The Nifty Nappy Fitted Diaper (Overview) – This is a one-size fitted diaper, designed to fit babies from about 7-35 pounds. These fit Miss wonderfully, and she’s about 22-ish pounds now. There are four snaps on each side that snap in the front and can overlap if necessary. The inserts are made of hemp and bamboo (you know how much I love this) and are made to be folded in half and placed in the diaper. Additional inserts can be added for heavy wetters or overnight. There are lots of fabric selections available. This diaper needs a cover.
The Verdict – This is a fantastic fitted diaper. It is very trim fitting and absorbent. Even as chunky as my Miss is, there is still plenty of room for her to grow in this and I know it will still fit her for a long time. The workmanship on the diapers is impeccable, including the elastic and snaps, and I feel confident these will last long enough for her to outgrow them and for use with future babies as well. The fabric selections are wonderful and Vilate has recently added more. The diaper is easy to care for by just throwing it in the wash (regular diaper laundry routine), and they come clean fairly easily. I do put these in the dryer, since I live in the arctic tundra and don’t have a clothesline, and they dry in one cycle. I have not had any leaks when pairing this diaper with a wool cover. In fact, I recently put this diaper to the ultimate test by combining it with a Woolie Wrap and using it for overnight. I’ll give the details of this below. The Nifty Nappy fitted works as well as or better than some “designer” fitted diapers and are much, much more reasonably priced. Overall, this really is my favorite fitted diaper and I highly recommend it.
The Woolie Wrap (Overview) – This is a wool cover for the fitted diaper. Wool covers need to be lanolized to be more waterproof, and they only need to be washed (by hand in wool wash) approximately once per month if not soiled. Vilate washes and lanolizes the Woolie Wraps before sending them. Her covers are made of upcycled wool sweaters. They are a snap-on style cover with elastic at the legs. The snaps fasten in front and can overlap like on the Nifty Nappy fitted. These diapers would likely fit babies of most sizes. Miss still has a lot of room to grow in hers. I doubt these covers would fit a newborn or very small baby, but haven’t tried this to know for sure. Because the covers are made from upcycled sweaters, you can’t select the specific fabric or color for them, but you can choose a gender and Vilate makes them accordingly. Vilate uses only sweaters that feel soft, are at least 80% wool and made of all natural fabrics.
The Verdict – I admit I was nervous about trying wool. I thought it would be hard to care for, and I was suspicious of the claim that you can use a wool cover several times and it won’t stink. But after trying these Woolie Wraps, I am a convert. I have held a Woolie Wrap right up to my nose after it has been used, and it truly does not smell like urine at all. When it does start to stink, or if it has been soiled, it’s time to wash it. It’s actually quite easy to wash a wool cover in wool wash and soak it in water that has dissolved lanolin in it. Vilate gives the greatest tip for getting the excess water out when you’re done – put the cover in the washing machine on the spin cycle. This gets as much water out as possible. Then you can lay it flat to dry the rest of the way. Simple!! And if you do have any problems, Vilate sends all of her diapers with excellent, easy-to-follow care instructions and she is very responsive to questions.
The Woolie Wrap has a great fit to it, and for a wool cover over a fitted diaper, it is relatively trim. It has two layers of wool made from different, but complimentary sweaters, so it’s extra leak-proof. The Woolie Wraps are constructed very well. I have had one problem with a snap on one of them, which was basically my own fault. The snaps used are very strong, and I tried to pull one open from the very edge of the tab, pulling straight back on it, which led to the top layer of the sweater coming loose a bit from the snap. I let Vilate know about this and she of course offered to fix it for me, so I sent it back the other day and am eagerly awaiting it’s return (I love this wrap). So, I recommend making sure that you pull the snaps open holding very close to the snap itself, to minimize the pull on the wool. As an added bonus, since you can’t specifically choose the pattern or color of the sweaters used, it makes an extra fun surprise to open the mail when getting wool from Vilate! I love the two that I have. One has a little bit of beading across the bum!
Nifty Nappy/Woolie Wrap combo – This is a fantastic combo of fitted diaper and cover. Vilate calls them practically “bulletproof” when used together, and she’s not exaggerating (well, okay they’re not REALLY bulletproof, but if pee was bullets…). The Woolie Wrap fits wonderfully over the Nifty Nappy (and all other fitteds I’ve used under it for that matter). As I mentioned above, I wanted to put the Nifty Nappy/Woolie Wrap combo to the ultimate test by using them for overnight. I was nervous to use this combo overnight even though I had great success with it during the day, because I have always used the same overnight diapering system, which has worked for me, since I started using cloth diapers. I “super lanolized” the Woolie Wrap, with some direction from Vilate on how to do this (this info is on her website, but basically just consists of using more lanolin and soaking 8 hours). In spite of my concerns, I must say, this combo passed with flying colors. I used an extra insert in the Nifty Nappy and put the super-lanolized Woolie Wrap over it, and Miss slept like a champ for over 11 hours and woke up dry. The outside of the Woolie Wrap didn’t even feel damp. Bulletproof!!
