Softbums Review

Basic Information:
SoftBums are a one-size diaper system. This is an all-in-two diaper system, which means that they have a waterproof shell and snap-in inserts.  This allows you to reuse the shell after the insert has gotten dirty. The basic inserts are made of layers of micro-terry and one layer of micro-fleece. The outer shell is PUL and the inner part of the shell is micro-fleece. The basic pack includes a bamboo doubler which can also be used as the insert for newborns. It is elasticized across the back and along the thigh areas. It is currently available in 9 colors and 1 print (as of 01/2010). It has hook and tabs to easily adjust around baby’s waist. Before laundering, press the tabs to the inner laundry tabs. Snap waists are now available.

How it works:
They have adjustable leg elastic allowing you to make the diaper larger or smaller (from 2”-14”) based on your child’s size. There are snuggers on the elastic that allows you to adjust the leg area, stored between the outer PUL layer and the inner microfleece layer.

There is one snap on the inner part near the back of the diaper where you snap-in the insert. The insert is very long, so you fold it over when you are putting diaper on baby. When the diaper is wet, you simply unsnap the insert and snap-in a new one. The company recommends having 3 inserts per cover. In our experience, you need to let the cover dry out before using it again, the fleece lining gets damp. For extra absorbency, you can add a hemp doubler-we do this at night.

Price:
The basic pack is $36.95 for a single shell, 3 inserts, and a doubler. Bamboo inserts can be substituted for an additional cost. Packages are available which discounts the price per unit.

Our Experience:
We bought these diapers to be our main diapering system before our daughter was born. We bought the Perfect Fit Good Package which comes with 8 covers, 24 inserts, and 8 doublers. We didn’t start using the diapers until she was about 3 weeks old (about 8.5 lbs). She was 7 lbs at birth and using the regular insert made it just too bulky. I didn’t realize that the doubler could have been used as the insert or we would have started sooner.

We’ve had a few leak problems with these inserts, but I attribute it to our laundry routine. I believe that the main problem was that we used regular detergent and fabric softener to wash our clothes and it may have been “hanging out” after the wash cycle in our front loading machines. Although, this didn’t seem to affect the natural fiber (organic cotton) diapers we have, the Softbum inserts started leaking regularly. In the end, we washed them with Dawn detergent and that has eliminated the leak issues. My hypothesis is that the micro-fleece and micro-terry are more sensitive to detergent or fabric softener residue. We stopped using regular detergents and dryer sheets for our normal laundry and started using cloth diaper-safe detergent for everything. Since making the change, we haven’t had any leak problems.


Features We Love:

• Adjustable leg-easy to get the right leg fit for each baby
• Trim fit for an AIO diaper
• Can use the shell multiple times-reducing the laundry loads
• Micro-fleece layer wicks away moisture and almost always feels dry to touch.  The bottom layer holds moisture away from baby's skin. 
• Inserts dry pretty quickly (in one cycle in our machine)

The Downside:

• All-in-twos may not be a good choice for daycare, babysitters, etc.
• Inserts-because of the leak issues we had, if we had to do it over again, we’d pay the extra money for the organic bamboo inserts. 
• Snuggers-can be difficult to reach between the lining. Sometimes the snuggers move while you’re pulling up the front of the diaper during a change.
• Inserts-sometimes they are a little difficult to fold over for the best positioning.  As our baby gets a little older and moves around more, I see this being problematic. 

We Vote:

• Good price

Overall Rating (out of 10): 8
In-Use Photos

pull up the folded-over insert

 

Pull up the cover and velcro 

pictured on a 13 week-old (~12 lbs)

Disclosure:  I was not compensated for this review.  I purchased this product for use.

******UPDATE 3/1/10********

I feel that I should update my review of Softbums.  We have had some consistent leak issues.  They tend to leak out the legs while she is nursing.  I tried to improve this by making the leg tighter, but it doesn't help.

I think that I have to amend my overall rating to a 7.

We've totally altered our laundering methods since our first leaking problems. We do not use any type of fabric softener in our washing machine and use CD safe laundry detergent for all of our laundry.  I don't believe that this is a result of residue buildup.  

Cloth Diapering and Family Visits

My experience with cloth diapering so far has been very positive and I know my husband would say the same (yes, he changes diapers and does the laundry!). Our families were big skeptics when we told them that we'd be using CDs. I knew all along that I'd love them, I just hate the thought of disposables in a landfill 100 yrs from now. However, it was a little more difficult to get started than I expected. We started using them when our daughter was about 2.5 weeks old. The system that we bought, Softbums http://www.softbums.com/, were a little too big and bulky for her at first. I did purchase some newborn fitted diapers, but I bought a cover that was too big-oops! So, we ended up using disposables at first. When we transitioned to the cloth diapers, they were so easy to use at home, but I was very nervous about leaving home with them. We traveled to visit our parents for Thanksgiving and decided to use disposables for the trip. Since we'd been using the cloth for about 10 days at that point, we found that we didn't like using disposables anymore. I think they smell funny and I feel guilty throwing them away:) We decided that next time, we'd make the CDs work and try to win over our families!


My husband and I just returned after our first trip visiting our parents while using CDs. Overall, it went better than I expected. It's definitely not as simple too do as it is at home, especially when you forget to bring along the detergent. We're using an All-in-two system, so I had a hard time figuring out how many covers and how many inserts to pack. I think we settled on about 14 inserts and 5 covers. I was worried that we'd run out of clean covers, which we did since she has a tendency to get poop on them:)

It was a little tricky figuring out when to wash them since we couldn't follow our normal routine since we didn't bring along enough to wait to do it every other night. In addition, we were going to have to wash them in a traditional machine (we have a front loader at home) at my parents' house. I noticed they did not come as clean as they do when we wash them at home. We normally only need to do one sanitary wash cylce with an extra rinse at home, but one wash/rinse cycle did not work in the traditional machine. I still used them and it didn't seem to create a problem for the short term, but I was sure to rinse them an extra time when we washed them again at home. All in all, it didn't go perfectly, but we'll do it again and perfect our "travel routine". And, I am not going to say that our families see the light when it comes to CDs, but at least they are not adamently opposed to them anymore. I think we showed them that CDs aren't any more gross or difficult to change than a disposable.