It’s been a while since I’ve done a cloth diaper review, and even longer since I jumped into a swim cloth diaper. I’m not sure if you’ve ever taken young kids swimming, but it’s the most stressful thing I have ever done. The summer was easy, hit up the splash pad, or put on a swimsuit in the backyard with the sprinkler. However, it’s now winter, and those options for water play are less than ideal.
Disclosure: Charlie Banana sent me a swim diaper and a few other products to write and review on. This post is my honest and truthful opinion. This post might also contain affiliate links which I earn a commission from with the purchase.
Swimming with Charlie Banana
The only possible way we were going to review the Charlie Banana Extraordinary swim diaper was either in the bathtub or if my husband was home to help me. Thankfully, we decided to take a little staycation to escape the mess and checked into a local hotel with a wicked awesome water slide.
Charlie Banana is a cloth diaper brand headquartered in Hong Kong. They make budget-friendly diapering products both in the USA and abroad.
Two different styles of swim diaper are available from Charlie Banana. The first is the Extraordinary with a layer of organic cotton on the inside, and the second is the Reusable with a Tencel layer on the inside. Both diapers seem to offer the same cut and style, with a variety of sized options. The Ruesable Swim Diaper offers an adjustable waist ideal for skinny babies and without snaps. It’s my understanding this is what I have for potty training and more than that specific model later!
Design of the Charlie Banana Reusable Swim Diaper
We have the Charlie Banana Reusable Swim Diaper with the beautiful layer of Tencel on the inside. Tencel is a polyester/lyocell blend that is absorbent, restrict bacterial growth, and made of the green celluloid material.
The Charlie Banana Reusable Swim Diaper comes in 4 different sizes from Small to X-Large. We have a Large which is rated from 21-27lbs. My child is about 20lbs, but she has the thighs of a larger child.
There are double side snaps on along the waist of the diaper, and a wide soft elastic that runs along the back and legs of the diaper giving a cushy closed fit.
At the Pool with Charlie Banana Swim Diapers
As a cloth diaper blogger, there are few things that just happen. First, if you haven’t taken pictures of a product yet, and decide to let your child wear the diaper right away, they will poop. Second, if you need to review a swim diaper, they will not poop.
Swim Diapers have one goal in life: to contain the poop from escaping the pool! The most significant questions parents have is about liquid breastfed poop because the more substantial stuff it’s harder to escape.
In general, I’m inclined to believe a cloth swim diaper, including this Charlie Banana Reusable Swim Diaper, is up to the task. Elastics and perfect sizing options help give the best possible fit.
Taking photos at a hotel pool after dinner is terrible lighting. My apologies. It is super cute on her chunky.
On Little Miss
The fit on Little Miss was just right. She falls into the lower spectrum of the weight for the cloth diaper, but her thick thighs mean it was just right for her body. I felt the overall fit was snug and secure. And she looked super cute.
It was also really easy to put on. Because this is a sized diaper, there is no fussing with rise snaps. A SIZED DIAPER is a GREAT CHOICE for not cloth diapering parents because you just pull the diaper on and go. And with the hip snaps like on the Charlie Banana reusable swim diaper, you can do precisely that pull on and off like underwear making it super easy to use. I prefer hip snaps because a swim diaper has ONE JOB and that is to catch poop. Should the unthinkable happen, snaps trump having to slide a poopy diaper down someone’s leg.
Disclaimer: typically I’m a fan of one size swim diapers because of the buy it once, buy it forever idea. Which is why I love swim diapers like Nuggles and Omaiki; however, the fit and ease of the Charlie Banana reusable swim diaper as a sized diaper has me sold to try other sized options.
I don’t have any complaints about the Charlie Banana Reusable swim diaper and would recommend it for anyone looking for an easy to use budget friendly swim diaper for the pool or water park.
This diaper does come in a vairety of sizing options available on the website. Little Miss fits the size and weight class she’s in and depending on the chunk of your kid you may feel you need to up or down a size to get a nice tight fit to prevet swimming accidents.
However, at the super affordable price, this swim diaper would meet your needs for the size your baby is swimming at now.
It was just simple to use. And that’s a winning point. As a blogger who owns many swim diapers, I’m thinking I’d pack this next time because I know that even dad could use it without any complicated instructions like making sure the rise snaps are snapped. And if you don’t know what rise snaps are, then this the diaper for you and the pool.
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