Opinions wanted on covers: PLU vs fleece vs wool???

If dh is all about natural, go for the wool!!!!

Tell him that KSS and HS and BBB and MM are the "most" natural

Kimberly

My cover opinions as follows:

Wool - love it for night. A tad expensive, but not prohibitive (for me anyway) But not a lot of great/pretty covers easily available. They tend to be hyena items. Would like to use it all day too for the breathability issue but its way too bulky. It just doesnt work with even vaguely fashionable clothes for a toddler. Its OK for a baby in onesies though. I keep thinking about buying more wool but I know I'll never find anything that will please me in terms of trimness. Its not a hassle washing our one night time cover but would be a pain in the butt washing and lanolising five or six on a regular basis. Had a FCB wool jersey cover and this was very trim - but too big unfortunately and didnt work with our hemp contours. Anyone else make something like this?

Fleece - actually prefer it to wool. Its cheaper, easier to get and feels much nicer to me. I dont like touching wool myself and I think its starting to irritate Eliza where it touches her skin. She gets rashy. But ditto all the bulk issues. I enjoy a cute fleece cover or all in one round the house with no pants, but it doesnt mix with clothes. Much easier than wool to wash and care for

PUL - can get it from numerous sources and can be plain and cheap or jazzed up a la Lucy's Hope Chest and the like. Its trim, simple, easy to wash and goes under clothes. Ditto nylon, like the bumkins covers, they go under tiny little low rise jeans with a trifolded prefold easily. Much prefer it with side snaps to velcro, wahm covers are cheap enough that you can buy them to suit the seasons etc. I think I'll end up sticking with PUL just because it works with clothes. But I do strip her off and put her in a fitted with no cover or a wool or fleece cover with a prefold when we're home. She gets a bit rashy after daycare because her carer only changes her about twice during the seven hours she's with her, and Im not going to make a big thing of it, I'm just glad she'll do cloth for me. But she improves markedly after a few hours out of her PUL covers.

Well honestly I use my covers in this order, wool, PUL, fleece. Because wool is natural, and cutest, and works the best for around here, however can have wicking (compression) issues when in a car seat or high chair if the diaper is wet. So for longer periods in car seat, or in high chair where he may wet (he seems to wet while drinking) I use PUL covers. They are very cute (the print ones I have) but he can un-do snaps now so I can't let him go bottomless (just diaper) in his room or in bed. I use fleece last because it always seems to wick for us.

PUL is cheap, and easy to care for. However it doesn't breathe. You would either have to find someone that uses breathable PUL, or covers made w/ side snaps which creates "vents" to allow air to circulate.

Fleece is debatable on it's breathabililty. Though it is very easy to care for. Some people find it doesn't stay watI think a light weight fleece might be ok, but have you ever slept under a fleece blanket? It's hot!

Wool is great! The care is a bit more complex, but still quiet easy. It breathes wonderfully, lanolin is antibacterial, so you don't have to wash them very often. It's cute, soft, even my DH loves it! We love wool and use it full time

I say Wool is best, especially wool knits or interlock. The worst thing about it is the care, but that's not even bad, you only have to wash them once every month or so unless directly soiled. I have NEVER had Kesi(ds) leak on me with a wool wrap. I am in the process of making my stash ALL WOOL. You also have to be careful because some babies are allergic to wool, but if you have no history of allergies to it and the baby isn't sensitive to it, go for it!

Wool is about as good as it gets, it's a natural fiber, and that what cloth is partly about. It's water resistant yet absorbant, soft and usually beautiful.

Fleece is in the middle it is more breathable than PUL, but it tends to wick once the absorbant layers are wet. And unless you have ltwt windpro your fleece will probably pill and look worn once they've been washed a couple of times.

PUL I like less and less every day, it isn't breathable at all so in this warm weather it gives my son red marks on his legs. It is easy to care for though and very economical and easy to find.

I have done away with all PUL and fleece covers and am solely relying on wool these days. Some of my favorite wool is Sugarpeas, BBH, Kiwi Pie, and of course my Bridget's and Woolybumbums soakers.

My experience is the same as Jachut.

I have a wool cover that I use at night. Love it. I've had Aristocrats, and currently use a size 2 Sugarpeas side snapping cover. These are both waaaaayyy too bulky to ever fit under clothes, and even if you got clothes big enough, the bulk is too much for me. But ever since DD stopped wetting buckets at night, these have been our staple night cover. One problem I noticed is that, if I allowed her to get too wet in the SP cover (say I don't change her as soon as she wakes up, when she has her big morning pee) the urine has started to bleach out the colour a bit. I have an avocado cover but it's getting sort of yellow-green around the crotch seams. This, of course, is totally my fault for letting it get so wet, but it is another thing to consider with wool.

I now have a WIO from Luxe Baby. This is a much trimmer setup and works great under summer dresses. Because DD is a toddler and rarely sits still, we've had no compression issues. Also the cover itself has a wool doubler, and this has so far prevented any moisture from coming to the surface of the cover. I'm not sure how successful this would be with a young baby who is on his butt all day, but I'm going to find out as I'll be getting one for my new little one.

IME, with both wool and fleece, compression wicking occurs readily if the diaper can't do it's duty, and there is only so much a diaper can hold (especially if you aren't blessed with a light wetter). My DD was a fairly heavy wetter, but didn't mind a wet diaper. So it was a pain for me to rely on anything other than PUL when "out and about" since I'd have to check her all the time, and change her much more often than if I had PUL on. I have mostly ME airflows, which have never left marks on DD's legs, and never EVER leaked (not even with the messiest messes and prefolds!).

I have one fleece AIO that has never worked well as a diaper - it wicks through as soon as she wets, and it's the high quality fleece not lightweight. However, it turned out to be a fabulous summer-under-dresses diaper when she began walking, and also great for at the beach or water park (it's very pretty) so it wasn't a wasteful buy. Still, it turned me off fleece completely as a useful cover for us.

And yet, with all that said...lol...I've ordered some small wool and fleece covers for this upcoming baby. I know I'll be able to use the wool at night, and hopefully the fleece. I so wanted to give them a chance. And who knows, maybe this one won't be such a big wetter. I admit I'm envious of those for whom fleece and wool work so well. They are so soft, and nice alternatives to your basic PUL. So I'm going to give it a try again.

But you know, the PUL covers out there are so pretty. I have ordered some really beautiful combinations from Loveybums (great price!) and also Very Baby. Posie Patch snapdragons also have great prints and solids. While I know that technically, PUL is not breathable, I have never had an issue with this (mind you, all mine are side snapping, so maybe that allows more air than otherwise, who knows?).

I do like wool, for it's cushy luxuriousness and beauty, and how good it makes me feel to put it on her. However, i am wholly with Jachut on the factor of not fitting under clothes. I love love little leggings and stretchy pants, and you can't get most wool underneat such things without it looking ridiculous. However, if you want to go with wool or even fleece, i strongly suggest trying out some from www.loveybums.com Her stuff is very popular around here, but quite easy to get; also, the prices are outstanding and she has a terrific selection of colors. I think it might be a good idea to keep a few nylon or PUL covers for just in case or if you have a really fitted outfit - also for diaper bag emergencies.

I know that wool is more breathable, but i honestly don't think it's THAT much beter than the very thin nylon pullup pants i usually put on her. But that's just me .