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Night diapering chaos, help please!

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diapering
3K views 34 replies 25 participants last post by  greenmm 
#1 ·
I'm at my wit's end about our night diapering issues! I swear, if I have to change the darn sheets one more time this week...ARGH!

I've used disposables, cloth, and various combinations of both at the same time, and we still getting leaks about 4-5 times per week. At this point, we're using one disposable, with a prefold over it, with a heavy duty cover over that (Kushies, which I don't generally like, but it has decreased the leaks a bit, from daily to *only* 4-5/week). Ridiculous!

The problem is not the amount of urine or the absorbency of the diaper, but the position that DS sleeps in (on his side, by his own choosing). The leak happens around his waist/chest, over the top of the diaper, on whichever side he is lying on at the time he pees. His sleeper gets wet, the sheets get wet, etc. Neither diaper (cloth or disposable) is ever totally full, and in fact both have lots of room for more pee in the morning.

Anyone have any suggestions about how to eliminate this?
 
#3 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by Monkey pants View Post

I was told the other day by my cloth diapering buddy that if you have a boy point the penis down...
Definitely. Other than that I don't have any suggestions. DS2 had leakage but only when he was very tiny and his legs were super skinny. Both of my boys wore disposables.

Also, are you using the right size diapers?
 
#5 ·
Even though my boy is past 2 yrs. I still make sure he's pointed down. For nightime: I pin on a flat that has another flat folded several times and set in the pee zone plus a Willow Sprouts premium one size hemp diaper is also laid in so that there are four layers of that in the front. I also lay on top of it all some fleece. I use a mother ease air flow cover. His bottom does look pretty big but not uncomfortable. He sleeps in all different positions and usually 12-13hrs. My hubby laughs when I put it all together and put it on him but his bed and jammies stay dry. One thing is that he only drinks milk and water. I know drinking juice can make a huge difference. I hope you find something that works!

Theresa
 
#6 ·
We love FuzziBunz OS for night time. I use their large insert with a Thirsties hemp double and I swear, it has held 20 oz worth of milk (we bottlefeed so I know how much he gets). Another option is the Thirsties Duo pocket. We have those too and they're great because they have gussets. They're bundled with a microfiber and a hemp insert and I've added a second insert to catch more urine, but it sounds like your problem is that its coming out the sides, which the gussets might help with. You could even do that with a soaker on top and you should be pretty golden.
 
#7 ·
It's a boy thing! I'm having the same problem. I never had this problem with my girls-even the disposable diaper ones! The boys always just stream out the side, no matter what. This morning I had wet sheets, wet clothes, his clothes were wet and it was his second diaper for the night! Maybe we need PUL PJs! Haha!
 
#9 ·
We had the same problem.

I have started using pocket diapers (fuzzibunz, bum genius, and drybees) with 3 microfiber inserts. my DS (almost 8 months) also sleeps on his side. he will go to bed between 6 and 7pm and wake at 6am-ish and not leak through the side (if we sleep longer - until 7:30ish, then he will leak through). With a disposable, he leaks through the side even if I change him again around 11pm. and all of this is with his penis pointing down.

Since we started using the pocket diapers with the 3 inserts, it's been a dream. We've had to go up a size in his PJ's to make room for that huge diapered butt, but it's been worth it!!
 
#11 ·
We use Bumgenius pockets and have only had 2 nighttime leaks in a year and DS sleeps on his side or tummy (we put him on his back but he rolls). It might be worth trying one to see if it helps. We use the two microfiber inserts that come with the diaper and I add a bamboo booster just in case.
 
#12 ·
For nighttime I love the Rumparooz because of the elastic "channels" that seem to keep pee (and poop) from wandering too much, plus the extra soaker is incredibly absorbent. I went through about three weeks of "oops" when I was trying different diapers. The other thing I notice is that I always have to check the waist and the legs to make sure the fit is right, in addition to putting the penis down. Good luck!
 
#15 ·
our bulletproof solution is a lollidoo pocket with 3 hemo inserts or a motherease fitted with a flip organic insert laid inside, under wool.

also, this was really important, my ds cannot wear pajamas with a waistband. he has to wear one piece fleece jammies. the waistband will pull his diaper open on top every time.
 
#16 ·
I seem to say this a lot around here. But there's only one thing that gets us through the night, and actually it looks like I'm going to have to add to it soon, since he's started leaking...

Happy Hempys pocket fitted. Make sure you get it snug around the legs. If it's not snug around the legs, it's a guaranteed leak (which is true for any dipe). I use the one with a fleece inner.

It's stuffed with 2 infant PFs trifolded, a Loopy-Do and a BabyKicks Hemparoo folded in half. And after 12 hours, it's completely soaked.

