danish woolen delight, baby hats + night soaker
/I had the opportunity to review two sweet baby hats and a nighttime diaper soaker from Danish Woolen Delight. The company is based in Vermont and mainly imports their organic wool products from LANACare in Denmark as well as Hocosa in Switzerland and NaturaPura in Portugal. Danish Woolen Delight was started by a nurse whose background was in textile design. I loved the ease of use of their website, and it seems like I would be happy with just about anything they offer. Here's what I chose and what I think:
LANACare 100% Organic Merino Wool Baby Cap, size 86 (1-2 years), soft gray
This hat worked great for our baby this winter. We ordered up in size, our baby wore the 86 at 4-6 months, but we wanted something that would last at least two winters and our baby is on the larger size. There is a bit of a stretch to the wool, which is nice, so if one was to order smaller, perhaps it would still last two winters. The entire hat is very soft, and the inside of the hat is even softer, kind of fluffy. The shape of it reaches down past baby's neck, which is a great feature, keeps the winter wind out! It has cloth strings on the ends to tie it snug under baby's chin which is another nice things about this hat. There are numerous advantages to wool: it wicks away moisture, it is a breathable so it keeps baby nice and warm with out overheating, natural wool with lanolin has antibacterial properties, so it stays clean for longer.
We used this hat on its own and also paired it sometimes with the Pilot Style Baby Cap by Hocosa, 100% Organic, 70% wool/30% silk blend. This hat is also very soft, no itch whatsoever. We put this underneath, as a liner of sorts, it was not necessary, but mainly because we ordered the wool hat up in size, this fit closer to baby's head. This hat on its own is great for spring or fall, when there is still a little chill in the air. It also has cloth ties on each end which also help the hat from shifting over baby's eyes. It is shorter in the back, doesn't cover baby's neck, but because it is meant for warmer weather, that seems fine. The only thing that I don't love, and I have found this with hats she wore before we got these as well, is that they did rotate a bit on our baby, even when tied (we didn't tie very tight though). I also liked not tying them, and would just have to keep up with moving it back from covering her eyes when it shifted (when she turned her head in a baby carrier for example). My suggestion would also be not to leave them on baby when not with the baby as they have strings. My understanding is you shouldn't leave a hat on a baby when not supervised ever, strings or no strings. We loved these hats and didn't use any others all winter and are looking forward to having our baby wear them next winter as well!
LANACare Night Diaper Cover Soaker, 100% Organic Merino Wool, size medium
This is a great option for night (or day, really) cloth diapering. This is a diaper cover, it is put over a cloth fitted diaper. Because it is made from 100% felted wool it is naturally waterproof. If there is a soaked fitted diaper underneath, there is some moistness one can kind of feel on the outside of the soaker, but I found it was barely noticeable. In sizes medium and large there is an adjustable elastic band inside the seam of the waist. There is a button and some slats so the waist can be loosened or tightened depending on the size of the baby. The seams are on the outside, which keeps only soft flat wool against baby's skin. The night soaker has an extra thick area around the center, which is helpful for longer amounts of time it is worn. Because there is lanolin in this natural wool, when the diaper cover gets moist, it just needs to be aired out to dry. The lanolin acts as an anti bacterial force. So, it only needs to washed maybe every 10-20 days or so, depending on how often it is worn. If however, it gets soiled, then it needs to be washed. I wash ours in the bathroom sink with a wool safe soap. It should be re-lanolized every so often to help maintain the moisture resistant and anti bacterial qualities.
There are some things that came up for us when using it. It is not a trim diaper, especially with a cloth fitted diaper underneath and possibly an added liner. So, depending on the size of the pajamas or pants, they might not fit over the diaper. I found that looser fitting pants or pajamas work best. We use the diaper during the day more as it turns out, because our baby wakes up a couple times at night to nurse and does well with getting her diaper changed at least once at night. That can happen in the dark, on her mattress, so that isn't the best situation for changing this diaper for us. Because the diaper needs to come off all the way and then there is a wet diaper underneath. We would need to have her on her changing pad in that situation, not her bed. I think this diaper cover works really nice with a long top and leg warmers. It is a great all natural fibers option! It is only wool and waterproof, which is excellent and safe!
I was kindly given these products to review after I contacted the company to express my interest in their products, and these items specifically.