Boingo vs Snappi

I am a barefoot queen.  Ever since I was little I have hated to wear shoes and I got without as often as possible much to my husband's chagrin.  It has never caused me any problem except for the lone event when I was seven years old.

My mother cloth diapered.  Which in and of itself was not a problem except for the fact that she also used diaper pins.  For those of you who don't know what a diaper pins is, think giant safety pin.  One day I was running around with my usual exuberance and I stepped rather hard on one and managed to get it stuck rather deeply into my poor heel.  The following removal and series of Dr's visits does not make the list of favorite childhood moments

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Needles to say when I decided to cloth diaper it was very important to me to make sure that all the items I used were safe.  So I researched and while some people prefer to use the old fashioned diaper pin, there are two companies that have come up with a system that is safe for all unsuspecting feet.  

Meet the Boingo and Snappi!

Boingo

Boingo was created by a mother of seven children who clothes diapered her kids with prefolds and pins for 18 years.  She started designing the perfect diaper pin replacement and from her sketches and test the Boingo was revealed!

Boingo consists of two silicone fasteners that have small plastic "teeth" on the back that grip the fabric on a prefold, flat, or fitted.  The manufacturer states that you use one for smaller babies (one side on each wing) and two for larger babies.  If they get dirty you can simply wash and use again.  

Boingo comes in a wide variety of colors and is available through most online cloth diaper stores.  Cost wise they are $7.50 per set although you might be able to find them on sale or use a coupon code since most diaper shops do not exclude fasteners from their discount codes.

While I love the idea behind the Boingo I would say that for newborn it really does not work.  The decorative star ends are super cute, but we're so big that they kept digging into her belly when she curled up.  I also found that prefolds are not wide enough for one Boingo to work so for us we had to use one on each side.  I think they would work well on a toddler as there is enough hip space to make the digging issue a moot point.  I am putting the Boingo up for now, but I will pull it out in a few months and update you guys then.

Snappi

The Snappi was invented by one frustrated dad in South Africa.  Tired of poking his fingers with pins, he came up with the Snappi in 1987 and soon brought them to a fair trade show where he sold 4,000 in just a few days.

The manufacturer is vague about the exact materials used in the Snappi, but claims that all the products are FDA approved and does not contain any BPA products, latex, silicone, or modifying polymers.  In other words, they are made of a stretchy non toxic, but unknown material.  The Snappi has three arms that have teeth on the underside of each end that grip the fabric ensuring a snug grip on any prefold, fitted, or flat.

The Snappi comes in two sizes.  Size 1 for birth to 16 months and size 2 for babies beyond that and offers an extra 4 inches in stretch and will fit a waist up to 30 inches.  The Snappi is available  in almost every cloth diaper store for between $4 an d $5.50 each.

I have found that the Snappi makes diaper changes super easy and I have not had any problems.  It was a bit stiff at first, but with use it has become stretcher and easier to fasten on Homegirl.  I do rinse it off every few days to avoid urine build up.  Other than that...BUY IT!

Have any of you found a diaper fastener that you love?