Review: Babyology Wool Soakers and Longies

I've had my fair share of wool covers. many of them hand knit by WAHM's and some made by shop owners of reputable hyenacarts. I've also had recycled wool, including Woolybottoms, and several other similar brands or custom made footies and longies.

My all-time wool favorite has been Babyology. I love the way they fit, the way they WORK, the way they wash and lanolize... It's just been a win-win situation for me. I started using them when Marek was a newborn.

I stocked up on them for nighttime, because I planned on using fitteds overnight. Since I knew that initially I would be changing him each time I nursesd him throughout the night, I knew that I would get to experience and practice with which fitteds and wool would work overnight and how much absorbency I would need. I was very very pleased with the softness of their wool and the protection it offered. It was beyond cute and snuggly, and comfortable.

When Marek hit about 1 year old, I decided that I really missed that wool, and that I needed something overnight worthy for him, and that I could use over our Goodmamas in summer when it was too hot for PUL.

Right away I knew that I needed some Babyology Soakers and I bought two pair for him. I love them so much that I am thinking I might buy a pair for my toddler, who still diapers overnight. The waistband can be folded for maximum comfort, and the leg openings offer full protection without being constricting in any way. Each morning I simply turn them inside out and air dry them on a peg in his room, ready to be used the next night. They are rarely even very damp with a goodmama and a goodfront booster overnight. I can use spray lanolin in the wetzone if I need to between lanolizings and washings, but really they are just very carefree, which is saying something for wool.

Review: Little Beetles "Little-To-Big" OS Organic Wool Cover (snapping)

Well, long long ago, in the land of diapers (that's my house, dontcha know?) I was looking for some wool that was gender neutral and would work for both kids, but was unaware that such a fabulous thing existed. I came across the news that Little Beetles had JUST released a new cover, the Little Beetles OS Wool Cover.... and that it was available in snap or aplix! How cool!!! I was so excited! Marek was still a newborn (ish) and Ardyn was just starting to do some potty training, so I was wary about dumping a chunk of change into anything, and this really was a chunk of change at near $40 for one cover. But in the name of research, and of finding what might be the perfect solution, I bought one, back when I also bought two pair of little beetle learners- training pants for Ardyn.

When it arrived it was SUPER cute. I promptly hand washed and lanolized it (according to directions, don't fear, this isn't my first pony ride.) Then I decided to start trying on the babies!

First I started with Ardyn, because Marek was sleeping, and he was still not quite 2 months old...

It was a really good fit for her. She was wearing 24 months or 2T size and this picture was taken when she was 20 months old and just beginning potty training. I liked the fit overall, and it was trim and I could see wearing it under clothing. These pics are over a Goodmama fitted, so it adds some bulk of course.






I love how nice and trim it looks from the back. Fast Forward two weeks and Marek was almost 2 months old, and I decided to try it on him. I had used it about 2 times on Ardyn, because she was PLing it really wasn't necessary because I had her in trainers almost full time.... but she did wear it overnight once just to test, and there was no leaking whatsoever. Very nice.

Well, per most OS covers, well, really most OS diapers in general, it fit Marek, but was WAYYYYY Bulky (he was after all, still young- not quite 2 months old in fact, it was May 2009.) I knew that he wouldn't be wearing it under ANYTHING and my main goal was to also find a wool diaper cover that was smooth and thin enough to wear under clothes. This was a no-go for someone still so small, but honestly I was not surprised. Here is a pic of him in the cover- Basically it was a try-on session and we took it right back off. :)



One thing that I really did NOT like was the way the snap configuration was on the front to allow for wing overlap. It didn't seem to lay right no matter how I tried, and I am a wing professional, especially since we've been using Goodmamas for 2+ years. I don't quite know why the wing overlap is wonky, but it added unnecessary bulk that was not only unattractive, but confusing.

Overall, I knew that when Marek got bigger, I would like the cover. So we used it about 4 times, had only washed and lanolized it that one initial time.... and then a few months later I pulled it out when Marek was wearing Goodmamas consistently and I felt he would fit the OS cover nicely. And he DID! So we tried it on, and it was great! I was so excited, and then the next time I went to put it on..... What's this? SERIOUSLY?!?! The fury. The sadness. The regret. The LEG ELASTIC!!! OMG you are kidding me. The leg elastic in one leg had completely given out. I was SO upset. How does a $40 cover get washed by hand once and worn a max of 5 times, and then have no leg elastic left? By this point in time, my 30 day "one wash" warranty was over by about 5 months. What a horrible experience!

