Timing of nighttime diaper

KLXVI

I guess this could go in any forum, but since nighttime CDs are limited/valuable I thought you guys might have some opinions for me!

Our 11 week old LO is sleeping 6-7 hours consistently (yay!), but we are having a hard time deciding when we put him in his nighttime diaper.  He is BF all day until 9 or 10 when DH gives him pumped milk.  We'll change him and swaddle him before he starts the bottle.  He'll alternate between eating and sleeping for a while.  DH insists that he pees 30 minutes after he eats so he won't let me put him in his nighttime diaper until then.  The problem is, sometimes at this point he is so passed out and he doesn't want to wake him up.  One night I made DH change him after he fell into a deep sleep and that kept him up another hour.  

I know he probably doesn't need a dedicated nighttime diaper at this age, but he has Sbish fitteds and wool so I want to use them.  He also woke up early one night a few weeks ago after he peed through a Kawaii P&N with one insert.  It also doesn't help that DH doesn't like the wool cover, but he did comment on how soaked the fitted was this morning and he woke up completely dry.

I'm thinking that we need to keep him more awake when he starts his bottle and not do the swaddling until we change him into his nighttime diaper.  I'd love any opinions and/or personal experiences you guys have with the timing of the nighttime diapers for young babies.  Thanks!

robyn2201

I would put on his ON diaper before he gets his bottle of pumped milk.

JJ_13

Same as sweettalkin. If there's not a problem, there's not a problem. I never wake a sleeping baby to change a diaper (assuming no rash problems, etc).

robyn2201

Agree, never wake a sleeping baby!

KLXVI

DH has adopted that process because LO does tend (50/50?) to wake up from being wet soon after the bottle feeding.  

I always use a fleece liner with his nighttime diaper.  It definitely helps keep him happy during the night!

I guess the main question is, if you know there's a strong possibility that your LO is going to pee before bed, would you risk wetting a nighttime diaper prematurely or risk a heavily sleeping baby in a diaper that might not last the night?  

freezorburn

littkek said:

I guess the main question is, if you know there's a strong possibility that your LO is going to pee before bed, would you risk wetting a nighttime diaper prematurely or risk a heavily sleeping baby in a diaper that might not last the night?  

If I understand this right, either way the baby is going to get wet and wake up, or leak and wake up. 

DS had wetness sensitivity during those early stages, so if he was wet we changed his diaper. In fact, we used disposables overnight for a while because fleece didn't keep him dry enough to allow him to sleep through.

If your baby tolerates being wet with fleece, then you can leave the diaper until he wakes up in the morning. That's the whole point of an overnight diaper. I would say give it a try, and if it doesn't work then wait the half hour after the bottle to put on the overnight diaper. Maybe read stories, sing songs -- do something to pass the time. It can take some experimenting to work out the best nighttime routine.

unaveragejane

Just a side note...one advantage to keeping him awake long enough for the bottle and diaper change is that he won't develop a dependence on the bottle to go to sleep. It's not a huge deal breaker if he falls asleep on the bottle, but in the long run if you can keep him awake until after he finishes his bottle, it can set up good habits by laying him down "drowsy but awake."

KLXVI

Good ideas, ladies!  I figure we'll just have to try different combinations until we find something that works.  Then he'll hit his three month growth spurt and it'll all get messed up.