Saturday, January 23, 2016

HappyEndings "Night, Night" Micro Fleece All In One Cloth Diaper "Airborne" (Airplanes) Review



Today I have another fantastic cloth diaper to review for you.  It is very similar to the previous Night Night AIO diaper I reviewed from Happy Endings, however this one has a Micro Fleece lining instead of the Charcoal Bamboo Fleece.

This is a classy diaper.  I am not one to select overly boyish prints for my son as I prefer neutral colors and patterns, but this one stood out to me.  It is not the typical cartoony or babyish looking airplane print, but more retro and artsy in my opinion.  The airplanes almost look like colorful sketches of airplanes.  I could even perhaps see a girl baby or toddler wearing this if her parent worked on an airline (flight attendant or pilot) or perhaps if the family liked to travel a lot.  Or perhaps because she loves planes.  It is a nice looking print and while it is more likely a boyish print, it could potentially be neutral.

I do like the charcoal bamboo lining of the Night Night diapers, as they seem to repel staining and stink as well as seem exceptionally easy to plop off the messes into the toilet (sorry not sure of a more polite or inconspicuous way to describe what us cloth diapering parents do on a daily basis).  However lately I have had some issues with an excessive amount of white lint stuck on my charcoal lining diapers lately.  I am not sure if it is the fact that we have cloth wash cloth wipes in the same load or what, but the lint only accumulates on the diaper linings that are charcoal.  It is strange as most of our inserts are charcoal bamboo / microfiber and the inserts themselves never have lint on them.  It it not a big deal, it just sometimes gets overloaded with lint and I use my sticky roller to remove.  My only thought is perhaps there is lint on the inserts and then it is removed in the dryer.  Not completely sure.  Anyway, other than that, I like the charcoal lining diapers a lot.  But that aside, it is nice that this diaper did not have a lint issue.  I do like the softness of this lining.

In case you are not familiar with an AIO diaper, I will give you a brief overview.  This particular one from Happy Endings has adjustable 3x3 snaps + hip snaps (yay for hip snaps), fits babies 8-35 lbs. and gentle double elastic around the legs prevents messes.  I really must suggest double elastics no matter what brand of diaper you get.  I cannot believe so many diaper brands will make a diaper and have regular leg openings.  Especially in the first year when babies may be on all liquids and have those really messy poos.  Trust me it is no fun to have leaking into a carseat or crib, etc.

As mentioned above, these have a very soft, white, stay-dry micro fleece inner lining which is gentle on baby bottoms and is necessary to prevent rashes due to wetness from wearing extended times such as overnight.  This diaper has an absorbent, yet trim 4 layer soaker (2 layers of bamboo terry/2 layers of microfiber) which is sewn-into this diaper.  This makes it convenient for daytime use without having to stuff.  For heavy wetters or for overnight, you can then add an insert into the pocket.  I often will put in a hemp/cotton insert into my Night Night diaper for added absorption (you can find them here from Happy Endings on Amazon).  Happy Endings does include a charcoal bamboo covered microfiber insert with this diaper.

As with all Happy Ending pocket diapers, this diaper has a waterproof strip on the tummy, for leak protection, which is helpful for us as both my children are tummy sleepers and my youngest is a little boy. :)  This diaper has been great and has not had any leaking.  Here are some pictures of it so you can bask in the cuteness of the print.  (Please note, my pictures are of the diaper before I washed it, I generally take photos while the diaper is still fresh and crisp to allow you to see what it will look like when it arrives.  If any fading or loss of stitching, or any failing of craftsmanship occurs for any of my review diapers, I would then take additional pictures to show any issues.) 

Just look at this diaper!







The softness!


As I have mentioned in my previous reviews of AIO diapers, since it really is not recommended to machine dry pul / diapers/covers, hanging up and air drying is the way to go.  However it will take most likely 10-12 hours to fully dry so i suggest turning them inside out like this before hanging.  


I really like this diaper and it really works well for us.  I have not had any issues with Happy Endings diapers.  The company is family owned and is available to answer any questions or assist with any issues.  For more information, you can find them on Facebook and visit their website.

Thank you to Happy Endings for sending this diaper for my honest review and evaluation.  I have tested this for a month with no issues.  I was not compensated for this post, nor did I promise a positive review.  I am a seasoned cloth diapering mommy and have experienced many types of cloth diapers and brands, so I know what works for us personally and what does not.  I have also experienced some cheaply made diapers in the past.  Happy Endings is a diaper brand I do recommend.



