Charlie Banana One Size Cloth Diaper Review + Giveaway

When it comes to cloth diapers, I’ve always been partial to one-size pockets. It’s probably because I knew when I invested in cloth diapers that I wanted them to last through more than one child – and possibly have one stash diapering two bottoms at the same time. That was pretty smart of me, since a welcome surprise came in the form of my son, and now I *do* have two little bottoms sharing one stash.

Evidently, the brains behind the Charlie Banana one size cloth diaper had the same thought. These diapers are designed with angel-soft fleece, super-tough PUL in the outer shell, and snaps that are built to last. Each diaper comes with two sizes of insert, and are highly adjustable. This makes for a diapering system that works on newborn and toddler tushies alike!

A med/lg insert, a sm insert, and the super-soft inner liner of the Charlie Banana.

One thing unique to Charlie Bananas – the pocket opens in the front. I’m so used to openings in the back that I kept getting it backwards. It doesn’t affect the performance at all (at least, not that I could tell). However, the design of the pocket itself definitely affected it’s performance – the pocket has a flap covering the opening, and unlike other diapers I have with the same idea, this flap actually did stay flat. This makes for a more comfortable fit on my babies, and saves me the extra step of tucking the flap in when I put the diaper on.

I tried to get a good picture of the leg elastics that control the sizing, but it doesn’t really translate well into a picture. Basically, the diapers adjust the same way you’d adjust your bra strap – with an adjustable band. The difference is that this band happens to be elastic and hidden inside your child’s diaper around the leg holes.

The bra-strap-like leg elastics hide inside the diaper’s pocket.

Because the elastic is controlled by a slider (just like on a bra), these are highly adjustable. Most diapers fit a little too snug on one snap-setting, but a little too loose on the next one up. The Charlie Bananas, however, can be fitted *perfectly* to your child’s legs.

The other nice thing about this is that the way the leg holes adjust has no relation to the waistband. As she’s grown, my daughter has gone through phases where her tummy was pudgy, but her thighs were thin, or vice versa. Sometimes, her diapers have been straining at the waist and gapping at the thigh. In diapers that are adjusted only by a snap-down rise, it can be a little difficult to work with the unique shapes babies and toddlers take – this diaper could easily accommodate chunky and skinny thighs alike!

y son was 5 weeks old when he tried this diaper on, and he still wasn’t in the smallest setting. He’s sitting at about 10 lbs right now, but the diaper had *several* adjustment settings smaller than he is. Most one-size diapers didn’t fit my newborn kiddos until they were several weeks old. This diaper would easily have adjusted to fit him from day one!

My 5 week old son was too big for the smallest setting.

My daughter, nearly two, tried the diaper on next. I adjusted it to about what I thought she would need – the first of the “large” settings (there are three). I was able to get a perfect fit on her as well, and there was still plenty of room for her to get bigger in the thighs and waist. This Charlie Banana cloth diaper should definitely fit her until she’s potty-trained!

Here’s the fit on 22 month old K – it fit perfectly on her skinny waist and chunky thighs.

This diaper is superbly constructed – it’s comfy for my little ones, it fits them perfectly, and it’s obviously going to hold up through years of blowouts and super-soaks.

The Giveaway

One Happy Mothering reader will win a Charlie Banana One Size Cloth Diaper during this giveaway. To enter, simply complete the Rafflecopter form below. Good luck!
a Rafflecopter giveaway