Review: KAO Merries Walker Pants Diapers

One of my blogger friends, Shu-Yin, asked if I'd be interested in trying out a new diaper brand in the market, and write a review of the product in my blog. This is the first time I get such request, and first time I write a product review.

Everytime I go for my grocery shopping, I'll check out the diaper offers. Having a 2nd kid now gives me a much better estimation on how much I should stock on which size, considering that both my girls grow almost the same rate. And I saw this new diapers, Kao Merries, in AEON recently. My first thought was, Hmm, expensive.

KAO Merries diapers display in AEON

So, when I was asked to try out this new diaper, I was more than happy to do that, especially since both my girls are still on disposable diapers.

When I received the package, I was eager to open up the box and happily found two packets of diapers in the box for my girls - 24xXL for Eunice, and 33xM for Natalie. Besides, it also has a bunny rattle, and a CD.

XL diapers (12-22kg) for Eunice

M diapers (6-10kg) for Natalie

Kao merries bunny rattle

I like the packaging of the diapers. It has a handle which makes it very easy to be carried around. I could carry two packets together and put them into my store room easily. Unlike the usual diapers that I bought, Kao Merrie's diaper handle doesn't cut into my hand.

Handle for easy carry

The instruction on the package are all in Japanese. Well, as a mother of two, I can easily guess it from the pictures on how I should use it. In the package, it also contains another small leaflet of instructions in English.

On the next day, I tried it on Natalie. My 14mo now weighs 8.5kg+ per the last weigh last month. Usually I'll buy a size bigger for her for the usual brands that I have been using, ie L size. However, when I requested for the sample, I only gave her Natalie's weight and she gave me M size. The first thing that came across my mind is, will the diaper cut into my chubby baby's thigh? Will it be too tight?

When I took out the diaper, I already can feel the difference from the usual ones that I have been using. It's much softer. Then, I thought, it doesn't look like it can contain a lot of urine? One of the reasons why I don't use cloth diaper on Natalie is because her pee pee amount is quite big. When she's on cloth diaper, the whole diaper will be soaking wet in just 1-2 hrs, unlike Eunice who pee in small amount everytime, she could wear cloth diaper for 3-4 hours, and sometimes longer.


When I put it on Natalie, I am surprise that even if it's M size, it fits her nicely. The thigh, the private part, all fit in nicely. I don't see her flesh being "squeezed".

First wearing the new diaper

See the blue tape at the back of the diaper? It took me a while to think what's that for, even EG asked me. And later on I found that it's to tape up the soiled diaper. Brilliant design.

Back view

However after a while, I found that the blue tape could un-done itself easily. It's quite frustrating as it sticks to some of the surfaces where my baby goes. I tried wearing dress or pants over it but if the frequency of taking on and off the pants often was high, it'll also be undone easily. Else, it's working good. It'd be better if the tape is more sticky.

Front view

 As a usual active baby, Natalie couldn't wait to get up and started playing around. According to the instruction, I should wear the diaper band above her belly button but her belly is not small, and it keeps slipping down. However, this doesn't affect neither the way the diaper works, nor the baby.

I watched her moving around with the diapers. She looked comfortable it in. Squatting up and down, walking around as usual. No complain of any discomfort. No red marks on the thigh or waist after moving for an hour. And I could see the diaper fits her snugly.

 

Sitting down, see the band comfortably fit onto my baby

Squatting down playing the blocks

After two hours of my first trial on the diaper, Natalie poo poo-ed. Good. I tried to tear off the sides of the diaper, it was easily done. I remember using another brand on Eunice previously and poo poo in a diaper pants was a nightmare as it was so hard to tear the side or remove the diapers. However, this time, it was done easily and beautifully. There's no leaking, and I could tape up the soiled diaper. Very good design. Even EG is impressed.

