Cloth Diapers: Blueberry Hook and Loop Pocket Diaper Vs. Starbunz Breathable Windpro Pocket Diaper

While I am happy with our normal routine of prefolds and contour diapers used with a cover, I recently let my curiosity get the best of me and decided to shop around for some pocket diapers that do not require a cover. I tried two different pocket diapers: the Blueberry Hook and Loop Pocket Diaper and the Starbunz Breathable Windpro Pocket Diaper. My daughter is 11 months old and weighs about 19 pounds, so following the size recommendations for each diaper I purchased the medium Blueberry and the large Starbunz. (Note: the Starbunz sizing runs smaller than other diapers, but the sizes seem to be true to their recommended weight ranges.) I found the Starbunz to be of excellent quality, where the Blueberry diaper fell far short of my expectations.

Product Features

The Blueberry Hook and Loop Pocket diaper is lined with lightweight fleece and covered with a waterproof layer of polyester urethane laminate (PUL). The lining has a small flap of fleece that can be tucked over the end of the insert to hold the insert in place. It has a strip of Velcro loops across the tummy area, and crossover Velcro tabs. The Blueberry diaper also features laundry tabs to prevent the Velcro from snagging other clothing in the wash. Elastic at the legs and waist is completely encased in the fleece liner to prevent chafing. This diaper was shipped with two microfleece inserts.

The Starbunz Breathable Windpro Pocket diaper is lined with lightweight fleece, in which a slit is cut for the insert. The diaper is covered in heavyweight fleece, and elastic at the legs and waist is wrapped in the heavy fleece to prevent chafing. The Starbunz diaper fastens with a series of snaps, arranged in two rows of three snaps on each side - the diaper can be adjusted simply by fastening a different set of snaps. I ordered a hemp insert to use with this diaper.

Leak Protection

The Blueberry Hook and Loop Pocket diaper sufficiently prevents leaks during the day when changed frequently, but the microterry inserts are quickly soaked, and the elastic at the legs does not hold up well against blowouts. The Blueberry Hook and Loop Pocket diaper did not do well overnight. Even with both microterry inserts, the diaper leaked around the waist and legs by morning. My daughter is a heavy nighttime wetter, but we have rarely had leak issues with other diapers, so to find our sheets soaked in the morning while using two inserts in a waterproof diaper was a bit of a surprise.

The Starbunz Breathable Windpro Pocket diaper, on the other hand, performed extremely well. We had absolutely no leaks when using the diaper during the day. My daughter also wore it for 12 hours overnight with no leaks, even using only one hemp insert folded over at the front. Even though she had completely wet the diaper, there was no blowout when she pooped in the morning. The Starbunz diaper is a true workhorse.

Fit and Comfort

The Blueberry Hook and Loop Pocket diaper has a trim fit, allowing for more comfort under clothing - but the shape is the only good thing about the fit. The Velcro at the waist on the Blueberry pocket diaper is placed very high on the waist, and does not have much fabric above the Velcro. As a result, my daughter ended up with scratches on her stomach from the Velcro. I may have expected this with a chubbier baby, but my daughter is of average build, so this should not have been an issue.

The Starbunz Breathable Windpro Pocket diaper is a bit more breathable than the Blueberry, due to being covered in fleece rather than PUL. The breathability makes this diaper a bit cooler, which is a big plus in the summer heat. The fleece does make this diaper more bulky than the Blueberry diaper, which may necessitate larger clothing sizes for your baby. The Starbunz diaper's snaps are well-covered, preventing any discomfort. As an added bonus, the snaps on the Starbunz diaper are more difficult for curious babies to unfasten.

Care

The Blueberry Hook and Loop Pocket diaper is designed to be easy to launder. It requires no special care - it can be washed and dried on any heat. As with any cloth diaper, the Blueberry diaper will perform best when washed with minimal detergent and no fabric softener. Unfortunately, when I washed and dried this diaper as instructed, the elastic at the waist came undone after only a few washings and being worn twice.

The Starbunz Breathable Windpro Pocket diaper is a bit more finicky, but still easy to care for. It can be washed on any temperature, but should be either line dried or tumble dried on medium heat only. Any detergent residue may cause the fleece to smell and wick moisture, lessening the waterproof quality of the diaper. This diaper held up well to numerous washings when laundered as directed, and still looked very nice.

Bottom Line

I would not purchase another Blueberry diaper, and I would not recommend the Blueberry company to friends. The diaper is good in concept, but is poorly executed. But I would gladly purchase more Starbunz, and plan to in the future. I have already told my friends about this excellent diaper. There is nothing about the Starbunz diaper that I don't like.