When Cloth Diapers Leak Part 2

This post may contain affiliate links

15 Shares

On Friday, I began this series (When Cloth Diapers Leak Part 1) by discussing 4 causes of cloth diaper leaks. To remind you, here is the list:

Poor fit.
Soaker material vs. pee speed incompatibility.
Poor construction of the diaper.
Heavy Wetter.
Over saturation.
Compression leaks.
Repelling either from rash cream or fabric softener (& occasionally some detergents).
Wrong size.
Inserts need to be replaced.

Today, I will discuss #5-#9.

Leaks due to over saturation

Every soaker has it’s limits. This isn’t always time dependent. Just because you change a diaper every 2 hours doesn’t mean you won’t have leaks. Sterling loves to go dry for multiple hours then let it all out when I’ve just put him in his car seat. Of course I don’t discover it until we arrive at our destination and he’s soaked along with the car seat.

The best way for me to prevent the scenario above is to make sure the diaper he’s wearing is super absorbent.

Making sure to change your baby often will save you from a wet mess.

Leaks due to compression

Microfiber is known for compression leaks. If your child sits in a car seat and pees, their weight can press the liquid out of the soaker. This is most often seen when using an all-in-one with a sewn in soaker.

Again, making sure baby is wearing an absorbent diaper when in the car seat is a simple fix. You can also buy a piddle pad for the car seat for the unexpected accident.

Leaks due to repelling

Don’t use fabric softener. Yes, there are cloth diaper safe brands but if you want to be extra safe just skip it. Same thing with dryer sheets. Fabric softeners and dryer sheets will coat your machines so it is best not to use them on other laundry as well.

If a slip-up does occur you can strip with Dawn, as you know Dawn breaks down the oils. You will need to rinse like crazy to get all the suds out.

The more common cause of repelling is from diaper rash creams. Here are a few cloth diaper safe rash creams for you to choose from:

Grandma El’s Diaper Rash Remedy and Prevention

Earth Mama Angel Baby Angel Baby Bottom Balm

You may also use liners in your cloth diapers when using diaper rash creams for extra protection. Mother-Ease disposable liners are highly recommended.

If you mistakenly use a diaper rash cream that is not safe for cloth diapers, don’t panic! 99% of the time you can fix it. It will take some heavy duty elbow grease. In severe cases, moms have had to take each diaper and individually scrub them with a toothbrush and Dawn. Time consuming. Frustrating. Worth it. You certainly won’t make the same mistake twice though!

Leaks due to wrong size

This one actually goes right along with poor fit. When your baby is too big for a diaper, leaks similar to compression leaks occur. When the diaper is too big for your baby the pee slips right through the spaces.

Wrong size can also apply to the size of the insert in a pocket. Make sure the insert fully fills the inside of the pocket. You don’t want space between the elastic and the insert, because naturally that’s where the pee will go ;)

Leaks due to old, worn out inserts

An insert won’t last forever. Microfiber lasts about a year. Hemp and other natural fiber inserts (like prefolds) after prolonged use will become ratty and thin. Inserts are inexpensive to replace and can make a world of difference to your diapering.

Sometimes the inserts just need to be stripped. An overnight soak in Rockin Green Hard Rock or RLR is a simple solution.

There’s no doubt that you will have fewer leaks with cloth diapers than with disposable diapers. One of my least favorite memories of diapering my 1st child is her DAILY yellow poopy blowouts. Ugh! Most days it was more than once. Not only was it a mess to clean but the clothes were stained.

I was so joyful not having any blowouts with my 3rd and 4th babies, who were cloth diapered from birth.

Although leaks are frustrating, they can be fixed. Like every other problem, it takes time, effort and patience but the solution is always worth it.

Pin1

Share14