I don't know what caused this, perhaps I purchased a lemon? It was when the covers were first released. I kept meaning to call the company, but it was one of those things that got put on the back burner, and so now I have this EEEEEUC like new, barely touched, beautiful, soft, bulletproof, organic, one-size, snapping, LOVELY wool cover.... with elastic in one leg. Well. So much for good ideas on my part.




I look forward to hearing experiences from others with this cover. I am unsure if the leg elastic issue is isolated to me, or if it happened to anyone else, but it made me very sad. I keep telling myself that I will just rip the seam open and peek inside, to see what type of elastic is in there and try to determine what happened..... if I ever get to that I will try to repair and let you know what I find by updating this post!

So, I really wish I could provide a better review on the quality and longevity of what I initially thought was a great product, but I just can't give this one the stars that I so desperately wanted to.

The Goodmama is here! Let there be Wool!

Well, the Goodmama Organic Bamboo Velour Diaper came. And it is the softest, most luxurious diaper I have ever ever ever touched or laid eyes on in my entire life. And I want millions of them. We want to roll around on the floor naked in a pile of goodmamas. If Suzanne had stocked wish boxes, I would have gone right out and bought a dozen of them. But she isn't stocking wish boxes. SO Instead I just put it on Ardyn. It is so soft and stretchy. It fits fabulously. It's like the Lexus of diapers. Maybe it's like the BMW of diapers. It's just fabulous. The hype is real. And Ardyn loved it so much that she pooped in it. Right away. And she smiled at me. And it washed up beautifully.

Since I can't just go get my hands on a dozen goodmamas, I decided to go online and research other one size fitteds. I discovered that a friend who had recommended Motherease diapers several months ago was right on the money. And I also discovered that Loveybums are revered as being VERY similar to Goodmamas.... except that they aren't one size diapers. And they do cost $26-28 a piece, while Motherease One Size dipes cost less than $15 a piece, which makes them less than half the price of a goodmama. But they aren't pretty colored. So I ordered 13 Organic Bamboo Motherease One Size Diapers and then 7 colors of Procion Dyes from the Dharma Company. I will dye the diapers. I will make them beautiful. I will also dye my prefolds and matching t-shirts perhaps.

In the midst of the teething frenzy, we tried wool. And. Addiction happened. Good-Bye Pockets! Wool hath won our hearts. We wore two soakers and the loveybums cover. The Loveybums cover is SO Stretchy and nice. The wool interlock is nice and heavy. The Curly Purly Soaker is so cute, and the daisy Kozy Soaker is fabulous. We found a mamma who had three more pieces of wool for sale in Ardyn's size, so she has a pair of pink and blue shorties, a pair of purple longies with a lovely flower on the bum, and a pair of watermelon pink and green capris all coming, with matching t-shirts. And also two more used loveybums covers in lavender and mint.
Let there be Wool!

I also tried a thirsties fitted. It was very nice, and super trim, but it almost seems silly because I should really buy one size fitteds so they last her for the rest of her diapering career. And also because the thirsties were soaked through very thoroughly in a shorter amount of time, whereas the goodmamas (which have a snap in soaker) were practically able to go coverless because they are so thick with softy goodness. We will try the motherease.

Ardyn is really sitting up well on her own now. She takes a topple now and then, so with the hardwood floors I put floor pillows on side and back of her, so she won't konk her head. Although when she does and has fallen, she doesn't ever cry, just looks at me like "Hmmm.... so that's how this all works!"

While she was teething and we were home with her fevers, I colored a bunch of stuff to put on the walls in her room for decor and entertainment. We did these things for above the changing table.... and these sesame street letters for by her crib.... She LOVES grabbing and staring at them. She loves Sesame Street, and pretty much everything on Sprout, especially Chica and also Fifi and the Flowertots. She also will stop whatever she is doing for the guy on the Oxyclean and Kaboom commercials, when he starts yelling out how great Oxyclean is. It cracks us up.