Wool Longies (Overview) – In addition to making Woolie Wraps, Vilate also makes custom wool longies (basically wool pants used as a cover over a fitted diaper). These are also made from upcycled sweaters, and you can select the gender for the sweater pattern/color. You send her your babe’s measurements and she will make a pair of longies to fit. While the Woolie Wraps are made of two layers of sweater, the longies are only one layer thick.
The Verdict – You cannot beat the adorableness of these longies. Especially in the winter, they are so cozy and soft and, well adorable. I love the longies Vilate sent me. They work well over a Nifty Nappy fitted diaper. The only problem I have had with these, though not with a Nifty Nappy fitted but a different brand of fitted diaper (a much more expensive brand I might add), is that I once noticed a urine smell on my pants after Miss sat on my lap when wearing these. Since the longies are only one sweater thick, and the sweater stretches a bit over her bum, there are some tiny holes in the weave of the sweater and when Miss has worn a fitted that soaked through, though the wool did not feel wet and did not smell, some of the urine must have gotten on my pants from getting through the tiny holes in the sweater weave. Miss is a bit of a heavy wetter, so I just make sure to change her a bit more frequently when wearing longies or use a doubler in some diapers. Problem solved, and I love these longies. (Edit – Vilate kindly informed my wool-novice self that I can run the longies under super hot water and massage the water in a bit to felt them slightly and prevent the separation of fibers, or that this felting will happen naturally over time. Silly me, why didn’t I just ask her??)
PeachyKeen Pocket Diaper (Overview)– In addition to making fitted diapers and wool covers, Vilate also makes a great pocket diaper. The PeachyKeen is a one-size pocket diaper, designed to fit babies from 7 to 35 pounds. They have a layer or waterproof PUL that is covered by a cute outer cotton fabric and a microfleece lining. The insert is made of tri-folded microfiber (which is super absorbent) that is covered by flannel. The PeachyKeen does not need a cover.
The Verdict – The PeachyKeen is one of my favorite pocket diapers, and I have a LOT of pocket diapers. My husband was holding Miss the other day when she had this diaper on and he said, “Wow, this is a small diaper.” He doesn’t know cloth diaper lingo, but what he meant is that the diaper is extremely trim. Especially for a one-size diaper, it is amazing how trim this diaper is. Just like the Nifty Nappy fitted, this diaper has snaps that fasten in front and can overlap for smaller babies. The workmanship on these diapers is just as good as on the Nifty Nappy fitted. The snaps go through all layers of the diaper, so they are very secure. The only bad thing about this is that the absorbent “stuffing” of the diaper cannot go all the way to the top front of the diaper. This is no problem at all during normal daytime wear, but because Miss is a tummy sleeper, I have been reluctant to use this diaper for naptime or overnight. I have not tested the diaper in this way though, so I can’t say that it wouldn’t work, I’m just too chicken to try!! I have not had a single leak from this diaper during regular daytime use. And I absolutely love that the PUL is hidden under a layer of cute outer print fabric. This makes the diapers much cuter, as all of Vilate’s cute fabric patterns are available for use on the PeachyKeen as well. Another fabulous feature of this diaper is that you don’t have to remove the insert before washing it. It just comes right out in the agitation of the wash, even in my new He washing machine. Overall, I give a hearty recommendation of this pocket diaper!
If you want to try some Nifty Nappy diapers for yourself (well, for your baby), go to Vilate’s website and buy some! You can save 15% by entering the code NEWNAPPY at checkout until the end of January.
Or, you could enter here to win some. Vilate has generously offered a $35 gift certificate to one reader who enters this giveaway.
Here’s how to enter:
MANDATORY ENTRY: Go to Nifty Nappy’s website. Come back here and leave a comment telling me what your favorite fabric is from Vilate’s great selection. She’s recently added some new fabrics! This entry is mandatory. Without this entry, all other entries will not count. Please be sure to leave a valid email so I can contact you if you win!
For additional entries, leave a separate comment for each of the following (these will be verified):
This giveaway will end on Tuesday January 26, 2010 at 12pm CST. The winner will be selected at random and will be contacted via email and given 48 hours to claim the prize. If the prize is not claimed within 48 hours of the email, a new winner will be chosen. The 15% code is valid through the end of January.
