longies question

[SummerTwilight]

I cut and pasted this from my comments so more would see it...in particular the smelling question:

But the longies raises a question- what should be put under them for dipes and when used as a cover don't they smell like urine? I have a few fleece covers and though they work great I hate using them cause they smell within an hour.

[JenMidwife]

:

[Meeshi Mama]

Hmmm, my longies don't smell. None of my wool ever gets the smell of urine. I remember when I used fleece it would sometimes take on that smell, but it might be something about the wool that prevents that? I dunno.

Under her longies, Luna usually wears a snappi'd prefold or some sort of fitted. Add in hemp doublers if going overnight. For her wool wraps with apliz or snaps, I just lay in a prefold with a fleece liner.

[mrs rockstar]

No urine smell here and we use longies or wool covers all the time over fitted diapers. I wash the longies every other week or so with a scented wool wash and when the scent starts to fade or the wool starts to feel damp after wearing, I wash/lanolize them again. I don't use the same pair two days in a row though, so they have a chance to air out between each wear.

[SummerTwilight]

hmmm: another thought. What about onesies? Typically kids wear them under sweaters and for that matter almost every shirt I have ever found for Aria has been a onesie. But obviously you can't wear a onesie with longies (all these "ies" words, you know this is "kid lingo" ) as you would need to change the onesie every time she pees since they will get wet. Do you guys just do sweaters, no onesies with the longies?

[mrs rockstar]

When we're in the house, I'm lazy and leave the onesie unsnapped or snapped OVER the longies It's not the best look in the world, but it's cold here so onesies are kind of important in keeping that back strip of skin warm in our house. Out of the house we use fuzzi bunz and then I just snap the onesie over the diaper.

[JenMidwife]

i've never used longies... one of my fears is that it would be such a pain to take pants off & on all day long since @ 5 months they still wet so much... thoughts?

[mamamilkers]

Longies still baffle the heck out of me! I have ever tried them, but I get confused when I think about how it works. Aren't they itchy? I mean, they are straight wool, right? I can't stand wool on my skin, it is so annoying!

Will be following this thread . . .

[mrs rockstar]

I actually prefer them to pants with snaps in the crotch. The snaps bug me, I'm always snapping them wrong With longies, I just pull them down around the baby's ankles, changer her quick and pull them back up. My toddler won't sit still for all those snaps either, longies make diaper changes easier for her.

Itch CAN be a factor but there are lots of different kinds of wool to choose from so you can usually find something nice and soft. My older girl refuses to wear peace fleece because she says it's scratchy but is fine with other types of wool.

[Meeshi Mama]

Hmmm, it doesn't take me but a few seconds to take the longies on and off for diaper changes. We don't really use onesies much at all. when Luna wears longies she wears them with a shirt or dress. Our wool longies are not scratchy at all, I guess it depends on the type of wool they use. Some are softer than others.

[SummerTwilight]

Hmmm, didn't remember the itch factor. I hate straight wool on my skin. Hope Aria doesn't mind cause I order 4 friggen CUTE pairs yesterday. Will post pics when I get them.
I also find elastic waist pants easier than snaps. The snaps have about 8 of them and Aria doesn't have the patience. The elastic waist is zip zip. Off, on. Much quicker in my opinion.
Still in a quandry what she is going to wear WITH the longies on top. I have 2 shirts that aren't onesies and they don't match at all.:

[mrs rockstar]

You can buy plain white shirts and dye them different colors. That's what I did when Charlie was brand new, but now we're just all about the not matching or I make really neutral pairs of longies so they go with everything.

[Sailmom]

I love cute longies! As to your questions, first, the smell factor. Wool has natural antibacterial properties. Over time, they will start to smell, but not for a week or two, depending on how often you use them. That is a sign that it is time to wash them! They can also hold 30% their weight in moisture and wick it away from baby allowing their skin to breathe. They are great covers when baby has a rash and you want them to get air circulating (unlike PUL) Most longies are knit from minimally processed wool which has not had it's lanolin stripped from it. This makes them softer than a wool sweater that you may have that was knit from processed wool in a factory. There are also different kinds of wool that are much softer than others. Merino, blue faced leicester, targhee, are all very soft, very absorbent wools. Also, the more you wash wool in a lanolin rich wool soap, the softer it gets.

As for the onesie issue, we just very infrequently wear them. I have lots of short and long sleeved t's - some embroidered, painted or tyedyed. I have too many pairs of longies for my one babe - but it means I wash less and have the luxury of variety! The snaps in the crotch of things bug me. I also find that a lot of mainstream clothing doesn't fit well over a big diaper bum, so that is another great thing about longies. They can be pricey, but I have a lot of gn pairs that dd wore, that Booker is wearing now. And he is still in the newborn/small longies - pretty good for 5 months old and 15 pounds!

[JenMidwife]

this thread has been so educational! I'm a bit scared of wool & addicted to snap-crotch things (Erin is super-long, so she's in big sizes anyway & the cloth bum fits okay). Thanks all!

Any recommendations on where to get good, reasonably priced longies? How much should I expect to pay?

[veganf]

So these items are completely new to me...since I have all boys...but if I ever have a girl--do they make them out of materials other than wool (remember, I am completely sewing-impaired, so I can't be making my own)??

[SummerTwilight]

I think the point of longies are that they are wool so they don't require a diaper cover. And the fact that you have boys doesn't matter. They have boy and girl styles.
I looked on ebay at a place called kozydesign and they were $31 which I think is high but the only other place I saw them after 30 minutes of searching online (but I suck at searches) was llamajama and they were $40 so it was cheaper and cuter in my opinion. If others know if cheaper places I would love to know!

[mrs rockstar]

Your best bet for cheap longies is either here on the trading post or over at diaperswappers. Maybe ebay too, but I haven't checked there. Cozy designs is probably the cheapest place selling longies new. The wahm handknit ones tend to get pretty pricey. I mean, I don't think they're overcharging given the cost of the wool and the amount of time that goes into each pair but it's not cheap.

You can use fleece pants as a diaper cover as well. I had a super thick pair of fleece pants that rocked, I used them overnight as a cover.

[Meeshi Mama]

I got the rainbow longies that are in the picture I posted in the 5 month thread from ebay. They were used, but in great shape and I think I paid $20 including shipping. There's also an ebay seller who sells Babyology longies, a cheaper, machine made longie but they work really well.

For WAHM-made ones, I love Amy's work (from Crankypants, on hyenacart I believe)

[mrs rockstar]

Oh I forgot about babyology! They do work really, REALLY well...I used to use them for overnight diapering.

[Meeshi Mama]

Here's the people who made our longies, lots of great patterns and designs to choose from.
kozy.foryoubetter.com I'm going to custom order either the ones with the tree and mushrooms or the oak leaves and acorn.