Biddykins All-In-One Cloth Nappies - A review of these Easy on & Easy Off cloth nappies

We are on to our second baby in cloth, and have been using cloth nappies for nearly 2 years now. I started with newborn cloth for Everly (she will be 2 in September) and went straight onto newborn cloth with Aaron (who is 5 months old now) and I’ve loved every single moment! We have used more disposables on Aaron than we did on Everly (mostly because #2under2 is no joke and traveling with two babies in nappies is just crazy), but Aaron is in cloth about 85% of the time, and Everly is in cloth 99% of the time when we are at home.

Here are my other posts on cloth nappies that you might enjoy reading, with a post on newborn cloth, how to wash cloth nappies, how I store dirty nappies and a detailed post on the nappies we used and loved for Everly over her nearly 2 years of being a cloth bum:

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While I was sent some of the AIO’s pictured here in this post, all thoughts and views on them are my own. I have spent thousands of rands of my own money on Biddykins throughout the past 2 year s(I also LOVE their pail liners to store dirty nappies in, and am a firm lover of their breast pads!) and so you can rest assured that although I was given the pretty nappies in this post, my review is 100% honest.

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I mainly used flats, pre-folds, fitteds and covers for both my babies until they fitted into their OSFM nappies (this was at about the 5 month mark with Everly and when we get back home next week I will start Aaron with them), and then I moved onto pockets, snap in ones (SIO) and my all time favourite nappies, all-in-ones (AIO’s).

While it’s really hard to recommend one type of nappy to anyone (this is mostly because each baby’s shape is different, their output is different and changes as they get older, if they are tummy sleepers, how sensitive their skin is, what climate you live in also affects how often you wash & dry nappies…the list goes on!) all in one nappies are a firm favourite for lots of moms because of how easy they are to use. While they don’t offer the most absorption (newborns wee A LOT and need to be changed more often than say a 5 month old because of how much and how often they wee) I loved using them on Everly from about month 6 - 9, and then again from about a year to now. All-in-one nappies are just what their name suggests, they have all their parts built into the nappy so there is no stuffing inserts like you do with pockets, no folding like flats, no added covers to put on…you literally just snap them on. They are the closest to disposable nappies and so Dad’s & Granny’s love them.

If all-in-ones are so amazing, why doesn’t everyone use them?

There are only really two downsides to AIO’s…they are the most expensive of cloth nappies, and they take a long time to dry.

You can’t stick them in the tumble dryer (although you can do this with some brands, always read the label!) but I often stick them in for about 20 minutes if I’m running out of nappies.

If you don’t have a budget, then drying time won’t be an issue for you as you can buy have enough to cover 2 - 3 days of wear and over wash day. I always recommend that people buy a variety of nappies when they get started, and to always have a few (3 - 5 is a nice amount) of AIO’s in your stash so you can get a feel for them. Also, as your baby becomes a toddler, they tend to use less and less nappies in they day, and then AIO’s are wonderful! They are also great for traveling and being out and about because they are so quick and easy to put on. Once you’ve given them a good try, then you can add more to your stash.

I wouldn’t personally recommend AIO’s for the newborn stage, simply because you go through nappies at such a rate, and getting a good fit around those skinny legs to prevent leaks is much easier to do with flat and covers. Also, as you can end up going through 10 - 15 nappies a day, it would cost you a small fortune to buy AIO’s that really would only last you a few months at most. That’s why I recommend buying OSFM (one-size-fits-most) all-in-one’s to use once your baby is about 5ish months old.

In terms of worrying about leaks…you can also add more inserts/flats to an all-in-one nappy to increase the absorption. Everly is now 22 months old and I mainly use AIO’s. I just pad fold a newborn sized hemp flat underneath the inserts for her nap time, as that’s when she really needs more of a boost to prevent leaks.

We have gone through our fair share of leaks with AIO’s, but this has mainly been due to not fitting the nappy properly, and then troubleshooting when she has increased her output during the day and over nap time. Both my babies have been medium to heavy wetters, and so we have definitely not been able to use AIO’s for nighttime. Everly is in all-in-ones 70-80% of the time during they day, with the other 20-30% of the time being in pockets as the covers dry super fast and I can tumble dry the inserts.

My favourite brand of All-in-one Nappies

My favourite brand of All-in-Ones are local South African label, Biddykins. I always rave about Biddykins to my friends because they are well priced, great quality, and the prints are AMAZING! I own about 10 girlie print pockets, and then about 10 girlie print AIO’s, and that’s not even counting Aaron’s collection!

