Super Undies cloth overnight training pants review

Cloth overnight pull-ups: Were they our answer for our bedwetting preschool boy? Absolutely.

Fed up with traditional pull-ups that leaked through each night (even with buying the overnight varieties), three months ago I decided to check out whether cloth alternatives were out there. We'd had success with cloth diapers, and even in a working home, found it was a manageable and more financially friendly option for us.

The challenge was finding a pull-up alternative. After some research, I checked out Super Undies, which was a little more expensive than some other varieties but sold definite "overnight" varieties. I ended up purchasing three cloth overnight pull-ups and what they call "soaker pods" through the company.

Three months into it, I've more than made my money back, and I have a more confident boy. He happily wears his "super boy undies" and "potty pads" (when I know he's had a lot to drink at night) each evening, without complaint. I really believe that having the cloth on has made him more aware at night - and we're having more and more incidents of "dry" mornings!

I love the fact that I don't have to do a bedding change each morning, that the Super Undies washable and dryable (though I've more than broken the rule on no fabric softener!), that my kid is comfortable using them and putting them on without mom having to help.

Yes, the cost gave me pause at first; but if you do some research, you may be able to find "seconds" (often returns, which they can't resell at full price). And if you factor in the cost of disposables - and of washing and rewashing laundry - it was well worth the investment. While I'm hoping to be through the bedwetting phase before he outgrows these, I'd comfortably reorder the next size if needed!

Disclaimer: I received no discount, payment or any other renumeration for my Super Undies, though I did my cloth seconds.

Cloth pull-up connundrum

Cloth diapers were officially retired in my home a year ago. We were down to naptime/nighttime accidents, and I thought, surely it won't be long now.

As the cloth diapers were outgrown, they weren't replaced with larger sizes. But the reality is no two children are alike, and my first child's potty training successes weren't perfectly replicated in her brother.

A few weeks ago, I conceded defeat. Not that I think my child won't get through bedwetting, but that he will do it on his own time. And after loads of loads of morning washing of bedding and PJs, I figured something had to be done. I could continue to invest in overnight pullups, with modest success, or I could try a new tactic.

Cloth diapers worked well with my wetter, wasn't there a "big boy" option?

The reality is, while the web world may be abuzz about cloth diapers, there isn't much of a peep when it comes to its older pull-up cousin. It's like we don't discuss the challenges of bedwetting, even among preschoolers who may still be in daytime pull-up land. While you can find a few "potty-training" cloth pull-up options, cloth pull-ups are typically larger versions of cloth diapers in look and functionality (side snaps, etc.) And as we're keen to prove we can keep up with the 10 year olds on the block, that just wasn't going to cut it. Nevermind that the closest thing to a nighttime cloth pull-up option was just layering in more bulky inserts into a cloth diaper, creating extra bulk, an issue as we approach summer.

Yes, we're in a cloth pull-up connundrum. I searched off and on for a few weeks for any cloth overnight pull-up on the internet. Most options were on small mom vendors and most cloth pull-ups were designed for day (or non-heavy bedwetter) use, but I was able to finally find few overnight cloth pull-up choices to check out. (Happy Heinys and Super Undies were on the short list.)

After researching options on a few mom sites, I settled on a purchase of some overnight Super Undies. (Truthfully the deciding factor was after contacting the business and finding out they had some returned items, which saved us on our purchase.) And the other day, a box was waiting at our front door. Addressed to the little guy, who's always wanting the brown truck to deliver a box to him. We opened it up, and looked at the picture of the cool "big kid" who was in pull ups and a "super" cape and talked about his new cloth pull-ups. While he didn't get why the kid wanted to wear his cape, he proudly put the overnight pull-ups on that night, talking about his "Batman" pull-ups. (Whatever works.) And he slept soundly, really soundly that night, a far improvement from the accident-prone evening the night before from a disposable product sample that failed.

Was the cost of cloth pull-ups worth it? Time will tell. While overnight cloth pull-ups did cost more than my cloth diapers, they weren't considerably higher than the price of the all-in-ones I bought before. Given that you can easily spend $30 a month on overnight pull-ups/diaper solutions for preschoolers if you're not catching sales or couponing, I figure I'll make up the difference quickly. And if it saves me from a few loads of laundry or extra bags of trash. all the better!

Green on the cheap - Diapers, dishwashers and more

Shockingly I went to Babies 'R Us yesterday, and stumbled on a few finds worth sharing:

Despite my efforts to make major headways on the potty training front, I still need disposables for day care. Earths Best diapers are on sale for $5 a package, limit 3. (And just so you don't think they're in smaller packages, a size-4 package had 30 diapers inside).

