PUL and breathability - from the 'net

I think it makes sense, gortex is like that too. Keeps water out but breathes still. And if you feel the outside of something like say a wonderoo it's soft but the internal part of the pocket is the plastic pul so that means air does get in but moisture is still trapped by the pul on the inside of the pocket. My dd never gets rashes or too hot in pul but she doesn't wear it all the time either so that could be why. I'm not sure I would make it my entire stash and use it all the time but sometimes I think it's fine and has a place .

An interesting experiment, if someone had enough PUL to spare (plus sewing skills), would be to make a simple mama jacket out of PUL. That would maybe give a feel (literal and figurative) for the comfort and breathability of it.

Or.....mama underwear, lined with something soft of course . I'm not willing to risk the 14 acres of PUL it would take to make me some drawers, but maybe some other, smaller-bottomed mama is...?

Lisa

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nak

and less expensive!

thanks 4 sharing this info kay! i see no reason 4 a war . i use both and think both have their place. there's no question in my mind that pul is way better in terms of breathability than the plastic pants my mom used.

i am also intrigued by nylon covers like alexis featherlites, have not tried 'em tho.

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some mamacloth has pul. mine has fleece though for the liquid resistant layer (I love fleece--we also use it for covers/baby pants).

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That is a great idea! I would love to wear some PUL underwear for a day to see what it felt like. I don't think I'll share that fact with DH though.

It would take a whole lot of PUL to make undies for me as well. :LOL So it would be kind of an expensive experiment.

Oh, and to make the experiment really informative, one would want some wool undies to see what they felt like too. I mean, wearing a diaper is probably NEVER going to be as comfy as going without, but it would be nice to be able to put myself in DS' proverbial shoes.

The fabrite rep told me specifically that PUL is not breatheable. I was asking if the old wives tale was true that 1mm was breatheable and 2mm was not. He said no, none of it was. (That rep is gone now, by the way, I didn't ask the lady that tood over for him). Now I've noticed in my slothfulness that if I leave a wet diaper sitting in a cover, say, overnight, then the cover is wet in the morning. Just a little damp. But, in the long run I'd say the vapor exchange is so minimal that there is really no air moving once you get a huge layer of fitted diaper and then a cover. Of course I feel the same about wool : There just isn't much air exchange under a wool soaker and under a fitted diaper.
I mean imagine wraping yourself in a dense layer of cotton and then a wool sweater, a dense layer of cotton and a raincoat, or a dense layer of cotton and then some windpro. Regardless you're going to be just plain hot. I wonder if there would be a discernable difference.
That being said, my son's bum always seems to be rather cool to the touch when I've reached in his diaper to see if he's too hot. I think none of the aforementioned combinations bother him at all!
I love it all!

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I agree that coverless (or even some diaper-free time) is the best option if you are trying to maximize the amount of air that gets to that little bottom.

I do think about breathability issues though when a water-resistant layer is needed. During the last few weeks of my last pregnancy and the early months of breastfeeding we had various waterproof items on our bed underneath the regular sheets--a plastic sheet, a chux (sp?) pad, those rubberized flannel squares). All of these made me sweaty! I would say they truly do not breath at all. With this next baby I am going to experiment with using fleece or a cut up old wool army blanket.

I agree that when it comes to diaper materials, the bottom line is whether your child seems comfortable. My DS probably has pul on a third of the time and does fine. It used to be all the time. I got very interested in breathable covers when DS got a bad rash when he was teething. I wanted something as breathable as possible on his bum, just because I know this is what i would want for myself. I do think babies sometimes go through a spell where they are going to get a rash regardless of what they're wearing for a diaper, but I want to minimize the discomfort as much as I can.

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Very interesting.

I use both PUL and wool and agree with another mama who said they both have their place.

We enjoy using fitteds and wool at night, but with a potty training 2 1/2 year old, it's just not pratical to have a remove pants, a wool cover and then a diaper when we are out and about when we can just pull down a Fuzzi Bunz.

I do feel just from personal experience that his bottom is hotter when I take a FB off him than when he's in a fitted alone, or a fitted with wool.

But I love our PUL diapers, they are the only thing I use under clothing, when going out. Fuzzi Bunz are leak proof for us, have been for over 2 years, and I'm not sure I'd still be cloth diapering without them!