Review - Baby Kangas by JamTots

I'll put my disclaimer first -  I was not given any products or compansation for this review.  I purchased all diapers and inserts myself and am giving my honest opinion about this product.

I purchased 24 Baby Kanga diapers around the beginning of June.  The reason for the purchase was for our new arrival in November but I figured since Hannah was still wearing diapers we'd try them on her before the new baby came.  I was super excited.  I had heard pretty good things about this pouch diapers and couldn't wait to get started.

A little info from the Baby Kanga website

This innovative pouch diaper features a waterproof pul outer with a microfleece inner to keep baby dry, with a zippered pouch opening on the outside where you add an absorbent insert/stuffer.

The pouch is located on the outside of the diaper to make insert removal clean and easy. Just unzip and shake it over your diaper pail to get the insert out. The zipper closure makes stuffing easy and keeps the insert inside where it belongs.

The colour selection is amazing and I was excited to choose the colours I wanted, I won't bore you with all the colours I chose but look at this selection

Plus theres more!  They just came out with a new line of vibrant beautiful unisex colours.  Unisex was important to us when we chose the diapers initially because we didn't know the sex of baby #2 at the time.

One thing that's different with this diaper than most is, it's not sold with inserts.  You are just buying the shell of the pocket diaper.  This has it's pros and cons.  A pro being, you can choose whichever insert you'd like to use.  This is exactly what we did!  The con, finding the right insert costs money which sucks especially if you're having a hard time finding the right insert. 

We decided to go with prefolds as inserts and here's the reason why!  We wanted to have a stash of infant prefolds for what baby boy is born.  Prefolds and covers for newborns is suppose to be super easy and totally doable.  We were going to buy the prefolds so why not use them as inserts.  I made sure this was an okay option with Kristin from EcoBabies (where we purchased our diapers).  She said of course it would work.  We bought 24 newborn Bummis prefolds.  It did work great - they are a bit bulky for a two year old but it worked but not for night time.

We also wanted to try a few of the other inserts offered through EcoBabies so we bought two JamTots one-size hemp stuffer which is what is recommended by JamTots (Baby Kangas). 

We also bought two microfiber inserts plus two AMP Bamboo Inserts.  We thought we were set to make it night and day in the diapers.  Not so much...we have had some major leaking issues with the diapers especially at night time.  I will admit the 1 prefold folded in the trifold works well for during the day (as do the JamTots hemp stuffers) but at night time it just wasn't cutting it.  I tried everything including stuffing two prefolds into the pocket the problem with this was the legs would then gap from the bulk and we'd have leaks.  I inquired on Facebook through the Baby Kagas page about the issues I was having and this is the response I received.

Hi Kandice,

What are you using to stuff your Baby Kangas so far (and are they the only diapers you are using at night?) Are the inserts soaked in the morning? It might be that your little girl is just wetting a *lot* at night now that she is... older (mine were like that!) and that she needs more absorbency than what you are currently using... With that said... it may even be that you may need more absorbency than what will actually fit inside a Baby Kangas diaper(!)-some kids actually wet that much over night (when you think about it--they often sleep 12+ hours so it can be a LOT of pee!) That may be the reason for the sore legs--the diaper might be too small for night use with the extra stuffing for her--you may need to use a different system for night time--either a sized pocket diaper or a fitted diaper and cover system where you can add extra inserts/doublers -either way where I would recommend going *up* a size from where you would normally buy for her weight measurement--to allow for the extra absorbency that she would need--so probably a large or extra large depending on the brand. I have cloth diapered all 3 of my kids - 2 that wet a LOT at night and I always recommend putting MORE than you think you will need in the diaper - then check to see how much is left dry in the morning and then gauge from there how much (if any!!) you can subtract from there for the next night... Of course this can change over time but it can give you a pretty good idea for a while! I recommend hemp or bamboo stuffers/inserts for overnight for sure but again--you probably need more than what you are using as it sounds like you just don't have enough absorbency to make it through the night!


I hope that helps!


Holly

I thought that was a decent response even though I thought it a bit strange that they recommend using a different system all together. 
 
So here's my final verdict....
 
Ease of use - Very easy to figure out the snaps for both rise and waist adjustment.  Stuffing is SO easy and the front zip up pocket is amazing.  I love it!  Shaking out the insert over the pail is easy and never requires you to touch a soiled diaper.  The diapers are very easy to put on (even my husband commented on it) although I have noticed the rise snaps have popped open a couple of times I've tried the smaller rise on my daughter.

$$$  - at $17.50 it's not a bad deal.  The problem we've encountered is the inserts.  We haven't found a JamTot insert that has worked well for us.  Therefore spending the extra money finding that perfect insert can definitely add up.

Performance - It's been tough, we've had A LOT of leaks with that being said it's only at bedtime.  Hannah is now fully potty trained expect for naps and bedtime so we didn't get a lot of use from the diapers.  I think it's just again trying to find that combination of insert that works for your baby.

Fit - I can't really comment on this wholly.  I am very excited to try the diapers on our little man when he is born and think I will get a much better idea of the fit.  Right now I would have to say that for my daughter who is 2 years 2 months old, approx. 28lbs the diapers fit smaller.  She had pretty severe red marks on her legs and a lot of night time leaks (which I attribute to the fit).  I couldn't imagine a child 30+lbs being in this diaper like JamTots says it should fit.

Overall - I'm unsure, I've since purchase a few other brands of diapers (I will do a review of them soon) and have LOVED them.  I haven't had any nap time or night time leaks and the fit is fantastic for Hannah.  Heck I've even used the infant prefolds and covers with her at sleep time and haven't had any issues.  I'll leave this open for when baby boy is here and we can really start using these diapers.

If you are interested in a review - please check out my Reviews page and send me an e-mail with your pitch!  I'd love to hear from you!