Jocelyn, the mama behind Just 4 You Baby Designs, is one talented little diaper maker. She’s also absolutely adorable (as are her children). She’s a cloth-diaper laundry expert, and I love that the packaging for her one-size Hybrid Nightly Essential diaper provides the best laundry recommendations I’ve ever seen on a diaper package! (Similar to my own wash routine, of course.)
Jocelyn first showed me her overnight diaper design when I met her and her newborn at Calgary’s Great Cloth Diaper Change last year. I had already marvelled over the one-size pocket diaper she made for my pal The Monarch Mommy, so this overnight design was further proof of her skills as a seamstress and her passion for combining the highest quality cloth-diapering fabrics. I love me some cloth diapers, but I need more cloth diapers like I need a hole in my head, so I didn’t immediately offer to do a review for Jocelyn. I had an overnight solution that had always worked for my son, and it was doing just fine on Little Miss Cub. When Little Miss started flooding the bed, it was time to call for reinforcements.
Meet the Hybrid Nightly Essential:
The exterior of the shell is polyester spandex (like swimsuit fabric), followed by water-repellant Windpro fleece, a layer of absorbent bamboo/organic cotton blend fabric and topped with stay-dry athletic wicking jersey. You can choose your exterior fabric, and my shell is polyester spandex because it was the print I liked the best. The benefit of a polyester spandex outer is that it isn’t absorbent, so there’s little risk of it wicking onto pyjamas. The downside is that it can snag easily in the wash. The layer of Windpro fleece is what puts the “Hybrid” into the Nightly Essential. To be a Hybrid Fitted, a diaper must contain a water-repellant layer, making it possible to use without a separate waterproof cover for some children. When combined with a waterproof cover (wool or PUL), you’ve got a whole lot of leak-protection on your side.
The Nightly Essential comes with three inserts. The main soaker (1), which snaps into the shell, is composed of six layers of bamboo/organic cotton topped with cotton velour. The middle booster (2) is also topped with cotton velour and has two layers of bamboo/organic cotton. The smaller booster (3) is three layers of bamboo/organic cotton and it also snaps into the shell or onto the main soaker. For cuteness, this booster is backed by a layer of the exterior fabric of the diaper. The smaller, snap-in booster is sufficient for most newborns and fits in nicely when the diaper is on its smallest rise.
I’ve never tested an overnight diaper quite like the Nightly Essential, and I mean that in the best possible way. This is one epic diaper! Little Miss uses only the main insert, and I put wool longies on top. The outside of the Nightly Essential is always bone dry in the morning. The only wetness I sometimes detect is at the waistband of her woollies. I suspect this is simply because the waistband ends up folding inside the top of the diaper and absorbs a little bit from the diaper inserts when she sleeps on her belly. Because wool is awesome, this doesn’t cause leaks. I suspect if you used one-piece fleece pyjamas this wouldn’t happen … although I cannot find one-piece pyjamas that I can actually zip up over our overnight diapers!
Because the lining of the shell is a tightly woven athletic wicking jersey, the moisture from the inserts doesn’t spread out into the wings of the diaper as with a traditional fitted diaper. This means that baby’s hips and waist are dry, even with saturated inserts.
The inserts are constructed for maximum absorbency with minimum dry time. The layers are sewn down the centre:
Mainly polyester, the shell doesn’t take two cycles to dry like other overnight fitteds made of 100% natural fibres. Cotton velour is a really nice fabric for the top of overnight diaper inserts because it’s got a nice stay-dry effect.
My favourite things about the Hybrid Nightly Essentials:
- Made in Canada with care and attention
- Three included inserts will be more than enough for most babies, so you can use the extras with other, less-absorbent diapers (I add the middle insert to my sbish)
- Stay-dry material inside the diaper shell keeps wetness contained
- Suitable for newborns all the way to potty training
The one thing I like less:
The price tag. Now, don’t get me wrong: Jocelyn isn’t getting rich quick by charging $62.99 per diaper. The time it takes to create and the cost of its many components lead me to suspect her profit margin is miniscule. But it’s just not a price point all families can meet, especially when you need three or four of them for a nice overnight rotation. That being said, this diaper can serve from newborn to potty training exactly as it comes—there’s no need to buy extra boosters or inserts. As I’ve mentioned in the past, I’ve wasted a lot of money on cheaper alternatives that don’t work. Jocelyn is based in Alberta, so Canadians aren’t getting dinged by the crappy Canadian dollar, and if you’re in the Calgary area, you can save on shipping by picking up your order!
Shop & Connect
If you’d like to order, message Jocelyn directly on her Facebook page!
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