The first thing that struck me upon opening up my package was the amount of literature and information Bambino Mio supply. Information about products, information about where you can get help and support (from endless sources, it seems!) and also information about the nappy and how to care for it. There's simply no excuse for getting it wrong! That was a big tick for me, as I know how daunting the arrival of your first cloth purchase can be.
First impressions of the Miosolo were good. The new Summer pattern is really cute, but remains gender neutral. That's really important to us - having put E into cloth quite late our stash of nappies will be used far more by any future children so we've been avoiding anything too girlie but this pattern definitely has cute written all over it. The stay-dry inner liner is possibly the softest thing I've ever felt; even my husband was lured into it's silkiness and gave it an approving nod. The poppers and velcro combination made it obvious that this nappy could really be tailored to any size baby, and even with the poppers undone we still have a lot of room to grow into. The clever pull-out tab absorbent core means that the nappy dries quickly (overnight in a muggy bathroom with no breeze!) but because it stays attached it's one less thing to drop as you remove the contents from the washing machine. I am excellent at loosing boosters somewhere between the machine and the line. Not this time! The pad is HUGE and there's enough space to add a booster in there as well for night time or heavy wetters. Bambino Mio make boosters - the Mioboost - that work with the Miosolo, available for £6.79 for three, but I don't see why you couldn't use a generic booster.
So, all was looking good and I was eager for E to wake up from her nap so we could put it to the test!
All our day time nappies are secured by poppers, which is fine until you have to contend with a wriggly toddler who is more intent on getting whatever she's just spotted out of the corner of her eye than having a new nappy put on. The velcro tabs made it just like putting on a disposable - really quick and easy. The velcro is soft but heavy duty enough to be E-proof apparently... For now! The fit is great, the elastic around the legs is tight enough to avoid leakage but has enough give to stay flexible and not leave marks and the velcro fastening around the waist meant that there's no 'best fit' here, no gaps, no sagging. E was obviously very comfortable as she paraded about in her new nappy for ages before bottom bouncing down the stairs in it. A very happy test driver! The nappy didn't seem particularly bulky either. In fact, once she was dressed I don't think I could have told you whether she was wearing cloth or not.The nappy lasted a little over two hours before E needed a change. She is naturally an incredibly heavy wetter and in this current heat she is downing cups of water like it's going out of fashion, so in future I would definitely add a booster or two to the nappy to increase absorbency. I guess that's my only slight criticism, and perhaps I'd like the nappy to have come with an additional booster that gave me that flexibility... But it's a minor point and something that's very quickly remedied, and I'm really keen to dry the Mioboosts as I have read some excellent reviews about their absorbency. E was dry when I took the nappy off, the lining of the Miosolo had definitely drawn the moisture away from her skin. Although this time round the Mioliner didn't have to catch any mess, it was soft to the touch and stayed well in position despite a busy couple of hours. They're 100% compostable when wet and flushable when soiled, which to me is a great compromise if there's going to be a 'disposable' element to your reusable nappy.
I did a little online research and the Miosolo is comparable in price to other all-in-ones/pocket nappies available. Priced at £15.99 (for patterns, £14.99 for plain colours) it's certainly not the most expensive on the market. Mioliners are £4.95 for 160, although there are deals to be had if you buy in bulk. Again, comparable to other brands and good value for money, in my opinion. Looking around I also realised that this is a brand of nappy that you can buy on the high street as well as online; pick them up on your Ocado or Tesco online shop or pop into Mothercare or Kiddicare. Go and have a look before you buy if you just don't believe that the liner of a reusable nappy could be so wonderfully soft...
Overall, I just love the Miosolo. It looks good, it feels good, it fits well and it does the job! My only niggle is easily fixable. And best of all for me, it's a local business I can and want to support. I will be investing in some of these for our cloth journey. Top marks and a gold star from the teacher in me and thumbs up from this cloth convert family. Thanks Bambino Mio!
You can visit Bambino Mio here, or visit them on Facebook or Twitter.
Bambino Mio kindly supplied the above products for free for the purpose of review, however all opinions are my own and completely uninfluenced by Bambino Mio or any other party.