Last night I pulled out my diaper patterns and started making some recycled fitted diapers. The pattern shown above is called "poo-pockets" by new conceptions.... and has leg gussets- which are my favorites. I saved a pair of pajamas of mine that had a flaw that made them unwearable.... but I didn't want to toss them, so I am making a couple of fitteds out of them. I also grabbed an old Ozzfest 98 Tie Dye t-shirt and got four diapers cut from it. I needed to order inner fabric (Microfleece and Such) and Elastic, so I ordered them through Very Baby last night. Once they get here I can start assembling the pieces of the diapers and serging them. And then I can use my snap press to set the snaps. I can't wait! That reminds me, I need to get new sewing machine needles. I keep forgetting to go down to the sewing room and write down the number of the needles I need.

Evan's parents came over to visit for a while last night. I pretty much did laundry and ran the dishwasher, and Evan and I put clean sheets on the bed and a clean comforter. I realized last night that besides a trip to the post office on Saturday to get the mail, and our walk on Friday, I hadn't been out of the house since Thursday. This week we are taking Ardyn to see the easter bunny at the mall, and also out for supper with Evan's parents another night.... so there is plenty going on. Everyone have a nice week!

Shopaholic Buys a new wardrobe.

Today I bit the bullet and bought new clothes. I can't wait for them to get here so I have things that FIT me! I bought 2 pair of khaki pants, a pair of khaki bermuda shorts, a pair of white cuffed bermuda shorts, a pair of denim shorts, and nine various styled v-neck t-shirts in Lavender, Aqua, Citrus Orange, Sunset Pink, Black, Navy, Green Seedling, Butter Yellow, and Lake Blue. Prepare to see me in my summertime mom uniform of v-necks, shorts or khakis, and flip-flops. I got free shipping from LLBean and $5 shipping from Old Navy. I bought the best quality stain and fade resistant shirts I could find.... hoping they will last long and hold up to my daughter's drool and squash flinging abilities.

I paid the water bill, the Culligan bill, and the daycare bill. I sold $120 of diapers that we weren't using and used that money to buy the finishing touches of the cloth diaper stash. Right now I have everything I will need for newborn through size Medium. Prefolds, pockets, AIO's, Covers, and even some wool to play with for Ardyn right now. It's really neat to have the newborn dipes ready, especially since I never CD'd Ardyn until she was in a size small. Last night I prepped prefolds in preemie and regular sized. The preemies are SOOOOO Super tiny! Can't wait! And I already have a dozen toddler prefolds prepped and packed away.

The list of what's coming in the mail:

• 6 Kissaluv size 0 fitteds coming (known as KL0's)
• a red wool soaker with daisies
• A berry plush minkee cover in leopard print with a snap in soaker
• the lavender curly purly rainbow wool soaker
• 8 thirsties color preemie prefolds
• an orange, yellow, blue, and green wool soaker
• 1 Thirsties Fab Fitted in Butter Yellow to try
• 6 Newborn Fitteds with inserts from a WAHM (snaps)
  
  • 2 monkey img.photobucket.com/albums/v101/glockchick/SNS/monkies.jpg
  • 1 frog img.photobucket.com/albums/v101/glockchick/SNS/frogsandsn...
  • 1 stars img.photobucket.com/albums/v101/glockchick/SNS/bluestarsa...
  • 1 farm print img.photobucket.com/albums/v101/glockchick/SNS/barnyardan...
  • 1 sheep img.photobucket.com/albums/v101/glockchick/SNS/sheep.jpg

• 10 Drybees pockets,
• 6 Medium Thirsties AIO's
• 5 XS Thirsties covers in Aqua, Ocean, Baby Blue, and 2 Raspberry Pink
• And of course the Loveybums Wool Interlock Cover with ladybug
• Sheepish Grins Lanolin
• Sheepish Grins Wool Wash Bar

Mom is coming over for a visit this weekend, and we are also having a date night this weekend with Josh and Lisa, going to Lou's LaGrotto for Pizza and then to see Semi-Pro with Will Ferrell.

