Wonderoos: The Cadillac of Pocket Diapers

My son Milo, the future male model

Every time I put Milo in his Wonderoo one-size pocket diapers, I start singing, "Wonderful, wonderful Wonderoooos," to the tune of the Wonderbra theme song from those annoying commercials back in the '70s and '80s.

(Ha! Now it's stuck in your head, too. No one ever said I wasn't evil.)

But it's true -- my Wonderoos pocket diapers ARE wonderful, wonderful. These colourful one-size pocket diapers are what made me fall in love with the idea of cloth diapering in the first place. I was just surfing for cloth diapering information one day, dum de dum dum, when I came across this site and fell head over heels in love.

I mean, seriously! Look at them! Those white snaps! Those bold colours! They're just so... cute!

(There. I said it. The girl who used to hate the very concept of "cute" has grown up to be a mom who colour coordinates all of her three-month old son's outfits. Including his diapers. Sigh. Who woulda thunk?)

Yes, the cuteness of these pocket diapers that caught my eye. But it was their longevity that truly sucked me in. Wonderoos one-size pocket diapers have an adjustable snapping system that allows them to fit most babies from 8 to 30 lbs. How's THAT for economic cloth diapering? Sure, they cost a pretty penny -- around $15 USD each -- but they will last throughout your baby's entire diaper-wearing career!

If you're cheap and always on the lookout for discount cloth diapers like me, you could always save a few bucks by going to eBay and buying some used Wonderoos pocket diapers.

(And before you gag at the idea of used cloth diapers, let me tell you that the Wonderoos I bought were in perfect condition. They looked like they were BRAND NEW -- no pilling, no stains, no weird smell, no nothing! These are durable pocket diapers, I tell you.)

All you need to do to use these pocket diapers is adjust the rise to fit your baby, slip a liner of some sort into their built-in pocket, snap that sucker on to your baby's butt, and you're good to go! The microsuede lining wicks moisture away from your baby's skin, and the thin layer of waterproof PUL (polyurethane laminate) makes sure that wetness is kept in the pocket diaper.

Best of all, Wonderoos pocket diapers are totally breathable, which means your baby's chances of getting a diaper rash are seriously slim. I've been using my Wonderoos pocket diapers pretty much every day since Milo was born, and they haven't given him anything close to a diaper rash. A smooth baby butt is a happy baby butt!

Here's where the caveat comes: truth be told, I haven't even been using my Wonderoos PROPERLY. Like I said, they're pocket diapers, meant to be used once and then washed. For the past few months, though, I've been using them as diaper covers more often than not.

(Even at their smallest setting, the leg holes were still a bit too big for my little newborn's chicken legs, even though he was 8 lbs at birth.)

Rather than wait for Monkey Boy to get big enough to fit them, however, I decided to put a cotton prefold on him (using my fabulous Snappies -- need I remind you, the coolest invention EVER) and then put the Wonderoos on top, instead of a regular diaper cover.

It worked great! The Wonderoos held in all the moisture, keeping Milo's clothes clean and dry, and they seem to be more breathable than the "real" diaper covers I have.

They work really well for night-time, as well. Milo's like a fire hose at night (I swear, he pees more than his body weight while he sleeps), and, well, I'm just too lazy to change him at 3:00 a.m., knowing that if I do so he'll completely wake up and want me to play with him for the next couple hours. It was a bit of a challenge to figure out a cloth diapering solution that would keep his jammies dry and ensure that I got the sleep I needed to remain sane.

Well, here's what's working for me: I put a prefold or a fitted diaper on him, then stick a hemp jersey prefold into a Wonderoos pocket diaper and then put that over top. Basically, he's wearing two complete diapers with a waterproof skin on the outside -- and it works like a charm.

As Milo gets bigger, however, I'll have to start using my Wonderoos solely as diapers, instead of diaper covers, which means they'll have to get washed more often. But that's okay -- it'll just give me a good excuse to buy a few more of them!

So all in all, I give my Wonderoos a 4.5/5 rating. They're pretty fantastic, but a tad too expensive to be truly perfect. There may be better diapers out there (admittedly, I've only tried a few different kinds myself), but I haven't come across them yet.

How 'bout you? What's YOUR favourite brand of cloth diapers? Do you prefer to use one-size pocket diapers like Wonderoos? Or fitted pocket diapers like Fuzzi Bunz or Happy Heiny's?

I'd love to hear your comments!