Soiled diaper taped up

I let Natalie sleep in the diapers, started first with afternoon nap. Kao Merries unique super absorbent really live up to its standard. Natalie normally naps for 2 hours in the afternoon. There's no leaking and she still looks perfectly comfortable in the diapers though I didn't change it immediately. To put it to another extreme case, I let her sleep with it at night. My sleeping beauty sleeps early, from 830pm all the way till 730am on weekend (woke up midnight once occasionally and 6am another time). Then, as a lazy mum, once she wakes up on weekend, I won't change her diaper immediately. I normally only change after her breakfast. And to my surprise, 1) the diaper doesn't look bulky after wearing for 12hrs+, 2) it's not as heavy and as smelly as the usual diaper that I've been using (for the same number of hours of wearing), and 3) best thing is, when I change her diaper, there's no marks of redness or rashes at all. I give credit to Kao Merries' design which allows maximum air flow, and baby can enjoy maximum dryness and comfort. Thumbs up!

Diapers while zzz

Taking her nap

Another design that I like about Kao Merries is the wetness indicator. It's in light yellow color when it's unused, and after a while, when baby pees more, the indicator will change color to dark green. When I see that, I know it's time to change diaper. Easy. :)

Wetness indicator in yellow prior use

Indicator changed color to dark green - time to change!

Another observation that I have is, as I mentioned, Natalie pees in quite a big amount. Her usual diaper normally will become very wet and heavy after a few hours if she pees. When I wear dress for her without a panty, the diaper will normally drop down and I can see the diaper below her dress hanging halfway while she's walking around. I don't really like that sight. But with Kao Merries, thanks to its super absorbency, the diaper doesn't become bulky or heavy even she pees. She looks perfect in her short dresses as the diaper was nicely hidden underneath her dress. Hence, when I go out for functions or dinner, Kao Merries is surely my first choice for Natalie. :)

Next test - to test on Eunice. Eunice is toilet trained in day time, but at night she still wants to wear a diaper. I have told her to not wearing it but she is not comfortable. Well, I don't force her. So she's still on diaper while sleeping.

Eunice is now 13+kg, close to 14kg. So the sample given was XL size - fits her nicely. The waist band looks soft and gentle on her. She doesn't complain anything when I wear for her - that's good.

XL size diaper on my ~14kg girl

Side view

 I asked her to move around with the diaper - so she did. Lied down, walk around, jump, sit. I asked her if the new diaper is nice, she said Yes. :)

Lying down comfortably

Same wetness indicator

Back view

For Eunice, I know she pees in diaper early in the morning like 3-4am once. The only observation that I see is same as Natalie's case - for a 3y8m old toddler, her pee amount can be A LOT. For her usual diaper, it'll be so heavy and bulky, but for Kao Merries - it still looks the same. Probably slightly bulky as it's holding quite a bit urine amount, but not as bulky as the usual one that I am using. It's not as smelly too. :)

Even now Eunice knows how to ask for new diapers when we wear diaper for her before her bed time.

All in all, Kao Merries is now in my top list. Though it's quite pricey but it's worth for its quality.
Double thumbs up for Kao Merries from me and my girls.

To Purchase
Currently Merries is available exclusively at AEON and AEON BIG selected outlets.

For more info, you may visit Kao Malaysia website.
Or MYMerries Facebook Page.


* Disclosure: All text and opinions are of my own honest opinion of the product. The sample received are for review purpose, no monetary incentive was received.

Eunice School Experience

Warning: This is a looooooooong post, summarizing Eunice's first school experience.

I have started to look for Eunice's school since she's only 18mo. Well, you can call me kiasu, but to my horror, a lot of schools are fully booked even though I only wanted to enrol her into a playschool at 3yo.

EG and I have our own expectations on the education that we want our children to have. Well, some might say we're weird, or have rather unusual expectations, however, it's something that both me and him are "aligned" about. Funny! We're from different towns, went through different education system (he's english ed, I'm chinese ed), we only met in the same university, but we have the same ideas or expectations when we talk about our children's education - on what we want or don't want them to go through, and how we think their education should be.

I have short listed a Montessori Pre-school for Eunice since she's 20mo. The principal spent 1.5 hours going through their school system and showed us around the school. She told me not to decide so soon but to visit other pre-schools before I make my decision. I did. I went and visited other pre-schools but none of them impressed me as much as Kidiland. I registered Eunice since beginning 2012 and was waiting eagerly for 2013 to let her start school.

However, during my confinement month with Natalie in Sep 2012, I received a call from the school, telling me that they have decided to close the 3yo class as they found many young children fell sick very often, as their immune system is not strong enough yet and the viral spread really fast. Hence, they have decided to close down the 3yo class starting 2013. Imagine my disappointment!

