Official URL: http://www.napwell.ca/
Cost: $99.00
Warmth Factor: Great for all but the coldest of cold days.
Rating:

My son outgrew his super-duper last-forever ultra-mega bunting bag this year. I can no longer pretend that he fits in because not only are his legs too long for it to zip up over his feet, but he’s grown too large for the stroller harness to fit if the bunting bag is in place.

I was thrilled when I learned about the Napwell. A foot-free toddler blanket-wrap that is perfect for preschoolers and longer toddlers. I was even more thrilled to discover that this little wrap style blanket has some features that are lacking in the higher-end bunting bags.

AESTHETIC & DESIGN

This stroller blanket is a trendy two-color fuzzy fleece ensemble. You get to choose from a list of colors that includes a base layer of chocolate brown or pitch black, and accent colors of sweet baby pink (very light pink), pink aster (a vibrant pink), sundrop yellow, Chinese red, olive, bellflower blue, lite skye blue, ivory snow, and snow white.

The color choices and cut of this stroller blanket give it a sporty aesthetic that’s always fun, and it gives you the opportunity to match your stroller’s style.

A “Napwell” logo tag is attached to the stroller liner and to the lap blanket. The logo tag is aesthetically pleasant and inconspicuous. Nice!

INSTALLATION

I love how this stroller blanket works. Instead of using velcro which needs to be re-fastened constantly, which sticks to your child’s clothes, and which simply does not hold up to day to day use nearly as well as it should.. The NapWell actually has independent slots for threading your stroller harness through. So you thread the shoulder straps through one of two sets of top slots, the belt straps through the bottom slots, and the crotch strap through the center slot. You then hook the shoulder straps back to the belt straps and you’re installed. The slots are reinforced and can stretch gently to accomodate padded straps such as the crotch strap on my G-Lite stroller. The top of the seat area hangs over the back of the stroller. Once the stroller blanket is in place it actually stays installed and the most you have to do from use to use is slide it back up slightly on the straps. NICE! The fleece also slides against the stroller fabric far less, which means that the number of times that I have to reposition the stroller blanket is minimal.

The double layer of fleece is not bulky in the least, and it stays put on the straps which means that you can use the straps with the toddler blanket and only lose about 1/4th of an inch of the strap’s length. Most bunting bags eat up a half inch or more of the overall strap length.

Every bunting maker could learn a few things from this company!

HOW IT WORKS/EASE OF USE

There are two parts to this blanket wrap. A contoured bottom that fits the seat of the stroller and that has “wings”, and a rectangular lap blanket that measures roughly 20×24″. The lap blanket sits on your child’s lap, and the wings wrap over the child. You can wrap the wings “high” so that the child is covered from the neck down, or you can wrap them “low” so that the wings tuck under the child’s arms and across his or her lap. No straps, buckles, snaps, velcro, ties, toggles, fasteners or duct tape needed. Other than the harness of your child’s stroller, of course.

If your child is going through one of THOSE phases where he objects to the idea of clothes, objects to the idea of blankets, objects to the idea of a jacket, objects to hats, gloves, mittens, shoes and socks despite it being 20 below zero… Your child might throw  the blanket off of his lap. But the truth is, at that age they can work zippers too. And once they realize that they are COLD they usually pull the wings back into place which gives them a bit of a feeling of control over the whole situation.

And if your child is going through one of “those” phases, chances are very good that you will appreciate the utter simplicity of this design which enables you to put your child into the stroller and take him out of the stroller quickly and with minimal fuss. I know I do!

I also love how the wings do not touch the ground when they hang out of the stroller.

STROLLER COMPATIBILITY

We’ve tried this out in a wide variety of strollers, a GLite from UppaBaby, a McLaren, a variety of jogging strollers, and even a super-compact travel stroller from Costco. It works perfectly on all of the strollers except for the super-compact one where it overflows the very small stroller. When you consider that no other bunting bag even comes close to fitting in that stroller, the fact  the Napwell remained useful… Quite impressive.

QUALITY OF CONSTRUCTION

These stroller blankets are handmade, and made very nicely. The seams are well finished, the cuts are accurate, the blanket is symmetrical. The attention to detail is wonderful and the design concept itself is just perfect for toddlers and preschoolers. I really can’t think of anything negative to say.

EASE OF CARE

I’ve machine washed this stroller blanket set on warm with my other laundry of similar colors, and tumble dried low and haven’t seen any shrinkage. The polyester fleece holds up great to use and frequent washings. It also spot cleans very well, which is good because my toddler son frequently has bagels with cream cheese and cream cheese ends up everywhere.

Since dirty boots and shoes hang out the bottom it’s even easier to keep clean.

BOTTOM LINE

Love it. It’s the only bunting my husband will leave in the stroller and actually use. It’s convenient, well designed, easy to maintain and snuggly warm without being bulky.