Customer Reviews

Happy Heiny's One Size Cloth Diapers (Cow Hide)

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I tried the Happy Heiny's one size, the BumGenius 2.0 one size and the Mommy's Touch one size. I've found the BumGenius to be my clear favorite -- the Happy Heiny seems to leak a little more frequently than the BumGenius -- but they're both superior to the Mommy's Touch.

Besides being slightly more leak-prone, here are my other "beefs" with the Happy Heiny (mostly pretty minor):

1. Tabs don't stay on the laundry tab during the washing/drying, so I'm inevitably pulling them apart from all the other diapers.
2. Tabs are curling slightly at the edges after 2 weeks of use.
3. The snaps on the front to adjust the size of the diaper have a backing on the inside of the diaper that I battle with when trying to stuff the insert into the pocket(again, not a huge deal).

Compared to the BumGenius in particular...
1. I prefer the micro-suede type lining that they have over the fabric used to line the Happy Heiny's.
2. The tabs are smaller and elastic on the BumGenius.

Hope that helps! I know before I bought these diapers, reading the reviews was like reading Swahili -- you just have to have done it to get what I'm talking about, but hopefully you can make some sense of it all!

P.S. The Happy Heiny's are also $1 more expensive and you can't get the free super saving shipping.

SUMMARY: Great diapers, very economical (in the long run) and very easy to use, contain messes better than disposables, dry quickly in the dryer, can look bulky, washing routine can be complicated

When I first began looking into cloth diapers, it was mostly out of curiosity. I wanted to be environmentally friendly but I assumed cloth diapering would be too inconvenient. Why else would disposables have the corner on the market? My research turned my assumptions on their head. With modern cloth diapers, you can avoid pins and leaks - and still save money! (Some also say less diaper rash and earlier potty training. It's only been three months for me, so I can't comment on these supposed benefits yet.)

There are several types of cloth diapers. [...]. I decided that pocket diapers were the way to go for me. They offered the convenience of not using pins or a cover, but they dry much faster (and reportedly hold up better) than all-in-ones. Plus, the one-size-fits-all feature saves money since you can use them from newborn to potty training.

I only have two Happy Heinys, but they are pretty darn good. An entire set (24) of Happy Heinys would be about $[...]. That sounds like a lot, but $[...] a month on disposable diapers adds up to $[...] over two years. (And beware the hidden costs of fitted diapers. Although fitted diapers may be a little cheaper than all-in-ones, remember that you'll have to buy new fitted diapers when your baby outgrows that size. Additionally, fitted diapers typically require covers, which are also sized.)

I began using these diapers when my baby was about a week old. I told my husband it was because I didn't want to stain the diapers with sticky, black newborn meconium, but really the diapers looked so big and I just couldn't imagine them fitting my tiny baby. But my fears were unwarranted. She weighed in at just over 7 pounds and although the diapers were a little bulky, they fit her perfectly and did not leak. (We used disposables again on a week long car trip. We splurged for the expensive name-brand, but even then they didn't contain any of my baby's explosive poops.)

Washing gets a little complicated. We remove the inserts and spray poopy diapers with Bio-Kleen before placing in a Bummis wet bag. Every other day we place that in the washer and run one cold cycle with half the recommended amount of Country Save laundry detergent. (Be sure to choose a powder detergent with no additives. Liquid detergents and additives have a tendency to stick in the fabric and cause staining and stink issues.) Then we run the diapers again in a hot cycle with no detergent. (NEVER run a sanitary cycle or you might ruin your diapers!) Finally, we place them in the dryer for 30 minutes. (If you have the time, line drying helps with stink and stains and saves energy.)

The only complaint I have is that the laundry tabs that are supposed to protect the velcro in the wash often fail, and I'm forced to disentangle the Happy Heiny diapers from other diapers when I remove them from the washer and dryer. However, I do think that the velcro strips will hold better (and hold up better) that the velcro tabs that are on the BumGenius diapers.

I want to highly recommend these diapers, to anyone remotely interested in using cloth diapers. I just had my second child, and I forgot how many diapers they go through in a day...and how expensive disposable diapers are! I mentioned to my Mom that I was considering cloth diapers. She immediately began researching, and soon discovered that these are considered some of the best all-in-one diapers out there.

I now own a set of all-in-one Happy Heinys diapers, and I use them almost exclusively on both my one-month-old daughter, and my son who is nearing three years old. They snap up and down from newborn size to a size large enough for my son! They come with two inserts, and I use two inserts on my daughter during the day, and one insert on my son during the day. At night, for my daughter, I use one insert and two cloth diapers...needless to say, these are always bulkier than a disposable diaper. But it is worth it, when you consider all the money and landfill-space that you are saving!

