Charlie Banana Review

Nappy Review

Charlie Banana Sized Nappy

Fluffy mail has arrived from Fill Your Pants in the form of a Charlie Banana sized nappy.

 

Price
£10.99 from fillyourpants


Style
Charlie Banana nappies use a new innovative system. They are pocket nappies with incredibly soft inserts but also can be used with disposable inserts that slip into the pocket flap of the nappy.

Drying Time
The outer shell of the nappy dried reasonable quickly, the inserts are removed to dry and needed to be left over night in a warm room which is standard for any pocket nappy inserts. Come the summer these nappies and inserts will be dry on the line in a matter of hours.

Absorbency
Re-usable Inserts
The 2 micro fibre inserts were reliably absorbent. Even using the 2 together I was able to dress Elsie in her normal clothes and they didn't appear to make her bum too big.
Disposable Inserts
We trialled the disposable inserts several times and were pleasantly surprised to discover they easily contained everything and Elsie and no reaction to the inserts.


Containment
Amazing.
Re-Usable inserts
No leaks at all.

Disposable inserts
We experienced no leaks - we trialled the disposable inserts on a long car journey and the compression did not make the nappy leak at all.


Fit
The nappy was a lovely fit on Elsie who has a smaller waist in relation to chunkier thighs. Even though she is at the top of the weight range for this sized nappy I believe she has a good few months left of this one.

Overall Rating
9.5/10


Our little fluffy dumplings say "reliable work horse nappy".

Reviewed by Fluffydumpings Sarah mum to Elsie .
Other products and nappies are available over at Fill Your Nursery

An update on our fleece liners

I have only cut and Elsie has sampled one fleece liner at a time. This way I am adjusting the size and shape of each liner to hopefully get the perfect fit.

I think we are nearly there!

The prototypes have been through the wash and have washed amazingly well so I am pleased with out little project.

I now have quite a few liners that don't quite meet my standards though - I wonder if I can make use of them somehow?

I ask on a cloth mummy group what people would use fleece for other then liners and have had an amazing response.

So out of my imperfect liners I now have - face cloths, soft cloths for sore noses, wipes, and cloths for getting talc into any chubby creases after bath time.

How we made our fleece liners

Well as promised I made some!

It started late last night - too late to be honest, I had one child that wouldn't sleep and a baby screaming with teething pain whilst an over worked husband was still at work. 

At 10.00pm when everything was quiet I took out the kit I needed to make the liners.

What you don't think I should be making it from the couch? No me neither, but needs must when a poorly baby is sleeping at the other end!

As you can see I have a mix of thick cardboard and the back of a cereal packet. I only have sharp scissors no fancy cutting tools and I used a normal pocket nappy to roughly estimate the length and width of the liners.

 

 

 

 

So as you can see a long, wide fairly plain shaped fleece liner. I have rounded the ends just to add interest - I don't see any need for it.

 

I do love the Valentine themed material.

 

This is what they look like inside a fitted nappy

 

 

I love how this looks. Yes I am probably biased but it has made me smile putting this on Elsie's bottom today.

 

As you could have predicted Elsie pooped in it within minutes! So after removing the nappy I noticed how the liner had bunched up and a lot of the poop was folded in between the liner and the nappy. I needed shape the liner so where it curls around the legs the fleece doesn't bunch up.

 

Time for version 2

 

 

 

This has a shaped area around the legs. Lets see if it bunches up inside the nappy.

 

 

 

 

 Here it looks like the shaped area is too nappy once laid on the nappy. We shall have to see how it goes once its worn.


I shall let you know later how it goes.

Today I making fleece liners

Now I haves lovely sewing machine that sits on my kitchen table. It looks great it really does. I have even a box of material and much needed sewing bits and bobs sitting in a very pretty box under the table. The problem is since first discovering I have the inability to sew a straight line immediately I have been put off. With a child and a baby I struggled to find more then 5 minutes at a time to sit down.