Here are a few photos of Everly rocking her pretty Biddykins AIO nappies:

The Biddykins AIO’s have the following features:

• a tummy strip that help prevent moisture creep along the tummy.

• various insert layers, size and positioning are carefully researched to offer the best possible blend of absorbency AND trimness, ensuring that the inserts fit INSIDE the nappy, regardless of the size adjusted setting! Being custom designed, they are able to periodically tweak the size of the inserts slightly as they continue to work towards achieving the optimum combination of trimness & absorbency.

• a 5-layer bamboo blend top insert, which includes a suede-cloth "StayDry" layer, ensures baby feels dry and comfortable.

• a 4-layer bamboo pure lower insert ensures maximum absorption whilst remaining as trim as possible.

• the suede-cloth "StayDry" lining that continues right up to the back elastic not only keeps baby feeling dry, but also ensures that 'everything' is contained within the nappy.

Price wise, the plain one-coloured nappies are R130, standard prints are R140 and then there are a few special print nappies that are R150 each.

We love our all-in-one nappies, and I can’t wait to get out my boy stash for Aaron when we get back home to the farm next week. We’ve been using disposable nappies while traveling (one has to be practical sometimes), and I’ve missed my cloth SO much! If this sounds like a strange concept, I urge you to give cloth nappies a try. I am 100% sure you will become a #clothconvert in no time at all!

How I store dirty cloth nappies in between wash days

I’ve been using cloth nappies full time, right from newborn with my little girl (she’s 18 months old now) and now on my little boy (he’s 6 weeks old now) and I am often asked about the best way to keep/store dirty nappies if you’re not washing every day.

Most of the info out there recommends storing dirty cloth nappies in a basket/container with holes in it, as this gives the nappies air which, contrary to what you might think, makes them less smelly. I didn’t like the idea of having an open nappy bin, and so want to share what I use to store dirty nappies.

As I wash every second day, my dirty nappies aren’t left to get terribly smelly. I also rinse Everly’s night nappies straight away in hot water, and then leave these in a bucket next to the washing machine until wash day. So the nappies that go into the nappy bin are mostly wet (wee) nappies. For poo nappies, I ‘deposit’ the solids into the toilet (depending on just how ‘solid’ things are I may need to also rinse anything left behind off the nappy). I do this with a pair of gloves in the toilet. Then that nappy is either put in the bucket with her night nappies (if it was a shocker of a poo nappy) otherwise it goes into the nappy bin.

I wanted a nappy bin that looked nice in her nursery, and that’s where the Korbell Nappy Bin wins hands down. Even though it’s designed as a disposable nappy bin (and you use it with refillable nappy sack things) I just use it without them and use a washable pail liner from Biddykins instead. On wash day, I take out the pail liner full of nappies, and put everything into the washing machine (pail liner included).

I’ve got two pail liners for Everly…a pink one and a white one. So when one is in the wash, I alway have the other in the nappy bin.

I had planned on using Everly’s nappy bin for Aaron, but seeing as Everly is still in nappies (she is only 18 months), and the fact that newborns go through SOOOOO many nappies…they can’t practically share one bin. And so, I found another one second hand (I also bought Everly’s second hand) and then bought two more pail liners for Aaron’s bin…a blue and a grey one. If you’re wondering where to look for second hand baby items, I’ve always had great luck with Facebook marketplace!

I have yet to have any stink issues when using this nappy bin to store dirty nappies, but if you aren’t able to wash every day/every second day, then it might be a different story. When we go away, I generally wash every day as I don’t take ALL our nappies with us, and then I often just use an ordinary bucket. And I have to say, even though the bucket has no lid, it’s not very smelly either. So you could use something similar. I have been told a laundry basket (the ones with the holes in the sides) works well too, and it’s been said that you can add a few drops of tea tree oil on a face cloth and pop that in the nappy bin to help with the smell.

What have you found works best for you when it comes to storing your dirty nappies? Let me know in the comments below!

An ode to cloth nappies - sharing the love for modern day cloth

My oh my we have come a loooooonnnng way in our cloth nappy journey. I mean look at how teeny tiny Everly was when we first started. I am very proud to say that we have officially made it to this point, doing cloth full time (not an easy feat!) and we have loved (just about!) every moment of it.

