Little Beetle Little to Big Diaper and Wool Cover

Apr 19,2010 / By Maria / 12 Comments

I’ve been really getting into using wool and fitteds at night, so when betterforbabies.com told me they were sending me a Little-To-Big Beetle diaper and a Little-To-Big Organic Wool Cover, I was really anxious to try them.

No doubt what I pulled out of my mailbox was what I’d been waiting for!

Better For Babies sells natural and organic baby products including diapers, covers, soaker shorts, trainers and other accessories.

Better For Grownups sells reusable facial rounds, sateen tissues (really want to try these!) and family cloth, all crafted from fair trade organic cotton.

As the package says, the diaper is 100% organic, fair trade cotton, and is sweatshop free! They’re actually made in the U.S.A. wow!

That’s the first time washing instructions have made me giggle. Tee hee!

The orange is adorable, and the diaper is super soft and squishy.

Nice velcro closures. Thus far, they are actually easy to get off of the laundry tabs, but still stick to them in the wash. I have too many that I struggle to free from the grasp of the laundry tabs, but in the washing machine they’re all like “Meh, whatever, we don’t like you anyway,” and become besties with 3 other diapers. Gah.

The velcro strip on the front of the diaper had that funny, stiff feel/sound like the Rumparooz. I actually debated taking a video of me crinkling it, but decided that would be a little weird, ha ha. Once I put the diaper on him though, it wasn’t stiff and didn’t dig into his belly. I think it must just be whatever the velcro strip is backed with making that sound.

This diaper is a one size (6-36 pounds) and it’s the first one size fitted I’ve owned that has the snap down rise for sizing. Love this.

The diaper comes with a soaker and a foldable “beetle booster.”

One thing I found really unique is that the soaker is sewn in, just at one point on each side of the middle. So, no matching up soakers or snapping them in after washing, but it’s not sewn all the way into the diaper, allowing for better cleaning & easier drying. You can slip the booster out to fold it and place in where needed (wet zone), or you can tuck it under the soaker to be held in place.

At first glance, it seems a lot smaller overall than other one-size fitteds, even all the way unsnapped.

Actually though, it just seems that way because the elastic is drawn a bit tighter.

Fully stretched, they are just about the same size.

Snapped on the smallest rise setting and unstretched, they are quite small. I don’t doubt they really would fit on a 6 pound baby!

I used it on the medium setting on my little guy (who is about 16.5 lbs and 27.5 inches). It fit wonderfully, and I think he could wear this setting for a while.

This was so easy to put on him. I love my other fitteds, but this is so much more Daddy friendly. My hubby gets really frustrated by the soakers to pull up and fold over and adjust, rises to fold over and rows and rows of snaps.

I folded the booster in half, placed it in the wetzone, and used the diaper coverless the first time. It was the last diaper before bed and he hadn’t uhh, “used the facilities” by the time I put his night time diaper on him.

Because the soaker is in the middle of the diaper (it’s very trim too!) rather than being snapped into the back, his tush wasn’t fluffy like I’m used to. I actually joked that it was weird to be able to feel his hiney through the diaper instead of a mound of fluff!

The next time I used it, I put fleece pants over. He wore it for a good two hours and it was fabulous!

I also tried it with the Little-To-Big Organic Wool Cover.

The cover is 100% organic merino wool and fits 6-36 lbs.

It’s mamajammin, yo. I feel like I’m looking for Waldo. I don’t want to miss anything funny on the packaging.

Yeah, Mother Nature is a smarty pants, but who figured out we could shave the wool off the sheep and make diaper covers out of it, huh? Who’s the smarty pants now, huh?

100% USDA certified, organic wool.

I received a cover with snap closures, though both the diapers and covers come with your choice of snaps or velcro.

I think velcro on the diaper and snaps on the cover are the perfect combo, especially since my son has figured out how to open velcro! Better For Babies said “we find it’s good to pair one closure with the other…snaps and aplix lining up exactly against one another can cause a funny fit.” You can overlap the snaps for a smaller baby.

