In Honor Of The Tatas Sponsor Spotlight And EARLY ENTRIES: Thirsties Duo Diaper

By now, everyone knows that I am a huge fan of cloth diapering. This was a decision made out of necessity, as we found out we were pregnant with Xander, our youngest, when our daughter was just 3 months old. (Eeek!) We knew that on one income, we would have to find ways to save money in order to comfortably afford another baby. One of the first things we thought about were diapers. Can you imagine what it would cost to keep 2 babies in disposable diapers? Ouch! So we started looking into the world of fluff. Once we tried cloth, we were hooked.

Not only is modern cloth diapering easy, convenient, and economical, it is also much better for the environment. No nasty chemicals are found in cloth, and choosing cloth also helps keep waste out of our already overfull landfills. Did you know it can take 500 YEARS for disposable diapers to biodegrade? Now that's a LOT of diapers, worldwide, sitting in our landfills. And another perk to using cloth? Cloth diapers are cute, comfortable, and come in a wide variety of fabrics, colors, and prints. Cloth diapers are a fashion statement all their own. I have even based entire outfits around which diapers my babies happened to be wearing at the time.

That's why I was so excited to receive the opportunity to review the Duo Diaper from Thirsties. Thirsties has a fantastic reputation for producing innovative and high quality diapers and accessories, and their prints are some of the cutest around! This is my first experience using Thirsties, so I really did not know what to expect. However, I have heard that the Duo Diapers are amazing, and I couldn't wait to give them a try!

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The Duo Diaper is a 2 piece diapering system. Included is a waterproof sleeve diaper as well as a super-absorbent insert. The Duo Diaper grows with your child, but is not one size fits all. Let's face it: Many OS diapers are incredibly bulky on newborns and smaller babies, and also don't fit  larger toddlers too well. Thirsties has come up with the perfect solution to this dilemma by offering 2 sizes in their Duo Diaper. These 2 sizes will comfortably take baby from birth all the way to potty training, and you'll never have to worry about an ill-fitting diaper!

What else is so special about the Thirsties Duo Diaper? Well, aside from the adorable prints and colors, this diaper features a double opening. That's right! You can stuff the diaper from the front or the back, and soiled inserts agitate out of the diaper on their own in the wash. No need to handle yucky, wet inserts at all! What does that mean for you, the busy parent? It means you won't get germs and waste on your hands, since you don't need to unstuff these diapers! This really helps to make diaper changing quick, convenient, and relatively painless.

Another great feature of the Duo Diaper is the specialty insert included with the diaper. The Duo Inserts provide double the duty as well! Thirsties' specialty inserts feature two layers of serged microfiber terry snapped together with five serged layers of hemp jersey; seven thirsty layers in all! Microfiber terry is a fast absorber designed to rest closest to your baby's skin (beneath the microfleece sleeve); hemp is a stable absorber and pairs perfectly behind the microfiber terry to add more absorbency and to prevent compression leaking.

The Thirsties Duo Diaper also has great, patented leg gussets that really help to keep messes IN the diaper where they belong. This is a HUGE plus in my house, since my youngest is known for his epic blowouts and my very active toddler is a heavy wetter. The special leg gussets are a God-send when it comes to keeping wetness and messes contained.

Take a look at the Thirsties Duo Diaper! This is their adorable Blackbird print, which is beautifully gender neutral!

How cute is this?!

Inner of the Diaper and insert.

The insert is generously sized, and has 7 layers of protection!

Back of the diaper.

Now that I've told you all about what makes the Thirsties Duo Diaper special, I know what you're all wondering: Does it work? I thoroughly tested this diaper on both my 8 month old son as well as my 20 month old daughter for both day and night time use. They both fit a Size 2, so I was able to get accurate results with this diaper.

TEST BABY #1:
Xander: 8 months old, 20 lbs

I tested the Thirsties Duo Diaper on my son, Xander, who is 8 months old and weighs roughly 20lbs. He is just starting to crawl, and is also notorious for his epic explosions. Seriously, this kid has the worst poop I have ever encountered, both in volume and odor. He routinely wakes up with poopy diapers, and often the mess creeps up his back on onto his thighs.

