaller size is a better fit overall (the weight guideline for this size is maximum 21lbs).

After putting him in the Mionappy we came downstairs for a late lunch (The Boy slept through what should have been lunch time, napping from midday til almost 3pm after a very long & busy day yesterday). He had his lunch, then we watched a new film he got for his birthday and after that we went upstairs to play. Throughout the film he was moving around in his play pen and climbing on my lap and the sofa, and when we went upstairs to play he was crawling, sitting, standing and walking using the furniture for support.

Around 6pm, we were heading back downstairs so I picked him up to change his nappy and found his trousers were wet. The Boy isn’t one to moan and he hadn’t made any indication that he was soaked, but he was. I stripped his trousers off and put them into the wash, and found the Miosoft was wet and the Mionappy was soaked through. He’d obviously done a lot of wee in the three hours he’d been wearing it, as the Mionappy was very heavy when I lifted it out of the Miosoft, and unfortunately the Mionappy hadn’t been able to handle the amount. I’d done the boy fold as usual, and despite this it was completely saturated all the way round, front to back, and all the way through. The Miosoft was wet as well, so both have gone into the washing machine before the next use. He’d also made the nappy dirty, and this had been well contained within the liner, but I have started putting them in lengthways instead of widthways as demonstrated in the videos and find they function much better like that to contain mess but it does make it more difficult to tuck in at the edges as there isn’t as much left to tuck under the Mionappy within the Miosoft.

While I was very happy that the Miosoft fits better than the other size did, I was quite disappointed that after three hours the Mionappy had leaked so badly. I understand it’s a different principle than a disposable nappy and maybe I was naïve to think it would be able to keep The Boy dry for more than a couple of hours but it does make me think that it would mean the Mionappy is unsuitable for using overnight with The Boy. I’ve been advised to do a standard fold overnight instead of the boy fold as well as using the additional Mioboost, however as The Boy tends to sleep on his front I’m not convinced that the standard fold will contain the wetness as a standard disposable after 12 hours tends to be very heavy at the front and dry at the back. This latest experience makes me wonder whether the Mionappy will be able to cope with a 12 hour stretch, even with the additional Mioboost. The other thing that concerns me with attempting to use the Mionappy overnight is that the Mioboost makes the whole thing so massive and bulky The Boy really doesn’t appear to be comfortable in it, so I wonder whether it will promote bad sleep or even if he’ll settle at all wearing it. Since he does tend to sleep on his front, with his legs stretched out and more often than not his feet hooked onto the cot bars, I’m not sure whether he’ll be able to get into this position wearing the Mionappy with the Mioboost liner so I’m not sure whether it will disturb his usual good sleeping habits.

I guess only time will tell, and I will try the Mionappy overnight with the Mioboost once the better size Miosoft is out of the wash and dry again … In the meantime, I’m sorry to say, I’m disappointed with the leakage of today and while I’m pleased the Miosoft fits better, the whole system really needs to wow me over the next couple of days. I’m a long way from being a convert and still much prefer my bog standard supermarket own brand disposable nappies to the Bambino Mio system right now. I really want to fall in love with this system as I love the whole idea behind it, the fact that it is less waste than using disposables and it probably would, in the long run, turn out to be much cheaper – My experience with it so far have not changed my mind from using disposables to reusables on a permanent basis.

Bambino Mio Nappy Challenge (Delayed) Day 4!

I apologise for the break in the Daily Diary for the Bambino Mio Real Nappy Trial – we’ve had a very busy weekend (The Boy’s 1^st birthday!) and as well as that we’ve not had much success so far with the Bambino Mio nappies! The very lovely Joreen at Bambino Mio has been very helpful in providing lots of advice, and the latest is that I’ve sent her a photo of how the Mionappy looks on The Boy so that she can see whether I’m doing it up properly and how it is fitting him.

Joreen sent my details on to a very nice lady (whose name I have already completely forgotten!) who gave me a call and we had a chat about it all, and she’s said that looking at the photo while The Boy is technically in the right weight range for the size Miosoft they’ve sent, as he is quite slender it doesn’t seem to be fitting him too well so they’re going to send the next size down. While this means it won’t come up his body any higher, it should mean that it fits better around his waist. She’s advised me to do the tabs up at an angle to maximise the leg hole space for him, and give it a go like that.

