I bought this based on the name - Combi - and the fact that I have a travel system of theirs which I absolutely love. Unfortunately, their expertise does not extend to wipe warmers. Conceptually, this would be a great product for any changing table - my baby loves the warm wipes (I know this because she literally jumps when we're out and about and the wipes I used aren't warmed - and she's not happy when she jumps like that!).
But the design of this unit leads to several problems. The design is as follows:
- To open the unit, you press the yellow button on the top front, and the lid pops open. This lid holds the heater, so the top wipe in the stack is the warmest.
- When the lid opens, the next piece you see is a plastic second lid with a hole in it - basically this holds down the wipes, which are on a spring-loaded base at the bottom of the unit. You pull the wipes through that hole one wipe at a time. And they are definitely warmed!
- To load wipes into the unit, you squeeze together two pieces of plastic which are attached to this second lid. They unlatch and allow you access to the wipes holder, the base of which is spring-loaded. You push that spring-loaded base down, load in the wipes refill, push down the latches on the second lid, and push down the first lid. The attachment of the first lid engages the springs, so the next time you open the lid, the wipes are pushed up to the heater.
Unfortunately, the major design flaw here is the latches on the second lid, which can't compensate for the springs. They aren't strong enough for multiple wipe loadings, and have weakened over time.
So let's say you've got a middle-of-the-night changing happening. You quietly put your baby on the changing pad, get out the new diaper, remove the old one, push the yellow button on this warmer unit lid...and suddenly the springs release, popping all the wipes up, the second lid hits the first, and you've got a wide-awake child on your hands! (This happened to us several times before I decided to throw in the towel on this unit.)
Another problem mentioned by other reviewers is the sudden appearance of water underneath the unit. This is true and is a major electrical hazard - based on how much water we found under this unit one night, I havea to admit, I'm surprised this hasn't been recalled yet. We mitigated this somewhat by placing a waterproof vinyl pad under the unit, but really we should have just chucked this thing a long time ago. I'm in search of another unit now, but wanted to warn all parents about the dangers of this unit.
