It's just a weird shape (Wonderoos Pocket Nappies)

Member Name: arleek

Product:	Wonderoos Pocket Nappies
Date:	30/07/09 (89 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: It works

Disadvantages: Looks odd when one, doesn't seem to fit properly

I bought one of these about a year ago for my daughter when I was starting to sample different sorts of nappy. This one is known as a pocket nappy and it's a one size (it will fit from birth to potty (approx 8-35lb) using the various poppers positioned on the front of the nappy).

The nappy comes in a variety of different pastel & bright shades and you can either buy it 'empty', or complete with two inserts, depending on where you shop. As with many pocket nappies, the Wonderoos has a soft PUL outer cover which is waterproof, and a lovely soft fleecey inner which is soft against your baby's bottom and wicks away any moisture keeping their bum dry.

Between the PUL and the fleece is a pocket where you stuff your absorbent material. The inserts that are designed for this nappy are made from microfibre terry and are hourglass shaped; there is a large one and a small one and they popper together if you need to use them both at once (as I did for my heavy wetting toddler).

The smaller one is designed to be used on its own for a newborn, then the larger one on its own as your baby grows, then of course you can use them together, as I did, if your child likes to wee a lot! They fit very snugly inside the nappy, and I thought it was quite good that they were hourglass shaped because they seemed to cover more area than a standard rectangular insert which seem to be the norm for most other pocket nappies, so an hourglass shape gives the promise of a little bit more protection I suppose.

It is very gently elasticated around the legs ensuring no red marks on your baby's legs, I found this to be very gentle around my skinny daughter's legs and there was never any irritation.

Once the nappy is on, it has quite a strange appearance; well it did on my daughter anyway. Because my daughter was a toddler the first time I used this, I didn't need to resize the nappy using the poppers, it fitted her perfectly as it was, but it still didn't look quite right. The back seemed to be really wide so she looked like she had a big square bottom. Then the front gaped at the top, and no matter what setting I put it on around her waist you always seemed to be able to see down the front of her nappy and it used to sag after she had run around in it a few times.

And when she had it on under her trousers, it just looked awful. I know most reusable nappies give a 'teletubby' type look to children's bottoms (I should know I have plenty of reusable nappies), but this one just made her bum look lopsided and just downright awful. This is definitely a nappy to save for night times or when you know you won't be going anywhere!

I'm not sure whether this is how they fit on other children or whether my daughter is just a funny shape, but it just is not a very visually appealing nappy!

Having said that, it does perform very well and I have seldom experienced any leakages. The only time this nappy has leaked is when she has had it on overnight and I haven't changed it straight away in the morning, or if she has had it on for a prolonged period during the day time (say more than 4 hours).

I think the good thing about this nappy is that it seems really breathable because the outer cover is really lightweight and the two inserts although they are quite thick don't seem to be suffocating to her bottom (probably because it gapes at the front!)

I have since tried this on my younger daughter (who is 9 months at the moment) and obviously I had to adjust to settings to fit to her smaller frame, but I was again really disappointed with how it fitted and looked. You adjust the size of the nappy by using poppers across the waist, and down each side on the front, so basically you can tighten it as much as you like around your baby's tummy, and adjust the rise of the nappy to suit your baby using the poppers on the front (this reduces the height of the nappy to get a more snug fit).

Once I had got the right fit on my daughter, it just looked so messy, there seemed to be a lot of excess material because the outer PUL is quite generous so once you downsize the nappy, it tends to have a scrunched up look, which isn't very pleasing to the eye! I also found that using just the large insert was not enough to contain my daughter's wee as efficiently as her other nappies do, so I had to use both inserts which made it quite bulky on her 9 month old bottom.

I cannot imagine this fitting nicely on an 8lb baby at all so I would be surprised if anyone uses these from birth.

So how does it wash? Well I've been using this for a year and it has been through the washing machine many many times, at 30, 40, 50 or 60 degrees and it has survived extremely well. The cover still looks the same as it did when I bought it, although the fleece inner is starting to bobble slightly. The inserts are now starting to have an 'off-white' look to them which really isn't a problem as this doesn't affect their absorbency, and they are still soft. I have never tumble dried them (I don't have a dryer) so they have always been dried on the line and the outer cover dries within an hour and the inserts obviously take longer but no more than a day, even when it's not sunny.

So, in conclusion I can say that this nappy serves its purpose because it contains both my daughter's 'movements' efficiently, it washes and dries well and doesn't deteriorate over time. However, I am not impressed with the style of the nappy or the way it looks, and I am glad I only bought one because it just does not suit my daughter's bottoms.

You can buy the Hip Hip Baby Wonderoo from www.kittykins.co.uk for £10.99, the inserts are available separately for £5.40 for the set, so that is £16.39 for one nappy...not cheap!

They are also available on Ebay for £12.95 complete with inserts.

So if you are planning on buying one, shop around and check they come provided with the inserts.

Summary: It's okay but not for my children