Boy, I sure am. I have won several giveaways on fellow mommy blogs in recent weeks. My first win was a couple of months ago, and I won a SoftBums diaper with 3 organic bamboo inserts. Then I won a pair or adorable bloomers for Miss from the Etsy shop Three Yellow Starfish. I ordered them sized so they’ll fit her this summer. More recently I won a one-year subscription to the online meal planning site Relish! and a few days ago I won a sterling silver charm bracelet with my choice of eight charms from The Charm Factory!
I have mentioned before how my hands are so chapped and cracked from washing them so much, especially when I was sick. Even though my hands have gotten to the point of splitting and bleeding knuckles, I never like to put lotion on my hands because I can’t stand the greasy feel I get from it. I am always on the lookout for a good hand cream that will not leave my hands feeling slimy. I try to get actual “hand cream” rather than general lotions or creams, thinking that a hand cream will be made to absorb quickly. I have often been disappointed in this, but now, I have found a great solution! The other day I got a tube of Eucerin Plus Intensive Repair Hand Creme. It soaks into my hands quickly and doesn’t leave them feeling gross. I have only put it on at night for the most part, but my hands are already so much better!! No more bleeding, no more cracks, and they feel so much better. Just thought I’d share!
Last night was a nice relaxing New Year’s Eve for my family. I made stuffed poblano peppers for dinner and my hubby and I relaxed for the evening watching football (Yay Cyclones!!). I had some sparkling grape juice (way too sweet, gross!) and the hubby had some sake (the man loves sake!!) and we went to bed before 9. We read for a while (me – “The Man Who Ate Everything” by Jeffrey Steingarten, Ben – “Charcuterie: The Craft of Salting, Smoking and Curing” by Michael Ruhlman and Brian Polcyn), but definitely had lights out by 10. Today, Ben will make chili and we’ll watch lots of football (Go Spartans!!).
Once upon a time, the big plans for New Year’s Eve were all important and sometimes very elaborate. I have celebrated New Year’s Eve in many ways and with many people. There was the year I went to a bar in Windsor, Canada (I believe I was still under 21). I can’t remember the name of the bar, but I remember spent a ridiculous cover charge for “food,” a cheap bottle of “champagne” and a few chintzy party favors. Then there was the year I drove up to Michigan and celebrated with my best friend and many others in her basement. The first year my hubby and I lived together we had a party at our home and invited all of our wonderful friends from our early days in Durham. I recall these different New Year’s Eves as being fun in their different ways. Many other years I’ve had a wonderful time on New Year’s Eve too. And then some years were utterly forgettable. But the one thing they all had in common, until recently, was that I always, always, stayed up past midnight to “ring in the new year.”
Hm. That has all changed in recent years. Last year, I was pregnant and tired and in bed by 10. This year will just be more of the same I’m sure. And really, I don’t mind. I no longer feel like there is something magical about staying up until midnight. About watching the ball drop, counting down those last seconds, or kissing my beloved at exactly midnight. I won’t miss the noise makers or the cheap sparkling wine that tastes disgusting. I don’t feel like I’ll miss something important if I’m happily slumbering in my bed at 11:59 as the clock rolls over to 2010. In fact, what I feel I’ll miss if I do stay awake is those precious hours of happy slumber that could have been had! So, I’ll kiss my hubby at bedtime like I always do and wish him Happy New Year, though it will still be a few hours until it’s official. I’ll wake up tomorrow in the new year (hopefully) refreshed from a full night’s sleep, and I’ll feel just as thankful for all the blessings of 2009 and just as hopeful for a wonderful 2010 as I would if I had stayed up to officially welcome in the New Year at it’s birth. Happy New Year everyone. Bring on 2010.
Hello again. We got back yesterday from our travels to spend Christmas with my in-laws. We had a great time, but were pretty lucky I think to have had such good traveling conditions, considering the snow/ice storms going on in our neck of the woods. We managed to beat the ice on Christmas Eve and drive to the Farm with only rainy conditions, with temps above freezing. Whew! Then we woke to ice-covered everything on Christmas morning and reports that roads were closed through much of western Iowa and impassable around where we were. Yikes! It made for great sledding conditions though, and all the kids (big and small) had a blast sledding on the big hills at the farm and being pulled around in a huge tube (intended to be pulled behind a boat!!) behind the 4-wheeler. Miss had a wonderful time playing with all her cousins too. We had manageable road conditions for our trip home yesterday, although road weren’t really “good” until we got into Wisconsin. Iowa really needs to get on the ball with the snow removal! Anyway, we made it home safely with wonderful memories of Miss’s first Christmas. I’ll upload some photos and post them soon, but for right now, I’m too pooped and would like to just lie on my couch while Miss naps (read: I’m going to take a nap :). Hope everyone had a wonderful and safe holiday!
