Wool newbie questions and Snugglebottoms fitted vs prefolds?

[GooseMama]

I am new to cloth diapering and have a very limited budget. I started with Sunbaby diapers and loved them for the first month but now am having trouble with leaking out the leg seams. I also want to get away from the synthetic fibers. My daughter is a chunker and weighs 18 lbs at 4 1/2 months-I want to find a diaper that won't leave red marks and that will be affordable. I am thinking about wool(which I know is so expensive) but hoping that I can get by on a few good covers. Here are my questions:

*how many wool covers/shorties/longies etc will I need per day(not including night)

*what would work best under the wool-prefolds or snugglebottoms fitted? Any experience w Snugglebottoms?

*would I need a doubler under the prefolds? From what I read, I will need one under the Snugglebottoms

Thanks so much!

[ZakareyasMama]

I am wondering the same things myself!

I found this tutorial for making wool longies out of a sweater and I really want to try it!
http://www.make-baby-stuff.com/wool-diaper-cover.html

I just need to find a wool sweater lol!

[ZakareyasMama]

Okay well I got a good deal on a wool cover so I took the plunge. DS wore it last night with a snappied PF. It worked great. The cover was dry in the morning and he seemed comfortable... No red marks. Funny thing though... I let him crawl around in bed for a bit before I changed him and of COURSE he pooped in it! Lol so the cover really did not hold the poop whatsoever. I don't know if this is just how he is but I would probably not use a wool cover during the daytime becaue the poop would leak. Anyway FWIW I like it for overnights. He wore it for about ten hours without wetness at all!

[EmTheWife]

I have been using Snugglebottoms fitteds for about a year, and love them; I've never needed a doubler in them, even over night, though I'd stick a finger on his diaper to see if it was wet on the back, and if so (indicating saturated) I'd just change him.  Now that he's night weaned, he doesn't need a change or a doubler.

As for poop getting on wool - if it's just a tiny bit, I'll use my sprayer on the kitchen sink and just spray if off and sun dry the cover.

With practice, you will get better at putting gussets in your PFs and the leaks will stop.  I would recommend trying various folds, though not using the pad fold in wool, unless you know it will only get wet.

I've only ever made my own wool longies, shorties and wraps out of old 100% wool sweaters that I felt and lanolize myself.

[Carynia]

Hi there ~ If you're still needing some info about wool covers and diapers for your little one, we may be able to help. For the amount of covers needed, usually 4 to 6 diaper covers per day work best. You can rotate the covers, using one and then airing it out and using another, repeating this until you're back to the first one. You should be able to re-use the covers 3 to 5 times each before they need to be laundered -- but of course how long you can go between washings depends greatly on how often you change the cover and what it's been exposed to :) For small areas of soiling, spot-washing also works between washes. When you need to go longer between changes like for naps or nighttime, more wetness or messes have a chance to make their way to the cover, so in these situations you may get less uses out of your cover before it needs to be washed. For frequent daytime changing, a cover can usually be used for more rotations before it needs to be washed.

Snugglebottoms are a good choice as they're an affordable fitted diaper that provides good coverage while being non-bulky. Having more diaper coverage between baby and the cover helps keep the covers cleaner longer, allowing more uses before the covers need laundering. We recommend also adding a diaper doubler for nights, naps, or for heavier wetters. The non-closure version of Snugglebottoms work great when using a velcro-closing diaper cover like our Nikky Wool, as the front velcro holds the diaper in place and they're less expensive than diapers with closures. However, if using a pull-on wool soaker or longie, it's essential that a fitted diaper with closures be used to keep the diaper securely closed. A good diaper option for that would be the Stretch Bamboozle diaper. These are pricier but more elaborate, and the Size 2 has a great range of 8-35 lbs so they're useful for quite a long time.

For Wool covers we highly recommend using Eucalan Wool Wash, a mild and natural detergent containing lanolin which helps maintain the waterproof quality of woolen diaper covers.

If we can help with anything else, please let us know. We're also available at 800-676-4559 if you'd like to call with any questions.

Happy Diapering! :)