New fleece diaper cover leaked :(

[bright_eyes]

I just bought a fleece diaper cover from a WAHM and tried it out.  I put it on ds and left the house so it had been a while when I did finally change him (he might have had 2 or 3 pees) and it leaked!  Soaked right through to his pants.

I hadn't washed it first.  Could that have made a difference?  I thought that fleece works just as good as wool and now I don't know what to do!  I had wanted to use it on ds at night but clearly it won't work. 

Any ideas of why it leaked?

[bright_eyes]

I just tried it out again and ds had one pee and the cover was wet around the legs.  I just don't understand- what is the big deal with fleece if it leaks every time?!

[GoBecGo]

Were his clothes tight?  I have a couple of fleece wraps for DD's totsbots and they're great UNLESS she has a shorter button-under vest on (she is long and skinny so she's nearly 6months but has been in 6-9mo clothes for weeks and today it was a 6-9er that proved too tight...), which is pulled tight against the nappy.  Fleece is hydrophobic so it will prevent leaks unless you compress it hard with another absorbent fabric (like her cotton vest) at which point some will leak through into the absorbent fabric beyond.

[coyotemist]

Just like wool, fleece is water resistant but not water proof.  As the poster said above you can have compression leaks, and it will leak when the diaper is saturated.  All of my wool will leak when the diaper is that wet.

[bright_eyes]

He had a diaper shirt on and pants that weren't really tight.  And today he had no diaper shirt and baggy sweat pants on.

So I don't understand why people would want to use fleece/wool when leaks seem to happen quite easily.  How would you ever use either at night?  I had thought that wool or fleece worked great for heavy wetters but if it leaks if compressed or if it gets too wet, how would that be good at night?

I feel a little frustrated because I really needed new covers and spent $17 on this cover and I could have bought 2 PUL covers for $20!  I love the breathability aspect of fleece/wool but I am not liking the leaking aspect!

[GoBecGo]

Sorry you're feeling frustrated!  Fleece and wool are mainly attractive because they are breathable.  They DO leak a little sometimes.  My DD isn't a heavy wetter as such but she will usually feel a little damp on the outside of her wrap (though not on her clothes unless they were too tight) in a fleece wrap when it's time to change.  But i like it as it means i know when to change her (she tends to cluster pee, if that's a real thing, lol, she will be dry for 2.5 hours then pee 5 times in 10mins) without having to stick my fingers inside the leg of her nappy the whole time, plus i know she won't be swimming in the nappy she's in, sometimes i take a PUL off and she is wringing wet and getting a bit red underneath.  Oddly enough because she's not moving as much and not sitting on her bum (either in the sling or on my lap) she never seems to leak in a fleece at night.  Unfortunately breathability does come at a price (no absolute leakproofness), but it's worth persevering, since you'll probably find they leak less within certain parameters, and then you'll be able to get some use out of them.

ETA - i just remembered that when DD1 had nappyrash i used fleece instead of PUL and she healed up MUCH faster than when i persevered with PUL.  So maybe if your kid ever gets rash you can save the fleece as the recovery-cover?  DD2 has literally NEVER had nappy rash (though she's not 6months yet!) but i try to use the fleece for the longest stretches in a nappy, so who knows, maybe that makes a difference.  I sympathise on the $$, it's really annoying.  I tend to buy as much as possible online second hand for that reason.  I hope you find a good use for your fleece!

[coyotemist]

My favorite wool for not leaking are Disana Nappy pants and Grateful Buns Underwater soakers and pants.  http://www.etsy.com/shop/biskitsmom?ref=top_trail Never had a leak in those puppies!

[bright_eyes]

The WAHM said that she can refund my money if I'd like but I feel bad because she wouldn't be able to resell it.  I tried it with a bamboozle diaper, which is quite fat and absorbent and the fleece cover was really wet along the legs after quite a short period of time.  So far, it has been leaking every time I use it so that I have to change to cover each time he pees.  I get that if you want breathable, you won't have completely water proof, but leaking every time?  That feels like way too much. How would people use fleece at night?  I don't know if I will even get any use out of this cover as I don't like it leaking and chance getting his clothes wet.

Isn't PUL breathable?  Whenever I read about it on the internet, it says that it is breathable.

[GoBecGo]

i think PUL breathes, but way way less than fleece - just more than straight up plastic pants.  why can the sahm not resell it?  i've sold 2nd hand nappies lots of times. nak

eta we use bamboozles with totsbots own fleece wraps, maybe it's the specific fleece she used?

[Chamomile Girl]

If its just leaking around the legs it sounds to me its because of the way it is sewn and not because of the fleece.  I have both wool and a fleece cover and have never experienced leaks with either...dampness, yes, but not outright wetness.

Sounds like a bum cover to me.  How thick of a diaper do you use underneath?

[bright_eyes]

I just assumed she couldn't resell it. 

I have used a thin fitted and a thick bamboozle and it has leaked through both.

Also, I thought that you only had to wash fleece when it gets stinky, which happens after a couple of weeks.  I've used it about 3 times and it stinks like pee already.  Any idea why that is?

[treeoflife3]

What kind of fleece is it?  I've found some fleeces don't work as well as others.  I got some really cheap stuff from a craft store that definitely won't work single layer but is mostly decent as a double layer so long as the leg bands are low and around the thigh.  I've also had malden mills fleece that works perfectly as a single layer (even under jeans) but the legs are lower again and double layered.  Wool in my opinion DOES work better than fleece though.

As for stinkies, I definitely don't find that I can use fleece for weeks and weeks.  Only a days worth of wet diapers, maybe two.  I rotate though and usually don't use a cover two diaper changes in a row so I just wash them all on laundry day which is every 2-3 days.

[GoBecGo]

not the OP, but use bamboozles - they are pretty thick, and VERY VERY absorbent.  I've never ever had one leak, even with the fleece, unless the clothes over are really tight.  They're pretty thick, but not super bulky.

OP i think maybe the fabric isn't great.  I would get your money back, i've had fleece wraps feel damp and make clothes damp, but they never feel "wet".  I too wash mine after a couple of uses, i've never heard that they don't need washing as often...?