I do not use these on my son at night...he still wears a disposable, because he urinates too much at night, and really dislikes wearing one of these with more than one insert.

The drawback to this diaper is that is has to be changed a little bit more frequently than disposable diapers. I change my infant every time I feed her (every 2-3 hours), and my toddler every 2-4 hours.

I'm pretty disappointed with these. They seem to consistently leak out the legs, even when I've tried to be sure they are good and tight. The leaking often happens within 5 minutes after I've put them on my baby, not just when they are really soaked. I'm not sure why this is happening except that I think maybe the fleece lining is sewn to stick too far out the leg holes. Anyway, it's very annoying. Overall, I highly prefer the BumGenius 2.0 one-size. They rarely ever leak, and I like the way they are sewn to keep the inserts from coming out the back. However, one advantage to the Happy Heinys is that size-wise, I think they will last longer than the BumGenius. They unsnap to a considerably bigger size.

I didn't come here to write a review but I saw someone reviewed these as not as good as Bum Genius and there is no way. I'm thinking maybe she did her review after just a few weeks. I've been using both for 14 months now and the Happy Heiny are the go to diaper for us as they can 'contain the rage' as we call it in my house. :)

Don't get me wrong the Bum Genius are great; they have a slimmer profile and are cuter, she wears them for church and special occasions when her diaper might peek out from under her dress and be seen, and times when we're at home and I know I can change her right away.

If the Bum Genius are the cute but limited sports cars of the diaper world, Happy Heinys are the work horses (I don't know what kind of car that translates too, maybe a hybrid SUV? ^_^). We use them for every occasion and overnight. They aren't as cute as the Bum Genius but I don't have to worry about them as much.

If you're looking to buy HH, you're comparing them to bG's OS as well, no doubt.
Pros:
HH do fit a little longer/larger than bGs.
They come in tons more colors than the bGs.
The snaps are harder for munchkins to pull off.
Cons:
They leak moisture at the legs, especially if your child has chunky legs, stretching the elastic gussets more. It's a sewing method flaw in their pattern/design.
They were too "puffy" through the crotch, like they are made too wide through the crotch.

Been using for 6 months now and have worked well for our two boys (8 months and 3 years). The velcro isn't my favorite...even with the fold back laundry tabs, we often get a "diaper-train" in the wash. The inserts are absorbant and they have held up well after many, many washings. Of all the one size diapers, these were the most generous to accomodate our older son....he can still wear them at 38 pounds.

If you're looking to buy HH, you're comparing them to bG's OS as well, no doubt.
Pros:
HH do fit a little longer/larger than bGs.
They come in tons more colors than the bGs.
Cons:
They leak moisture at the legs, especially if your child has chunky legs, stretching the elastic gussets more. It's a sewing method flaw in their pattern/design.
Their velcro style makes the diaper bulkier and "stiffer" at the waist.
Don't make the assumption, like I did, that the HH velcro will be harder for your child to pull off. If they understand velcro comes off, they pull it off, no matter how strong ;-)

After trying out many forms of cloth diapers, we are very happy with HH. I like these over the All in ones because you can take out the insert when washing. Poop cleans off easily. Living in San Diego, it is nice to support a local business. The inner lining is soft and super absorbent so it keeps the baby's bottom dry (really good overnight diaper). The insert is extremely absorbent and we bought extras that we use with our G diapers.

Cons:
* The tabs are a bit large and get caught on other things, including the diaper itself.
*The outer lining is a little thinner than others, and can pill esp if the velcro sticks to it over time.
*The patterns and colors are not really our taste, but there are so many choices that it works out.

Reason we support HH over the others: Good quality, locally made, and so far, no leaks.

We only have one Happy Heiny's diaper, we bought the cow print one size to try them out. I do have to say that we've only used it a few times in our rotation, but it seems to lay nicely (not all bunched up) on our 15 month old. We haven't had any leak issues and it's the only one size diaper that still has one more rise setting on our daughter. I haven't put it on my 2 3/4 year old (I'm not sure she'd let me put a diaper on her anyways!), but I'm pretty sure it would fit still, at 35 pounds. It washes well (we use Country Save powder), no stains or smells. The only down side I would say are the laundry tabs don't hold very well, and you do end up with a bit of a problem when you're getting them out of the dryer.