Also, somewhat unmarked were their cleaning products. There's a clearance tag but no actual price marked on them at our store. I checked at the register and was able to score 20-packs of Method dishwasher tablets (which are phosphate-free) for less than $3.50 each. There were also Seventh Generation cleaning products, including laundry detergent, marked clearance, but I either didn't have a need anything they had at the time, so I don't have a price on those.

I believe the sales are this weekend only, but it may be worth stocking up while you had the opportunity!

Cloth diapering: One year of dissing disposables

Cloth or plastic? It's a question I considered with the birth of my second child. Was going cloth worth it if you could only do it part-time?

One year into our family's experiment, I can say that yes, it is. I'm saying as a mom who's juggled cloth through wiggly babies, tumbling toddlers and, now, the start of potty training, all-in-ones are a great resource for moms to have on hand!

When I first seriously considering going cloth at home (our day care insists on disposables), I did the math, and found out that if I went conservative on quantity and washed each night (which I was doing anyways on weekends), I'd break even in 26 weeks. And that's with using them twice a week.

I have had to buy new diapers as the little guy's grown, but I've found that by shopping around you can find brands of diapers that stretch longer across the sizes. Luckily, I found great resources like Toasty Baby, which even delivered the diapers to my home, Zwaggle, and Craigslist. Granted, the latter two required a lot of visits to the sites to find cloth diapers, but when I found them, the prices couldn't be beat. I got 5 cloth diapers for $20 from one and a set of 6 new diapers for the cost of shipping with the other! So for the cost of three packages of disposables, I was set for another six months or longer.

Soon, I got braver and added cloth wipes into the mix. And you can even get by without those, in all honesty. How many infant washcloths do you have lying around your bathroom?

Sure, I may have a little bit more laundry to do, but I simply toss dry diapers and cloths into a box in the bedroom. No folding's required.

As potty training has approached, I've actually found cloth diapers are easier to manage than disposable. He responds to wetness faster, and the cloth diapers don't tear or get ruined after multiple times of opening the velcro to use the bathroom. And my laundry load has dropped as well as we're having more success!

Would I go cloth again? Absolutely. Investing in all-in-one diapers are easy, and, after the initial expense, well worth the hassle!

Wiping it up: An introduction to cloth baby wipes

Cloth rags, napkins and towels are common alternatives to their paper cousins. But one thing I don't see people clamouring over is the cloth baby wipes.

I stumbled across this at the Indy Winter Market just before the baby's first birthday. Ragamuffin Diapers sold cloth diapers, baby wipes and femimine items made from "recycled flannel." I needed something in the baby's gift bag. I had a moment of weakness (and honestly didn't have enough cash for the homemade diapers, seeing they required covers).

Yes, nothing says "Happy 1st Birthday" like flannel wipes for your tush.

And so they sat, through the holidays. And I finally became brave enough to experiment with them. Logistically, they were a challenge. Bathroom on one side of the house; changing table on another. But I had an eager runner who was all too happy to put water on wipes for me.

And then I found recipes for baby wipe solutions. You can find several variations at Diaper Jungle and Makebabystuff.com. But I settled on a makeshift simple three-part solution of baby oil, baby liquid soap and water, now bottled in a small plastic squirt bottle that once held blue Crayola bath soap for my daughter.

I even opted to make more wipes on my own, after finding a pair of my husband's flannel pants in his drawer - despite having a 4-inch rip in them. Well, I suppose they were clean. After a couple of hours of cutting and hand-sewing while catching up on a show, I had doubled my stash. (It's not difficult to do - double up your fabric, cut a large square, then whipstitch together. It would have likely been faster had I actually learned what to do with my sewing machine instead of letting it collect dust!)

Using cloth wipes has settled into a fairly easy routine. Have I given up "regular" wipes in favor of cloth completely? Not yet. There are times when it's just easier to use traditional wipes, such as when cleaning up after one injests blueberries. ('nuff said.) But at least I'm getting braver about it.

Green giveaway EXTENDED: Clean up on cloth diapers

Calling all moms: Have you considered giving cloth diapering a chance, but aren't quite ready to commit? We'll give you a way to try it.

Heather at KnickerKnappies has offered a cloth diaper/insert pair to three readers.

To enter, leave a post with your name and best green tip by 12:00 a.m. Jan. 15. Winners will be randomly selected and will be announced by Jan. 17.

Cloth diapering while working: Still worth it?

Can you do cloth diapering as a working parent? Even if you're having issues with child care providers not working with you on cloth diapers, cloth diapering, even as a part-time choice, is still an option for you.

