I've decided to do wool covers instead of PUL.

[EarthMama]

I am just all-aboard the natural fibers train right now.

Anyone else here do wool? I was wondering if I could even do wool with a newborn?

 

[EarthMama]

Does wool work to contain poop like PUL?

 

[mommyof3co]

I know lots of people that use wool...I have tried it a few times and liked it but not really my thing. It worked great but I'd rather spend lots on the diapers and not the wool haha. If I had a girl I think I'd feel differently, I'm just not a huge fan of it on boys. I did have a VERY cute (or IMO it was) set for Preston as a baby. It was meant to be his coming home outfit but it didn't work out that way. But I loved it. It doesn't contain poop so much...I never had it actually leak THROUGH the wool but I always changed as soon as he pooped but it did get on the wool.

The main reason I didn't like it was because you have to hand wash so it just was more work. But I know lots of people who love it and it's pretty much all their babies/toddlers wear

 

[Sew_Sweet]

No idea here on the poops (since I'm as new to this as you!) - I've read they are great for pee though. The only possible complication would be if your LO ends up being allergic. I'd be afraid to put all my eggs in one basket on that one personally because of allergies in our family.

I've seen some very cute wool covers on Etsy!

 

[EarthMama]

I know! I really want to get wool. Both baby's dad and myself don't have any allergies so I feel like it'll be okay.

The main concern to me is the price. They are soo pricey compared to PUL covers. But if I could get a decent stash of wool covers with the help of etsy peeps...that would be ideal! I'm going to go check out etsy right now in fact...hehe.

I just really like the idea of going all natural fibers for my baby's bum. It just really appeals to me. I feel like it might be hard to rotate the wool covers with breastfed newbie poop, accounting for dry-time, etc. But I dunno, I feel so drawn to them and I like the philosophy behind going all-out with natural fibers...very much up my alley.

The one crazy thing is...I feel like I'm running out of time to get this stash in order!! I have all my newborn dipes (36 of them), but I want to buy the next size up already to have it available in case baby is big and grows fast and also get a load of wool covers...whew, one thing at a time, lol.

At least I have my cloth baby wipes ready. So it's not so bad, just feeling a bit like it's "crunch time" to get everything ready in the diaper department.

 

[Sew_Sweet]

Oh yes I get the crunch time. I'm starting to get nervous already - at least I feel like I need to have all of the necessities in place. I'll feel so much better when all of my diaper supplies are here and prepped and ready to go!

They definitely are pricey. Ummm do you know how to knit? I guess it'd be short notice to learn really quickly eh? Hehe.

 

[EarthMama]

I had many opportunities to learn how to knit..now I'm kicking myself for not taking advantage of them! lol.

I just spoke to a cloth diapering mama who loves wool and she pretty much convinced me it's worth the extra cost...now to convince hubby, haha. > I have a decent amount of pocket fuzzibuns small, medium and one size and several small swaddlebee's that I got when I first learned I was pregnant and I'm going to sell them to be able to afford the wool. I just feel really obsessed at this moment with wool, I dunno what it is, haha.

Also I get really excited when I think about having my stash complete. Though I have a feeling it'll be down to the wire! Until my diaper stash is all set and ready to go I'm going to be stressing a little.

 

[Rachel_C]

You wouldn't want to be relying on the wool to contain poo, you need the nappy underneath to do it so if using wool I would make doubly sure that you're getting a great fit with the nappy. IME wool isn't as good for containing poo because it generally doesn't have elastic (which is probably more comfortable) but the main thing is the hassle of washing it if it gets dirty. You only wash it very gently and it's harder to wash poo out gently! Plus it takes a while to dry and lanolin washes out, so really you only want covers to need airing and maybe the odd spot clean between washes.

I haven't tried it on a newborn because wool can leak if baby isn't moving much. You would just need to change really frequently to avoid that.

 

[Aunty E]

I wouldn't buy lots of them straight away - don't back yourself into a corner. Buy one or two, if they work, buy more. Newborn poop gets everywhere, and the last thing I would have wanted to do would be handwash it out of wool covers. It's really hard to know what is going to work for you with cloth nappies until you actually use them. I bought a bunch of motherease airflow for my first baby and ended up using imse vimse wraps instead (they come in organic by the way) because they were much softer and kinder on her fat little legs. Try and leave yourself wiggle room to experiment with different kinds.

 

[Rachel_C]

As Aunty E said, I wouldn't spend too much until you know it works for you. I'd have a couple of PUL wraps to hand too, for times when you can't get wool dry quick enough.

 

[Laucu]

It's never too late to learn to knit if you wanted to try wool out on the cheap! There are lots of free patterns on Ravelry too, if you just search for 'soakers'. I have considered it but am not entirely convinced I can be bothered to hand wash them....

 

[Sew_Sweet]

Do you sew? Looking at Etsy got me thinking - you can tell a lot of those on the site are made from old wool sweaters. I am sure there are tutorials out there on making wool covers from wool sweaters. Do they have Goodwills in Hawaii? That or any consignment shop would be a good place to look for some wool sweaters to start with. I bet it wouldn't be too hard. That'd be a nice cheap option if you could find some cheap wool sweaters to recycle.

 

[EarthMama]

I'm not too thrown off about the handwashing really...it's actually a little better for me because I don't own a washer and dryer.

Someone on diaperswappers told me that wool takes 4 hours to dry or so...that doesn't seem that long.

I can't help but feel like I want to just go crazy with wool and go all -out...but you all ladies are TOTALLY right on about maybe playing it more cautious with a newborn and those notorious poos..a PUL cover or 3 on hand might be absolutely necessary in order to reduce my sense of being overwhelmed in the beginning. I totally appreciate the feedback on wool!

 

[EarthMama]

Oh, and my plan was to have some nice fitteds underneath the wool.

 

[Rachel_C]

4 hours? I'd say more like 4 days, well maybe 2 days but I've never had any wool dry in less than 1.5 days, even in summer/the airing cupboard!

 

[EarthMama]

4 hours? I'd say more like 4 days, well maybe 2 days but I've never had any wool dry in less than 1.5 days, even in summer/the airing cupboard!

Opps, that was supposed to read 24 hours. My bad! What type of airing cupboard do you use?

 

[Rachel_C]

Hehe. My airing cupboard is just the cupboard with the hot water tank in it so it's pretty warm.

 

[EarthMama]

I think I'll need to get a nice little drying rack for the diapers and covers.

I am taking you all very seriously about the newborn poop...I am going to go crazy and get loads of covers...wool and perhaps otherwise for emergencies...hehe.

 

[Rachel_C]

Rather than buy loads of covers, I'd just get good nappies for underneath. You really don't want poo on any cover - it's the last line of defence and a sign that the nappy underneath wasn't great.

 

[EarthMama]

I got loads of sm workhorses and sandy's fitteds...hope they'll do the trick. I've heard good reviews about each.