Soakers and Longies

This photo has fleece and wool longies and soakers. The wool items are made from felted sweaters from Goodwill, and the fleece is made from fleece from the fabric store (okay, mostly from the remnant bin).

Both soakers and longies are great (I would think they would be considered more great by someone like me, who doesn't think the baby will poop in them). They are great because all you need to do to use them is to put them on like pants or shorts and stuff a prefold or folded cloth diaper inside (aka soaker). When the baby pees, you just trade out the wet diaper and leave the soaker or longie on as a cover. They provide just enough wetness protection that the floor will likely stay dry, yet you will notice the baby has gone and be able to change him quickly. They are also breathable, so you don't feel like you are doing a science project on the baby's bum with plastic pants.

Downfalls of both are that you need a high level of confidence to use them. You need to be able to put the soaker into the wet zone fairly accurately, and be willing to get yourself or the floor wet if you mess up. Another downfall is that you need to care for the wool http://www.boiseclothdiapers.com/laundrytips.htm (see #5, washing wool covers), and that fleece is less waterproof than the wool.

I actually used fleece soakers without any stuffing as a bridge to undies for a few days (before I realized that the pee really goes straight through the fleece when the soaker isn't in it). I liked that he felt dry all the time in them. But I digress.

An advantage of longies is that they double as pants in cool weather.

To make longies, try http://www.cafepress.com/thatskindacool/864331 or http://katrinassqs.blogspot.com/2008/09/longies-pattern.html or http://doityourselfec.blogspot.com/search/label/Recycled%20wool%20sweater%20longies%20instructions. For soakers, try http://katrinassqs.blogspot.com/2007/10/free-soaker-pattern.html or http://doityourselfec.blogspot.com/search/label/Wool-in-two%20training%20pants.

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