Friends who know me well know that I'll be pretty persistent to get things that I really want. I called up the principal almost every month, suggesting weekend classes, activities, or other classes for my 3yo. I am not being kiasu, but I am pretty sure that Eunice was ready to go school. At 3yo, she speaks very clear and very well, she was toilet trained, she could tell what she wants. I need her to learn up how to social in a school setting, and I want her to build up self confidence - not so much of knowing how to write or read yet. I want her to learn mandarin too! And the most valid reason is that she's born early of the year in 2010.

After months of "harassment", finally, the principal allowed Eunice to join in for a week - to test and see if she's ready for school. I was sooo happy! We sat in on the first day - just to know how the school runs. She didn't cry, but she sticked to me. However, I can see her being very interested in the class when teachers showed them how to count, or when teacher read stories to them. She could also play with some of the activities. And next day onwards, we didn't sit in anymore. We drove her to school, and we left after dropping her. She cried of course - she's a manja girl. I called in school to check on her after 1 hour and most of the time, teachers will tell me that she's settled after a while. They actually commented that she's very brave, she'd settle down after teachers explained to her that daddy & mummy went to work and will pick her up in a while. *Proud*

First day in school - welcome note for Eunice

March 2013 - Eunice in her uniform

March 2013 - It's PE day! Eunice in her t-shirt & short pants

March 2013 - Back view. She looked so small and so cute then. :)

I got to know this pre-school from my babysitter, as she provided chauffeur service to a few of her children from her place to school. Hence, after the first week, we let Eunice follow my bbsitter's hubby to school together with all her friends. Again, I called to school to check on her. To my surprise, teachers said she never cries when she comes with her friends. She's always coming down the car happily with her smiley face. However, being a very very protective mother & also father actually (or whatever you called it), we actually went to school during lunch time to peep and make sure our daughter went onto the babysitter's hubby's MPV safely after school.

And, Eunice has officially been going to school since April 2013. Till now, I still think I was right to send her to school. She used to be very shy, but now she's much better. She used to sit aside or sit at a corner to watch others doing their dancing or exercise, but after a week or so, she started joining in. She learns a lot of things in the school. Because she joins 4yo class though she's only 3yo  (that's why I didn't blog about it earlier), teachers didn't give her some of the homework or she didn't involve in some of the activities in school as they will be going through the same thing next year (when she officially joins the 4yo class). The comments from teachers have been very positive - she's mature, she's good in expressing herself, she could tell what she wants, she concentrates in class, and she listens to instruction and obeys instructions well. We were so proud. Teachers love her - we can see that when we drop her at school occasionally, and in our conversation with the teachers on some of her little accidents in school (fell down, cried when other kids knocked/hurt her, etc).

In July, the school had a field trip to turf club. I wanted to join but Nat fell sick at that time and I had to take care of her at home. Hence EG brought Eunice along. Parent did not need to follow actually but it was our first experience too so we wanted to follow. Eunice was all excited days prior. Kept counting down the days and told us she's going to see horses. I didn't go but from what EG told me, our little girl really behaved well among her friends, and she could be rather independent. *Grin*

July 2013 - Getting ready for her first field trip

July 2013 - Feeding horse :)

School has talent time show too. I didn't know what to let her perform, and I thought she is only 3yo, so we don't need to pressure her. I called in to the school to tell the teacher about it. Again, to my surprise, teacher Sandra told me that she has asked Eunice and Eunice told her she'd sing London Bridge is falling down. True enough, after she came back from school, she told us she went up to the stage, and talked through the microphone, saying "Good morning teachers and friends, my name is Eunice." And she started singing the song. A short one. It marked a great achievement for her.

