Summer Baby: Best Cover

Hi everyone,

My baby is due to be born end of Dec/early Jan and I've been researching nappy covers. Wool covers seem to be the best to me, but I'm just wondering if they'll be too hot for the baby in summer? Does anyone have any experience with this?

Also, I'm planning to use flats (muslin/flanellete/terry).. is it at all possible when at home to have the baby without nappy covers, but with waterproof sheets etc.. or do you think a cover is necessary at all times?

Any other advice regarding newborns, nappy covers and summer would be much appreciated.. thanks! :)

Hi there!

Wool covers would be fine for summer as they breathe - i think fleece covers do too though so they are also an option for you.

You might get compression leaks with wool covers though with a newborn - I know I did. My DD has only just started moving around enough at night to be successful with a wool cover.

I would think that it would be ok to not have a cover during the day at least on the hot days, just change the nappy more often I would say.

Just be aware that flats of any description are really bulky on a newborn and is hard to get good seals against those poo explosions!!!! Have you thought of prefolds? I used a lot of prefolds when DD was really really small (and she wasn't exactly a small baby!!!)

HTH!

Hi Arimeh,

Yes that really helps! :) I will definitely look into getting some prefolds I think..

Hope the pregnancy is going smoothly - I am stocking up on fitteds and PUL wraps, with wool covers for night-times as it breathes better. There are lots of gussetted covers available now which work really well with prefolds, however I am just lazy and prefer a fitted, and since I can make my own, well...

When DS was a newborn (over summer) we used PUL pockets 100% of the time but they fitted him well as he was quite chubby. I am expecting this one to be a bit smaller so the fitteds and covers would work better.

I only use fleece covers here, for day and night. They're very breathable, I'd say more than a wool cover. I do have a wool cover, which I've used a couple of times, but I've found the fleece to be a lot better.

I use bamboo fitted, which generally require a cover, however during the day I can go without using one.

I'm the opposite to Jodi, I find wool to be much cooler and more breathable than fleece (although fleece is my second choice). I find that knitted wool covers (soakers or shorties for summer, longies for winter) are cooler than covers sewn from wool jersey, despite generally being bulkier.

ETA: for a newborn, it is good to have back up covers in a quicker drying material as wool takes a long time to dry. If wet, it only needs washing and lanolising infrequently, as the lanolin neutralises urine, but on a newborn with explosive poo it may need washing quite frequently.