Leaks: CD or all-night nursing issue?

missisue

LO is 8 months, bed shares and nurses almost constantly at night. She leaks through her double- or triple-stuffed diaper almost every night, and I can't decide if the issue is her diapers or just physics (lots of liquid in, lots of liquid out).

 

We use Blueberry one size with 2 or 3 microfiber inserts. We put it on around 7:30 and by 2 or 3 a.m., she's already leaking.  Thoughts? Should I try to rouse myself earlier, like midnight, to change her? Or should I try a different diaper combo? So tired of changing sheets four or five times a week! 

catdwg83

I started having the leaking issue with all night nursing & had to switch to disposables at night. My LO is too light of a sleeper to put up with any diaper changes at night. Well after a couple weeks, the sposies started leaking too. We went to the next bigger size, which helped, but night weaning at 13m made all the difference. He hasn't leaked through since then (although we did un-night wean, but that's a whole different story).

I don't want to sway you against CD at night if that's what you really want to do, just offering my experience. 

sometimesalwayschaotic

Sometimes stuffing in so many inserts can cause leaks.  There are several things you can try.  A lot of people have luck with using Hemp inserts.  Hemp is still thin but much more absorbant than microfiber.  Sometimes if the diaper is overstuffed the pee will find a way out since the diaper isn't as tight to the skin.  Hemp will help avoid this.  I have had really good luck with using a fitted at night and then putting wool over the top.  Fitteds are very absorbant and the wool acts as a cover and contains everything.  I use sustainablebabyish fitteds or bububebe fitteds during the night.  I use either Sustainablebabyish wool at night or Wild child woolies.  GL!

shaunna&chad

hheyderh:

Sometimes stuffing in so many inserts can cause leaks.  There are several things you can try.  A lot of people have luck with using Hemp inserts.  Hemp is still thin but much more absorbant than microfiber.  Sometimes if the diaper is overstuffed the pee will find a way out since the diaper isn't as tight to the skin.  Hemp will help avoid this.  I have had really good luck with using a fitted at night and then putting wool over the top.  Fitteds are very absorbant and the wool acts as a cover and contains everything.  I use sustainablebabyish fitteds or bububebe fitteds during the night.  I use either Sustainablebabyish wool at night or Wild child woolies.  GL!

I agree with this.  Try some hemp doublers, or fitteds with wool.

boogerbearoriginal

Are the inserts soaked completely or is liquid getting out through gaps?

I do a pocket stuffed with 1MF and 2hemp inserts. I have to make sure there are no gaps at the legs otherwise I get leaks. Even though LO's diaper is completely saturated in the AM there are no leaks unless there is a leg gap. 

I have a heavy wetter who also nurses at least once at night so I've considered switching to fitteds but we aren't buying diapers at the moment and I can't justify the expense since pockets are working. 

Jena503

Another vote for trying hemp.

But as pp mentioned, you need to know if the diaper is completely soaked vs leaking out the leg.

Hemp alone never worked for me, the microfiber absorbs faster but the hemp holds more. So I used a newborn microfiber on top of hemp.

Eventually (maybe 18mo) we had to switch from pockets to fitted diapers at night. Because the entire diaper absorbs, there's just that much more fabric to do the absorbing. I had a couple no-name hemp fitteds that worked great but were enormously bulky, and some cricketts which also worked well. I had to buy a larger diaper cover to go over the bulky fitteds.

tarahnpaul

I use a sbish fitted (from weedle weedle) and a babeegreens fitted wool cover.  No child can leak out of that.

missisue

Thanks for all the input! Most of the time, I think the diaper truly is soaked. It feels soooooo heavy when I take it off. But there are a couple times I can remember thinking that the diaper was light, so it might be the leg fit issue mentioned above. I have some bamboo inserts that I'll try for a few nights and see if it gets any better. Then I'll probably try the fitted/wool combo.

jandy09

We use the Kawaii minky OS at night. I sandwich a hemp insert between the 2 bamboo. It is HUGE (I call it the bulletproof butt) but it works. We keep her nighttime CDs on a larger setting than her day time CDs.

You could also try making some microfleece shorts or pants. They aren't totally waterproof but they certainly help keep PJs dryer.