All of my cloth diapers leak. What am I doing wrong?

[foreignerforlife]

My ds is 3 months old, weighs 7 kilos (15 pounds). I have been trying cloth diapers on and off since he was born, but they have always leaked. Any ideas what I am doing wrong?

Here's what I've tried:

-new and used Fuzzibunz, size small

-new Bum Genius one size

-new Wonderoos one size

-new Gro Vias all-in-ones

I now double stuff them, but they still leak. I've tried washing them without soap to get all the residual soap out. I wash them with my normal detergent but I use 1/4 the suggested amount. 

It seems like they mostly leak around the legs, but they leak around the waste when he's in the Moby (which means wet shirt for mommy!). I'd appreciate any tips on how to fix this!

[Ola_]

What kind of soap are you using?  Can you look during the last rinse cycle to see if there are still bubbles?  Are the inserts wet when it leaks?  If yes you may need to change more often, if no, it's likely an issue with repelling.  How often do you change him?

[lkvosu]

Originally Posted by Ola_ 

What kind of soap are you using?  Can you look during the last rinse cycle to see if there are still bubbles?  Are the inserts wet when it leaks?  If yes you may need to change more often, if no, it's likely an issue with repelling.  How often do you change him?

Yes, this. Before you can fix the problem, we need to decide what the problem is - leaking because they are getting too full, or not absorbing because the diapers are repelling the liquid.  If they are getting too full, the diaper would be saturated when you notice the leaking. Changing more often and adding more inserts could solve that. I suggest hemp inserts. If they aren't saturated then it's possible that they aren't absorbing. Maybe try stripping them? I don't know what detergent you're using, but if it's a standard detergent like regular Tide or something, I would suggest getting something more diaper friendly...or making your own.  There are lots of threads on here about good detergents and about stripping.

Another issue could be that your diapers aren't fitting your ds well. At 15lbs, though, he should be fitting pretty well into most one size dipes. We had some issues with one size dipes being too big for ahwhile and it caused some leaks, but that issue was solved by 15lbs. They were our bumgeniuses I think. Are the diapers fitting snugly around the areas they are leaking, or are there gaps? Experiementing with other styles migt solve this, although I know it's expensive to keep buying different diapers. Do you have friends who cloth diaper who might be willing to let you road test a few?

I have a friend whose ds had leaking problems for weeks. She was a veteran cloth diaperer and tried EVERYTHING. She finally realized that her ds was peeing so quickly and so much, that the diapers she was using didn't have the time to absorb it before it basically splashed out. She said he would literally stop what he was doing and push his pee out, almost as if he was pooping, and it caused it to come out too fast for the diapers to absorb. I don't recall what she switched to that fixed it...I'll see if I can find that out. I'd never heard of that before but your story sounds similar to hers so I thought I would share.

[Calliope84]

Fuzzibunz leaked for me, too, but I had all used ones. I really love fitteds with waterproof covers, myself.

Trying stripping them again...

http://www.b-ecochic.com/stripping-cloth-diapers.html

Do you have hard water?  That can really cause build up.. You can use Calgon in the wash and see if that helps you to strip them better. 

Do you have an HE washer? I have to wash mine like 6 times to strip them.

Are you using a cloth diaper safe detergent? I am really thinking build up...

[foreignerforlife]

Thank you for your responses!

I have been changing him every 2-3 hours, but sometimes they leak before 2 hours are up! I checked his last few, and it turns out the inserts are totally soaked when he leaks. Even when I double stuff them. Is that normal?

I do have an HE washer, and I use Una Color soap from Aldi (in Germany). I've never been in front of the machine to see if there are still bubbles (it's a 3-hour cycle), but I'll try to catch that.

I guess I will try hemp inserts and if that doesn't help then I'll switch soaps. 

[Ola_]

Sounds like you may have a heavy wetter.  I aim to change DD's diaper every 1.5 hrs and she is a pretty average wetter, some of her diapers which I know are less absorbent I do every hour.  It's just not good for them to sit in pee IMO.  I've never gone to change her diaper at this interval and found it dry so I think it's needed.  She may go longer sometimes if she falls asleep unexpectedly, but then I change her as soon as she wakes up.

Since the inserts are soaked I don't think you need to worry about your washing process since the diapers are clearly absorbing well.  Just change him more often, I hear it can be an adjustment to get used to cloth after sposies.  And I think some extra absorbency would probably help too, like hemp or bamboo or other inserts.

[weliveintheforest]

It sounds like he needs to be changed after every pee, maybe you could go coverless around the house for a day or two to see how often he is really going.