The cover has the same snap down rise size adjustment that I love. It’s especially nice on a cover since you may need a slightly bigger cover to go over a diaper with a higher rise.

The first time I used the cover, I used it over my Licorice Lane Fitted.

It’s so nice to be able to adjust the rise on the fly, depending on the diaper you have on under it.

The cover didn’t really add any bulk.

So cute!!

I of course also used it over the Little Beetle Little-To-Big diaper as well.

The snaps are so easy to do. With some others, the snaps can be really “sticky.”

Better for Babies told me that the “snaps do have to be opened and closed gently (since the 100% organic Merino wool doesn’t have any synthetics), but it’s easy to do so.” That makes me wonder if these are intentionally easier to undo, to avoid yanking on the wool.

I do wish the rise snaps were just a tiny bit “stickier” though. I sometimes inadvertently pop a rise snap on any diaper, usually when I am pulling the diaper to adjust it as I’m putting it on. With the cover, I did it about 3 times in a row and really annoyed myself. I’m sure it is just a learning curve with that. I also popped one somehow with him on my hip. That seems to be my only “complaint” though!

This was really trim over the super trim diaper!

I love that both the diaper and cover will fit babies from “Little-To-Big.” They may be a bit of an investment, but they will last. I also love that they are completely natural, with no synthetic materials at all and that they’re socially conscious as well. See this diaper on my newborn.

Thank you so much to Better For Babies for sending them to me to review! Of course, my love can’t be bought with diapers, so the freebies in no way affected my review!

Check out Better For Babies and Better for Grownups. I’d love to hear what products interest you, and what else you’d like to see me review.

(also see BFB on Facebook, BFG on Facebook, BFB on Twitter and BFG on Twitter!)

Edit August 2010: Although fitteds aren’t really my favorite (I prefer pocket diapers) this is so, so trim, and soft and squishy, I can’t help but love it!

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Mobums Wool Interlock “Night Night” Soaker

Apr 15,2010 / By Maria / 6 Comments

I really like my Kissaluvs wool cover, but I wanted a spare for when it was being washed. I also wanted to get a medium, since the large was a bit, well, large.

I managed to win an auction for a mobums “night-night” wool interlock soaker, for about half the price of the Kissaluvs. The night night soaker has a double layer of wool through the whole soaker body, wider waist and leg bands, and all seams are serged for durability.

The size medium I purchased fits a 17″ rise, 15-17″ waist and 9-10″ thighs.

Monique at mobums ended up refunding my shipping (all of it) because there was a slight delay in shipping my soaker out. I didn’t even notice a delay; it came in about a week. Still, that was my first hint that mobums has excellent customer service and really values their customers.

The soaker was shipped lanolized with cucumber melon scented lanolin. I’ve become very sensitive to smells lately and this was a little strong for me. I contacted Monique and got help washing the scent out. She was very apologetic, receptive and sweet. This was nice, since she had no way to know the scent would bother me.

I thought this would be a good opportunity to show you my wool washing routine!

I fill my utility sink with some lukewarm water and a teaspoon or so of Eucalan, then swish it around before adding the wool.

I squeeze the suds into the wool a bit, then let it soak for 15 minutes or so.

In the meantime, I get four towels out, and stack them in sets of two.

When the wool has finished it’s soak, I drain the water, then gently squeeze some of the water out of the wool. Then I lay it on top of a set of towels.

I roll the soaker up inside the towels.

squeeze

unroll

Then move to the next set of towels.

roll

squeeze

unroll

then lay flat to dry. Mobums soakers can be tumbled dry on low, but I’d rather just let it air dry. I’m afraid one day I will accidentally dry it on high and ruin it!

Here’s a close up of the leg openings

and the seams inside the soaker

Here the mobums medium is on top and the Kissaluvs large is on the bottom.

another angle

The Kissaluvs has that extra, extra wide waistband to fold over and cover higher waist diapers etc.

The night night soaker actually has quite a bit of stretch to it.

It fit snugly, without being tight.

It fit over that super fluffy booty!