If I try to put a PUL cover over that, the bed will be wet before morning. Same for if I put him in a regular pocket with the same stuffers. I put a double-knit wool (Babyology) over it, and fleece one-piece pjs over that.

You didn't say what type of dipe he's wearing when he's leaking (in the cloth), but at a guess I'm going to say that you're lacking absorbancy in that area - or it's not absorbing fast enough to avoid the leak. If you have him in a pocket with a fleece inner, make sure that you stuff something around the sides of the front - I know all of my pockets have their absorbency concentrated in the wet zone - there's nothing on the sides... same is true for most of my fitteds, too. Make sure it's not repelling also.

Since the other possible problem is speed of absorbency/stream, I'd recommend hemp. Even if you just get something like a WillowSprouts PF, fold it in quarters and wrap it around his hips under the dipe, that should help keep the wet inside the dipe.
 
#18 ·
Ahhh, the woes continue. Ashamed to say I've resorted to Pampers overnight 12-hour disposables, use one per night, and it has decreased the leaks tremendously, but we still get them about once every two weeks. That I can live with, and I'm not willing to tamper right now. I want to avoid investing in certain brands of cloth, though I thank you all for your suggestions. At this point, getting a pack of Pampers (which lasts us a few months) is easier than trying out various combos of hemp, wool, and pockets (plus, when we did cloth at night, the smell in the morning was alarming). By the time I research them online, find retailers that carry them here (Kitchener, Canada), or wait for a company in the US to ship them to me (most likely situation), I'm just too tired of this all. We'll stick with the night sposies.

Thanks again, gals!
 
#21 ·
We've just discovered the maria fold, designed specifically for super soaker boys by a mom who got desperate. almost all the absorbency is in the front. It's been working great for our little supersoaker who has been sleeping on his side lately. The fold is for flat diapers. You can use flannel receiving blankets, cotton terry towels, or an old sweatshirt cut into a 30" square - these would be the most absorbent materials. We usually double or triple his flats (ikea burp cloths are my favorite), snappi them, then use a wool soaker I made from upcycled felted wool sweaters bought for four bucks at the thrift store, (so easy) and we haven't leaked at night since doing this. My other thought is that it could be a repellancy issue since you said his diaper isn't full yet, but it's still leaking. You also said the smell was alarming. that leads me to believe your diapers had buildup. A good stripping on hot with dawn should help that. The smell and repellancy issue would be gone. If you wanted to try cloth for night again, it would be easy to cut an old towel or sweatshirt into a flat just to try. Then just cover with your favorite wrap, making sure no fabric is sticking out. Maybe I'm oversimplifying it, but it's worth a shot.
 
#23 ·
So I have had exactly the same problem with my ds who will be one on Monday. My best solution has been to fold a prefold in 3 longways and wrap it across the front of the diaper just below the waist so that any pee that makes it out of the diaper (we use cloth- hemp, but it will be the same for a disposable) gets caught and soaked up by the prefold. It works wonderfully and you can easily pick up cheap prefolds on craigslist. Or you could just use a receiving blanket. We use a wool cover which is made and sold in Canada by aristocrats http://www.aristocratsbabyproducts.com/diaper_cover.html

these are phenomenal and they will ship to you or they are widely available in online stores. Someone earlier mentioned upcycling wool covers from sweaters which is a fantastic idea however I'm not sure I have the skills ; (

Hope that helps. For us the prefold has made the biggest difference out of everything we tried (and we tried a lot of things)

good luck!
 
#24 ·
We use prefolds during the day, and I even tried using pieces of fleece wrapped around the top of the diaper like mamabev suggested.

I've already done a rigorous regimen of stripping my diapers of residue (it involved baking soda and vinegar, and various cycles, as suggested by my local cloth diapering store).

And yes, I've even resorted to using a PUL cover (MotherEase, and even Kushies) over my disposable diaper. I had a Seventh Generation disposable on him, covered by a prefold, and all wrapped up in a PUL. Ridiculous.

I think I've sort of figured it out, a bit. The problem seems to be the foreskin. Even when I made sure to point his penis downwards, I noticed that the foreskin seemed to sort of point to the side, and sometimes even up (bizarre how this is even possible, but it is!). Lately I make sure that the opening is truly pointing down, and not just the penis itself, and lately we haven't had any leaks (this past week). UGH, all that, for such a simple thing! But in my defense, I knew nothing about foreskins before DS was born (just that I was adamantly against their amputation)!

Either way, we're sticking to what works (one Pampers + foreskin AND penis pointing down).
winky.gif
 
#25 ·
Oh, and the Aristocrats have been on my "list of things that I love and want to have" for ages, but unless I can find a used one (I look on kijiji periodically), I can't get one. I've heard fantastic things about them, though. Hopefully, DS won't be in diapers for much longer, and since he's our last baby, I just can't justify adding to my stash.
 
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