Today I’d like to share more on our cloth journey, along with what brands and types of nappies we love, the ones that worked for us in the beginning, and what works for us now. I’m also always SO happy to answer questions, so please feel free to fire away in the comments section below.

The majority of my nappies have come from wonderful local South African businesses, how amazing is that! While a lot of the fancy brands are from overseas, we have incredibly talented ladies like Kerryn from Pokkelokkie who HANDMAKE their own nappies. Pokkelokkie are hands down my favourite brand for hemp flats, and are worth every cent! I’ve used Kerry'n’s newborn hemp flats right from newborn to toddler, as I now use them to boost absorbency in my other nappies.

Newborn - the first few weeks & months:

We mostly used flats and covers (click here for a full post on newborn cloth) for the newborn phase, until she was able to fit into the OSFM (One Size Fits Most size which is the next sizing in cloth nappies). There are basically just two sizes you need to worry about with cloth nappies (Newborn & OSFM) as most toddlers are out of nappies by the time their OSFM stop fitting. But, a lot of brands do make larger sizes for bigger & older toddlers too. I also had a small selection of bamboo fitteds and then my mom also helped me DIY our own flats and pre-folds that we made from cotton receiving blankets

For night time we used pretty much what we were using during the day (flat and covers). Newborns really do go through a lot of nappies, and we ended up changing every 1.5 - 2 hours on some days. Everly was a wonderful sleeper right from the very beginning, sleeping up to 3 hours at a time during the day between feeds, and generally 5 - 7 hours at a time at night (please can her little brother be like this too!!!) but this did mean that her night time nappies really needed to be able to hold up for those long stretches. I would use two hemp flats folded together in origami fold, with a bamboo booster at night, and then a cover.

Here are the types and brands we used (I’m linking to the online stores where you can buy them too…although I can see that some of these particular styles from certain brand are no longer in their stores):

• Pokkelokkie Hemp Flats - the blue one below

• Mini Matters Newborn Pre-folds - the brown one below

• Fleece Covers (I bought some ‘pre-loved’ aka second hand, and some new from Pokkelokkie) - the pink one with the pugs on it

• Biddykins Newborn Covers & Bambino Mio Newborn Covers - the mint cover below

• Little Lamb Bamboo Fitteds - fluffy white one below. I bought mine overseas and had family bring them for me, but I’ve linked up an online store here in SA where you can buy them.

+/-Month 4 - 11

Once Everly got to be about 6kgs, she was finally able to fit (sort of) into the ‘easier’ types of nappies. I say easier, as pockets and AIO (All in One’s) don’t require any folding, you just put them on the same way you would put on a disposable and you’re good to go. We used a mixture of pockets and AIO’s, and then still used flats and covers too.

For nighttime, I found pockets and AIO’s weren’t absorbent enough, and so alternated between flats and covers, and Little Lamb Bamboo Fitteds with a cover.

• Pockets - a mixture of pre-loved Charlie Banana pockets which were sent to me by a friend in the US and then new Biddykins pockets. I was able to use a microfibre inserts in her pockets until about 5/6 months, after which I had to add a bamboo with the microfibre for more absorbancy. At around 8 months I got rid of the microfibre completely and boosted her pockets with a bamboo and a hemp insert. My bamboo inserts are from Little Lambs and the hemp inserts are from Biddykins.

• AIO’s - a mixture from Biddykins and Pipapo

• Hemp Flats - a mixture bought preloved & new in medium size (60cm x 60cm) from SugaBums & Fluff & Stuff

• Covers: Buttons & Blueberry Coveralls (bought overseas but I have linked to South African stores where you can get your hands on them)

I do have a good giggle when I see how big some of the nappies look on Everly in the photos below. It can be a bit of a struggle getting a good fit when their legs are so teeny tiny, but (apart from the Charlie Banana pockets) she is still wearing the nappies pictured below today (almost a year later!).

A year on and still going strong

Once Everly got to be about a year, her ‘output’ increased drastically, and I found I needed to boost all of her nappies a lot. I also started changing her before every nap, as well as changing after her naps.

I still use a bamboo with a hemp insert with her pockets, and sometimes boost her AIO’s with either a pad folded hemp flat, or a hemp/bamboo insert.