DISCLOSURE: In order for me to support my blogging activities, I may receive monetary compensation for a product review and/or link to any products or services from this blog.  I am always honest in my opinions and never promise a positive review.  I only recommend products or services that I feel are beneficial to my family and my lovely readers.  I enjoy testing out items and giving my readers an honest and descriptive account of how a product functions.  My personal experience or view of an item may differ than yours. 

Tiny Drops of Honey is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. You pay the exact same price for any and all products you order through my links, but I receive a small commission.  I am a stay at home mommy and any commissions I receive help support my little ones. 



Please follow me on:

Facebook for updates to this blog, reviews, and giveaways.  For updates on new posts, you can subscribe to me on bloglovin.  I would love it if you would visit me (subscribing makes me so happy) on Instagram and Twitter.

Monday, January 18, 2016

100% Grass Fed Beef Snack Sticks by Chomps (Review)



Have you been a fan of those beef jerky sticks you find at the local gas station convenience store or grocery?  How fresh are they really?  (especially the ones at hole in the wall gas stations, that perhaps have only one or 2 gas pumps and ancient cash registers).  Do you ever wonder what ingredients they put into those sticks (sure, they put the ingredients on the label, but do you actually read it for fear of the chemical sounding junk and scary ingredients?) and do you wish for something better?  

I was sent a product to try recently that may interest those who love these savory, yet unhealthy sticks of jerky.  Chomps are made from 100% grass fed beef, are high in protein, free of any synthetic nitrates, nitrites, or MSG, and are gluten-free.  They are fantastic for athletes, hikers, families with kids, and anyone who wants a tasty, healthy, and convenient snack on the go.  

They are available in many flavor varieties.   Crankin’ Cran is quite unique, it is Hot habanero peppers with the addition of sweet and tangy dried cranberries.  It was a bit spicy for me, but then again, I am currently pregnant and certain spices and flavors are reacting funny with me lately.  I did not get sick or anything (thankfully) but it just did not suit me.  The same went for the Hoppin’ JalapeƱo Flavor, which is the same thing minus the cranberry.  I do like the idea of the balance of sweet and spicy, as I am a fan of opposite flavors together such as sea salt and dark chocolate or putting saltine crackers in my Wendys Frosty or strawberry jelly on my sausage (spicy sausage) egg and cheese biscuit sandwiches.  :)  I may enjoy the spicy chomps later on.  I generally am fond of the more sweet jerky such as teriyaki or bbq.  I would love the company to come out with either of those flavors.  

I did enjoy the original flavor of the Chomps.  They are not bland or boring.  They are the perfect balance of sweet, spicy, smokey.  I love that they are non-GMO, have 9 grams of protein, and are sugar and gluten free.  Having a high protein diet is important to me as pregnant women should get about 70 grams in their diet each day.  Non-pregnant women need about 45 grams.  (source)  According to WebMd, men need about 56 grams per day.  

Protein is vital for our bodies to function normally.  Sometimes we become so lost in our daily activities and increasingly busy, we do not take time to eat properly.  Having a easy, healthy, high protein snack for on the go makes sense.  I am happy to have been introduced to this product as it is nice for an occasional snack and energy booster.  I would have preferred it to have much less salt, as we usually get torilla chips with about 75 mg of salt per serving.  But I realize, a jerky type item such as this needs the salt (sea salt) and the salt also makes it so you want to drink more water.  (which is obviously great)  I like that these are low in fat and have zero sugar.  

I do want to comment on the wrapper.  I had quite some difficulty in opening these.  They are meant to pull apart, but each one (wrapper) I tried had to be cut with scissors.  This might not be the most convenient packaging for on the go use.  I was sent 6 sticks (2 sticks in each flavor) for review.  I was not compensated for this review, other than a free sample to review and provide my honest opinion.

For more information or to purchase, visit http://www.gochomps.com.  If you have Prime, you can get these in about 2 days, from Amazon.














DISCLOSURE: In order for me to support my blogging activities, I may receive monetary compensation for a product review and/or link to any products or services from this blog.  I am always honest in my opinions and never promise a positive review.  I only recommend products or services that I feel are beneficial to my family and my lovely readers.  I enjoy testing out items and giving my readers an honest and descriptive account of how a product functions.  My personal experience or view of an item may differ than yours. 

Tiny Drops of Honey is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. You pay the exact same price for any and all products you order through my links, but I receive a small commission.  I am a stay at home mommy and any commissions I receive help support my little ones. 

*Sponsored Post Type: Review Samples



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Wednesday, January 13, 2016

"HappyEndings "Night Night" Charcoal Bamboo AIO (All in One)" Review (Mustaches!)