Just as maybe you're not always able to recycle everywhere you go, you don't have to do disposable diapers at every changing session. For our family, we've settled into a routine of part-time cloth diapering, and I am working on increasing my husband's comfort level with using cloth during naptimes and errands.

A co-worker of mine, who's expecting her first, is considering using a diaper service. Even if she sticks with it during maternity leave and goes to disposable after the fact, she's likely coming out ahead financially and still helping the environment.

But what if your child is older? Does it still make sense? Do the math:

Assume that you, like myself, have a child who's wearing size 3 diapers. We go through about six changes a day.

A package of Pampers costs about $12 for 35 diapers (about six days or three weekends' worth).

Assume we go light and purchase seven all-in-one diapers, which are the most costly variety of diapers but most convenient when you're time-crunched. These run about $15 each. Assume we agree to do laundry Saturday night (and having an extra diaper on-hand when we forget to dry them overnight!)

Those seven all-in-ones would cost about $105. (That's not including shipping, but then, I don't factor in driving to the store for diapers, either.) For that same $105, we could buy 8.75 packages of disposable diapers. For those keeping score, that's 306 diapers or 51 days' worth.

In other words, after weekend 26 you're starting to come out ahead.

(Yes, I concede that there's extra laundry involved, and with disposables there's the pail liners and other accessories. It's challenging to do a complete cost analysis.)

Want to do more? You could always sew your own all-in-ones.

The dirt on diapering in the real world: Review of pocket and all-in-one diapers

Switching to cloth diapers from the predictable plastic can seem a bit overwhelming. Tracking down supplies can seem difficult. There's the diapers, pins, and if desired, diaper covers. (And it's not easy to find if you don't have a baby superstore close by.) There's the additioanl laundry, and managing soiled diapers when you're out and about. Disposable, one may think, could seem easier.

Welcome to the 21st Century. Today's cloth diapers elimiate worries and certainly make things easier for parents and babies on the go. Many brands offer all-in-one diapers, which eliminate those pins, covers and, often, liners. Others do require individual liners that can be inserted.

We recently reviewed several brands of cloth diapers for washability, ease of use and child's comfort.

Our subject? A squiggly 11-month old who is constantly on the move. His assistant? A working mom balancing two kids, a crazy household and a full-time job.

During evening and weekends over a 3- to 4-week period, we tested the following brands : DryBees, Kushies Classic and Ultra, KnickerKnappies and Wahmies.* Here's how they fared:

Overall ease of use: The all-in-one brands (Kushies, Drybees) by their nature were easier to use than the pocket diapers (KnickerKnappies, Wahmies) requiring inserts.

When dealing with a wiggly child at changing time, remembering to insert a cloth insert into the diaper didn't always happen (as my Thanksgiving guests could attest). Inserts also need to be removed from the diapers before washing, as they can bunch up in the diaper during washing and drying and may not completely dry. It may sound basic, but if you're crunched for time, sometimes things slip.

Washability: Despite multiple washings, we did not see problems with shrinking of the fabric or elastic or wear on the fasteners.

Ease of fastening: The majority of brands tested use velcro or snaps to keep the diapers closed. I personally preferred DryBees, which had a wider strip of of velcro, giving me a somewhat greater sense of security. Kushies had significantly thinner velcro strips, which admittedly made me nervous about whether they'd become loosened or undone (they didn't).

The Wahmies clasp closure diaper was the most difficult to manage. (We tested a snaps version as well.) Using three sets of hooks and loops on each side, the diaper was challenging to use when the subject wouldnt' lie still.

Adjustability for child's size: DryBees, Kushies and KnickerKnappies offer multiple sizes. Wahmies was the only brand tested that offered a one-size-fits-all diaper.

KnickerKnappies and Wahmies used snaps to adjust lengthwise. It does create a slight bulkiness up front, but no visible discomfort in the leg bands.

Leakage: Some incidents of leaking did occur with the cloth brands. Much of it was due to user error - failing to put in an insert in a pocket diaper when distracted. (This problem was eliminated by inserting clean, dry inserts into the diaper after removing them from the dryer.)Generally, the diapers held up well during naps and overnight.

Our recommendation: From ther perspective of a busy working mom of two, I preferred the DryBees and Knickerknappies. In our family, child's comfort and ease of use are king.

While each of these diapers held up well, were comfortable for the baby and had no major problems with shrinkage or leakage, having an all-in-one diaper did also make things significantly easier.

* Other companies were invited to participate in the review but declined to participate. These were:

• Bum Genius
• Bumkins
• Cottonbabies
• Happy Heinies
• Kissaluvs
• The Natural Baby
• Rumparooz
• Thirsties
• Urban Fluff
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