If anyone had ever told my pre-child self that the day would come when I got really, really excited about a nappy insert then I wouldn't have believed them. But that was before hemp boosters entered my life.
To be clear, I love simple living - which means that when I have a good enough solution I stop researching, and I stop buying.
So I have 'enough' nappies. The number I need, and no more. Whilst I love seeing new prints, and sometimes think there's a brand or two it would have been interesting to try, I have reached my happy place. 21 nappies that do the job. A charcoal booster with a bamboo insert wrapped around it means leak-free nights. I have enough new style Baba+Boo for night time and going out; and a few other nappies that I reserve for around the house as they need to be changed more frequently.
Product testing
But then Eve, the lovely founder of Baba+Boo, asked me to trial the new hemp and organic cotton boosters with my almost two year old. And I found my new best friend.
Night one: I'd heard such amazing things about hemp (and they look pretty robust) so I just went for it with two hemp boosters. Two charcoal doesn't work for us, so it felt like a gamble. But next morning? Sooo dry. Eleven hours and feeling like it could have kept going so much longer.
Night two: one of the hottest nights of the year: One hemp and one bamboo - both flat, neither folded at the front (SUCH a useful trick for boys). Eleven hours later? I got myself in a state because the nappy was so dry I thought the boy was dehydrated.
I've tried these inserts every which way - at night with charcoal, day time with one hemp and one bamboo - and even day time with one hemp only. Seriously, the boy is nearly two. It's hot at the moment so he's drinking a lot, and he's got to the age where he will hold wees and lets it all go in one big flood.
But my new best friend can handle that. My new best friend can handle everything we've thrown at her.
And then I got really daring. Those 'good enough' nappies that I use around the house? Now that I have a new best friend they are no longer 'good enough' - they're great again. Using hemp instead of bamboo has been a turning point for these little lovelies, and now they're combined with two hemp instead of my usual two bamboo they happily last five hours. And with them coming in so cheaply, it's a perfect solution.
A couple of things it's worth knowing. Hemp does shrink - but that's fine, they've been designed with that in mind and they will still work brilliantly after they've had a little shrinkage. They dry slightly quicker than the bamboo boosters, although no where near as quickly as charcoal.
Now as we all know, every baby is different. Some babies will need much more boosting than my boy, and there are a few babies who will always overfill a pocket nappy at night.
But if you're struggling to find your sweet spot then my new best friend might just be your night in shining armour.