I am pregnant with my third child, and there is no doubt in my mind that we will also use cloth diapers for this new baby as well.  I started using cloth on my daughter (first baby) when she was 3 months, and from then on we have been cloth diapering ever since.  I feel that cloth diapering is gentler on my children (disposables give them rashes and chemical burns), more cost effective, cuter (fluffy bottoms are adorable and prints and colors are so much nicer than the typical styles disposables bring, and I feel it is also a labor of love as well (seriously, when I am cleaning the messiest of poo diapers (spraying, swishing in the toilet with my bare hands, meticulously laundering with the proper diaper soap, I am reminded of this.)  

Starting out in the cloth diapering world, it can become overwhelming.  There are many brands and styles and it can easily get even more difficult to decide when so many brands have cute and alluring styles and patterns.  Should you make your decision by price? Do you read reviews? (yes, always, especially when it comes to diapers which will be a big investment at first)

I had the opportunity to test out a few cloth diapers from Happy Endings.   The company sells on Amazon and their own website.  If you have Amazon Prime shipping, then you can have your diapers to you in 2 days!  

They are affordably priced, durable diapers with amazing patterns, and there are so many options to choose depending on your and your baby's needs.  

The first type of Happy Endings diaper I will tell you about is the overnight, heavy wetter AIO charcoal diaper.  I have reviewed a few of these now and here is our experience.  This diaper is called "HappyEndings "Night Night" Charcoal Bamboo AIO (All in One)" and has an absorbent sewn-in 4 layer soaker insert.  This is a pocket diaper and comes with a charcoal bamboo covered microfiber insert.  This particular diaper print is called "MUSTACHIOED." 


This is a beautiful champagne color with black and white mustache pattern.






The Night Night diapers have been tested for a month on my 19 month old and well washed.  Here is our wash routine and some suggestions.

To prep this diaper (and all our diapers) I washed on hot 5-6 times before use.  It is possible to prep this diaper less, however, I highly suggest the extra washes as this diaper has natural materials which contain oils that could lessen the absorbency and perhaps cause some mild repelling.  My baby has used this diaper frequently and we wash every night or every other night.  I do 2 full wash (hot) cycles (each with a cold rinse) and then a final (third) cold rinse.  I wash with Nellie's Natural Laundry Powder and a large pouch of soap nuts).  

I hang the diapers to dry on my IKEA red octopus hanger and dry the inserts on low to medium heat on the dryer (no dryer sheets) with 6-8 wool dryer balls.  The thing to note about this diaper is that since it is a sewn in insert (inside the pocket) it will take LONGER to dry.  Normally, my regular pocket diapers and covers take a short 8 hours / over night when hung immediately after washing on medium spin (we have a high efficiency washer without an agitator in the middle).  Please do not machine dry your diapers, even if you have always done it, or have been told you can do it.  It will wear the diapers out faster and the heat can change the effectiveness of the leg elastic and the pul (water proof material).

This diaper needs to be turned inside out and then hung to dry.  It will most likely need 10-12 hours to dry when hung.  But to be honest, most cloth diaper users know that it is necessary to have at the very least, 24 cloth diapers to have enough to wash every other day (prolonging to wash longer than 3 days can cause some serious ammonia stink and set in stains) so for our family, we have other diapers that can be used while this one is drying.

How this diaper is beneficial / different than others in our stash:

This Happy Endings diaper is cute, but also functional and well designed.  I like having the option to put this in my diaper bag as a quick, already stuffed, diaper for on the go.  I also like how I can add an additional insert for increasing absorbency.  This is a fantastic night time option as well as perfect for long distance car rides when baby falls asleep.  

The charcoal covered microfiber insert on this diaper is fluffier / thicker than my other charcoal bamboo / microfiber inserts, and while some may not like the added bulk, I welcome it.  My little one drinks a lot of water and so is quite a heavy wetter.  This "night night" insert is slightly larger / wider as well.  If you buy on the company's website you can select to have a hemp insert instead (for an upcharge).  I personally prefer hemp/cotton inserts to the microfiber, but either selection is a fine choice.  

This diaper has has a sewn in 4 Layer soaker cream colored insert (2 layers of bamboo/2 layers of microfiber) as mentioned above.  I love the inner lining on this diaper.  It is a deep grey which not only makes it stain resistant, but the charcoal bamboo fleece is antimicrobial and antibacterial.  It is gentle on baby's skin as it does not keep wetness against their skin (which would cause rashes).







I love the gentle fold over elastic / double leg gussets.  Crazily enough, not all brand of diapers have this.  (They really should.)  