I topped the soaker off with fleece pants. In the morning, I could feel a bit of dampness on the outside of the soaker. It doesn’t surprise me, and in my opinion, it isn’t a reflection on the quality of the soaker. My son manages to completely saturate an outrageously absorbent fitted, so the fact that the wool (which is breathable remember) was damp where his tush was compressing it all night, doesn’t concern me!

In the end, this is a great product and the fact that it comes with even better service behind it, makes it worth much more than the price I paid!!

August 2010: Still in our regular night time rotation!

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Guerilla Fluff

Apr 2,2010 / By Maria / 22 Comments

I became interested in Guerilla Fluff because of a custom she did. I still have diaper envy. Unfortunately, that customer provided the fabric, so none for me. Wah wah!!

I had been on the hunt for the most absorbent fitted I could find, and while browsing Guerilla Fluff, I discovered The Utilitarian Night Time Diaper (sorry, the website is all flash, so I can’t link).

The Utilitarian has an outer, hidden and inner layer, all of Bamboo Rayon Fleece. The diaper is turned and top-stitched, and has decorative stitching reminiscent of Frankenstein (the buyer chooses the color). Even my hubby thought it was very cool. That’s one of the most awesome things about Guerilla Fluff. They’re not your typical cutesy diapers, though she can make those too if you want them!

What really sold me was that the soakers (two of them) were each made of 3 layers of bamboo fleece, there was an option to add Zorb (I chose this option) and a precision doubler made of 2 layers of bamboo fleece and 1 layer of wool was included as well. This was the most absorbency I’d seen in a fitted!

The washing instructions said I didn’t need to pre-wash, though it would become more absorbent with future washings, so I only washed once.

I do love a handwritten note!

Here’s the back of the business card:

The first time I used the diaper, I folded over all of the soakers.

I huffed and puffed and managed to get pins in.

It was hard to get a good fit with the pins!

I put the wool cover on, followed by a fleece sleep sack.

Naturally, he soaked right through it! I didn’t contact Novia about it because I knew it was operator error and had nothing to do with the diaper. I was in my cloth diaper group, feeling sorry for myself and trying to figure out if my super-soaker son was hiding a garden hose in his crib that he was soaking his diapers with. I had no idea that Novia was a member! She sent me a private message offering to help me troubleshoot.

With everyone’s help, I figured out that I needed to fully prep the diaper (babies who aren’t as heavy wetters would probably do fine using it without prepping) get a tighter fit with a snappi, and lanolize my wool more heavily.

I ordered a snappi from Abby’s Lane, lanolized the heck out of my wool, and figured I could prep the diaper while I waited for the snappi to arrive. The snappi came too quickly, so I had to set it aside while I washed & dried the diaper a total of about 10 times.

This time, I didn’t fold the soakers over.

I got a nice snug fit.

and managed to

get the snappi

on!

Much better!

I topped it with my freshly lanolized wool.

and fleece pants!

In the morning, he was dry! Since all of the materials he was cocooned in are breathable, I did feel ever so slight dampness, but it was the kind of dampness you feel when you ignore your dryer for a while, then can’t tell if your clothes are damp or just cold. No biggie.

I’ve used it several times since then with no leaks, though he has managed to completely saturate all of those layers!!

I love my Guerilla Fluff! Novia also makes a one size diaper with snaps, a one size pinnable, a sized side snapping diaper, and the Utilitarian in original (10-24 lbs) and toddler (25-40 lbs). She can also add snaps to the utilitarian now. She also makes bamboo prefolds and full size and “precision” doublers.

Customs are closed for now, but check out Guerilla Fluff on Facebook, GF on Twitter and GF on Blogspot to keep up with what’s happening!

Edit August 2010: This is still in our regular night time rotation, though we don’t need as much absorbency anymore.

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Kissaluvs Kissa’s Wool LOVER Diaper Cover

Mar 17,2010 / By Maria / 6 Comments

I am, I admit it. I’m a wool lover! I can hardly believe it. I’m having a hard time remembering all of the reasons for my paralyzing fear of wool, but they were definitely there.