Once I got it on him earlier on in order to take the photo, I thought I’d leave it on him for a nap to see how it went. After all, the other reviews I’ve read for this reusable nappy system have been glowing, so I’m thinking it’s either me, or him, or maybe a combination of both of us doing something wrong!

Anyway, he had the Mionappy on and it was time for a nap, so I gave him his bottle and put him in the cot. He wiggled and fidgeted and moaned for about ten minutes before dropping off to sleep, and he slept soundly for two solid hours before waking up and letting me know he was awake by standing at the end of the cot bouncing and singing as usual.

When I walked into his room it was immediately obvious he’d got a dirty nappy and I admit I was a bit “Oh no” because he had the Mionappy on. I’d not dealt with a dirty one before, only wet ones, and my husbands experience of the dirty one the other day was not enviable, so I wasn’t looking forward to it at all. I got the wipes out ready along with a nappy bag to dispose of the Mioliner and the used wipes, and got down to it.

It wasn’t an especially dirty nappy, but I was impressed. The Mioliner had contained it well and it was a case of removing that to dispose of and the Mionappy itself had some staining but it wasn’t covered; the Miosoft didn’t have anything on it. The Boy had obviously done a lot of wee during the time he’d been asleep as the front of the Mionappy was soaked through (despite the boy fold) and the front of the Miosoft was wet on the inside at the front, but it was well contained and it wasn’t as much fuss to sort it out as I’d anticipated it might be.

Hopefully we’ll be getting the other size Miosoft in the next couple of days to try, and once we do I’ll be trying an overnight nappy including using the additional Mioboost to see how well that copes with the flood overnight from The Boy (as he usually sleeps 12 hours it is a lot for any nappy to cope with!)

The customer service from Bambino Mio has been fantastic – Joreen has been in contact asking how I’m getting along now, then the lady I spoke to earlier was really nice and helpful and it’s definitely a good plus point for me. I hate when a company expects you to spend out for their products but can’t be bothered to provide first class customer service, and Bambino Mio are definitely a company who looks after their customers as far as my experience goes! They’ve been nothing but helpful and supportive, and I’m looking forward to getting the other size Miosoft so we can continue as normal with our nappy challenge!

Bambino Mio Nappy Challenge Day 3

Our Day 3 challenge for the Bambino Mio reusable nappy challenge was going to be the overnight nappy. However, after washing the nappies overnight on Tuesday and hanging them outside to dry while everyone was out all day was a bit of a mistake, as after a day of blazing sunshine and soaring temperatures, a storm broke early evening before anyone got home and everything on the line got soaked, including the Mionappies, so we couldn’t use either of them for the overnight test as planned.

Instead, after a rinse and spin in the machine last night, I hung both nappies to dry in the airing cupboard and this morning both were ready to use again. Somehow in my half asleep state this morning I remembered to go and get one, and folded it all up ready to put on The Boy for the first nappy change of the day. I once again did the fold specific for boys, with additional absorbency at the front of the nappy, and I set about changing him.

Once again, his disposable nappy was saturated at the front; it had swollen so much and ballooned out that it had pulled the tabs around in a twist so the outside of the tabs was against his tummy, and the top of the nappy had partially folded. I thought it looked quite uncomfortable, and realise that I am paying much more attention to the appearance of his nappies since starting this challenge in the way that I am seeming to pick up more faults when I usually don’t have a problem!

I put the Mionappy on him, and again it struck me how much bulkier it looks. The Boy can’t close his legs together properly when he’s wearing it, and while I don’t think it would be uncomfortable I don’t think it’s particularly good for him so be held in that position or to restrict his movement. I’ve watched the video time and again to copy the folding and I can’t see how I could get it to sit any better on him. I also don’t find the length of the Miosoft enough, it seems to sit very low on his waist across his hips, and this means that unless I do it up really tightly it is pulled over his hips and there is a gap at the top of the Miosoft. While the Mionappy inside should soak up any moisture before it rolled out of the top of the Miosoft, I wonder if at night it would do it quickly enough, especially the amount he wets in the night, and the fact that he’ll sleep through 12 hours in a single nappy most nights.

