SERIOUSLY considering disposables at night

[veedeepee]

I'm really considering going to the dark side at night and using disposables. You may have seen my previous posts about fleece soakers, fitted diapers, issues with stay-dry lining, etc. It seems that no matter what I try, we either end up with leaks at night OR with DS fussing because he feels wet and wants to be changed. I guess some nights he has several small pees (these seem to be the nights he wants to be changed before the diaper is fully saturated), and other nights he really saves it up and then has a giant pee that leaks out of the diaper (either because the diaper gets saturated or because it's so much pee so fast that the diaper can't soak it up fast enough...he's a side/stomach sleeper).

I've tried (in chronological order)

1. Prefold + doubler (hemp, cotton terry, combo) + Thirsties cover = leak
2. Prefold + G-diaper insert (had some lying around...figured it was worth a shot) = leak
3. BumGenius stuffed with various things = HUGE leaks
4. Tiny Tush Elite pocket stuffed with various things = HUGE leaks
5. Prefold + doubler + Dancing Bears fleece soaker...held leaks well, but the diaper was sopping wet and he'd get uncomfortable. Plus snappi-ing in bed in the middle of the night is a PITA.
6. Happy Hempy fitted + Dancing Bears...no leaking, but the diaper was sopping wet and he'd get uncomfortable (even with microfleece inside).
7. Disposable (Earth's Best) seemed promising, but on night #2 we had 2 leaks in a row.
8. Thirsties Fab Fitted + Thirsties cover = leak
9. Thirsties Fab Fitted + Dancing Bears = leak (SO disappointing...thought this was going to do the trick).

I'm running out of ideas and patience here. I'm considering looking at nighttime disposables. I don't like the idea of that weird gel stuff inside (or is it some kind of beads?), and I loathe that funky baby powder smell on most disposables, but if my little guy can sleep better and I can change the bedding less it might actually be worth it.

Any one else in this boat? I guess I'm looking for someone to either talk me down from the disposable diaper ledge that I'm standing on, or help me pick a nighttime disposable that isn't gross and smelly (before being used, that is).


Thanks for listening to my rant!

[possum]

We went over to the dark side. When my son was really young and ate then pooped every hour and a half - even at night - we just used the same flats with covers that we used in the day time.
We also had a time that fleece pockets did it for us, but they eventually repelled dispite my best efforts, and we had to stuff them a ton to have enough absorbancy (big butt+restless baby), and they smelled (though none of my other diapering items have).
We also tried fleece liners, with 3 flats, in a wool cover. No smells, but a butt so large it seem to make him more restless (already not a great sleeper), and we had to keep replacing the fleece periodically because it would start to repell.

So, we use one sposie a night. We put it on right before bed, and take it off in the morning. He is starting to wake up dry these days, and we save and re-use it if it we make it to the potty in time!
We currently use 7th gen which do have the gel, but Tushies makes sposies without gel or chlorine, and we have used them before. There just not available locally here, and I prefer to pick them up as needed.

[lotus.blossom]

My ds is currently in disposables because we need to get a new washer (its coming tues! yay!) But even when we go back to cloth I will still use a disposable at night for a couple reasons. He sleeps though the night (really, at 4 months!) and I am not willing to mess with that since my ds1 was a horrid sleeper. I also feel like nighttime disposables are a "break" from the wetness of cloth. I despise synthetic fabrics so there is no stay dry option for us. And I do like to apply a little (burts bees) cream at night and that works best with a sposie.

I use store brand disposables. For my first I tried the 7th Generation but don't think they are worth all the extra money. I spend 6.99 on a pack of store brand (my store is hannaford and the diapers are clifford theme) dipes and it lasts me a month. Not too bad IMO. They don't have the perfume like the major brands have. The only other brand that I found don't smell is Huggies. Pampers and Luvs smell aweful.

Hope that helps!

[PTmorgan]

We use a disposable at night as well. All other times we are die-hard cloth fans.