Why wool? Wool is breathable and will keep baby’s hiney warm in the winter and cool in the summer. Wool is obviously a natural fiber, and has built in anti-bacterial properties. It absorbs moisture, does not retain odors, and does not have to be washed often.

Seriously, if you use wool covers all day long, you can have a rotation of 3 or 4 going. Change the cover when you change the diaper, just flip the damp one inside out and set aside to dry and you don’t have to wash every 2 or 3 weeks! If it is “soiled” you have to wash it of course!

So, on to the Kissaluvs cover I bought. (or “butt sweater” if you’re my hubby!)

I chose this one in particular because it is made with ultra-fine merino wool. I wish you could feel this because it is heaven; I would love a sweater made out of this wool! I chose it also because of the leg gussets, which aren’t as funny looking in person as they looked on their site.

According to the size chart, I should have gotten a medium, which fits 15-25 lbs. The large says 20-35 lbs. My son is only around 16 lbs, but I figured it would be better to buy a large, have it be too large, go back and buy the medium (saving the large for later), rather than ending up with one that is too small. I was worried about fitting it over the overstuffed, fluffy nighttime behind.

It is definitely big!

It still worked wonderfully though! The first night with this wool cover was the first night in a while that he woke up with dry jammies, sleep sack and sheet. I was so anxious to use it that I used it right away and washed and lanolized it the following day.

I’ve been using it for 2 1/2 weeks and aside from the initial wash, I’ve only washed it once. My biggest hang up about wool (the washing) has turned out to be one of the most awesome things about it; it’s so simple.

When I take the cover off of him and it’s a bit damp inside, it will initially have a slight urine odor. As it dries, the smell disappears. If it starts to retain the smell, it’s time to wash.

Washing is ridiculously easy. I put maybe two or so inches of tepid water in my utility sink, along with a dab of Eucalan wool wash and swished it around a bit. I placed the cover in and squeezed it a teeny bit, then let it soak for 15 minutes. After that, drain the water. No need to rinse.

Click here to request a free sample of Eucalan (SASE required).

To dry, I had ready two sets of two kitchen towels laid out on the counter (one towel on top of the other). I gently pressed out as much of the water as I could, then I laid it flat on top of one set of towels. I rolled the towels and cover up and gently squeezed, unrolled it and repeated in the dry towels. Then I laid it flat on the counter to dry (out of the sunlight).

Next time I wash, I will take photos of the washing routine.

I’m not sure how often to lanolize, so I went ahead and did it with both the initial and the second wash. I know it’s one of those “do it when it needs it” kinds of things, but you know how that goes when you’re learning! Since Eucalan is a lanolin containing wool wash, I shouldn’t need to lanolize too often.

edit: I did quickly find one good tip. When you’re washing, if the water beads up on the wool, you’re good. If it forms some “pools” where the water soaks in, you might want to lanolize soon. If it becomes saturated with water, you definitely need to lanolize. I mean when you first place it in the water. Obviously it will eventually become saturated if you are washing it, LOL

I got a bottle of liquid lanolin in the health and beauty section of my local organic market.

I’ll talk more about lanolin, what it does and what else it’s used for, later. I’ve heard some people say they just use Lansinoh Lanolin to lanolize their wool.

The routine was pretty much the same as the washing (I didn’t let the cover dry between washing & lanolizing). However, I did initially add hot water along with the pea size amount of lanolin, in order to “melt” the lanolin. Then I added tepid water, swished and added the cover.

It took a full day for the cover to dry, I wasn’t able to use it the next night. I’d really like to have a second one, and this time I think I’ll get a medium!

An interesting tidbit on storage, from Kissaluv’s site:

Before storing away, wash the cover thoroughly without lanolizing. Do not fold and put between clothes. Hang it or spread it on the top of other clothes. If WL is pressed for a long time, it may get a bit stiffer like other finer wools.

I wish I had known this. I have a sweater that I loved packed away, since it had not fit me since the winter before I got pregnant with my son. While shuffling clothing around, I handled it, and it felt really strange. Brittle almost. I wonder if there is a way to save it?

