how often to change his diaper...

rainfallki

I am about to start cloth diapering our 6.5 week old boy and have a question about how often to change him.  Everything I read says every 2-3 hours unless he's stinky... well, he pees much more often than that.  Are cloth diapers different in how they pull the urine away from him?  Or will I be changing him just as frequently as I am now?  

We're going to start off with FuzziBunz and see where we go from there.  

Thanks!

Dr.Loretta

Yes, cloth diapers are different from disposables. If you want to change more often, go for it. How often are you changing now?

pixy_stix

Every time he pees?  That's how much I was changing my kid.

rainfallki

Dr.Loretta:

Yes, cloth diapers are different from disposables. If you want to change more often, go for it. How often are you changing now?

 He cries when he's wet, so sometimes it'll be 3 times in an hour.. he will at least sleep through the wet diaper, though and is STTN already (7 hours).  I'm wondering if he'll still feel the wetness and cry those 3x/hour or if he won't feel it as much.  I guess I could just try and see, huh? 

pixy_stix

Why wouldn't you change your child every time he pees?  If you peed your underwear you wouldn't like sitting around in it all cold and damp.

rainfallki

pixy_stix:

Why wouldn't you change your child every time he pees?  If you peed your underwear you wouldn't like sitting around in it all cold and damp.

 I would.  And do.  Right now he lets me know when he pees.  I don't know if he'll still feel it to let me know, or if I'll have to be checking.  I don't want him sitting around in pee, which is why I'm asking this question to begin with... will he still feel it or will it pull it away from him?  I guess my confusion comes in because everything I read says "2-3 hours", so I didn't know if there was something about CDs I was missing.

Alirebco

I change when I notice DD is wet or if she pees.  So sometimes that is once an hour, once every 2 hours, etc. 

The great thing about cloth diapers is that it doesn't cost you anything to change often unlike disposables.  You just throw them in the pail and then wash them and you have a whole new stack to go through.  With disposables, I feel like people wait to change because they're so expensive. 

deskok

I think the 2-3 hours is a general statement, so you really do just change when he pees or poops. Cloth diapers are different in that they do not wick away moisture as well or as much as disposables do. Some cloths do have fabric to give a stay dry feeling, but with fitteds and prefolds you feel the pee. I think with cloth people do tend to change the diaper more because generally they can feel the pee and it really does not cost anything to change often.

 

FWIW I hate to do it but I have to still use disposables at night because my baby hates feeling wetness and sleeps for 4 hours (sometimes more if I am lucky). And I do not want to give up sleep to use cloth

lifesadance

deskok:

FWIW I hate to do it but I have to still use disposables at night because my baby hates feeling wetness and sleeps for 4 hours (sometimes more if I am lucky). And I do not want to give up sleep to use cloth

No shame in that.  I used CDs at night a few times early on but DS wouldn't sleep as long as he would in a sposie.  I tried them again at night around 11 mos and still no go.  Then finally around 14 months DS would sleep all night in a CD.  Sleep is important.

flyer23

rainfallki:

pixy_stix:

Why wouldn't you change your child every time he pees?  If you peed your underwear you wouldn't like sitting around in it all cold and damp.

 I would.  And do.  Right now he lets me know when he pees.  I don't know if he'll still feel it to let me know, or if I'll have to be checking.  I don't want him sitting around in pee, which is why I'm asking this question to begin with... will he still feel it or will it pull it away from him?  I guess my confusion comes in because everything I read says "2-3 hours", so I didn't know if there was something about CDs I was missing.

DS sits around in pee (As did DD, until she PT'd.) He could care less about being wet, so while I certainly don't let him sit for hours and hours in a peed-in diaper, I also don't check him every 5 minutes to see if he's peed. So yeah, it usually works out to be about 2-3 hours between changes. I would say most babies are like that, whether they're in cloth or disposables.

But some babies are sensitive to being wet. It sounds like yours is, so yes, you may end up changing him more often. Or maybe he'll be more comfortable in cloth and won't mind being wet for as long. Like you said, you'll find out when you try it

Either way, you don't have to be checking obsessively if he seems happy and content. Change him every 2-3 hours or when he complains.

TysMom2011

I check when he gets up from a nap and before he goes down for another (unless i hear something in between!). That means anywhere from 1 hour to 3 hours between changes, but averaging around 2 hours.  I use pockets with stay-dry material so he doesn't feel the wetness like he did with PF and Fitteds (though you can use a stay-dry liner).