With DS1 he peed a LOT at night. Once he was done with the newborn frequent-poop activity, having a single night diaper was the only reasonable option that allowed me to get enough sleep. Just like OP, we tried all kinds of combinations. Unfortunately, DS1 would end up with double flats diapers with a pumpkin-round butt. He couldn't lie on his back - he was slanted down. Lying on his side involved having his upper leg hanging in the air.

So now, the kids are comfortable, we all get sleep, we all stay dry. I usually put a little natural balm on after their bath to protect the skin from moisture. I never thought I would "give in" and use disposables, but it seems to be a reasonable balance of priorities.

[octobermom]

I started using a disposable at night at around a year after we battled with a serious yeast that warped into staph that left DD skin soo overly sensitive to ANY wetness for prolonged time (night) and unable to handle poly fabrics.. We then discovered something. : We loved the combo It gave us back the enjoyment of cloth diapering. I loved being able to toss in all my CDs one night put my baby in a sposie and have an entire fesh stash of clean cloth by the morning yes I'm strange like that.. I loved that if we did do a night change (messy ect) that I could just toss it in the big trash or out back and not go through all the bathroom rinsing ect at 2am I loved she could sleep on her back again with out throwing her back out.. We actually plan to do the cloth by day sposies by night right from the start with our next.

Deanna

[octobermom]

I use store brand disposables. For my first I tried the 7th Generation but don't think they are worth all the extra money. I spend 6.99 on a pack of store brand (my store is hannaford and the diapers are clifford theme) dipes and it lasts me a month. Not too bad IMO. They don't have the perfume like the major brands have. The only other brand that I found don't smell is Huggies. Pampers and Luvs smell aweful.

Hope that helps!

I agree We actually couldn't use the 7th generation something in ALL there products give my DD a huge rash (even there paper towels its strange) we found our favorite diapers were actually our Kroger brand diapers huggies and target ones were runner ups but the simple Kroger ones were our favorite.

Deanna

[mama2soren]

Oh, we had the hardest time finding a good nighttime diaper that would hold my super-soaker's pee. He's an all night nurser, and a super soaker.

I was about to give up too, when I tried Very Baby Simply Nights with a Loveybums wool interlock cover. The VBSN are the best! We got one of the bamboo fleece, and one hemp. I like both. The bamboo is so soft. You have the option to have the stay dry microfiber layer on top, which your son might like (we have one with the microfiber, and one with bamboo velour.). We got the extra 3-layer soaker. Several sites are licensed to make and sell VBSN diapers. We ordered ours from Blue Lake Diapers, though I've also heard good things about Olive Branch Baby. The thick wool absorbs any that might have soaked through the diaper.

We haven't had a leak since! The diapers weigh about 100 pounds the next morning though... good luck!

[zinemama]

Go right ahead, lady.

I used cloth during the day and disposables at night. It worked like a charm, made my life a heck of a lot easier and I never felt a moment's guilt. You can, too.

[Chloe'sMama]

Also guilty. I invested over $100 for fitted diapers and wool covers for night and she was still leaking. (We use Happy Heiney for day use and even tripple stuffed we were having leaks). Anyways after weeks of trying different combos, we just went for disposable. We were able to get a combo that didn't leak, but seriously she was so uncomfortable with how bulky the whole contraption was, anyways, much too big. We use the Target brand now because of cost, but I loved Earth's Best.

I think my other option would be to wake her up a few times a night to change, but at 14 months, I prefer to get as much sleep as possible and I think if I changed her when she nursed, I would be up for hours each time to play.

[veedeepee]

Originally Posted by mama2soren

I was about to give up too, when I tried Very Baby Simply Nights with a Loveybums wool interlock cover. The VBSN are the best!