However, I am back into cloth in a big way and determined to start making some fleece liners aas  gentle introduction.

Fleece is supposed to be a doddle as it doesn't fray so doesn't really even need sewing. But nice neat edges are preferable for me personally. Having said that I didn't even realise until informed today that a polyester blanket bought on the high street this morning is the same as fleece. Don't be foole do to thinking I am an expert on this matter.

So whilst Elsie is sleeping at some point today I shall cut out a template for my liners (possible even out the back of a cereal packet) and start cutting with my shiny new pinking shears.

Photos and an update will follow.

Feeling the love... ditching the disposable

I have to admit I have had our fair share of ups and downs with out cloth nappies.

In the beginning none of our birth to potty nappies fitted properly and I couldn't work out why. It turns out birth actually meant approximately 10 lb so we had to wait a month or two.
As Elsie got older they fitted better for a while then as I added an additional insert started to leak again. It turns out I was over stuffing them so pulling the nappy away from the legs.
In time we moved on to cloth at night but had awful nappy rash from wearing fitteds (who knew the importance of fleece liners), leaks from using wool and fleece wraps (Elsie didn't move enough) and dreadful marks on her thighs from the tight elastic in the nappy wraps.
It has taken time to rectify all the above and we have made several duff purchases that we need to sell on preloved boards that will be better suited to other babies. At times I have wanted to give up. We have bought ridiculously expensive yet awful preloved nappies. The sort that you don't even want to wash just chuck straight in the bin. We have bought numerous types of the same style and then realised they just don't work for us. We have not bought enough of the same style of those that do work for us.

With just a few nappies left to sell that no longer fit or work as well for us so I can build up my fitted stash I am quietly confident (and a little smug) that I don't have to sneak a packet of disposables into my shopping trolley anymore!

New Year New Nappy

Well its been a long time coming. I am not quite sure what happened over the past few months but between children and illness I have severely neglected this little old blog.
A New Years Resolution - to get Elsie back into cloth nappies. Yes I loath to admit but the disposable has become a constant feature here. I have plenty of excuses - teething poops, bad nappy rash, not enough nappies, nappies not drying quick enough, not being well enough to physically do the washing etc but I really dislike using them and want to get back in to the beloved cloth. First thing I need to do us order some nappy liners - disposable and fleece. I know I could make my own fleece but at this rate she will be school before I did that! I also need to sell on some of our beloved pockets because as much as I love the ease of them I can't deny a good fitted and funky wrap are my favourite nappies!

Just another cold....

Well I have a poorly baby Elsie again. So far its just another cold, I am praying it does not turn into yet another chest  infection. I think 5 or so this year is quite enough for a 10 month old baby girl.

So how does this affect our lives...? Well I am up all night nursing a poorly Elsie, and this time I don't mean breastfeeding as she hasn't been able to feed because she cant not breathe at all through her nose. So this morning I am tired and also full. Full to the brim, with no easy way of expressing due to my very expensive breast pump breaking within weeks of purchasing it and I foolishly did not keep a receipt.

Elsie is obviously very tired also and after the school run slept for three hours on my chest. I didn't dare put her down and to be honest was to tired to bother myself. Thankfully the TV remote was in reach and I watched a range of day time TV instead. So please excuse me if I lose myself in this post as I am pretty sure it rotted a few dozen brain cells.



This afternoon when I should be preparing dinner. I have convinced myself I can be a housewife and mum from the 50's who will have a freshly prepared dinner on the table for the whole family every evening. Hubby can come home from work, kiss the family and sit down to a hearty dinner. Well that is the theory anyway. How did women run house and home so well back then? My house is a mess and veg is often left rotting in the fridge at the end of the week because for one reason or another at least 2 of the planned meals don't get done.

Elsie is back in disposable nappies again - the effect of medicine on her delicate stomach means I don't have enough cloth nappies to last. I would be doing 2 washes a day and that's not happening.

Its Elsie's christening on Sunday. Please God let her be well for it and be able to enjoy her special day.