Now her stash is mostly made up of pockets, SIO (Snap in One’s) and AIO’s for daytime, and then for night time I use a mixture of hemp flats, pre-folds and bamboo fitteds. I was using Little Lamb Bamboo Fitteds, but found that they weren’t holding up very well and I was getting leaks. There are loads of great tips for troubleshooting leaks, but I found that I was having to boost the nappy so much that it was just so big and bulky, that her covers wouldn’t fit properly and thats why I was getting leaks. But we used these Little Lamb fitteds from about 8 months to now. I have been using the same 3 Blueberry waterproof covers since newborn to now, they are my absolute favourite covers, with soft elastic at the legs, and a double gusset to prevent leaks.

Everly’s Daytime Nappies:

• Her stash of AIO’s are from Biddykins:

• Her stash of Pockets are a mixture of Biddykins & Alva (which I bought online in the UK from FillYourPants. I stuff her pockets with a Biddykins Hemp Insert and a Little Lamb Bamboo Insert.

• She has a mixture of SIO’s (Snap In One’s) or All-In-Two’s from Grovia (which you will soon be able to buy from Biddykins) these are the purple and pink ones below, and I love the Grovia O.N.E.’s. She also has two very special Kylie Co nappies (the floral and white woodland one below), and she also has a couple of Buttons covers and inserts:

Everly’s Nightime Nappies

• I have two winged Hemp Pre-folds from Kanini. These are the grey ones below. I boost these with a Pokkelokkie newborn hemp flat (these are the same ones I used on Everly when she was a newborn…you really will use your newborn flats all throughout your cloth journey!) which I fold in three, and then a LittleLamb Bamboo Insert.

• I have 2 Bamboo Fitteds from Sloomb that we only recently got to add to her stash. I got these from a Canadian site called Lagoon Baby and had family bring them over.

• I have 3 waterproof covers from Blueberry (these are the same ones I used on Everly when she was teeny tiny…they are well worth the price!) but you can also buy lovely covers from Biddykins.

• Snappies to fasten nappies (I bought most of my Snappies from Pep).
  

And now for some incredibly cute on the bum shots:

My stash has changed a lot over the past 16 months, and I’m glad I took everyones advice when I started down this path, and that was not to buy all of the same brand/type before baby arrived. I was advised to build up a variety of brands and types, so that I could see what fitted baby the best, as well as what styles I preferred to use. I had family visit the UK just before Everly arrived, and that’s where I bought a lot of my ‘fancier’ overseas brands to try out. Cloth nappies can be as cheap or as expensive as make them, and trust me when I say it becomes addictive! I also bought a variety of nappies pre-loved (second hand) from the South African Cloth Diaper Buy/Sell/Trade Facebook group. This is an excellent place to start looking and building up your stash because you can get some great deals on nappies that people bought but didn’t end up using/didn’t work for them.

I also HIGHLY recommend browsing through the South African Cloth Nappy Users website, as they have everything you need to know about where to start with cloth nappies, how to troubleshoot problems you may experiece along the way, as well as loads of info on all things cloth.

Here are all my posts on cloth nappies (including how to do newborn cloth and what we used, as well as how to wash your nappies).

Let me know if you have any questions at all…I really am passionate about cloth and love sharing what I’ve learned with people.

{2018} 8th Annual Flats and Handwashing Cloth Nappy Challenge

Hello, my name is Roxy and I'm a cloth nappy mommy!

My little girl, Everly Rose, is just over 8 months old, and from the day we brought her home from the hospital, we have been using cloth nappies (or cloth diapers for my US friends).

There are lots of reasons why I decided to go the cloth nappy route:

• The Environment: living out on a farm means there is very limited access to proper waste disposal. Everything gets burned or buried, and considering a disposable nappy takes 200 to 500 years to decompose (eeeeek!) you can imagine just how bad that is for our environment
• The Challenge: I love a challenge, and felt even more determined to do cloth nappies full time after a number of people rolled their eyes at my decision, saying 'we'll see how long that lasts'. Haha, call me stubborn, but I was determined to prove them wrong, and here we are, 8 months later and still going strong!
• Cost Effectiveness: cloth nappies, because they are re-useable, cloth nappies can and will save you money. Of course, this does depend on just how cloth crazy you get when it comes to the prints and designs you can buy. Also, if you use your cloth on more than one baby, the savings are huge! And even when you factor in the cost of washing nappies in your washing machine (electricity, water, washing powder etc) you can and should still be saving when it comes to nappies. 
• Cuteness: cloth bums are just soooo cute! There are some incredible designs and prints out there, and it's no secret that cloth nappies can become very addictive. I laughed when I first heard someone say this, but let me tell you, it IS addictive!

