lo-wren

muse. mom. maven.

Best Cloth Diapers for Boys

By 112 Comments

My little guy graduated from adorable cloth diapers to underwear last week, which led me to reflect on some of my favorite diapers throughout the years. With almost three years of cloth diapering under my belt, having tried every cloth diaper style, I can say that I definitely have favorites. My disclaimer is that this is my own list of the best cloth diapers for boys, as I’ve not tried every diaper on the market. From flats to all-in-one (AIO) cloth diapers, I’m discussing my picks for the best cloth diapers for boys.

From prefolds to all-in-one (AIO) cloth diapers, these are my picks for the best cloth diapers for boys.

[Read more…]

My First D.I.Y. Wool Soaker!

By 6 Comments

I’m relatively new to using wool, and new to knitting (I just started in February).  However, I love using wool so much that I decided to attempt to knit my own soaker.  I searched the internet for patterns, and came across a couple of free soaker patterns that I decided to try (I’m currently working on another pattern).  The first pattern I decided to try is a by a Finnish woman and can be found on the Ottobre Design website.  This particular soaker is knitted with straight needles, and is then stitched together at the very end.
Without photos of the finished product, I really was on my own.  I won’t tell you how many times I had to restart this project due to mistakes at the very beginning (remember, I’m a beginner).  Before this project, I had only worked with a knit stitch, so I had to learn purling to do the waistband ribbing.  Counting stitches proved to be my biggest hurdle:

While this is a beautiful moss stitch, it’s not what I needed.  This is a photo of one of the many times I had to undo my knitting and start over.  But, I finally got the hang of it (and learned a lot in the process):

Since becoming pregnant and having a baby, I’ve noticed that I have a difficult time paying attention to television shows or movies.  I’ve found that knitting helps me to focus more and it relaxes me.  It is definitely teaching me patience as well!

This pattern forced me to learn a lot of different knitting techniques: increases, decreasing rows, and the mattress stitch to name a few.  Thank goodness for the internet and YouTube — I can’t tell you how many tutorials I watched throughout the process of making this!

While it took me a few weeks to get this done, realistically, this project could get done in a week (knitting in the evenings, as I do).  I sat on the project for a few weeks at the end, before attempting to stitch it together.  I am not great at sewing, so the thought of having to learn a special stitch (mattress stitch) and sew the whole thing together was overwhelming.
I finally did complete the soaker, and have an amazing sense of satisfaction in having completed this!  I love it, imperfections and all.

The unfortunate part?  I used the 10-24 month pattern, to get the most use out of the soaker, but my son is only 9 months…and on the small side:

He likely won’t start wearing this until the fall 🙂

I really want him to wear wool this summer, so I’ve started a new pattern using circular needles – wish me luck!

A Return to Cloth at Night w/ the Help of Little Fawn Organics

By 1 Comment

 I have no shame in exposing my dirty little secret.  When Declan was about 5 months old, we started using disposables at night.  I simply got tired of middle-of-the-night wakeups, stripping the crib linens and changing bulked-up cloth diapers in my semi-conscious state.  On top of it all, D was becoming more mobile in the crib and his overstuffed pocket diapers were hindering his movement.  I waved my white flag.
Fast forward three months later, three months of solid foods and one bulked-up little baby.  I got curious about cloth at night again.  Maybe pocket diapers would work at night, now that D’s thighs were more like a turkey drumstick than a chicken leg.  I was also intrigued by wool, but a little timid with both the price and, what I perceived as complicated care.  Nevertheless, I was mulling around my nighttime cloth diapering options.  Around this time, I happened to be browsing Indiegogo and came across an organic cloth diaper company with a funding campaign, Little Fawn Organics.  The more I read, the more I liked what I saw. 
What a wonderful company with a strong sense of community, a commitment to the environment, and a solid philosophy.  All of this, and their diapers are absolutely beautiful!
Front of organic wool soaker
I contacted Jessica, the founder, and started a dialogue that ended with me ordering an organic merino wool soaker for Declan.  Jessica was extremely helpful in answering my questions and advising me in what size to order for D.  I will be completely honest and say that I took full advantage of the option to have the soaker lanolized for me, and to have an extra soaker sewn in at an additional cost (this took away a large part of my wool anxiety).  I could not wait for my fluffy mail to arrive!
Back of organic wool soaker
When my fluffy mail came, I couldn’t believe how soft and beautiful (yes, I find this diaper beautiful) the wool soaker was.  The craftmanship was impeccable, and the best part?  I knew that this diaper had been crafted for Declan by someone passionate about putting only the safest and natural materials close to a baby’s skin.
We waited until the last possible moment to give nighttime cloth a try – we ran out of disposables within two days of receiving our Little Fawn Organics soaker – and the timing couldn’t have been any more perfect.  I’ve only got one fitted diaper, which D just outgrew, so I devised a laying system with a prefold (Declan’s between sizes right now, so the next size up is really big), a full size insert, newborn insert, and a flannel liner.  While D wasn’t as trim as in his disposable, I was surprised by how trim he looked with the soaker over top.  I put him to bed and said a little prayer that there would be no middle-of-the-night change…
Ready to give nighttime cloth a try!
…and there wasn’t!  Not a single spot.  I should back up and say that we had been having issues with D’s disposable diapers leaking for at least a month.  With our LFO soaker, we had absolutely NO leaks!  I’m here to report that one week into cloth at night and D is still waking up without any leaks.  I can’t wait to convince my husband to allow me to order some LFO fitteds!
If you’re thinking about wool, or interested in completely organic cloth diapering, I would encourage you to take a look at the Little Fawn Organics shop on Etsy.  If your diaper stash is full, but you’re looking for a great cause, heck, even if you don’t diaper, please consider making a donation to Little Fawn Organics Indiegogo campaign.  Help support small business, creating employment opportunities, and giving back to communities.