When I did up his baby vest (it was so hot last night he slept in that alone) I noticed that it doesn’t fit particularly well over the Mionappy. The leg holes are cut for where legs are naturally, without a nappy on, and with a disposable this is fine but with the Mionappy the leg holes seem to be in the wrong place. I took him into our room to say good morning to The Hubby and he crawled about on the bed for a while, and I noticed a funny noise, like Velcro un-doing, as he moved. I un-popped the baby vest and sure enough the Miosoft top had twisted in on itself like the disposable had, but the Mionappy had only been on for ten minutes and was still dry. It just wouldn’t stay done up properly while he was active. I kept having to re-do it and The Hubby and I tried different ways to try and get it to stay done up, but it was un-sticking and twisting and rolling up and The Hubby said exactly the same thing as I was thinking – The Miosoft isn’t long enough, it doesn’t go to the right point on him to stay securely done up when he’s active. Looking at promotional photos on the net it looks like they should be coming up higher than they are on him; maybe this is why we’re having so many issues?

We went downstairs after a while and The Boy was put in his high chair for breakfast. Afterward he stayed in there chatting to The Hubby while I cooked breakfast (It is The Hubby’s birthday today, hence his day off work and cooked breakfast! This isn’t the normal run of things!) The Boy was in the high chair for just over an hour when The Hubby said, “I think he’s got a dirty nappy” so off they went upstairs for a nappy change.

I heard The Hubby muttering away upstairs and The Boy making noises back as he ‘answered’, I heard The Hubby briskly moving around up there with clear, definite steps, and the sounds of him back and forth to the bathroom after a few minutes and taps and the shower running. After a few minutes, the pair of them re-appeared - The Hubby strode through the kitchen with a nappy sack containing the soiled Mionappy for washing, and saying, “I don’t bloody like them!” as he strode past me!

The Boy had done a dirty nappy and the Mioliner hadn’t been enough to protect the Mionappy or the Miosoft from much damage. The Miosoft had been dirty and needed washing out, the Mionappy was very soiled and he’d had quite a job cleaning it all up off The Boy as well. Added to this that The Boy wasn’t in the mood for a nappy change and kicked up a fuss about it, The Hubby wasn’t impressed!

I really want to like this product, it’s a good idea and the Miosoft covers are fantastic design in so many ways but the size of it just doesn’t seem enough to me for The Boy and he’s within the weight range but it’s the height that seems to be the problem, they’re not long enough to come up high enough on him to do up well and fit well; and the Mioliner doesn’t seem to really do a lot, made even less by the fact that it doesn’t cover the entire Mionappy and while I folded it as directed we haven’t found the Mioliner particularly effective. I also folded the nappy and put it on as a 'night' nappy with the additional Mioboost pad (to practice), and it looks even more uncomfortable, his legs are pushed right out and it’s rock solid around and underneath him, I really can’t see how that can be comfortable and due to the heat recently I’m reluctant to put him in all that overnight in case he gets too hot as well.



MioNappies



Miowipes



Miosoft



Mioliners

As The Hubby pointed out, what if you were out somewhere and that kind of thing happened? You’re meant to take not just fresh Mionappies and liners, but also additional Miosoft just in case of a similar disaster where the Miosoft needs washing before it can be used again? With all that bulk in your nappy bag you could have packed four disposable nappies!



Tomorrow I’m going to try him the Mionappy for playtime and see how well it performs with him doing lots of movement, bending and stretching!  We’ll put it through it’s paces without risk of issues in a public place!



Error Of Judgement

Today, I made a bad judgement. It was an error on my part and I shouldn’t have been so foolish, but it was in part the result of a decision made weeks ago and by today I was unable to put it off any longer.

I had to Go Shopping – With Purpose, No Clue What To Get & Not A Lot Of Money.