Here are some of the other blog posts I've written on cloth nappies:

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Tomorrow marks the start of the annual Flats & Handwashing Cloth Nappy Challenge hosted by Jenny over at Cloth Diaper Revival.

For seven days I will be using just flats & Covers, and handwashing them to get them clean. No modern cloth diapers, no washing machines and no tumbledryers. Just simple, affordable cloth diapering!

Although Jenny is based in the US, there are a number of us here in South Africa (like Marisa & Gerda over at Hippie Safari) who are taking part in this fun challenge.

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For those of you wondering what on earth the flats challenge is all about, here is some more info for you:

Kim at Dirty Diaper Laundry founded the Flats and Handwashing Challenge eight years ago as a way to bring awareness that cloth diapers are a valid option for families in need, struggling to provide diapers for their baby. 

"Our aim is not to say that every poor family facing the supremely difficult choice of buying diapers or food should use cloth diapers. That would be short-sighted of us to think it's an answer for every family. The flats challenge is a way to show that for families willing and able, babies can be diapered for less than $100 or even $50 and without owning a washing machine. It is a viable option for families who are in homes without washing machines and an effective one." ~Kim Rosas, Dirty Diaper Laundry

Why Flats?

• Flat cloth nappies are inexpensive. They are the most affordable nappy option, selling for around R50 - R80 depending in the type of fabric when bought new or they can be DIY-ed for free using almost any excess material (receiving blankets, t-shirts, old onesies, terry towels etc.) found in your home.
• Flat cloth nappies are easy to care for. With only one layer of fabric, flats are easy to handwash and quick to dry! Even the smallest stash of flat cloth nappies work well as they only take a few hours to dry in the warm sun or overnight indoors.
• Flat cloth nappies are easily accessible. Flats can be found in your local online cloth nappy store (my favourite being Pokkelokkie 's selection of hemp flats). A DIY project to create your own flats stash can be completed in minutes using materials found around your home.

While modern cloth nappies, like pockets and all-in-ones, are excellent diapering options, the simplicity of flats is something to fall in love with. I have quite the varied cloth nappy stash, but from the newborn stage, I've always been a fan of flats. I started by making my own flats out of cut-up receiving blankets, and then slowly started adding hemp flats to my stash. Here are some photos of newborn Everly wearing a hemp flat (left) and a homemade recieving blanket flat on the right.

I also own a number of cotton flats, but I have to say that hemp are the trimmest, and are definitely the quickest to dry. I also love using two hemp flats folded together for night time, and they last a full 12 hours without any leaks!

It's my hope that this challenge inspires you to give flat nappies a try, and that it shows families out there that flats and handwashing are viable, affordable, full time solutions for diapering your baby. And if flats aren't for you (maybe you find the idea of folding too daunting) that maybe you are still up for giving modern day cloth nappies a try for your little one.

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Flats and Handwashing Challenge Rules

Materials Allowed

• Any flat cloth nappy, store bought or handmade. A flat is defined as 1 single layer of material for easier handwashing and drying
• One nighttime diaper of your choice, although it is preferred that you make flats work for nights. This nappy must be handwashed
• Doublers (not inserts meant to be absorbent enough to stand alone) if absolutely necessary
• Nappy Sprayer
• Wet bags/Pails
• Handmade washing machine, such as a camp style washer
• Non-electric portable washing machine 
• Waterproof covers, store bought or handmade
• Detergents, store bought or handmade
• Snappi, Boingo, or diaper pins
• Pocket diapers stuffed with FLAT DIAPERS
• Fleece liners, store bought or handmade
• Iron to expedite drying or sterilizing diapers

Materials NOT Allowed

• Washing machine or dryer
• Pockets with inserts other than flats, AIOs, Fitteds, Prefolds, AI2s, etc.
• Flushable liners

Rules for Everyone

• You cannot use your washer/dryer.
• If something comes up and you must make an exception, you must disclose this in the Conclusion Survey or on your blog if you are a blogger.
• There is no limit on the number or flats/covers you can use. However, a reasonable amount is preferred (no more than enough for a day or two of cloth diapering).

If you'd like to follow along on social media, you can find all the posts related to the challenge under the #flatschallenge and #bringingflatsback hashtags. I'm going to attempt to blog everyday during this challenge, and will be sharing with you how I'm finding it as well as any tips and things I learn along the way. Armed with some snappies, a bucket and a plunger, I'm quite excited (but also nervous!) to start tomorrow!

See you soon!

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