SoftBums Cloth Diaper Review: Diapers that grow with your child.

Who has cloth diapered from infancy?

Who has purchased a newborn stash just to have your baby grow out of said newborn stash in a month, and has caused you to purchase another diaper stash to last you till your child potty trains? Let me break down the cost. A good recommendation for a newborn cloth diaper stash is to have about 24 diapers. At an average cost of $15 a diaper that comes to $360.00. (Unless you do shells and flats.) Newborn diapers do not last till your child potty trains because your child outgrows them causing you to have to purchase another cloth diaper stash.

While you will get some of your money back if you sell your newborn diapers the amount you get back really depends on how good the cloth diaper B/S/T is at the time you want to sell. Say you get 50%, or $180, of your newborn investment back to spend on another conservative 24 diapers, at an average of $20 a diaper, to last your child till potty training you are still shelling out another $300 for your new stash. (I am using conservative numbers since not a lot of cloth diapering families have just 24 diapers per child. Am I the only one? Haha!) A lot of families start cloth diapering to save money. So why not try and save as much as you can?

Softbums Cloth Diapers

What if I told you there were diapers that could take you from newborn all the way to potty training? (Average age for potty training in the US is around 2-3 years old.) Causing you to only have to purchase one stash for your child. I have your attention now, don’t I? Haha! Well, there are diapers that will go from newborn to 36 months and they are from the company Softbums. They have two different diaper shells, along with a couple of different inserts, or as they call them Pod systems, that grow with your child and let you choose the absorbency that fits your needs.

I had a chance to try out Softbums diapers, and I must say I was pleasantly surprised at their ease of use and how great they worked. Below is my review of Softbums Echo and Omni shells along with their Large Dry Touch Pod and One-Size Bamboo SUPER Double-Pod.

The Echo All in 2 Shell

First a little bit about the Echo shell. The Echo diaper shell, Softbums trim fit shell, fits 0-36 months and can fit a child as small as 5lbs. How? Because of their patented toggle system. With Softbums the Echo shell has a toggle system inside the diaper that allows you to adjust the leg elastic to fit your child. The best way to do this is to measure around your child’s leg, in inches, where the diaper will sit. Divide the number by 2, and add 1.5. (Didn’t think you would need to do some math for your child’s cloth diapers, did you? Haha) The number you get, in inches, is how long your elastics should be on your diaper.

Take the Measurement!

Taking the measurement actually does work. It took me 2 minutes to measure my daughter and the fit was perfect. If I had not taken the measurement it would have taken me a little while to get the toggles into the right place for the right fit. My daughter is 24 months and 25 lbs. These fit perfectly when measured out and she has tons of room to grow. Other characteristics of the Softbums Echo shell are that they can come in hook and loop or snaps, and the inside is fleece with a waterproof backing. You should only have to wash the shell once before use, but you will have different prep for the inserts. The inserts are sold separately so you can customize your diapers to fit your child’s needs.

The Omni All in 2/Pocket Shell

The Softbums Omni shell, like the Echo, fits from 0-36 months due to Softbums patented toggle elastic system. (I measured my daughter the same way I did for the Echo and got a great fit.) The Omni has the same fleece inside with waterproof backing, and comes in either hook and loop or snap shell. Prep is the same, and just like the Echo the inserts, or pod systems, are sold separately so you can customize to your child’s needs. The difference between the Softbums Echo vs. the Omni shell is also a pocket diaper.

So now you have a choice to either lay the inserts on top, snap them in, or stuff them. After having both the Echo shell and Omni shells on my daughter’s bum I can say the Omni shell is a hair bigger. You might still be able to get away with diapering your newborn with an Omni shell depending on your baby’s weight at birth, but if you are like me and make smaller babies than the Echo may be your way to go.

Large Dry Touch Pod

Since you can purchase the Softbums inserts, or pods, separately you can choose what fabric/absorbency you think would work best for your little one, and interchange them between the Echo and Omni shells. The dry touch pods are made of 4 layers of microfiber with a soft microfleece top. (It is actually really soft. Haha!) To prep the dry touch pods, you will need to wash them 2-4 times. Remember to prep them separately from your bamboo pods.

Heavy Wetter

I consider my daughter to be a heavy wetter so we own ALOT of bamboo inserts, but the Softbums large dry touch pod really surprised me. It held up almost just as well as all of her other inserts, and she made it through a whole two-hour nap without being soaked or leaking. I have added the small bamboo pod on top of the dry touch if we are out and about just for security reasons. I have actually been using my Softbums inserts with some of my other diaper shells since they work really well.

One-Size Bamboo Super Double-Pod

I am going to start out by saying I actually really like this insert/pod. Out of all of the Softbums products I have used the bamboo pod is my favorite. Softbums bamboo pods are made of a layer of Bamboo/cotton blend topped with a layer of bamboo velour. (These inserts/pods are SO SOFT. There is currently only one other diaper I have tried that could possibly match Softbums bamboo pod in softness, but that diaper’s insert is not made of bamboo.)

Again, my daughter lasted through a 2-hour nap, and beyond. The bamboo super double pod actually comes with two inserts. The small and the one size, but I only needed to use the one size. Prep is easy since all you have to do is wash it once and you are good to go. Again, I really like this insert/pod, and if you are a bamboo insert fan I highly recommend you try this one.

Replacement Kits

Another perk of Softbums diapers is you can purchase replacement kits with directions for the elastic’s, toggle’s, and the hook and loop. No more having to send your diapers out to be fixed when the elastic wears out. (This will save you big bucks if you don’t know how to replace elastics.)

Price

So, the big question is… how much do they cost? Since the Softbums shells are made in the USA their price is slightly higher than other cloth diaper company shells. The cost for an Echo or Omni diaper shell is $21.95. You can get different prints on sale for a little bit less on the Softbums website. Or other natural parenting stores if they are running a sale. Since the inserts are sold separately the cost for a shell and insert can vary. The Large dry touch pod retails for $4.95 and the One-size Bamboo Super double pod retails for $15.95.

To give an example you could purchase 12 shells, 12 large dry touch pods, and 12 small dry touch pods for around the same price as 24 newborn diapers. (Shells being used at least twice gives you 24 diaper changes.) The kicker is you wouldn’t have to sell them as your child grows saving you money.

Don’t Get Discouraged

In the end, not every child is the same, and the cloth diaper that works for one child may not work for another. Another money-saving trick is to know about as many different kinds/types of cloth diapers that are out there before you spend all of your money on one kind that may end up not working for you. (You spend almost $400 on a diaper stash of one kind of diaper to realize they don’t work for your child causing you to have to try and sell them to fund different diapers.

This is actually a reason why many families give up on cloth diapering.) So, make sure when you start looking at building a cloth diaper stash that you take a look at Softbums. Like myself, you may be pleasantly surprised, and find yourself making a list of all the Softbums you want to add to your stash. Because your LO must wear panda’s all the time now. Haha!

Disclosure

Even though I received a product in exchange for this review all opinions are my own. I am a parent myself and would never recommend a product I wouldn’t be comfortable using on or giving to my own child.

Looking for a baby blanket or receiving blanket for a baby shower gift or for your own little one? Click HERE to read my review of Nicki’s, Bestbottom, and Tula’s bamboo blankets.