I tested first during the daytime. I really like how easy the Thirsties Duo Diaper is to put on baby. The openings are generously sized and are very easy to stuff. The Duo Diaper is also very easy to quickly secure on even a wiggly, squirming baby. Xander has a habit to trying to flip onto his stomach and crawl away, even during diaper changes. There's a whole world to explore, and he wants to do just that! The Thirsties Duo Diaper is a cinch to put on, as it features easy to use, secure aplix closure. I can diaper him and no time flat, and he's happy because he is free to chase after the dog sooner than with many of our snap closure diapers. I was quite impressed by this diaper's ability to keep messes in the diaper. Xander has had quite a few blowouts in this diaper, and I haven't had any problems with leakage. Even when he's scooting, crawling, and rolling around.

The Duo Diaper fared equally well for overnight use. The specialized Thirsties insert is incredibly absorbent, and can hold a ton of moisture, while allowing baby's skin to breathe and remain dry to the touch. Since Xander is a boy, he tends to wet towards the front of his diaper. This has caused wet pajamas around the waist area before. With the Thirsties Duo Diaper, this was not an issue. He woke up dry and happy!

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TEST BABY #2:
Sophia: 20 months, 26.5 lbs

I also tested the Thirsties Duo Diaper on my VERY active toddler, Sophie. Sophie is a crazy child who loves climbing like a monkey, twirling around madly, running in circles with her eyes shut, and engaging in pretty much any other active behavior that is sure to stress a mama out. She is my daredevil, and fears nothing. She will be the first one to break a bone, I absolutely guarantee it!

Because Sophie is so active, we've had problems with leakage with certain diapers. With all of her constant movement, sometimes wetness tends to creep out. I was eager to see just how well the Duo Diaper would hold up against my daughter. I tested first during the day, when Sophie is at her most active. I am surprised to say, this diaper did very well. The special leg gussets really held in moisture and prevented leaks flawlessly. Even with Sophie's constant moving and twisting, not a drop of wetness ended up on her clothing or her body. I think it's safe to say, I LOVE these leg gussets! The only thing I didn't like using this diaper on Sophie during the day? Well, my daughter is a bit of an escape artist, and she can easily get out of the diaper because it has velcro closure. This isn't a design flaw on Thirsties part, my kid just thinks it's fun to take off her aplix dipes. This is easily combated by just making sure I put her in pants rather than a dress when she wears this diaper. No big deal!

The Thirsties Duo Diaper also did well on Sophie for overnight use. She is a very heavy wetter, and tends to wet towards the back of her diapers. Again, the Thirsties 7 layer insert held everything in, and she woke up with dry clothing. The outside of the diaper was dry to the touch as well, despite the floodgates being opened over the period of the night. Definitely a plus!

Overall, I really like the Thirsties Duo Diaper. It is cute, extremely effective, and provides the perfect fit on both of my babies. I really like all of the unique design features of this diaper, and love the fact that the insert uses both microfiber and hemp. This makes for a winning combination! I'd definitely recommend the Duo Diaper as it's easy to use, easy to wash, and definitely holds its own against big time messes!

BUY IT:

You can check out this and other great products on the Thirsties website. Also, use their handy retail locator to find Thirsties products online and near you!

You can also follow Thirsties on Facebook and on twitter to stay on top of their latest products and promotions!

WIN IT....BUT NOT YET!

During my upcoming In Honor Of The Tatas event, someone is going to win a Thirsties Duo Diaper of their own! How cool is that!? This is a fabulous addition to my gigantic prize package that will be sure to make any mama happy!

I have some extra entries available to you for the time being. These will be imported and merged with the actual event entries, so be sure to take advantage of these and give yourself a head start!

Please use this handy Rafflecopter form to complete these EARLY ENTRIES!

***Disclosure: I received a complimentary product to facilitate my review. No other compensation was provided, and all opinions are 100% honest and have not been influenced in any way.***

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