Help! Fleece covers and leaks!

[wiredupweb]

Hi everyone,
I am new to MDC but have been bitten by the cloth diaper bug HARD!
I have been lurking on this board big time getting inspired to take the plunge and start making some stuff.
I am trying to make some fleece covers - modeled after my son's favorite cover (that I picked up at a garage sale, I think) - a single-layer, homemade fleece cover that closes with velcro and is super-soft and stretchy. So I went to Joanns today (I know, not the best place for diaper fabrics but I couldn't wait for mail-order Malden Mills fleece - am due with baby #3 any day now!) and bought a ton of different fleece to make some cute covers for my two year old and the new baby...and then RIGHT OUTSIDE Joanns my husband notices that my son has SOAKED through his diaper, cover, onesie and pants. Biggest leak ever!! So now I am a little hesitant to spend a bunch of time making fleece covers, but I JUST spent a ton of money on all this fleece! Help! What should I do??
One note - this cover we have is technically a single layer cover, but does have an extra rectangular-shaped piece of fleece sewn inside for two layers down the middle, if that makes sense. I am not averse to making a two-layer cover with the fleece, if that would be more leak-proof, but will that be too bulky? The fleece is the Joanns Alpine fleece - a medium weight fleece, I guess. And I don't want to line it with PUL or anything like that as I am going for the "breathability" concept to see if that helps his diaper rash.
One more question regarding the fleece - my hubby bought some microfiber towels from Costco for car washing and I promptly absconded with them to make some diaper soaker pads. Can I do a two or three layer pad topped with a piece of my Alpine fleece for extra absorption in his CPF? Or will the pee not be absorbed quickly enough through the fleece into the microfibers?
And, if I do some really absorbant inserts, can I get away with a single layer cover or would I still need a double layer? I guess my son is somewhat of a heavy wetter. My husband changed the offending diaper, and said the CPF was SOAKED.
One final question - for my two year old, I wanted to make him some Wee Weka knickers out of fleece as a pull-on style cover, sort of like the Dancing Bear Bear Bottoms - do you guys think I could make these with a double layer of fleece so that I could use the fleece I just bought, or would this not work?
Thanks for helping a newbie!

[our3boys]

Originally Posted by wiredupweb

One more question regarding the fleece - my hubby bought some microfiber towels from Costco for car washing and I promptly absconded with them to make some diaper soaker pads. Can I do a two or three layer pad topped with a piece of my Alpine fleece for extra absorption in his CPF? Or will the pee not be absorbed quickly enough through the fleece into the microfibers?

Yes, it should absorb quickly *if* the fleece is microfleece. I have heard that some microfleeces do take longer to wick away than the Malden Mills, but I only use MM, so I have nothing to personally compare it to. (OK, except my Fuzzi Bunz, which are probably not Malden Mills b/c I think their fleece comes from out of the country.)

Is some of the Alpine fleece *micro*fleece?

I use one microfiber insert inside a pocket diaper. The insert has 3 layers of white microfiber. The yellow Costco microfiber towels in the auto section are about the same fabric weight, which means that 3 layers of a Costco towel with the same dimensions should be the same as my insert. I think my inserts are 4 inches by 12 or 13 inches. I have some extra doublers that I use at night that are only 2 layers of microfleece. I guess I do not have a heavy wetter b/c I can get by with one insert during the day and one insert + doubler at night. I change 4 times during the day and the night-time diaper goes 12 hours. Some people need 2 inserts all the time. So for my ds, using the CPF and 3 layers of Costco microfiber topped with microfleece would be way more than necessary. It might be what your ds needed in front of JoAnn's, though!!

You want *micro*fleece on the inside next to baby's skin. You want the thicker fleece (would be Malden Mills 2 x 200wt or 1 x 300 wt layers) for the covers. Yes, the two layers of fleece could get a bit bulky. The cover that you like so much sounds like it might be a great way to get less bulk but still have extra protections where you need it. Since fleece does compression wick (car seat, bouncy seat, etc), you would want to make sure that extra layer is big enough.

I have not used fleece covers, so I can't really answer your fleece cover questions. I believe that Amberthesugarcat has made fleece covers in the past using a thick layer and a layer of microfleece on the inside (so two layers total) and that she liked them a lot. In this case the microfleece is so far away from the pee stream that it acts as an additional barrier instead of a wicking layer.

[amberthesugarcat]

I have the Wee Weka Knickers with only one layer of cheap fleece and my ds can wear them for hours over a good fitted pocket without any wetness. I kept them only one layer because they are cooler in the summer. I have made other covers with one layer fleece/one layer microfleece and that is great for winter or overnight or car trips.

Cheap Joann's fleece as worked great for me, but I would not use onsies. You are asking for leaks when you have cotton tightly snapped around your fleece. I cut off my onsies and made shorts out of them!

[wiredupweb]

Hmm, that might be the problem...the onesies. Most of my son's shirts are onesie style and if his shirt isn't a onesie we generally put a onesie t-shirt on him for extra warmth. So if I want to use fleece for the covers I need to totally avoid onesies? Or if I used a MM 300 weight fleece or a double layer of 200 MM or cheap Joanns fleece I could put a onesie on over him?
I hate to give up his onesies because he is a little peanut with very little body fat and I feel like he needs them to stay warm!
Thanks for the tips!

[earthenware]

I sometimes still use onesies for warmth but just don't snap them up, just tuck the extra length inside the waist of his pants. you can trim off the snap area for less bulk, so it will just be a long t-shirt.

I've also made covers using 1 layer heavier fleece (which I believe Alpine is) and 1 layer microfleece and I love them.

I actually just made a pair of the Wee Wika Knickers (love that pattern! Done in 45 mins flat, INCLUDING tracing the pattern and cutting out the fabric!!) with only 1 layer of medium weight and it isn't enough, I'm going to need to sew another body with microfleece and attach it at the waist.

I'm not sure how sewing an extra layer to the wet zone would work for leaking - even with poly thread I would worry that the stitching would basically funnel the pee to his clothes - I could be wrong though!! HTH.

[mihrimah]

Fleece does compression wick, but I only had that one time when dd was in the exersaucer and hadn't been changed in a while. Other than that I've never had any problems, and she always wears a onesie. Mine have a layer of suedecloth and a layer of alpine or anti-pill fleece. I've heard though that prrdy much any fleece works- maybe it just depends on the kiddo?