Motherease are a long-standing Canadian company who make a range of nappies. I’ve previously reviewed their AIO, the Uno, and two different styles of wraps, the Airflow and Rikki. This review is for their Ai2, the Duo, but I’m specially looking at the Small size (there are also newborn, one-size and Large sizes). The Small fits from around 8-18lbs.

The cover retails for around £14, the various other sizes have their own prices. Then there is a choice of inserts, a stay-dry (£14), stay-dry night, and cotton terry. I’ve only tried the stay-dry insert so that’s what this review will focus on. A cover and insert set such as this would cost around £28 which is a high price point, however if you were to use this as the Ai2 it is intended to be it would work out cheaper. An Ai2 cover is normally used around four times (unless soiled) so a system of four inserts and one cover would work out at around £17.50 per change which is much more reasonable.

The outside is the lovely Motherease PUL which is extremely thin. It has the typical Motherease style of being wide between the legs, and that is because it is designed to sit on the thighs, like a disposable nappy, and not be tucked into the knickerline.

The edges of the nappy are all covered in the infamous Motherease binding (nylon tricot). The binding is really great at preventing leaks, but it is very fragile. I have concerns about the longevity of Motherease products because of this binding, and Motherease themselves do say that their nappies should only be expected to last for one child. The good news about an Ai2 system is that should you cover fail for whatever reason, then you only need to purchase new covers, the inserts will still work (and they are very sturdy) so it isn’t such an expensive issue. So if you plan to use your nappies on a subsequent baby then I feel the Duo system is a better option than the Uno.

It has a popper waist fastening. As an extra touch the hip stability poppers are hidden from the outside (the backs of the poppers don’t go through both layers of PUL so you can’t see them), whilst only cosmetic this does give a cleaner finish which I really like and had to mention.

The tummy panel is elasticated, and as the back elastic goes further around the sides compared to other nappies, it does mean almost the entire top of the nappy is elasticated. This helps provide the excellent containment offered by this nappy. The elastics on the nappy are all really gentle.

It has what I call a secondary gusset system. As well as the wrap being elasticated, the insert is too. But not just on the legs, the front and back also have elastic. This gives containment performance as close to a two-part system as you can get.

The insert is topped with athletic wicking jersey (AWJ) which is really lovely and soft. Both sides of the insert are covered with the AWJ which will help with removal of solids if you happen to have anything escape over the top of the insert and onto the back of it – removing solids from exposed absorbent fibres is much more difficult. Be aware that this fabric can snag very easily on velcro, and whilst that doesn’t affect the use you may want to ensure any velcro nappies you have are washed in a mesh bag.

It is a very slim fitting nappy. I did find I needed to boost, the easiest way to do this is to tuck a booster between the insert and the cover.

I’m not generally a fan of sized nappies because they work out much more expensive. I got this nappy when my baby was around 10lbs and it fitted really well. She was in an awkward stage of having outgrown many of her newborn nappies (and certainly out wee-ing them), but many of her birth to potty nappies were still too big. It lasted until she was around 5 months when the leg elastics became too tight. So this definitely filled a gap, although not a cheap option (and there are other, cheaper, options if you find yourself in this stage).

Overall I really like this Duo system, it is a very easy to use Ai2. The containment is exceptional for a non two-part system. The fit was just perfect on my baby for the time it was the correct size, but sized nappies are an expensive option. The price is high if you just purchase a single cover and insert, but if you use it as intended and have multiple inserts then it is a more reasonably priced system.

You can also see this review, and many others, on my YouTube channel.