I have become a woman obsessed with nappy wraps. I try to engage other real nappy users in lengthy and dull conversations about them and the prefold vs all-in-one debate can keep me ranting for hours. The reason behind this is that my small boy, who used to wear the tiniest wraps on the tightest setting, is now a big chunky thumping lad who has just graduated to the heady world of medium size. So it was a slightly tearful farewell to hired wraps (how could he be that small once?), and a leap into the harsh reality of buying wraps.
Diaperaps and Proraps are pretty much the same thing, thick waterproof fabric with leg gussets. Although these never leaked with us until they got too small I found the gussets tricky to keep clean.
The Junior Joy wrap is plain white with leg gussets. It seemed a bit stiff at the top and I was reluctant to try it at first but now it is a definite contender for my favourite wrap. I like it because it fits high up on the waist and the gussets are deep and make a good holder for a prefold. It also wins the stickiest velcro competition.
Cotton Bottoms or Bummis are lovely because they come in colourful prints and they are virtually indestructible. They have a flap to tuck the prefold into and fold back tabs for fluff free washing. They work fine without gussets but the small size started to leak on my small when he weighed 12lbs.
Top of the wraps for me, and the hired wrap I really didn’t want to give back, is the Motherese whale print. It has a deep velcro strip, gussets and a flap at the front to hold the prefold in place. It is the lightest and softest in my collection, it never yet leaked and it didn’t complain when it accidentally got washed at 60 degrees with coloureds. Motherese saved me the trouble of ruining my own whites by making the wrap the muggy colour that I get whenever a white thing enters my house what a timesaver! Typically this is the most expensive wrap but I think it’s worth the extra.
New on the scene is the Nature Babies multisized poppered wrap. This is a very clever idea; one set of poppers shortens the wrap for smaller babies and 3 settings of poppers on the waist make it very flexible in terms of fit, which in turn makes it a good value wrap. It is very soft and comes in lovely bright patterns and colours. Admittedly I am a big velcro fan and was slightly biased against this wrap before I tried it. I did find the poppers fiddly, but it didn’t leak and the small boy didn’t object at all so I assume it was pretty comfortable. I also found it difficult to wash.
I have discovered that the more the merrier when it comes to wraps. I have a collection of about 15 now and I do a wash every other day. Having more means that I can keep the changing bag stocked up with nappies ready made up and I win races against disposable users in changing rooms. I like to use a variety of wraps to prevent rubbing my sons legs in the same place all the time. He lets me know quite audibly when he wants me to use a different type.
The medium size of wraps should last some time, so reluctantly I have to stop buying the things until he grows out of them.
Please feel free to add to the reviews in the comments section below.
copyright Lisa Cole www.lactivist.co.uk 2005
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