Her school sends parents the weekly report with pictures in the class. It makes me feel very comfortable as I know what she learns or does in school every week. And every half yearly, there'll be a parent-teacher review, they called in Appraisal. We missed the first session since Eunice only joined in Q2, there weren't much to review then. So this is considered our first review. I was pretty impressed. All her teachers graded her in her "performance" in school. Since she's only 3yo, some areas are not applicable to her but the teachers praised her highly in her interest to learn, and her ability to express herself so well, in fact, too well for a 3yo. *Proud again!*

Report card :D

Absent for 6 days as we went to Australia for holiday

Review I

Review II

The last highlight of her being in the school is the Year End Party (YEP) that we had last weekend. It's a graduate party for the 6yo graduates, but the other students will be performing as well. Eunice has been telling us and showing us her dance moves at home. I was just so excited to see her perform on the actual day. However, I dare not mention much to her at home to avoid pressure on her - she needs to perform (together with her classmates of course) in front of 400 guests! And she's only 3yo! Gosh! But she makes us PROUD. She did really well. And she looked so cute in her lady bug costume. Kudos to the creative teachers who handmade those costumes (I heard).

Oct 2013 - Lady bug front view

Oct 2013 - Lady bug side view

Oct 2013 - Lady bug back view

Oct 2013 - Lady bug flipping her wings :D

12 Oct 2013 - Eunice on stage with all her schoolmates, singing a chinese song with sign language

We couldn't really take much pics of her acting as a lady bug on the stage as she flipped and walked back to the back stage rather quickly. And she's so small size. :D. However, I was glad that Eunice stood in front during the chinese song 快乐天堂 performance. I could take the video using my phone. She got distracted a few times trying to show her friends her daddy, and to greet us, and to show us the bangle that the teacher gave her. Ah, such a cutie pie. But we're really so proud of her that she could dance throughout the whole song. :)

During the year end party, the school put up a story board of the Juniors class. It's so cute and so sweet. I feel so happy to know what my girl has been doing in the school, and most importantly, that she enjoys school so much.

I thank God for this opportunity for Eunice to attend a good school at 3yo. And I thank God for His blessing and protection over her that throughout her school days, she stays healthy and strong (except these two week - due to bad weather). I am also thankful that she picks up mandarin well - which is one of the main purposes that I wanted to send her to school. The teacher has "kick started the engine" and I just need to work a little bit more at home to get her to get used to the language. :).

If you ask me again, no, no regret sending her to school at 3yo. It was a great experience for both the parents, and my girl. :)

First: Fell Sick at 13.5mo

My mind is all with my little Natalie these few days. I think about her day and night, regardless where I am. She fell sick since last weekend, had a very high fever. Even with PCM, her fever will go up till 38C on last Saturday. On Sunday, we brought her to Dr Pong in Adventist. He told us not to worry and to sponge her often to bring the temperature down.

The whole Sunday I was beside her. She's cranky because her body was scorching hot. But we couldn't feed her PCM in less than 4 hours. I tried to wipe her with a wet handkerchief but she'd cry and cry when I wipe her face. I guess it doesn't feel nice to do that. But when she hit a point when she was too lethargic to fight back, she'd just let me do whatever that I want, and look at me blankly. :(

Poor girl!

I always call her a tough girl. I remember visiting Dr every month during Eunice's time when she was less than 1 yo as she always came down with flu. For Nat, she's perfectly healthy even though we brought her out more often, and I am more relax (or cin-cai) in her stuff, let her bite ANYTHING that she wants, and didn't really bother to make sure everything is sterilised. She has been well all these time. Except few weeks before she turns 1, she had throat infection and was prescribed antibiotics for 5 days. However, even so, she was still active and eating well. Fever was low grade and recovered in 1-2 days.

22/9 - Little poor girl stopped fighting and just let me put the wet hanky on her forehead to cool her temperature down.

22/9 - Little girl's lethargic look

22/9 - Slept almost the whole day on Sunday

Dr Pong checked her ears, lungs and throat, all are clear and said it should be viral. We were asked to monitor her a few days. Yesterday her body has a lot of rashes, we suspected it's Roseola, like what Eunice had in her 8th month. Today is her 5th day, her fever is still there though now the PCM feeding gap can last up to 10 hours. However, with the fever there, it still worries me.

I hope she's teething. And I hope her teeth will come out soon. Yes, still toothless at 13.5mo.

Hmm, I am not sure if it's co-incident or what. Eunice also had her first antibiotic course for throat infection few weeks before she turned 1, so as Natalie. And Eunice had roseola and was admitted (lack of knowledge then) at her 8 mth and her first tooth erupted after that. I sure pray hard that Natalie's fever was nothing serious, and it's the same as the sister, whereby her first tooth is erupting soon!

