As a mom of five who has been in the diaper game for almost a decade, when I was asked if I could try out a brand that promised to be better for the environment and to perform 55% better in absorbency than our usual store-bought big brand name diapers, I needed zero convincing. The timing was perfect to put Freestyle to the test as we happened to be traveling to my parent’s house to celebrate Thanksgiving. Not only would we be testing the overnight protection, but also the car drive protection, which is a category all in itself.
We were more than ready to put these diapers to the test! The package arrived on our doorstep Wednesday, as they are a deliver-to-door service with a monthly subscription option. I personally have become a pretty big fan of deliver-to-door services during this season of my life as the convenience factor with five children is a priority. Purchasing diapers doesn’t always align with purchasing groceries on our weekly cadence, so a monthly rhythm is intriguing to me.
The packaging was bright and fun, and their marketing spoke to me immediately. I’m a tactile person and could just feel the quality of the wipes and diapers when I touched them. The wipes were thick, yet soft, and did the job for a bigger blow out that occurred a few hours after the delivery. Our baby girl was apparently up for the job of really trying out Freestyle!
The diapers seemed like they packed a lot of punch in a slim product. Nothing worse than a super bulky diaper for that overnight protection tenet; these did not fit that way at all. Turns out, Freestyle partners with artists to produce aesthetically pleasing designs as well, which is so fun for our little 8-month-old baby girl who is already quite a fashionista (thank you, friends, for all the cutest hand-me-downs.)
We traveled to Cleveland amidst the Thanksgiving traffic, taking approximately 3.5 hours to make it safe to Grandma’s house. I really had no worry about the diaper holding up for the drive, but usually the brand we utilize only holds up about 2-3 hours before it expands to the point of saggy butt (if you know, you know.) Our 8-month-old is still nursing about every 3 hours in addition to doing some baby led weaning at this point, meaning she’s very well-hydrated and goes through diapers pretty quickly. Upon arriving to change her diaper, I actually didn’t even need to yet. The absorbency factor was definitely spot on.
We moved forward throughout the motions of the holiday: enjoying family, playing checkers and card games, gobbling down turkey, cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes and gravy, green bean casserole, homemade cinnamon apple sauce and rolls before it was on to pumpkin pie, salted caramel apple pie and ice cream. Next, we took a family walk and began watching our favorite holiday season kick-off movie, ‘The Christmas Story’. With all this, I kind of forgot to keep consistently changing her diaper like I would on a usual day, but Freestyle is not exaggerating when they say their diapers are 55% more absorbent than other brand names. WOW! Seriously, moms, these are magic.
Our baby girl has soaked through diapers overnight here and there since about 6 months. She still nurses 2-3x a night and if I’m in a groggy state and don’t change her like I should (we’ve all been there), it usually kicks me in the morning with slightly soggy pajamas and another load of laundry to do. I wanted to put Freestyle to the test so purposefully didn’t change her even though this was taking a risk as she was sleeping in grandma’s nice crib. Thank goodness, the cute brand name sheets were safe and sound. For reference, this meant she wore the same diaper from about 7:30 p.m. until 7:30 a.m. And, the diaper wasn’t even too bad after 12 hours. Honestly, I bet she could have worn it for a few more hours and would have been just fine.
One more selling point that Freestyle has for me:
Diapers use a lot of trees and my mom guilt over not indulging in the cloth diaper route has always given me guilt. I don’t want to be part of the problem as over 1 million trees are cut down each year to supply the disposable diaper market. Being honest with myself, with five children and always being on the run, cloth diapering doesn’t provide the conveniency or practicality that disposable do, and at this point in my mothering journey, I’m not going to change our routine.
So, here’s where Freestyle really spoke to me. They utilize bamboo pulp rather than tree pulp. Bamboo is the fastest growing plant on Earth, meaning it’s the most renewable source for the future of diapers. Whereas it takes 20 years to grow a tree back, it only takes 60 days to grow back a bamboo plant. Not only this, but because bamboo is so dry, it turns out to be way more absorbent. The wipes are also made of bamboo, totally chlorine free and include no toxic chemicals, just like the diapers.
For those local to Columbus, you can also find the brand in-store if that’s more your jam! They are available in Whole Foods in Upper Arlington, Columbus (Dublin-Granville Road) and Easton. I hope you enjoy them as much as our family did.
