Stroller Blanket From Nikki's Little House - Review

Nikki's Little House sells all kinds of fabulous products, from cloth diapers to Melissa & Doug toys.  Nikki also has a Hyenacart store where she sells her hand made items.  You may or may not remember the custom Birthday Monster shirt and I Heart Dad shirts she made for me.

I had been eying her stroller blankets for a while, and when the monster print was on sale for $15 (regularly $20), I grabbed it!



It even has loops to attach toys for little ones!



The blanket snaps on to the stroller to keep it securely attached.  When my daughter was little, I ran over her blanket many times, and occasionally she'd toss it out without my noticing. That would mean backtracking my 4 mile loop to find it!



The blanket snaps at the bottom to form a boot to cover tootsies.



You can also use it unsnapped for bigger kids.

The blanket I bought is a super cute monster print on the front, with green trim and backing.



Here it is all snapped to the stroller:



Here you can see how the "boot" covers the foot thingie on the stroller.



I'm able to take my son out for a walk and have him tucked in snugly the whole time!  The blanket is very well made and nice and soft and thick!

I am getting ready to order new I heart Dad shirts for both kids, my daughter wanted to wear them to pick up Daddy from the airport (business trip), and she was sad that she & her brother both were outgrowing them!

FTC Compliance: I paid normal retail price for this item.  I was not compensated for this post, and all opinions are my own.

Designs by Cace Pocket Diaper Tester Review

I reviewed a Designs by Cace all-in-one diaper last year, during my "year of fluff" event.  One thing I had mentioned was that a "heavy wetter" style diaper would be a nice option.  Sara at Designs by Cace decided to test a brand new pocket diaper pattern, to make absorbency customizable for heavier wetters.
 

 
Keep in mind that this is a tester diaper, and changes and improvements will be made based on tester feedback!
 

The diaper looks very much like the AIO, with aplix closures and laundry tabs.

Except of course, it has a pocket opening rather than a sewn in soaker.




The medium is estimated to fit 10-22 pounds.  My son is about 21 pounds and he's definitely getting close to outgrowing the diaper, but he still has some room.





It took me a while to get my feedback to Sara.  I generally get a diaper, wash it once, then use and wash it at least 3-4 times before providing feedback.  Well...  The first three times I put the diaper on my son, he pooped in it almost immediately!  I joke about him and pretty new white diapers, since he always seems to do that.  Never three times though!  Maybe the super soft inner relaxed him, I don't know, ha ha! 

In any case, I was finally able to give it some really good use, and it has been washed 7+ times.  Sara included a microfiber towel to use in the pocket; she is planning on making inserts for the diapers, but wanted to focus on the diapers for now.  The last time I used the diaper, the towel was pretty soaked, and I had a little bit of wicking at one of the legs.  I think this could be corrected by using an insert in the pocket, and I'm going to try stuffing it with one of my spare inserts next!  I'm looking forward to seeing photos of round two testers or the final product!

DBC sells her AIOs from $9 (smalls) to $15 (large prints) and I'd expect the pockets to be fairly similarly priced.  Designs by Cace diapers are a great value and are work-at-home-mom made!

FTC compliance: I was not compensated for this post and all opinions are my own.

Heartland Dreams One Size Pocket Diaper (Tester) Review!

 

I've had my Heartland Dreams Fitted for about 10 months.  Fitteds aren't my favorite, but Heartland Dreams (HD from here on out for lazy me) were recommended to me as an very absorbent fitted, and I turned to fitteds and wool when my son was a night time super soaker!
 
As it turns out, HD aren't just absorbent, they are incredibly well made as well.  I love a lot of work at home mom (WAHM) made diapers, but HD are amazing.
 

I found out that Heartland Dreams was working on a one-size pocket diaper (my favorite!), and I got a little excited.  I put myself in the running to be a tester, and crossed my fingers and toes.  For those who aren't familiar with "testers," usually a diaper maker will try their diapers on their own children, and babies that belong to their friends and family, then make tweaks to their pattern.  Prior to selling for the first time, trying a new pattern, style or making tweaks to an existing one, they usually want them tested on lots of different age, size and shape babies.
 
If someone is brand new to making diapers, they may offer the tester diapers free for the cost of shipping, or the cost of shipping + materials.  Prices vary based on where they are in the testing phase, and typically when a known diaper maker is just tweaking a product they've been selling, testers may just receive a small discount, or coupon for their next order, in exchange for their feedback.
 

I was excited when I found out I was one of 6 randomly chosen testers!  We didn't get to choose our colors, but I actually received the diaper that I liked best out of the pre-made tester diapers.
 

Heartland Dreams is great to test for because she is truly looking for feedback, including constructive criticism.  She's not just looking for pats on the back about how great her diapers are (even though they are.)
 

 
The pocket diapers are one-size via a snap down rise, and have a 4th setting to fit extra-small babies.  I do not know the estimated weight range for these diapers.  Rather than just arbitrarily say they fit 8-35 lbs (or whatever) Tina will probably compile tester feedback to set the estimated weight range.
 

 
The diaper has snap closures, one row of snaps with 2 snaps on each wing, and two snap overlaps.
 

The stay dry inner is buttery soft, and has stayed soft after several washes.
 

The pocket opening is in the front of the diaper, and there is a flap to completely cover the insert, and prevent wicking.
 


I received both an organic insert and a microfiber insert (which are both made by HD).  The organic insert is super soft, and is pre-washed three times, so you can use it right away (it will continue to gain absorbency as you wash it.)
 


The microfiber insert has snaps to adjust the size and keep it secure.  I love this!  Not many diapers have this feature, which makes it much easier to stuff the diaper.

When I was taking pictures of this diaper, my husband said "someone MADE that?!"  OK, I'm quoting, but paraphrasing a little.  He might have said "THAT's homeMADE?"  In any case, it was said in an incredulous tone!

I'm pretty sure Tina isn't a robot or a machine (LOL) but her stitching is so even and neat, it puts most commercially made diapers to shame. The first two pictures are of stitching along elastic, so any unevenness is because the elastic is gathered. I couldn't keep it stretched and take a picture at the same time. A third hand would come in very handy at times like these. Har har.

Here's the diaper on the smallest (extra-small) setting both folded and stretched:

Small:

Medium:

Large:

My son is around 21 pounds, and wears the medium setting of most one-size diapers, so that's what I put on him.  I tried it with the microfiber insert first. 





The diaper is cut with an intentionally narrow crotch, so it's very trim.  This is of course one reason Tina was testing the diaper, to make sure it still provided enough coverage for larger babies.



Even with the organic insert, it was still very trim, and also very absorbent.  Some people say they don't have to unstuff their pocket diapers before washing.  For me, they just end up bunched up at the bottom of the diaper, unless they have openings on both ends.  So, when Tina asked testers to indicate if the insert would agitate out in the wash, either as is, or with the flap flipped up, I tried it just to humor her.  To my surprise, both inserts agitated out completely without unstuffing!

Prices haven't been set for the diapers and inserts yet, that's another reason for diaper testing, so the testers can give feedback on what they think a fair price would be.


FTC compliance: I paid the normal tester price for this diaper, I was not compensated for this post, and all opinions are my own.