How often do you check a fussy baby's cloth diaper?

[a13xandra]

I know that, especially with cloth diapers, I shouldn't let a baby sit in pee, so I check pretty obsessively, since she pees about 20 times a day, give or take.  When she's fussy, I even watch the clock and make sure that I stick my finger in to "check the oil" at least every five minutes.  But sometimes this seems to be to the detriment to my baby, or to me.  For example, at nap times if she is cranky, it only riles her up more and prevents sleep when I'm all over her to check her every five minutes.  Also, when driving and she's annoyed in the carseat, It can make a brief trip pretty epic when I pull over every five minutes.  How often do you check?  How long is it okay to let it slide?  Or is this kind of obsessiveness normal and just part of the game? 

Edited by a13xandra - 12/26/10 at 2:35pm

[dejagerw]

I personally, change the diaper before a nap on routine, and change before a car trip on routine.  Other times I usually just change around every 2 hours.  More often maybe in the morning when I knew DS would wet more often and less often in the evenings when he would be drier.  After awhile, I kinda got the feel for how often he peed.  I would also change immediately after any poo.  Any suspected poo would get the sniff check, or a quick peak to verify. 

[clovergirl]

You didn't mention how old your baby is, but for what it's worth a young baby can easily pee 2-4 times in an hour.  Their bladders are so small and they are on a liquid diet after all!  That said, what you do with that information is up to you.  Personally, I'm one of those people who's not comfortable leaving a baby in a used diaper if I know they are wet.  So I probably check more often then most people, like every 30min or so when the baby is awake.  You do go through a lot more diapers this way though!

Another option, if you haven't looked into it already, would be to start doing some infant pottying, ie elimination communication (EC).  Doing EC with my kids actually cut down on the number of wet diapers and fussiness.  If I checked their diaper and it was dry (and had been a good 20-30min since I last checked or changed them) or they were showing other signs of being uncomfortable then I would offer the potty.  It worked well for us, and if you are the type of person who would like to keep the baby as dry and comfortable as possible it may be worth it to give EC a shot. 

[MamitaM]

I check mine every 2 hours or so. If he's making a fuss then I'll check him b/c he really doesn't like to have a wet bum bum.