Verdict of a full time working mum. This is the time when I wish I can leave all my stupid projects and bring my poor little girl home. :(

World Breastfeeding Week

I am a breastfeeding mum, yup, still am. So, anything related to breastfeeding will somehow gets my attention.

August, or somewhere in August, it's World Breastfeeding Week (WBW). There will be a lot of writeups regarding breastfeeding in most of the parenting or baby magazines, and lots of posting regarding breastfeeding in parenthood or baby forums, and websites. It's quite hard to miss it actually.

So, about me. I "celebrated" WBW during Eunice's time, and now, I celebrate it again. Breastfeeding looks never ending to me. Hahaha! At least for now.

I breastfed Nat for 1 year already. *Grin*. Previous experience with Eunice definitely helps me a lot. But she's a different baby comparing to her sister - she is not as addicted to my boobs as much as her sister. There are times when I need to force feed her, and she often just latches for 2-5 mins just to satisfy her hunger, and she continues to her own exploration.

I used to pump 3 times a day. Morning 535-545am when I wake up, 1030am  & 430pm in office. I used to over supply since my baby doesn't like to drink much. Eunice has been clearing my stock for me. Even so, I still have my freezer full of milk and had to buy a chest freezer to keep my 80-100 bottles of precious milk. Ever since Nat turns 1yo, I cut my morning pump but continue to pump two times in office.

Friends in mother's room asked me how long do I plan to pump? I seem to be there forever LOL! I don't know but my plan now is to pump until she's 18mo, then we'll see if she still wants my boobs or not. I believe, weaning her this time won't be as hard as during Eunice's time. But I'll still be sad.

I thank God that I can breastfeed my two girls. They are beautiful girls. I thank God for the supply that He has blessed me with too. Nat grows up healthily. She has less allergy problems as Eunice's hence she doesn't have the frequent flu and cough. She's easier to take care, and she looks more solid with high resistant. Haha!

Breastfeeding, is a mixed feeling. At one point, I yearn for the freedom of myself, but I feel sad thinking my baby is not sticking onto my breasts for comfort too. It's just the same feeling that I had 2 years ago. But I am sure, this time, I'll be able to handle it better. I hope.

It's a tough journey but it's worth it. I am glad that I had great support from hubby to 100% breastfeed my two girls. Some said about being ugly, breasts sagging, no time, tiring, hard to take care, etc etc but I often reply back and said it's all worth it. Just 1-2 yrs of "suffering", and it's for the baby's well being for the whole life. It's surely worth it.

Breastfeeding rocks. I am going to enjoy the last 1/3 of my breastfeeding journey with my little naughty Natalie. I hope she'll love my boobs for a while more. :)

My pretty girl at 1y12d :)

Note: There's a great writeup for breastfeeding here. I got the comics from there. I am sure, those comics bring a smile to any breastfeeding mums. :)

Happy Father's Day!

Weeks before Father's Day, I have been trying to surf up the internet to see what I can do together with Eunice to give her daddy a small present. Many ideas came but in the end, I saw in Eunice's school's weekly report that they have been doing pasting quite a bit, so I'll let her do the same at home.

I use a heart puncher to punch out a lot of small hearts, and let Eunice stick on a big heart that I cut out. It's a secret project. We did it when daddy went to work at night. Oh she loves doing it. In fact, after she finished doing it, she still asked to do the same.

Stick stick stick. Look at her full concentration.

All the little hearts on the big heart. Got her to write I + Daddy.

Ever since she went school, her writing skill has improved a lot. I got her to write I & Daddy but I guess I over-expect on her. Hehehe.. There were still some errors. That's why in the end, I had to cut out the heart and paste it on another piece of paper. And I held her hand lightly to write the words.

It's supposed to be a surprise so I didn't tell Eunice much about it, knowing that she'll sure tell her daddy about it. Well, the next day, the moment she got into the house after EG picked her up from babysitter's place, the first thing she told me was, "Mummy, I want the small heart I sticked one.." Gahh.. no more surprise!

The happy daddy and his card

On the Father's day itself, we baked brownies together. I bought a premix brownies from Aus, which my friend recommended highly. It's super super easy. I only need to mix in melted butter and eggs, and mix mix mix. So I let Eunice do it, well, just action action only. But she surely enjoyed it.

