Lil Helper Diapers: a review

I was given some really nice cloth diapers to try out. And I'm supposed to write a little review about them on the blog. Like I'm a real blogger or something! I didn't lie about hoards of followers or anything, just had a connection through a relative. So I found myself with 3 brand new all-in-one lil helper diapers.

I've been using them for several weeks now and they are pretty great. My own diaper stash doesn't contain anything nearly so premium so I'm not sure how fair a comparison I can make. All I know is they are pretty awesome.

First off all-in-one is crazy nice. It's an expensive route to go but wow - if I had more of these I would use cloth diapers even for big day trips and the like where I usually turn to disposables. But they don't have long drying times like I had imagined all-in-ones to have because each has 2 snap in liners so once they're pulled apart they dry super fast. And putting them together is a breeze. Putting together my pocket diapers is a nightmare in comparison. (I have mostly homemade Rita's Rump Pocket Diapers which I love for their ease of making, cheapness, excellent absorbancy, fast drying times, and true "one size fits all" capability but I hate stuffing them.)

The lil helper absorbancy is pretty great. We are not frequent diaper changers around here. I figure as long as there's no poo, no rash, no leaks, and he's not complaining why would I change it. In fact we often go through just 4 cloth diapers during the day even now he's big and drinks a lot. And while the lil helpers maybe don't quite match the absorbancy of a pocket stuffed with a flat, they are definitely good enough for our lazy schedule.

And I had heard that all in ones are not as good at keeping in the poo as a separate cover. Since Henry spends most of the day sipping on fruit and veg packed smoothies, his poo is very similar in consistency to that runny newborn poo that is famous for diaper "blowouts". However since Henry is getting close to 2 years old now his poos are much much bigger. And I would say that technically the all-in-ones don't hold it in quite as well but the difference is very small and in my opinion not worth giving up the convenience and quick changes that all-in-ones offer. Even in the lil helpers, the poo has never reached his clothing in the past several weeks that I've been using them.

So the lil helper diapers are pretty great. I'm not sure if there are any more in my future. I'm not going to pretend I can't afford them. That is one of my big pet peeves - people complaining that they can't afford something when clearly they can, they just want to spend their money on something else. I particularly hate it when the person in question is wearing a giant diamond engagement ring while complaining of money woes, I have always been happy with my teensy ring so I feel justified in being judgemental in this one area.

So I think I'd rather spend my money on something else right now, maybe I will treat myself to a few more lil helper diapers when baby #2 comes along or something.

And as cute as Henry's bum is, I thought I'd add on a couple pictures that feature his sweet face. Here are some of the cute things Henry's been up to in the past few days.

Taking his trains for a ride (see they're resting on the steering wheel).

Making giant lego "trains" with Daddy.

Cloth Diapers

I know when I was trying to get our cloth diaper stash ready before Henry was born I read and read and read all over the internet to try and figure out what was the best way to do it. So now I thought I'd write just a little about what I've learned.

We took a little hiatus from cloth diapers at the end of the winter but I'm glad to say we are back to using cloth almost all the time now. We use disposables when we are out visiting and we use one overnight diposable each night to keep Henry's bum nice and dry while he sleeps. But other than that we are back to cloth.


In the past week I made 10 new cloth diapers in an effort to get Kevin and I jazzed about cloth diapering again. I made these a little different than most of the ones I had made previously because now I know better what I like.

I still used the free Rita's Rump Pocket pattern but this time I sewed the absorbant stuff in instead of leaving it open for stuffing. Leaving it open did really make it size adjustable - they really did fit him when he was just a few weeks old and still fit him now. But having to stuff them before you use them is annoying and taking the stuffing out when the diaper is soiled is annoying and gross. Also, even with the stuffing out, the diapers take quite a while to dry in the dryer because of the elasticated leg openings so I would hang them to dry anyway.

I also picked light coloured fabrics for making the diapers. I've learned they make it easier to peek and see if the diaper is dirty while Henry is wearing it.

Here is Henry in the wool diaper cover shorts that I knit him last May. I use wool covers occasionally but much prefer the storebought plastic covers. And we've been happy with the cheap Kushies brand covers.


So we are using mostly the stuffed pocket diapers with pins and plastic covers. We have some cheap all in ones that I use because they're easy but he almost always ends up getting damp pants when wearing those. And now that he's having big boy poos I like our diaper sprayer attached to the toilet for getting rid of that poop before putting to be washed. But even with the sprayer that bit is pretty gross.

In other news Henry is eating quite well these days after going through a couple months during which he refused almost all food and only wanted to nurse. He will usually eat some of what we are eating. Some of his new favourite foods are plain chickpeas, pasta, and strawberries. I think his favourite is still banana though and he says " 'nana" whenever he sees one.