The Popolini concept:
Popolini Twosize are a simple shaped cotton terry one-piece cloth nappy with side popper fastenings, coming in actually not two, but three sizes (extra large is also available) so as to offer a slimmer-fitting nappy for smaller babies than the Popolini Onesize. They can be used with most wraps except those designed for prefolds, but Popolini do offer several of their own wraps, such as the Vento, that work well with the Twosize.
The nappies in action:
Ease of use
The Twosize are fairly easy nappies to use, there's no folding involved and no parts to put together before the nappy goes on, although you probably will want to use a liner of some description.
Comfort and fit of the Poplini Twosize nappy
The brushed cotton terry of the Twosize can suffer from crispness after several washes, as with any other terry nappy. If your nappies do go a little hard then there are several ways to soften them up, but just rubbing the nappy together quickly works well with the Twosize. We found that the nappy gave a good fit through the adjustable side poppers at the waist and leg, combined with elasticated sections around the legs and waist.
On a newborn the nappies were rather bulky and didn't fit well at all under newborn clothes, but we found that by around week ten the fit was slim enough for the nappies to be used under most daytime clothes without having to go up a size to accommodate the nappy. At three and a half months the nappies now give a reasonably trim fit on our little one, though we're guessing he'll only fit in them for another two months.
Washing and drying the nappies
The Popolini Twosize are very simple to wash as there are no parts to disassemble, no velcro to tab up and the pure cotton can be washed as hot as 90 if you want: Given that you can't separate out the layers of Terry in this nappy then you might want to wash it at a hotter temp than nappies with fold-out booster sections, for a more thorough wash. You can dry pail or soak the nappies, whichever works best for you. In our experience runny pooh does seem to accumulate in the elasticated sections around the legs where it then stains, but these stains have usually come out in the sun.
When it comes to drying, the Popolinis score less well: Being a one-piece nappy with no separating layers of terry, the the Twosize do take a long time to line dry.
Poplini Twosize nappies' absorbency and pooh containment
The Poplinis are quite a dense terry, and so offer quite good absorbency even though the nappy itself is not very bulky. During the day the absorbency is perfectly adequate for our little boy, but we do tend to reach for other nappies when it comes to nighttime as a matter of preference. Of course boosting the Poplinis is also an option, but there are other nappies that offer more staying power overnight.
The Poplinis cope fine with liquid Breastfed pooh - we have had a couple of instances of very small leakage around the leg, but this has always been caught by the wrap. When used with the Poplini Vento wraps, pee leakage onto clothes has only been a problem once or twice.
As with several other unlined cloth nappies, we found that the addition of a fleece booster made a significant difference to the nappy's performance. We've also used flushable liners with the Popolinis, but we've yet to find a disposable liner that doesn't get quite soggy, quite quickly.
Overall the Popolinis grew on us as our little one got bigger and the fit became significantly trimmer. While we'd usually opt for a nappy with a higher absorbency overnight, these are often slightly bulkier than the Popolini, which now fits well under most daytime clothes without needing a special cut for cloth or going up a size to accommodate the nappy. However, this may also be because our little one is quite long and slim, so his clothes do tend to be quite roomy around the bottom.
