cloth diaper love

 

Joseph's attempt to put on his own diaper

I'm getting increasingly bored and embarrassed by the state of my cloth diaper stash.  It consists entirely of worn out, stained, sad pocket diapers; prefolds that are too small to snappi; one PUL wrap with non-functional velcro; a few wool wraps that are too small; and two g-diapers which I use with prefolds after the disposable inserts failed to change our nighttime "sleep" routine.

Jospeh modeling a new cover and making the arm of a chair into a rocking horse

To help fill in some of the gaps, I bought some big-boy sized prefolds and knit a few wool diaper covers.  Here is what I've learned in my (short) history of making and using wool diaper covers

• sew elastic into the back waistband if you have any intention of not fastening the prefold
  
• the brand of merino you get at the big box stores is $4 on sale and produces 1.5 or 2 covers, depending on the size of the baby
• the best design for us is a sort of hybrid wrap-soaker, with buttons on the side to keep it adjustable and to make it easier to remove during a poop catastrophe.  I've used this pattern with great success, but I add buttonholes on the sides, lengthen the rise, and shorten the tabs.
  
• a wool cover with two prefolds is perfect for overnight

 

"hybrid" soaker:  pull it on, use buttons to adjust size

If I had to do it again (and chances are I will), I would only use wool covers, prefolds, a few pocket diapers (like fuzzi bunz) for long car rides and babysitters, and some fitteds for a newborn.   Cheap and natural.