The little girl doing the baking

I poured in the melted butter because it's hot. Then I got her to pour in the eggs. I mixed them together already and I asked her to mix it so she was just playing along. But I can see she's proud. I got her to pour in the chocolate chips as well, and arranged them. Then off into the over it went.

The proud girl posing with her brownies

Needless to say, the brownies was a success. Daddy and the big girl had it together as snack before bed time. And it's best to go with a scoop of ice cream. Yummy!

Happy Father's Day to our hero!

The yummy brownies with ice cream

Happy Father's Day to our hero! 

We love you!

You're the best daddy for us!

The purple dress

Last weekend while we were back to Taiping, we went to Fajar to find some cheap home clothings for Eunice to wear at home. She saw a purple dress, and told me she wanted to try it.

I told her it's not nice but she insisted that it's nice and wanted to try it. Alright, so I brought the dress into the fitting room and let her try it. So, that's how she looked in the dress.

I opened the door and let her daddy, and grandparents have a look of her in the purple dress. Daddy said it's too big for you. She asked, why? Daddy said you're still small. I said you need to eat more rice and grow bigger first. Daddy said, Yea, this dress is for Megan, not you.

Note: Megan is a 6yo girl at her babysitter's place.

So we didn't buy the dress.

She and her purple dress in the fitting room

After that, this whole week she kept mentioning about the dress.

Incident 1:
During dinner, she was eating her rice very fast, and big spoonful too. She told me, "Mummy, see I eat my rice so fast..!" Then I praised her, good girl. Then she finished her rice and told me, "Yay, I finished my rice! I big girl dy! I can wear the purple dress already!"

Incident 2:
I picked her up from babysitter's place and when she saw me at the door, she ran to me shouting "Mummy, today I finished my rice. I big girl already! I can wear the purple dress now!"

Incident 3:
At home, she went toilet herself and wore back her pants herself, and washed her hands herself too. I asked her, "Did you wipe? Did you wash hand?" She said, "Yes, I did. I big girl already, I can wear the purple dress already.."

Geez... EG said there're a few incidents of her mentioning the purple dress when he's with her too. Guess my little girl now has her sense of beauty now.

Now, before going to school, she will request what ribbon or clips to wear on her head. This morning, I asked her if we can just wear a hair band for her because we're late already. She said, "No, mummy.. Today, err.. I want to tie plait!".. Gee, I need to improve my hair tying skills really. I am never a mummy who knows how to deco herself, so now I have two girls that I need to "deco". I guess it's time to learn some skills. :)

Natalie: Bad Hair Day @ 10th Mth

My baby Natalie is now 10 mths old. Oh, she surely keeps me very busy. She's very different from her sister Eunice. But one thing for sure, they are equally manja. Once we raise voice, or if we beat her (lightly - especially when she keeps turning while changing diaper), she'll burst out in loud cry. Sometimes we look at her sternly when she did something that she shouldn't, she'll stare at us with her big eyes, waiting for our next response. If we smile to her, she'll give us her big wide smile, but if we continue to be stern and our voice sounds stern, she'll then cry out loud. :)

Nevertheless, she's still such a darling to us.

I love to see her waking up in the morning. I normally pumped in the room after I get up. Sometimes, she'll wake up when she heard some noise. And I'll see her struggling to sit up, trying hard to open her eyes, and kept making noises - as if she's going to lose any playful opportunity. And the moment she opens her big eyes wide, she'll greet us with her sweetest smile, the toothless smile. Yea, still no sign of tooth at 10 mths. :)

Both my babies have lots of hair, and we never shave them. It's too beautiful to shave their hair. Natalie has more hair than her sister. I managed to capture some of her pics when she woke up 2 days ago. I think she had a bad hair day. It really cheer up my days looking at her pictures. :)

It's not easy to take her pics and she's very very active

Sleepy look? Not really, just because she's moving a lot...

Now she looks awake :)

She and her two favorite fingers, which comfort her most of the time :)

I took a video too. :)

We're going to bring her for a hair cut this weekend. It's cute for her to have so much hair, I know, but I think it's kinda hot and unruly now. But I hope her hair will grow long enough for her birthday party in the next 2 months.

She's such a beautiful baby. :)