The knitting is going well, I discovered that I seem to be better at knitting than perling. But I will eventually get the hang of it. I am playing with pretty yarn and that makes it easier. Last night when I sat down to knit, Ardyn woke up and decided to hang out for a little over two hours, so I didn't really get anything done at all. We did try Green Beans last night. At first the look on her face was hilarious. She gave me the "betrayal!" look and then she ate a whole pack and actually really liked them. Now she has eaten all her veggies and the only thing she doesn't like is peas, but she will eat half a jar. Pears also make her gag, and make her eyes water. It cracks me up. She prefers drinking out of a cup like a big girl to a sippy cup.

A couple of nights ago, we got tired of this icky Illinois Winter and we played beach on the bed. We got out the shovel and the sand sifter, and the sunglasses and our swimsuits and just pretended we were at the beach. It was also a nice idea to try on suits before swimming lessons next month. I don't know if her suit will fit her in a month or two.... only time will tell! We took lots of pictures. I couldn't find my two favorite suits for some reason. But since I haven't worn them since the summer before I was pregnant, who KNOWS where they have gotten to. Now I need to track them down before swimming lessons.

After giving Ardyn green beans, and a bath, and a massage, and putting her in her pajamas, and nursing her, she fell asleep by 6:30pm. Of course then at 8 she woke up until almost 10. Then at 11:30 we did a dream feed and she woke again at 5:30 to eat, and again at 7:30.... then snoozed until 8:40 and snacked a bit before going off to school in a grand mood and full of milk.

Everyone have a nice weekend! I know I will!

It was a wooly Wednesday....

I. Am totally knitting. And purling. And I suck at it. But I am getting better with each stitch. I just grabbed some brightly colored cheap yarn and started practicing at lunch today. Once I get the hang of the basic stitching and get quicker, I will buy that expensive wool yarn that I have my eyes on, and then I will start the curly purly soaker pattern and work in the round. I have my round needles. I have my markers. I am totally prepared. I figure I had better make a medium instead of a small medium, because if previous projects are any indication, I should have it done by the time she's 16. On second thought, maybe I had better make an XL. ha. Knitting is exceptionally hard for me because I am left handed but have been taught so many things right handed that It's hard to function completely either way. So while my brain wants to hold the needles right handed, it wants to hold the yarn left handed. My "teacher" has to laugh at how strange it looks, but I get my own rhythm soon enough.

Last night Evan made some of the most kick ASS tacos. Yum. And he cleaned up the mess. And unloaded and reloaded the dishwasher. And put the dirties in the dishwasher, and put the leftovers away. Oh and he also washed the breast pump pieces and the bottles, and sterilized the pump. It was like a mini vacation for me. I fed Ardyn her supper, nursed her a couple of times and put her to bed, washed diapers, sold $100 worth of diapers on diaperswappers, bought this awesome ladybug wool cover and 5 more small drybees diapers, and then proceeded to crochet on the couch while watching the new episode of Men in Tree. A little slice of heaven.

Before bed, instead of pumping (since I am ahead on milk) I decided to wake the beeb for a "dream feed" (you breastfeeding moms know what I mean... a baby will eat in their sleep if they get the breast by their mouth. They are talented that way) which was nice because it topped her off and she didn't wake until about 5am. More sleep for me, except that I could hear my husband trimming his fingernails 20 feet from my head at 3:15am. Wha? Seriously. He is such a night owl. So then I had to pee, and then I had a hard time going back to sleep. My one chance to sleep through the night myself and he ruins it with fingernail clipping. But I forgive him because of the tacos.

Off to learn more about hand-dyed wool yarns on Etsy. In case I actually get good at this.

A bunch of random stuff.

So. Cloth Diapers. Totally addictive. Today I am working on selling about $165 worth of Knickernappies with inserts. We just don't reach for them and I am finding that I prefer to use prefolds and covers when we are at home.... and we have our daycare and daddy diapers, so it seems like some of them aren't getting used much and it makes more sense to get rid of those and buy up more of what I prefer.