Good to know! I actually just emailed back and forth with the VBSN-makers (to make sure the entire inside was lined with microfleece...as the Happy Hempy I got wasn't feel-dry around the waist area). I'm going to give one of those a try. I've also just ordered a GAD semi-fitted with microfleece lining. Those are going to be my last 2 tries at night-time cloth. I'll try them with my Dancing Bears cover.

Right now, the LO is asleep in a disposable. I went out today and bought some Fisher Price Happy Nights diapers (who knew Fisher Price made diapers? weird...). They were cheap, so I thought I'd give them a try.

Thanks to everyone who commented - it's good to know I'm not the only one having this problem & using disposables! I'm still holding out hope for the VBSN or GAD diapers, but at least I won't feel guilty if I end up with him in disposables at night.

[veedeepee]

The jury is still out on those Fisher Price nighttime diapers. We had a BIG leak at 11:30 last night. No leaks after that, but I did have to change him once early in the morning b/c he was squirming around (slept well after a change). Sigh...it continues.

[Siennaflower]

Our bulletproof combo for nights was a FB stuffed with a trifolded prefold and a hemp doubler. Nothing else did the trick.

[Galatea]

The GAD semi-fitted is fleece everywhere, even on the waistband. You can really stuff it a whole ton - I use 2 Joey-Bunz and a FB microfiber insert. I hope it works for you!

[Beauchamp]

Me, too! We use one Natural Choice dipe each night. These, in size 2.

Natural Choice Diapers

They are the most enviro-friendly sposies I've seen. I also tried 7th Gen, but didn't like the fit on my babe. (too narrow) The 7th Gen also is only chlorine free, while the Natural Choice dipes are chlorine free, PLUS they're made from renewable resources (corn) and contain something like 50% less chemicals than regular sposies.

We have had a few leaks with our BG's, so I gave up and went to one sposie each night. I've recently started using the bigger insert in her BG, though, and have fewer leaks. The NC dipes have only had ONE poo blowout once, and that was during the day, in a pretty full dipe. Always great at night, for us.

[alfabetsoup]

We used sposies at night for a while, DD2 is a super pee-er, but we had one burst and it was pretty gross... DD2 was soaked in pee and the diaper had split across the top front and the gel beads were everywhere.

Now we use a BGOS with both mf inserts and a swaddlebees hemp insert. TBH it still doesn't always hold her but I don't think anything would.

[veedeepee]

Hm...I haven't seen those Natural Choice diapers before. Do any stores carry them? I've tried 7th Generation (we used them the first few days home from the hospital - before we got going with the prefolds). They were a bit leaky.

Recently, I've been using Earth's Best disposables (I keep a few in the diaper bag as backup). I tried those at night, but they don't cut it. I've got the Fisher Price on him again tonight...we'll see.

Can't wait for the GAD and the VBSN to come in the mail! Please! Oh, please! Work!

[Beauchamp]

Originally Posted by veedeepee

Hm...I haven't seen those Natural Choice diapers before. Do any stores carry them?

We have them here in Texas at HEB (the grocery store) I haven't looked anywhere else, though.

[Pookietooth]

We did disposables at night for quite a while because of leaks and because my son would wake up soaking wet and cold even with wool covers and many, many layers. He nursed a lot a night for quite some time, and as a result, peed a lot. I actually had to use two disposbles (one in a slightly larger size) and a cotton diaper with a fleece cover to not get leaks. Crazy system that got a lot better. Eventually We switched back to cloth at night, but then he stayed in cloth a night a really long time.

[emc03]

guilty here too. ds sleeps through the night and so do i. i can't stand getting up if i don't have to, so i'm not great about changing halfway through the night. plus, the rashes have just about stopped. my mom clinched it when she mentioned "make sure you change often. you don't want him to get a chemical burn from the urine turning to ammonia." OUCH!

[Ifluffedthree]

If you must use a disposable at night, you must.

for me, my night time savior was a good Nikky's Cover. It was bullet proof.

Nylon, waterproof, breathable -- no other yet to compare here. They have been around since the 80's and are still exceptional.