review + giveaway: applecheeks swim diaper

i know i've been MIA for a while. we were away for a short bit in november for a family vacation. as hard as we try to be environmentally-friendly, we just can't give up travelling...which is probably one of the most "un-green" things you can do.

since N is turning two this month, we thought we'd squeak in one last plane trip before having to pay full fare. so we went to the beautiful island of maui! it is already starting to get cold here, so we were looking forward to heading to warmer climes. since we'd be spending lots of time on the beach, it seemed like a good time to try a reusable diaper on for size. i've been wanting to try them for a while, but we're not allowed to use them at the pool where N has his swimming lessons. i approached the kind folks at applecheeks about doing a review on their new swim diaper, and they happily obliged by sending me one of their super cute corsica swim diapers.

so we took it for a test drive on ulua beach in south maui. we arrived at the beach, set ourselves up on a patch of sand, and proceeded to change N into the swim diaper. for those of you have never used a reusable swim diaper before, let me tell ya that it holds in solids (i.e. poop), but does not contain any kind of absorbent layer for liquids. i knew that going in, but what i didn't expect was for N to pee as soon as i put him in it. literally, he was in it for less than a minute when i noticed liquid trickling down his leg. :oP i then had to rinse off my straw beach mat since there was now a small puddle on it. overall, the diaper held up well and had a great fit. at the time of the trip, N was 23 months and 25 lbs. the size 2 was a great fit for him, just like the regular size 2 applecheeks pocket diaper. in fact, there is still a lot of room for him to grow into it, but the elastics were snug enough that nothing would leak out and the rows of snaps allow you to adjust to a perfect fit. i could definitely see using this as the beach instead of a disposable swimmer. unfortunately, i don't think it will work for the pool at the community centre as the ones in our neighbourhood state that diapered children have to be huggies/pampers-type swimmers.

here are some shots of N playing on the beach in his applecheeks...

* GIVEAWAY ALERT *

applecheeks is kindly offering up one of their fab swim diapers to one lucky reader! visit www.applecheeks.com and indicate which colour and size you would pick if you won. they come in two sizes and two colours (corsica, as pictured on N, and bonfire)

* EXTRA ENTRIES *

(please leave a separate comment for each additional entry)

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this giveaway is open to residents of Canada and the U.S. until Dec. 30, 2010 at 5:00 p.m. EST. the winner will be chosen using a random number generator. please include your email address in your entry so that i can contact you if you are the winner. you can email me at ecoparentblog [at] gmail [dot] com if you prefer not to post your email address here. if the winner does not respond within 72 hours, another winner will be chosen. good luck!