Ode to Sheep

Oh fluffy sheep, with your wool so warm

and water repellent to weather the storm

of gallons of pee throughout the long night

if I could hug you and kiss you, I think I just might!

You see Sweets used to wake with jammies so wet

his diapers were leaky (and not comfy, I'll bet!)

But then you gave us your wool and your lanolin

to make bulletproof diaper covers - win!

And now Sweetie wakes with a gleam in his eye

that says to me "Mommy, my jammies are dry!"

What no one told me about cloth diapering was how challenging overnight diapering can be. I had been using one of our pocket diapers stuffed with 2 microfiber inserts at night, and it worked for awhile, until it was no longer holding up to 11 hours of toddler pee and Sweets was waking up at 4 am with wet pajamas. I can't have that. So I hit up the cloth diaper boards and my local cloth diaper store and the suggestion everywhere was wool, wool, WOOL. Wool is apparently a super fiber and can hold something crazy like 60% of its weight in moisture before it feels wet to the touch. And it's naturally antimicrobial too, so it can go weeks between washes without retaining odors. Initially, I was fearful, thinking wool would require a ton of complicated care. But I did my research and talked to a bunch of wool-loving mamas and it's really pretty simple. The best advice I was given was "don't fear the wool!" and that mama was right. How can you be afraid of this?

Wool is used as a diaper cover, not a diaper itself, so it does require something underneath it. The wonderful owner of my local CD store recommended the Thirsties Duo Fab Fitted diaper for overnight and I am totally in love with it, not only because it is soft, squishy and adorable (see below), but because it absorbs tons of wetness.

Thirsties Duo Fab Fitted Diaper Size 2, Ocean Blue

Its unique channel design allows me to stuff it with an additional hemp insert for overnight. That's a fluffy booty!

I initially tried the Fab Fitted with a Thirsties Duo diaper cover and it still resulted in wet pjs! So I asked my incredibly talented friend Liz of Grey Poodle Designs if she would knit me a wool soaker and she graciously agreed. I sent her a picture of a wool cover pattern that I liked along with Sweetie Pea's measurements and she whipped this up in no time! 

Here is Sweets' new soaker over his fitted diaper. It's so soft and stretchy! And it is bullet.proof. No more wet jams! When he wakes up, the inside of the soaker is ever so slightly damp. I toss it over my shower curtain rod and it dries right up for me to use again that night. Liz did an amazing job! Oh, and please excuse my ridiculous outfit...I grab the first comfy pair of pants and fuzzy socks that my hands touch when I get home from work ;)

The rear view.

I love that it conforms to Sweets' body with no velcro or snaps to dig into him anywhere.

Thank you sheep, and thank you Liz. We love dry jams!