Most of our parents were diapered in cotton flannel with a wool soaker. Then disposable diapers came along when we were in diapers and everyone forgot the wool soaker. That was until the cloth diaper made a modern come back today. New cloth diapers are made from PUL, microfleece, hemp, bamboo and many other types of awesome water resistant and absorbent fabrics. However, the night time leaks still happen, especially with newborns, because they are growing so fast cloth diapers rarely fit correctly for very long. After all these years one of the most skin safe and absorbent fabrics is wool. Add a wool soaker over a cloth or disposable diaper at night and you may just have the winning combination for making it through the night leak free. In our case of have skinny legged girls leaks in the legs during the newborn stage seem constant so we use wool soakers during the day as well.
Where does one get wool soakers? Well they can be found through mama co-ops or second hand for a reasonable price $10-$20 each. However, they can be difficult to get your hands on. They retail in baby stores for around $25-$30 each. If you are only using them at night 1-2 will get the job done. If you use them all the time then 3-4 will be needed. I found I could knit 3-4 with about $24 worth of wool. I found a free pattern online that was simple enough for even a beginner at
http://www.ottobredesign.com. This is a European pattern so if you use it remember that when they say "roving yarn" that means "worsted weight yarn" here in the states. I have been very pleased with the out come of this pattern so far.
My first stab at knitting soakers for my youngest, Etta