In my diaper reviews, I tend to compare these with brands I have (which are mainstream brands that other cloth diaper users might be wanting comparisons on as well). Our Bum Genius diapers do not have gussets, and this is the reason my love for Bum Genius has fizzled a bit  (I still love them, but they really need to improve the line with gussets).  Unfortunately when Bum Genius came out with their newest version 5, gussets were not among the ever so slight improvements. *fail* :(

I have had some serious messes at the most undesirable times and places with my Bum Genius (at the eye doctor when I had both children and my husband was getting his eye checked and the bathrooms did not have changing tables, only a small sink and I had to put a blanket on the floor and lay baby on it.)  I would have been protected with gussets.  I also wish BG would improve their elastics, as even with normal, gentle, non bleach, non drier use, the elastics generally loosen and need replacing (by hand) after about 6 months to a year of use.  The Bum Genius 5 diapers have apparently improved the elastics but not so much that I can notice a bit difference.  

It is true, this Happy Endings diaper has only been used for a little over a month, however the structure of the elastics, as well as the added gussets seem to be superior to the BG.





This diaper, and other Happy Endings diapers, have 3x3 adjustable rise snaps + hip snaps.  I love that the snaps cross over at the tabs (BG and many other brands do not cross over).  This is a big plus for our family! Often smaller babies need cross over tabs, and my 18 month old still uses this function. The snaps on this diaper function as my other diaper brands, and so far I have not had any splitting.

This diaper is perfect for night time or day time.  You can use only the sewn in insert or add the additional insert.  I have not had any blowouts or leaking.  The stitching and overall construction of this diaper is nice and the price is reasonable at just under $15.  Sadly, more diapers are getting into the $20+ range, without necessarily being a better diaper.  I recommend this brand and really like the night time version of this diaper.

*I did purchase this diaper from the company at a discount, and this is my honest experience and review.  Please know that with cloth diapers, you may need to try a few different brands before finding the type or brand that works best for you and your baby.


DISCLOSURE: In order for me to support my blogging activities, I may receive monetary compensation for a product review and/or link to any products or services from this blog.  I am always honest in my opinions and never promise a positive review.  I only recommend products or services that I feel are beneficial to my family and my lovely readers.  I enjoy testing out items and giving my readers an honest and descriptive account of how a product functions.  My personal experience or view of an item may differ than yours. 

Tiny Drops of Honey is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. You pay the exact same price for any and all products you order through my links, but I receive a small commission.  I am a stay at home mommy and any commissions I receive help support my little ones. 


Please follow me on:

Facebook for updates to this blog, reviews, and giveaways.  For updates on new posts, you can subscribe to me on bloglovin.  I would love it if you would visit me (subscribing makes me so happy) on Instagram and Twitter.

Want updates on Happy Endings and their newest products? Find them on Facebook.

Friday, January 1, 2016

Calming Ocean Waves CD Review



My daughter has had some sort of ocean or water sound white noise playing for naps and night time since she was born. Both my husband and I have used ocean or rain sound cds since college. We have grown so accustomed to it that we cannot sleep without it. Wherever the power goes out during a storm, and the cd or sound machine stops, we wake up immediately to the deafening silence.

It is often had to find a good ocean cd. In our opinion, we do not like the ocean sounds that have seagulls and so were overjoyed to find a cd that is just ocean.  I was given opportunity to review this cd by Ryan Judd (in exchange for my honest opinion and evaluation) and I must say it is excellent. 

This hour-long ocean track is relaxing and is perfect for my 4 1/2 year old daughter as it is just ocean waves on a sandy beach. I am sure she might not mind having seagulls, however, I think it would be too stimulating for her and would keep her awake at night. She has unfortunately inherited some of my insomniac tendencies and is often still awake at 11 pm or midnight. The nice thing is when she is still awake, I always find her on her bed with a stack of about 10-15 books (she cannot read yet, but remembers the stories so well, that she almost reads them word for word from memory).

This CD called, Calming Ocean Waves - Brings You Relaxation and Sleepis 60-minutes of continuous, relaxing ocean waves that will help you relax and sleep.  It is also great for just having in the background when you are stressed and need to feel more at ease.

DISCLOSURE: In order for me to support my blogging activities, I may receive monetary compensation for a product review and/or link to any products or services from this blog. I am always honest in my opinions and never promise a positive review. I only recommend products or services that I feel are beneficial to my family and my lovely readers. I enjoy testing out items and giving my readers an honest and descriptive account of how a product functions. My personal experience or view of an item may differ than yours.

Tiny Drops of Honey is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. You pay the exact same price for any and all products you order through my links, but I receive a small commission. I am a stay at home mommy and any commissions I receive help support my little ones.

Please follow me on:

Facebook for updates to this blog, reviews, and giveaways.  For updates on new posts, you can subscribe to me on bloglovin.  I would love it if you would visit me (subscribing makes me so happy) on Instagram and Twitter.