Woolly Boy

Our six-month foray into cloth diapering has been as much an education in diaper-speak as diaper use! So far we've used fitteds, prefolds, PUL covers (snap and aplix), snappis, inserts, a random pocket diaper or two, cloth wipes, and now . . . wool! We heard great things about wool covers as an alternative to the synthetic PUL covers, so we decided to try one out. 

When properly lanolized, wool doesn't leak but still breathes. I was skeptical, but Jeremy jumped in with a will and washed and lanolized our Disana cover when it came in the mail. So far we've liked the wool cover, but it definitely has pros and cons. I love that the wool doesn't retain the pee smell like the PUL covers, and I like that we don't need to wash it as regularly. Some moms told me they only washed their wool covers once a month (if they weren't soiled). I've found Josiah manages to soil or spit up on his wool cover about once every week or two, though, so we've been washing ours more frequently. I like the ease of throwing the PUL covers in the washer; washing wool definitely isn't as easy. Jeremy's the expert on it here, though, so I guess I don't have much experience to speak of. The other night he had to correct my wool-washing techniques so I didn't accidentally felt the cover by changing water temperature too quickly, running water directly on the cover, scrubbing it to harshly, and whatever else I was doing wrong.

In my opinion, the major con to wool, though, is its bulkiness--even more so than the typical prefold + PUL cover. I know Josiah's cover is still too big for him, but I still can't imagine trying to fit clothes over the wool "shorties" (yes, that's what they're called!) once he does grow into them. Still, for days at home, the shorties pair just fine with a shirt. I'm even considering the purchase of a pair of "longies" for the upcoming winter months--we'll see.

Meanwhile, here's Josiah in his wool shorties, which are really halfway between shorties and longies on him at the moment.

He loves to play on the big bed . . . especially when the scratchers are out to get him! (The "scratchers" are just my fingernails on the bed sheet.) Josiah laughs and waves his arms as the scratchers come near, and then he tries to grab them and put them in his mouth.