Ry & Pen – Bamboo Sleeper & Romper
I’m sad to say that I took too long to write this and the company shut down in February 2025. The previous June I had ordered two footless rompers and two footie sleepers at 50% off, and honestly I feel like the 50% off price should have been the maximum regular price.
Cost: $48.00 each
My cost: $24 each + GST (50% off sale)
Date Ordered: June 27, 2024
Date Shipped: July 10, 2024
Date Received: July 13, 2024
Highlights:
- Canadian Company
Manufactured in: China
Company Base: Toronto, Ontario
Established in: 2019
There are so many Canadian baby sleepwear companies for some reason. I wanted to try to review them all and then it got excessive. They’re all expensive, most of them are bamboo, and I already had too many sleepers for my baby. It’s like someone had a good idea and then everyone jumps on the trend without making an effort to really differentiate themselves or offer a better product. Sometimes the products are even inferior. Bizarre.
I feel bad when a company has to close as it’s thousands of hours and dollars of investment, with little to no success, and in some cases, just lost time and debt. However, sometimes it makes sense that they have to close. If you’re not innovating, you should be improving on the market. If you’re not doing either of those, then you need to find your niche. If you are doing none of those, then you’re basically just relying on marketing, but that’s not sustainable.
When this company first started, their mission statement was the following:
“Welcome to Ry & Pen!
We’re on a mission to make the world a better place for babies and kids. It’s that simple – but of course it’s going to take a lot of hard work, dedication and the awesome support from people like you!
Here’s how we’re going to do it:
We’ll make premium bamboo and merino wool sleepwear.
We’ll do so entirely in canada.
We’ll donate 25% of our profits to SickKids.
…and we’re never going to stop finding new, innovative and unique ways to drive even more impact.
Our journey is just getting started. We appreciate your love, support and feedback.”
Sadly they were unable to do that, and most of it just sounds like fluff to me. I didn’t even know that their original intention was to manufacture in Canada, which would make the $48 price tag make more sense. The product that I received was all manufactured in China.
Overall Impression
I did end up using these often, as they fit nicely, but the quality was lacking in certain areas. Once my baby started to walk, the poor grip dots became an issue. Not only are they completely useless for gripping, but they also had a tendency to fall off. I would find these randomly all over the house. Also the red footless romper split at the seam. This was a moderately easy fix, but not something you would expect to be doing on a piece of clothing valued at $48 after only a few months of use. So despite using these often, I would not have purchased from the company again if they hadn’t closed down, and I would never have recommended paying full price. There are other companies offering the same or better at the same or better price. Their fabric blend was 95% bamboo rayon and 5% spandex, which is a soft and stretchy combination.
The shipping was also very slow. I got an e-mail from them on June 29th saying they’d be getting my order ready for shipping in 1-2 days, but it didn’t actually ship for another 11 days. Good thing I wasn’t in a rush as from date of order to arrival took a total of 16 days. I actually worried at one point that the company was already out of business but hadn’t closed up shop yet (like Loti Wellness).
The Goods:
- Fold over mitts on sleeper
- Canadian company
- Soft bamboo rayon
- Two-way zipper
The Not-So-Goods:
- Made in China
- Low quality grip dots
- One seam ripped for me
Overall, if the company were still around, I wouldn’t purchase from them again, even at the 50% off price. I might have considered it at 75% off, but unlikely.
wanderingfawn 
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