{guest post}
Nighttime cloth diapering?! Oh my goodness – this was a terrifying concept for me to get a grip on! When Baby R was just starting cloth, I never thought about what I was going to do at night. Part of me felt that cloth at night would be the exact same as in the day, right?
WRONG! Same concept, of course… but entirely new game to say the least.
When we started our cloth diapering adventure, I did a lot of research – okay, not really. I knew the basics about cloth diapering from a friend, but I never asked about night diapering. So I finally started to do a bit of research and I became not only terrified of the new challenge, but overwhelmed to say the least. There were so many people that were simply using disposables at night because they did not want to deal with the night time leaks and the wet bed in the morning, and the hassle of doing more loads of laundry every single day.
Me? I was on that boat, so I said no way at night – disposables was it!
Then a funny thing happened… you know those issues I read about? Well – I was having the SAME issues with DISPOSABLES! I knew this was it… it was my time to make the switch and go cloth all the way – even at night!
So I did what anyone would do. I asked suggestions from a friend who recommended a fitted (Hempy Heinys) and a fleece cover. I tried it. I hated it. I loved the absorbency and had no issues at all. But my poor lil’ Baby R looked like he was permanently stuck in an Ergo. He looked ridiculous trying to move. So I decided to ask someone else.
I found a great store through some online searches and fell in love! If you have yet to make friends with Abby from Itsy Bitsy Bums, you are seriously missing out.
Abby from IBB is absolutely amazing and will spend days and months talking to you about everything! Her suggestion was a combination of the Kiwi Pie OS Bamboo Fitted diaper with a cover. She also suggested if Baby R was a heavy wetter (which he was and is) to use a hemp insert or doubler to help catch it. So I tried that, and he never leaked!
This combination worked well for us, but then Baby R would periodically get some redness from the covers on his chubby lil’ legs. So I asked IBB for some more suggestions on other great night time options.
Next up… Bum Genius 4.0 OS Pocket with both Microfiber inserts, and my hemp insert.
AWESOME! Not only is this option leak proof for Baby R, it is also a more trim and comfortable fit for him to walk around in prior to going to sleep.
Then I have Baby M now. She is a completely different case. Baby R’s methods don’t work as well for her. She was so small because we started cloth immediately. The Kiwi Pie was great also, but her covers were too loose around her chicken legs.
So what did I do? I hit up my gal again from IBB. I let her know what diapers I had in my stash and she gave me another fantastic option! Baby M is perfect all night in the AppleCheeks shell, with their 3pli inserts for added absorbency and their booster for even more.
The fit isn’t too bulky on her, and her legs fit!
The most important thing I learned from my nighttime cloth diapering experience is to not be afraid! I understand that every baby is unique and that every baby may require something different – and that is ok! All I needed was patience and someone to help me learn what my options are. The nighttime dilemma has ended, and happily so.
Kim Provder is a stay at home mom to three amazing kiddos! She has two boys: Colin age ten, and Ryan age 22 months. She also has one little girl: Madison who is 11 weeks old. When Kim is not busy with her kiddos, she is on the adventure of starting her own blog – Pickles and Pansies . This is a new adventure that she has just decided to take on, and is more than excited to start in the world of blogging!
Carla says
Hi,
I was just wondering if babies feel the wetness in their cloth diapers even if the do not leak? No matter what inserts are being used, hemp, cotton etc?
Jennifer Reinhardt says
Depends on the material in the diaper. The wetness does not bother most babies. If it does you can use stay dry material like fleece or suede cloth on top of the other inserts
MicheleC says
My little guy is a heavy wetter also (we’ve had to add another insert to his daytime pockets as well just because of those occasional leaks out the leg or top of the diaper).
Our solution is the large Hemp Babies, folded into thirds, with a thin microfiber insert and fleece layer in a bumGenius Flip cover. 9 times out of 10 he wakes up to dry sheets (we will have the occasional leak due to user error in closing up the diaper properly or having his boy parts pointing in an odd direction and directing a stream at his leg).
