Tuesday 6 September 2016

My Must Have Baby Item - The Dribble Bib



Most people when asked what their must have baby item is would probably talk about their pram, their bouncy chair, a baby sling or some other pretty obvious must have device, and whilst I find all these things useful without a doubt, I'm here to talk about what really matters. It's time to get real, and down to the nitty gritty and talk about dribble, in particular, dribble bibs. Let me tell you I have become quite the connoisseur of the dribble bib. The lowly dribble bib is not just a triangular cut of fabric with which to catch your precious one's fountain of spit but rather a carefully engineered liquid catching and absorbing device. With that said there are those that do them well and then there are those that absolutely suck at it.

Lewis started dribbling from about the age of 2.5-3 months. When I say dribbling I don't mean a cute little blob coming out of his mouth every now and again but rather a constant waterfall of sticky baby mouth goodness. Muslins were no match for his mouthy rivers and so started my epic journey to find the most perfect dribble bib solution in the world. So here it is, my experience summed up to make it easier for all those mum's out there that have their own mini dribble fountain.

Tesco Dribble Bibs

We were given this really cute set as a baby shower present. I love the cute design, anything with dinosaurs on is a win in our house. These bibs have a popper fastener and are really absorbent, having a nice towelling backing on them. However, these were only good for Lewis for about 2 weeks as they are so tiny! I know Lewis is a huge baby but these bibs just did not offer enough coverage to catch the dribble which comes out at all angles, not just straight down.



So sorry Tesco, I like the designs and the price but we ended up giving all our Tesco dribble bibs away to a friend who had a younger, smaller baby.

Boots Dribble Bibs





I bought this pack of dribble bibs from Boots as I absolutely loved the design. My parents will tell you that Lewis spend the majority of his first few months of life decked out in anything that had stars on. These were quite pricey from memory,  think £5.99 for the two. They fasten with velcro which has become a dribble bib pet hate of mine. Babies can pull velcro apart and if the bib gets caught on anything the bib easily comes off. Plus if you have a pet, their hair will inevitably get stuck in the velcro and build up over time, rendering the velcro completely useless. These were slightly bigger than the Tesco bibs but I still found the triangle a little small to contain Lewis spit falls. The biggest problem though was the size around the neck. It wasn't long before these were too tight for Lewis and again got handed down to someone with a more appropriately sized child.


Nuby Dribble Bibs




I was really excited (I know what has my life come to) when I found these bibs in my local Tesco. The triangle was huge and they had a really nice soft felt feel to them. That along with the funky designs made me think we were finally onto a bib winner. At £4.49 for the two they weren't the most expensive but were still on the pricey side. These sadly do have the dreaded velcro attachment but if they lived up to their hype of size and dribble catching ability I could overlook that.


The first time Lewis wore this bib I thought I'd cracked it, found the holy grail of dribble bibs. Had you spoken to me on that day I would have waxed lyrical about the joys of Nuby bibs and all they could offer the world. I was on cloud nine, until, laundry day. These did not wash well. In fact after one wash they were pretty much useless. The design of these bibs is like two triangles of fabric stitched together at the edges but not adhered at all in the middle, meaning that upon washing the two pieces became separated at every point apart from the stitched edges making them look like a mangled mess. Now if you're one of these mythical people that owns an 'iron' this probably won't be an issue for you as you can just iron it back into shape but for me it was a deal breaker. I haven't ironed anything in my life, and I'm not about to start now for the sake of dribble. Sorry Nuby, off to someone more domestically goddess-y than me. 

Next Dribble Bibs




I love Next baby products. I love their clothes, and if there wasn't this little thing called money, Lewis would be decked out in Next pretty much everyday. So of course it was inevitable that at some point I would be trying out their bibs. I've had two packs of Next dribblers; one with a popper fastener and one with velcro fastener. We already know my views on velcro fastening so no need to dwell on that (sort it out though Next!). The size of these bibs is good, great coverage for dribble streams. They have the nice towelling back and come in some really funky designs. The sticker on the bibs claims them to be dribble proof with the top layer being 100% cotton and the bottom layer 80% cotton & 20% polyester. These definitely live up to that claim.


There are three main problems with these bibs though. 1. The price. £7 for three bibs is definitely not sustainable when you have a dribbler like mine. 2. The size around the neck. Again Lewis quickly outgrew these. 3. Another washing issue (that could probably be solved with an iron). After washing it seemed as if the top layer shrunk slightly meaning the bib would curve up at the side and point (see above photo). So unfortunately these too ended up on the pile to be passed onto some other young, naive, non-dribble bib expert mum.


Asda Dribble Bibs


Why it took me so long to try out Asda bibs I'll never know. Not only are they cheap, usually 5 for £3, but they come in some really funky designs. They have the slightly posher ones which have a popper fastener and funky designs, and also a simpler version (pictured above) which have a velcro fastener (grrrr!). The popper fastener style has the most incredibly innovative whilst ridiculously simple feature. It has two poppers! Meaning that you can opt for a smaller tighter size or for a bigger size. Meaning there's no need for the triangle to be tiny to fit little necks. Seriously, other bib manufacturers, take note!

The fastener version of Asda bibs ticks every box for my dribble bib needs;

Big triangle - check
Popper fastener - check
Suitable for little and big necks - check
Funky designs - check
Great value - check
Washes well - check
No iron option - check

Whilst I'm not generally a fan of velcro bibs I have a pack of the plain ones which I tend to use as emergency bibs at home for when we've run out. As we go through around 5-6 dribble bibs a day we do tend to run out!

I'd recommend the Asda bibs to anyone. Lewis wears one everyday and I think we now own around 30 of these bibs. I've given all our other ones away.







So there it is, my rundown of the best (Asda) and worst (Tesco) dribble bibs out there. I'm sure there are other suppliers which I haven't tried, but honestly people just save yourself the turmoil I went through and get down to Asda. Maybe you won't have a dribbler (lucky sod) but if you do you can't go wrong with good old Asda.

1 comment:

  1. Well that's good to know! I loved dribble bibs with my son and even went as far as to make my own but the Asda ones look great. I like that you can get plain ones that will go with any outfit too. Thanks for joining the #weekendblogshare

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