itti bitti bitti tutto Review & Giveaway

bitti tutto in turquoise

I have always loved minky fabric. It's so soft! Jason laughs at me because I have to touch minky blankets when I walk past them. When we started buying cloth diapers, we purchased several that were labeled as minky. One was not minky at all...it was barely even fuzzy. The other two fell somewhere between fuzzy and minky, but they weren't quite what I was looking for. Then itti bitti, a well known brand in Australia, came to the U.S. We ordered one and finally found the minky softness I had been looking for! So when I was contacted about doing a review, of course I said yes! We were sent the itti bitti bitti tutto in Zeebra - how cute is this print?

Not only is the itti bitti diaper soft on the outside, it's also soft on the inside. The snap down inserts are made with a bamboo viscose and organic cotton blend so they are incredibly absorbent. They are topped with a layer of polyester so that the baby feels dry. I dry all my diapers, inserts, and covers on a drying rack. If you've ever line or rack dried clothing, you know it typically ends up stiff. Natural fibers seem to be the worst at becoming stiff when line dried. However, the itti bitti soaker pads remain soft, even after laying on the drying rack. 


This itti bitti bitti tutto is designed as an All in Two system, so that the shell can be reused if it's not soiled. Because this is not a wipe clean system, the cover does need to lay out to dry in between changes. If Jaxon is not soaked, I will do this, but Jaxon loves to poop in his bitti tutto so this does not happen often for us. Itti bitti has designed this diaper with internal gussets and a patented "poo fence" in the back and I can attest to the fact that it works. Speaking of poop, though, this diaper is not a lot of fun to clean poop off of because there are so many parts. I do not have a diaper sprayer, so I'm dunking and swishing in the toilet. Thankfully, the stay dry layer on the top of the soaker pads lets the poop easily slide off, but sometimes it can be tricky to take the diaper apart without getting your hands dirty. One thing I do love is that this diaper does not stain. I don't know why, but it just doesn't. We've had some nasty messes in it and if any stains remain at the end of the wash cycle, they are faint and easily sun out.

Largest setting, as compared to BumGenius 4.0

Smallest setting, using crossover snaps - it gets very tiny!

Now, some people find this diaper a bit intimidating when you first take it out of the package because it is a highly customizable one-size diaper. Not only can it size down to fit newborns (starting at 8 lbs) or up to fit toddlers (44 lbs!), you can also customize the absorbency levels. There are hip snaps (shown below) and crossover snaps. The bitti tutto comes with 3 soaker pads. They each have color coded snaps, which I feel makes it easy to figure out how to put the diaper together. As shown in the picture below, you can snap the mini soaker to the short soaker (middle bottom picture) or the long soaker (bottom right).  

The hardest thing about this diaper, in my opinion, is not putting it together, but getting the right fit. Because it's highly customizable, those first few changes were spent trying to figure out whether or not to use the hip snaps, which snap placement fit best and how best to position the soakers. We had a few leaks in the beginning as I experimented with all of this. However, once I figured out which settings were right for Jaxon, it fit beautifully -look how great this fits him!

bitti tutto in royal blue

A perfect fit, front and back!

When we first started using itti bitti diapers, I only used the one long insert or the short soaker with the mini soaker snapped to it. That was easily enough absorbency for him for 2 hours (I typically change him every 2 hours). Now he is wetting in greater quantities so I now use all three soaker pads While I still change him every 2-3 hours, there have been a few times we've been in the car and missed changing time. With all three inserts, he can wear this diaper for 4-5 hours with no leaks. The inserts, while small, are extremely absorbent and hold a good deal of liquid. We haven't tried this diaper overnight, but additional boosters can be added to increase absorbency.


Another thing to love about the itti bitti bitti tutto is its trimness. All of Jaxon's pants fit well over it and it doesn't cause a huge fluffy butt like many of our diapers do. I don't mind a fluffy butt, but for those of you who have trouble getting your kids clothes to fit right over cloth diapers, the itti bitti bitti tutto is definitely the solution. Because of the soaker design, this diaper is also extremely trim between the legs. 