I’ve tried the Rumparooz 6r hemp and bamboo inserts along with their microfiber as well as just giving him lots of layers, but nothing works as well as the large Hemp Babies insert for my heavy wetter. I’ve had numerous suggestions to use disposables at night (from a fellow CD-er who only uses them in the daytime), but I’ve resisted. We don’t even keep them in the house because I’ve never had a desire to use them. The last one my DS wore was one from the hospital the day he came home (I wasn’t going to fight them there and didn’t want them losing my cloth!).
Rachel says
Abby sorted out our nighttime diaper woes as well. We use a sibish fitted and woollybottom soaker :)
Melissa says
Honestly, we started using cloth at night (at my husband’s suggestion) about two days after we started trying cloth during the day (at my suggestion). No big deal for us. My friend who sold us our first diapers recommended that we use a flip organic (now “night time”) with a hemp babies doubler. We’ve added a few other night options to the rotation since (4.0 stuffed with flat+hemp babies doubler or thirsties fab fitted+amp insert+wool) and have only had 2-3 night leaks in the last year. Most of the time our night diapers aren’t even fully saturated.
Rachael says
hemmp is what has saved our over nights. Now, early on, Little Man still had his diaper changed at most night feedings. Then, I decided to bulk it up so that I didn’t *have* to change his diaper unless he was poopy. Then, at 9 months, he did start sleeping through the night! Glorious day! I’m not sure if he is a heavy wetter or not, but after 12 hours, those diapers are pretty wet. I got some Geffen Baby hemp/cotton inserts, and love them. I still need a hemp insert with 2 geffen baby inserts (I really got one absorbency too small, I think), but I’ve had few leaks with this. Unless, Little Man’s little boy part is pointing in a awkward position, then we get leaks out the left leg.
Rachel Cowle-Healy says
Our night time solution was fitted pockets with fleece covers. But now that he’s older, he wakes up in the middle of the nights wanting a diaper change. We have stay dry fabric, and if I put him back to bed, he will wake up again. Usually, I wake up to him on the changing table saying, “Diaper change!” :-( We “cheat” at night, I don’t want to but it’s ruining every one else’s sleep!
Beth says
Ha! That’s so funny because we had the same problem with disposables at night. We’ve been CDing my boy full time since coming home from the hospital. When he was about 4 months old we went to visit my brother who lives 2 states away. He was moving into a new house and he did not have hot water and we were not even sure if the washer and dryer were even hooked up, so we went disposables. I knew my son was a heavy wetter so I even got night time ones, which by the way were the next size up because they did not carry them in his size. He leaked. A LOT! We had to change him 3 times a night! What a hassle.
At that time we used a OS sbish bamboo fitted with both inserts and a hemp doubler with a double knit wool soaker that I made. He is one now and we do the same thing but without the hemp. He pees a lot less now that he only breastfeeds once a night.
Nicole says
We do the fitted with fleece longies or a pocket diaper (tiny tush elite) with a knickernappies superdo. Both work pretty well for us. The fitted with fleece is more bulky but they never had trouble getting around in them.
Amy says
I use a liner inside of our normal Kissaluvs fitteds, and they don’t leak at night, but they reek in the morning! Disposables don’t smell great either, but it’s not nearly as bad–any suggestions?
Beth says
You probably need to strip them. They have ammonia build up. As your child gets older their pee will get smellier after a long night, but they shouldn’t be any stinkier than disposables. I rinse my night time diapers in the morning to help prevent build up. I only have to strip them every couple of months instead of every month.
Also, wool really helps with the smell factor. Because it breathes so well, the smell doesn’t get trapped in.
Joanna L says
Sounds like they are not getting all the way clean, if they are stinking really bad in the morning. Maybe you need to change up the laundry routine a bit.
Kelsey Mackey says
I use a hybrid fitted and cover either pul or wool. I love my hybrid from KyRoBugz (wahm)
Kirstin says
I had the same problem with disposables! In fact my son would pee so much that his diaper would explode all over the place (yuck!). No pocket works for us – we have to use fitteds, hemp inserts, cotton doublers, and a fleece cover to keep everything contained. All it has done is highlight to me that cloth isn’t necessarily more difficult than disposables, particularly if they’re leaking the whole time.