I have started to grab up a few Wool items like this Curly Purly Soaker to use as covers. Wool shorties/longies/soakers are hand washed and lanolized once a week or every 2 weeks depending on how much wool you have to use. I grabbed two soakers and a pattern from Sheepy Time Knits to make my own, but that means I need to

A: Learn how to knit. Which Anya already tried to teach me, but I got frustrated because I knit everything so tight that the yarn breaks after a few rows.
B: Learn how to knit in the round and buy the damn needles and all that.
C: Purchase expensive wool yarn like the pink lemonade stuff that I covet that's $22 a skein
D: Learn how to follow a pattern which is difficult for me because I hate counting and can't pay attention to anything I am doing because I love to crochet while watching TV and therefore just single crochet the day away and can't figure out how to follow a pattern.

So. Chances of this happening? Slim to none. Does that stop me? Apparently not because I still spent $5.95 on the freaking pattern. Someone said they learned how to knit on You Tube. Hmmm. Interesting. I do know *someone* who makes their own yarn and knows knitting and crochet inside out- but I don't really get along with them well anymore and I can't even imagine asking for their help. Doh! This is another time (they are rare and far between) where I wish I were closer to a city so that I could do cool things like take knitting lessons and take Ardyn to Gymboree and playdates.

So, putting knitting to the back of my mind for just a MOMENT. I have been building up my stash of newborn diapers, since I didn't Cloth Diaper Ardyn until she was in size Smalls. So I have 2 dozen preemie prefolds, which are sooooo cute and tiny! And I have about 5 Thirsties XS Covers, and 6 Newborn Fitteds with Doublers made by a WAHM. I am currently trying to acquire 6 Kissaluv Fitteds in Size 0. Since I know that if we have two kids, I won't be able to work (boo. hiss. NOT!) and will have to stay at home (cost of daycare is already too much, add another and it's not practical. It would cost Money for me to work.) And if I stay at home, prefolds and fitteds with covers make so much more sense financially, and babysitters and dad can easily handle fitteds and covers. I will probably have a few Thirsties AIO's on hand for travel and things like that. And all those fitteds and prefolds give me an excuse to play with wool. So basically I am building not only my newborn diaper stash, but perfecting Ardyn's stash, selling what we don't use so much to make a size Medium Stash for whenever she decides to grow out of smalls and infant prefolds.

Ardyn has been a huge fan of 1:30am lately, that's her nightly waking time, during which she plays for a while, then whines for a while, then screams for a while until I feed her and she gulps down all the breastmilk she can before drifting off to sleep in our bed. She sleeps so much better in the morning hours in my bed than hers. I don't mind cuddling with her, but I still put her to bed in her own bed every single night.... But sometime during the wee hours of the morning she makes it back into mine. Sometimes by the time she is done eating I am just too exhausted to put her back in the crib and deal with her being up every hour or two until 6am, which is what she will do unless she wakes up and sees me next to her. Then she goes right back to sleep. Little stinker. And I could leave her in her crib all night (sometimes she sleeps there all night) But it's much nicer when I get to feed her at 5:30and 7:30am and don't have to get up to go get her all the time. It makes me feel like at least I got more sleep. Especially working full time. That's getting old, let me tell you!

I recently bought 9 new shirts/onesies too, since she is outgrowing the 3-6 month Gerber ones. They run small anyway, most other 3-6 month clothes she still has plenty of time to wear. I ended up getting some nicer ones from Babies R Us that are thicker and made by "SpaSilk." Some of them are regular short sleeved onesies, and some are tank top onesies, which will be great for summer and layering. And then I got some plain t-shirts for wearing with wool soakers and legwarmers around home. I think I will embroider on several of them.... but I will follow a trick I learned from a fellow Flickr friend, and embroider onto felt first, then sew the felt to the onesie. Gives it stability and then I won't have to take the onesie out of commission for the entire embroidering timeframe. SwEEt. It makes me so sad when I see the pictures of her wearing her embroidered "A" Onesie at 2 days old, and the embroidered birdie onesie at 3 days old. Awwww she was so tiny and sweet! Man is she growing or what? And besides the A onesie that was just for her, I am being very careful to mostly make unisex onesies so the next babes can enjoy them as well. I did try the pink drumset onesie, but I got so frustrated with the metallic thread on the cymbals that I never finished it.... Yet! But now she's outgrown it, so I hope we have another girl so that it can be finished and worn.

So now that you're inside my brain, have a nice night. I know I will.