P.S. Don’t forget to enter this week’s giveaway here!

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DryBees Fleece Night Diapers

Feb 25,2010 / By Maria / 9 Comments

I’ve been hunting for a night diapering solution that won’t leave clothing and sheet soaked in the morning.

I had been using a Bumgenius 3.0 on the large setting (we use medium during the day) with an insert and 3 doublers. It was working OK I suppose, though usually my son’s pajamas were wet on the back right above the diaper.

Since it’s winter, he’s also been using a fleece sleep sack. That has helped somewhat, since it at least keeps the sheet dry.

Lately however, he’s woken up even wetter. All the stuffing also sometimes causes a gap at his leg. He often rolls onto his side to sleep, which caused him to pee right out of the leg gap, soaking everything and waking himself up!

I’ve been looking for something else to try. Enter DryBees.

I bought a DryBees Fleece Night Time diaper from Abby’s Lane. I found a coupon code for 5% off, got free shipping, had $3 in my Paypal account from a survey, and Abby’s Lane included a free microfiber insert. not bad for $15.52!

I really liked the charcoal color, but they didn’t have the size I needed, so I bought sage. I chose a medium, which should fit 14-22 lbs.

The outer is heavy weight Malden Mills Windpro fleece and the inner is suede cloth.

The inner is definitely stiffer and rougher than the micro fleece inner most of my other diapers have.

I tried the diaper on Saturday during the day, just to see how it fit. I used just the microfiber insert it came with, and it was great. It fit fine and didn’t leak.

I tried it overnight on Sunday. I stuffed it with the microfiber insert it came with, a Blueberry bamboo doubler and two hemp doublers. It was a tight squeeze into the pocket, which is tighter than the Bumgenius pockets.

It didn’t seem any bulkier than the BG I usually over-stuff at night.

The next morning, his back was wet, but the inserts weren’t completely soaked. I thought maybe it was user error? I quickly washed & dried them to try again Tuesday night. Wednesday morning, he woke up with EVERYthing soaked. Pajamas, sleep sack, sheets, everything. The microfiber insert was not soaking wet but the hemp was. That made me suspect that it had something to do with the hemp being up against the fleece.

Wednesday (last night), I tried again. First, I tried to use the microfiber insert it came with, along with 3 microfiber doublers (two from Happy Heiny’s and one from FuzziBunz).

I actually couldn’t fit all that in the pocket, so I ditched one of the HH doublers.

I fit it all in the pocket!

Fluffy and squishy, but no leg gap!

This morning, all the inserts were soaking wet, and so was he.

So, I’m trying other things! I ordered a Heartland Dreams fitted, a Kissaluvs Wool Soaker and Eucalan Wool Wash (click that link for info on requesting a free sample. I’ll post about wool when I get that stuff.

I also ordered Knickernappies LoopyDo and SuperDo inserts. I’ll figure this out yet! I’m guessing I will end up having to use multiple super inserts along with a wool cover!

November 2010 update: I gave up on this diaper; so many people love it but it just didn’t work for us. Here’s what worked for us at night, after a lot of trial and error:

Dypes by Dixon Sweet Slumber Fleece Diaper or a Bumgenius pocket, stuffed with a Superdo insert, a loopydo with an added natural fiber doubler, or a regular microfiber insert with a natural fiber doubler. I always put the microfiber in the pocket on the baby side and the doubler underneath (or in the middle of the loopydo.) This allows the microfiber to quickly absorb liquid, and the doubler locks it away (yes, I feel like a paper towel commercial.)

What has also worked for us is a super absorbent fitted, like the Guerilla Fluff Utilitarian with a night-time wool interlock soaker over top.

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Category : Wool

Little Beetle Little to Big Diaper and Wool Cover

Mobums Wool Interlock “Night Night” Soaker

Guerilla Fluff

Kissaluvs Kissa’s Wool LOVER Diaper Cover

DryBees Fleece Night Diapers

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