I’m not, perhaps, your average woman. I don’t, particularly, enjoy the whole shopping experience. I’m more of a ‘guy’ type shopper, in that I like to plan in advance what stores I’m going to go into, know in advance what product it is I’m looking to get from that store, and what my alternatives are should that store not have the product I’m looking for, specifically, or whether an alternative substitute could be made. I am not the sort of person who enjoys spending an entire day shopping unless there are very certain circumstances.

Certain circumstances – such as winning the lottery …

In addition to the frustration of not having the faintest idea what I wanted to buy, but with the added pressure of knowing I had to find it today, was enough to drive me crazy. I can’t go shopping tomorrow, I’m in the office, hence out of shopping ability all day, as it means me dropping The Boy off with his grandparents at 8.30, leaving their house at 9 to make it into the office by nine thirty. Usually this is my plan and it tends to run half an hour late. I won’t get time after work because everywhere will be shut by then, and then on Thursday it is one of this weeks special birthdays: My Hubby’s.

The Hubby is in his early thirties, he’s a couple of years older than I am, and the last birthday of his we properly celebrated was the one before I got pregnant, and we had lots of friends to stay and a drunken, middle of the summer BBQ. Then last year, I was heavily pregnant by The Hubby’s birthday – I couldn’t physically fit into my car to drive anywhere, and I was overdue and felt ready to pop, unable to walk for more than five minutes without needing to rest for half an hour! I considered internet shopping, but then had no idea what to get him and left it too late … I felt very guilty, and promised myself that this year, between me and The Boy, we would spoil The Hubby for his birthday.

However, here we are and I don’t have a clue. He’s just spent a fortune buying stuff for DIY from his old job; He downloads books for his mobile phone now so it’s pointless buying him an actual book; Films and series he’s into he’s already got; Clothes seem so boring and unimaginative as a gift, unless it’s something particularly special; He does wear jewellery, but not often, and he’s got loads for if he wanted to wear it anyway so if I’d have found something special I’d have got it … But I didn’t find anything that really had the wow factor. I am such a bad wife! I found him stuff from The Boy, so that’s fine, but from me, I failed miserably.

To top it all off, the weather today. When I got up, it was cool and cloudy outside: As the morning progressed, it rained and I was quite glad, thinking it would leave it nice and cool as the day went on. I showered and dressed, got The Boy washed and dressed (in his Mionappy for Day 2 of our Mionappy Real Nappy Challenge) and we set off.

Already regretting my choice of wearing jeans for the outing, I was also concerned about The Boy, who was wearing joggers and I had no sun cream in the nappy bag as the sun had been firmly behind a cloud when we left so I’d covered them before leaving the house and left it sitting on the kitchen worktop. The Boy has issues with keeping socks and shoes on his feet, so on the whole now I coat them in sun cream and leave them bare if the weather is good enough, as it seems pointless worrying about socks and shoes going missing if they’re not strictly speaking required why bother putting them on in the first place! But it means continual re-application of sun cream to protect the delicate skin.

We flew through the first shop, emerging an impressive forty five minutes later (it’s a big store!) with some booty to show for it. I was happy; it was a good start – it slowly went downhill from there.

It was still, it was hot, it was horrible, close, airless heat, and soon the pair of us were wilting. I ensured The Boy was well protected from the sun with the sun canopy up on the Quinny Zapp and the parasol attached to the chassis but I did feel a bit silly when we were bouncing about on uneven pavements and the parasol was bouncing about too! (It reminds me of those silly head boppers you get) I was glad I had it, especially when I saw some babies in pushchairs obviously getting the full glare of the sun right on them (a couple of kids looked quite flushed) while The Boy was warm he was still happy, chatty, eating his pink wafer biscuit and asking me for a drink regularly. While on this note, I must draw attention to the fact that The Boy, despite being out shopping (which he hates) and being uncomfortably warm, he was quite happily entertained thanks to his Nuby Flip Flop book, which I attach onto the pushchair harness using the plastic ring of the toy to make sure he doesn't loose it. Not only is it fantastic to entertain him in the pushchair, I've also found it fantastic to attach onto the trolley in stores by the velcro tab in an effort to stop him chewing on the trolley metal. I have to be quick to realise what he's doing and jump straight in offering him the book instead, but on the whole he'll go for the book to play with and he always does, it was such a gem of a find that product - I got it in Tesco reduced to £4 and I'd never heard of Nuby at that point, but I thought it looked funky and might help entertain him and I'm a total Nuby convert!