I'm often asked what my favorite cloth diaper is. I have an extremely varied stash and have compiled it with a lot of "free with purchase" diapers (thanks, Kelly's Closet) and wins from contests. However, I realized the other day that if purchase history says favorite, then I definitely have a favorite. We have purchased more itti bittis than any other type of diaper, so I think I can finally say I've found my favorite diaper!

Seven of my nine bitti tuttos

You can purchase bitti tuttos at Kelly's Closet for $26.97. 

Want to win a bitti tutto of your own? Enter using the Rafflecopter form below! (click "read more" if you can't see the form)

Traveling with Cloth Diapers

Even though we have only been cloth diapering for 4 months, I feel like I have become somewhat of an expert on traveling with cloth diapers. In the short time since Jaxon's birth, we have been on two week-long vacations and two extended weekend trips. We moved out of our house for four days following the tornadoes in our area. We have stayed in condos, hotels, and with family. I've travelled by car and plane.

For our first two trips, Jaxon was less than 3 weeks old. We only had a small stash. So I just brought everything that fit. Since my 2 Applecheeks, 4 Rumparooz, and 4 Lil Joey's fit him best, I did laundry every night to keep those washed and ready for use while we were out and about during the day. 

Jaxon with his daddy at the beach - 2 weeks old

Wearing a Gro-Via on vacation at the beach

On our fourth trip, I had a larger stash, so I didn't have to do laundry every night, which was great because I ran into an issue: no laundry facilities in our condo. We had stayed at this complex before and had a washer/dryer in our condo, so I thought we would have them this time. There were facilities on site, at least. But walking down the hallway to do laundry was a pain, especially at night. It didn't make me want to go out and get disposables, but it did make me wish I had confirmed that we would have a washer and dryer in our suite.


After the Flats & Handwashing Challenge, I felt like I had found the missing piece for traveling with cloth: flats. I normally take a lot of prefolds, which are great for inserting inside all kinds of covers and don't take up a lot of space to pack. But prefolds take FOREVER to dry and I've found that dryers in vacation condos, especially those at the beach, do not usually work very well. Discovering flats has solved that problem for me. Flats also solve the issue of no laundry facilities because you can, if necessary, wash them in a sink. I would have preferred to handwash in the sink over using laundry facilities outside of our room. 


I personally would not want to deal with flats on an airplane or in airports, because except for the pad fold, I don't find flats easy to put on the baby. Since changing on an airplane is cramped and changing in public facilities is always something I want to finish quickly, I would prefer a pocket diaper. The good news is, you can use your flats as an insert for your pocket diaper, which would be easier to handwash than a microfiber insert.  


Here are a few of my recommendations for traveling with cloth:


1) Decide how often you want or will be able to wash and then calculate how many diapers you need to be able to go that long between washings. Then, pack more than you think you need. Vacation is a popular time for upset stomachs or your plans may change and you may not be able to wash on schedule. You don't want to run out of diapers. 


2) If space is an issue (isn't it always when you're packing for vacation?), take diapers that allow you to reuse covers for multiple changes. This could be a system like Gro-Via or Flip (with reusable or disposable inserts) or flats used inside Bummis, Econobum, or Thirsties covers. Other systems that offer the ability to reuse covers are Applecheeks and Itti Bitti.


4) Don't forget your detergent and make sure your wet bag will hold all your dirty diapers. Sample packs of detergent are great for travel.


5) Bring diaper rash cream (and liners if your cream is not safe for cloth diapers). Like upset stomachs, rashes are also common on vacation.


6) For an easy drying rack on vacation, use clothes hangers - most hotel rooms and condos provide some. Each hanger can usually hold two covers and you can hang them from almost anywhere (chairs, shower curtain rods) and they will typically dry within a few hours. Hotel rooms typically have very dry air which is great for allowing diapers to dry quickly.


7) Don't worry about stains. A quick spray of Bac-out on the diapers can help prevent stains (and will also help with odor from your wet bag), but the important thing is to get the diapers clean. You can sun the diapers when you get home to get the stains out. I bring my Bac-out along in a travel size spray bottle.


8) When we have a long car ride, I keep a few diapers in my diaper bag, along with my medium sized wet bag. I also bring my hanging wet/dry bag with clean diapers packed on the dry side. After my smaller wet bag gets full, I move the dirty diapers to the large wet bag & replenish the diaper bag with clean diapers from the dry side.