a "size"-by-side comparison of Mommy's Touch, BumGenius, & GroBaby one-size diapers
My daughter is just shy of five months old, but just like her older brother, her growth rate is somewhere around warp speed. At four months, she had grown more than 5 1/2in. in length since birth, and had more than doubled her weight.
I had been using pre-folds and covers, but I couldn't keep up with her growth rate. I felt that as soon as I received my latest order of diaper covers, she was ready for the next size.
Hence, the search for the perfect one-size diaper began.
Because I am "snappily challenged," * I was looking for either an all-in-one, or a pocket diaper. The catch - it had to have snap front closures.
- snappily challenged (snap' u lee chal' injd) , adj. 1. unable or incapable of properly working a Snappi brand cloth diaper fastener.
I had already read and heard about Bum Genius One-Size All-In-One cloth diapers (retail around $25.95) http://www.bumgenius.com/, so that was on the list to try. But only the Organic Cotton Bum Genius AIOs had snap closures. (more about this later)
Next, I asked for input from other moms on the online community DFW Area Moms http://www.dfwareamoms.com/ . DFW Area Moms is an online community which is about 3,200+ members strong. In fact, this community was where I first learned about current cloth diapering options while pregnant with my youngest.
After some suggestions, I decided to try Mommy's Touch One-Size Pocket Diapers (retail between $18.95-19.95) http://www.mommystouch.com/, as well as GroBaby One-Size diapers (retail $24.95 ea.) http://thenaturalbabyco.com/. The criteria established to help me make this decision were:
- number of available sizing options
- absorbency
- trimness/construction
- price
My Bum Genius diapers were first to go for a test drive. I washed them exactly to the specifications on the Bum Genius website, and they were fantastic diapers. My little one is a super-soaker, and this diaper kept her dry and happy. The diaper has a nice, trim fit, and lots of different size options.
One issue that some mothers have with this organic cotton diaper, however, is managing the double layer liners sewn inside. on smaller settings there is excess cotton which has to be folded over, much like the excess on a pre-fold. Once that learning curve is achieved, they are truly great diapers. UNFORTUNATELY, Bum Genius will not be producing these diapers with snap closures any longer, until further notice. The diaper is still available with the hook-&-loop closure.Next to try was the GroBaby diaper. When it arrived, with all its fancy packaging, I was impressed by the quality of the diaper. But I was also concerned - deeply - about the size of this "one-size" diaper. The GroBaby diaper was significantly smaller than the Bum Genius diaper, even on its largest setting. After washing the snap-in organic cotton insert several times, I noticed that it bunched up and frankly looked a lot like a maxi-pad instead of a cloth diaper.
I ordered a regular touch-tape GroBaby diaper, and a snap-front closure diaper (which is $2 more than the reg). This diaper is not made for bigger babies. When we put the diaper on my daughter, my mother in law joked that she was wearing a thong - seriously, this is the most narrow one-size diaper I've seen. Don't get me wrong, it's a very well-made diaper, but under no circumstances will this diaper last through potty-training based on size alone.
This was such a disappointment to me, because the one-size diaper covers from this company are quite generous in size. They have a hook-&-loop closure, though, which does not work well against my daughter's skin. That, plus the fact that I am snappily challenged (see above) means it just isn't the diaper cover for us, but I digress....
The other issue I have with this one-size diaper is specific to the touch tape closure (hook-&-loop) diaper. There is a large band of soft, fuzzy material at the top of this diaper so that us moms can have several more options for size. Great idea, however the trade-off is less absorbency at the top front part of the diaper. I have a daughter who rolls onto her tummy to sleep, so this diaper leaked during her nap time. I can imagine this would certainly be a problem for baby boys, even more so.
Lastly, I tested Mommy'sTouch One-Size Easy Clean pocket diapers. I hate to admit it, but when I opened the package, it was a bit of a let-down. I had just opened the GroBaby diapers with all the neat packaging, and then here were two empty pocket diapers with no packaging, no fanfare - just diapers. My immediate thought was, "I don't know about this...." But I went ahead and washed them, dried them, and stuffed them with a small pre-fold, as I did not have any inserts handy.
I have to say that these were my favorite diapers.
These pocket diapers are significantly larger than the GroBaby diapers, and are larger, still, than the BumGenius diapers (see photo). The only hurdle I can see would be regarding the trimness of the diaper, and that all depends on what you put in the pocket, which is important. I made the mistake one time of not using a wide enough insert, and that was the one and only time I had a problem with leakage.
These diapers, size wise, will definitely last through potty training. Also, for fashion-conscious moms like me, this diaper has the most color options available. Additionally, these are the least expensive diapers of the three. Granted this is a pocket diaper, and not an all-in-one diaper, but the features that make this a great diaper probably hold true for the Mommy's Touch All-In-One diaper, which I hope to test in the very near future.
*Mommy's Touch diapers are available for purchase at Crunchy Angel, http://www.crunchyangel.com/, a great online retailer for crunchy moms, by a crunchy mom.
Check back soon to read Volume 2 in the ongoing saga in The Search for the One-Size Diaper. I will update Volume 1 with a review of the Mommy's Touch One-Size All-In-One diaper, and next I will review several one-size pocket diapers, as well as pocket inserts.
Thanks for reading!
The Diaper Critic