Three hours later, we got home. I was exhausted, hot, thirsty and though fairly pleased with the booty accumulated for The Boy’s birthday which is at the weekend, I was also mildly annoyed that I hadn’t managed to find anything further for The Hubby. Why is it that when you have either no purpose to purchase items, or no money to afford them, you find lots of stuff. When you have a specific purpose, or on the rare occassion you have some money/are willing to stretch to afford and sacrifice something else if necessary, there is nothing to be had. It's the same when shopping. When I specifically need to go shopping for an outfit for a specific occassion, there is never anything I like, never anything in my size and never anything that ticks all the boxes. If I randomly pop into a clothes shop, or even while I'm wandering in the supermarkets not looking for stuff for me, I'll find loads of stuff I could get!

All in all mixed feelings for today and now I’m utterly exhausted, I’ve still got to wash my hair and get everything sorted out for tomorrow! I want to look forward to spending the day with The Hubby and The Boy for The Hubby’s birthday but I feel like I’m really letting him down on the gift front!



Bambino Mio Nappy Challenge Day 2

We started off on a bad foot, nappy-wise, first thing this morning. Admittedly the nappy had been on for over 12 hours as The Boy slept round from 8.30pm til 9am, so it did have a lot to deal with, and the first thing we had to do this morning was full strip, wash and re-dress which The Boy really wasn’t impressed with (He’s like me, and doesn’t function well when he’s just woken up, less is definitely more at that point for him) His soggy vest and PJ’s was whirling round the washing machine with the bed clothes before I realised I should have put the Mionappy in too. Doh. Which promptly brought me onto my next point – which challenge for the Mionappy today? I decided on the going out challenge.

The Boy and I were off shopping, and as he’d slept so well and woken so late I knew he wouldn’t want a nap before lunchtime, so decided to get ourselves sorted out and get out shopping sooner rather than later in the day. I practiced folding the Mionappy for the additional protection at the sides around the leg holes as we were going out and I really didn’t want to risk any spillages! I found it tricky to get right, and awkward to tuck the Mioliner around the nappy successfully and keep the Mionappy folded properly as it kept rucking up and leaving a gap between the leg of the Miosoft and the Mionappy. I would imagine this gets easier with practice, and it made me glad I’d decided to sort it all out before getting The Boy onto the changer, as if I’d been trying to do that at the same time as keep an eye on him I’d be in trouble!

Once I got the Mionappy folded into the Miosoft with a Mioliner in place and I was happy, I got The Boy dressed with it as the starting point. I chose joggers for him as at that point in the day it was cool and cloudy and had been raining on and off for a couple of hours. The joggers went on more easily over the bulk of the nappy than the shorts yesterday did, and we set off.

We went out in the car so he was in and out of the carseat, the buggy and various trollies as we made our exhausting shopping trip to just about every store I could think of. To add to this, it quickly became uncomfortably hot, and as much as I was regretting wearing jeans, I was regretting putting him in the Mionappy and putting him in joggers. The reason I was regretting putting him in the Mionappy was that he was drinking such a large amount because it was so hot – and coupled with the fact that he would be pretty warm, probably sweaty; I thought the elasticated leg holes of the Miosoft and around the waist would have made him red and sore.

We got home almost three hours after we set off, and the first thing I did was go upstairs to change him – he was covered in pink wafer biscuit crumbs, much of it smeared into his clothes, and he’d drunk so much water while we’d been out he would have made the nappy pretty wet. I was pleasantly surprised when I found he had no marks at all where the elasticated leg holes and around the waist of the Miosoft would have been, and while the Mionappy itself was heavy with moisture, it had absorbed very well and he wasn’t half as damp as I’d have anticipated.

Both the Mionappies are in the washing machine tonight: I don’t have a tumble drier so I’m not expecting them to be dry before bedtime tomorrow evening, so we'll have to see what happens and when they're ready for tomorrows test!