Cloth Diapering Overnight

Many parents mistakenly think they have to use disposables overnight to A) prevent leaking, B) have baby sleep through the night. This line of thinking just isn't true.

Leaking:
If baby is leaking look at the common causes for leaks...
http://clothbumsblog.blogspot.com/2013/09/washing-series-leaking.html

Are you sure it is urine, not sweat, drool or spit up?
Are you using the right sized diaper?
Is your diaper adjusted properly?
Is you prefold on properly?
Is your pocket stuffed properly?
Is your son's willy pointed down?

Where is the moisture coming from?
If you have a little boy with constantly wet tummies, then double triple check his willy isn't pointed up and shooting pee straight out of the diaper. If willy isn't the issue, then you may need to tighten the cover around the tummy, but most likely you need more absorption in the front of the diaper.

Is baby wet around legs? Check everything in the first checklist first. Are the legs adjusted properly? If this is not the issue and legs are properly adjusted and fit the legs tight enough, then you need more absorbency.

Most pocket diaper leakage is due to people presuming on insert is enough. For bedtime it most certainly is not.

If you are not sure how much liquid an insert is holding, test it. You can easily do this by taking a clean dry insert and a measuring cup full of water. Hold your insert where it is slightly cupped and slowly poor water onto the insert. Note how fast the water soaks in, also note how much it holds. Is water running off before it can sink in? Is the insert soaking up all the water then getting full and the extra water runs right through? Fabric can only hold so much and each one will have it's own limit.

Average CBI, should hold about 8 oz of liquid.
Average Sunbaby, Alva and other decent 4-5 layer MF, should hold about 8 oz liquid.
Thin bamboo inserts may only hold 4 oz of liquid.
Larger thicker bamboo may hold over 8 oz of liquid.
Blends may hold between 4-7 oz liquid.

If you know what your inserts SHOULD hold then you A) know if they are performing properly, if not they may be repelling and need stripped. B) you will know how much your insert holds, so you can figure out how much baby is wetting and how much more you may need!

So how do you know how much absorbency you need?

Very new babies will not wet much. They have tiny bladders that simply do not hold much moisture. They will go from 1-2 wet diapers frost 24 hours up to 6-8 wet diapers a day on average. Some babies wet significantly more and may wet up to 20 or more times in a  day and 4 or more bowel movements. New babies bladders will only hold about 1 oz/ 2 tbs/ 30 ml, of urine.

As babies age they will continue to urinate 6-8 times a day with some babies wetting significantly more times, but the amount of urine will increase. Their bowel movements will usually go from 4 movements a day to 1-2 with poo being more solid. This poo change occurs as babies switch from milk to solids.

Looking at this you can see that an insert that holds 4 oz would be adequate for a newborn, and would even last a new born at night at least long enough for them to sleep soundly between feedings. Newborns are most likely to void right after eating anyway.

As your child's bladder grows your absorbency will need to increase to meet the demands of your child's bladder capabilities.

If using prefolds or fitteds, you will likely need to add a doubler or a natural fiber insert to boost the absorbency of your diaper. As baby ages you will likely find 4oz extra is enough at first, but in time you may find as baby sleeps longer at night and urine output increases you may need 8oz extra absorbency. You can achieve this with either two 4 oz inserts/ doublers, or one 8 oz insert/ doubler. If you hold to prefolds and fitteds through diaper years you may even find you need to use an 8 oz and a 4 oz insert/ doubler in your prefold for a total of 12 additional oz of absorption, plus what your diaper holds. This is pretty extreme. Even my heavy wetter doesn't require that much absorbency through the night.

Never use microfiber against babies skin. Please use either cotton, bamboo, hemp or wool to keep babies bum healthy.

For pocket diapers you can get away with a 4 oz insert for a while, but will quickly find this is not enough for bed time and while it might be okay for day time you need at least 8 oz at night. I think fairly soon you will find you want to double that for bedtime. I highly encourage folks to double up on inserts. 16 oz at bedtime will quickly become a must! Many parents find as baby ages they need 12 to 16 oz of absorption for day time to accommodate larger urine out put each urination. This same amount of absorption might be enough for bed time if your kiddo only wets once at night. But you might need even more for bedtime. From 1-2.5 years of age my daughter needed an easy 16 oz of absorption at bedtime. While some nights my daughter stays dry over night, other nights she will urinate a couple times before waking. She now requiters between 20 and 24 oz of absorption at bedtime to stay dry and comfy.

If in doubt, add absorbent layers. Ir really is that simple. If baby is soaked and absorbent layers are soaked, add absorbent layers! This will help keep baby, clothes, and bedding dry all night, and will help keep baby comfy.

If you are finding you need more absorbency only in a certain area, try taking a 4 oz insert and folding in half. This can be laid inside your prefold/ fitted, or stuffed into your pocket, just make sure it is in the area where you need the extra absorbency. This is most likely going to be in the front or front middle.

Helping baby feel dry all night:
Ok so we covered keeping babies urine in the diaper where it belongs, but that doesn't help babies bottom feel dry.

Some children seem completely oblivious to having a wet bottom, while others will instantly wake and insist on being changed as soon as moisture touches them. This is not helpful for getting your child to sleep through the night.

You now have two choices. A) take your child's cue, wake with them and change them instantly so they never get used to wet bottoms. Using a diaper is a learned experience and not one most babies chose. Take the EC route and help your sensitive child out by allowing them to tell you when they need to go, and by helping them void freely in to a potty. Using this route your sensitive child trainers you when they need to go, instead of you training them to go in their pants, which you will latter have to break them of the habit of and reteach them to use a potty. Yes using your pants to void is a learned condition, not natural! You can skip over this whole process! It is possible. Option B) add a stay dry/ feel dry barrier so baby simply can;t feel the moisture on their bum when they void, this will allow them to sleep through wetting and go longer between changes without waking. Even ECers might want to use this option for bed time.

There are several options you can use for helping baby feel dry.

Pockets:
Pockets have the inner liner that is made usually from microfleece or microsuede. Both of these are designed to help babies bottom feel dry by wicking moisture away from baby and into inner inserts. The idea is moisture goes into the absorbent inner layers trapping it and holding it away from baby's bottom, allowing them to feel dry longer. The more saturated the absorbent layers the less this liner will work to keep bums feeling dry. Changing often or adding absorbent layers is needed to help keep baby's skin dry.

All in ones or all in twos/ two in ones:
These will often but not always have a stay dry liner sewn in that works just as the pockets. Not all AIO/ AIT have this inner liner. The idea is moisture goes into the absorbent inner layers trapping it and holding it away from baby's bottom, allowing them to feel dry longer. The more saturated the absorbent layers the less this liner will work to keep bums feeling dry. If your AIO has this feature but baby is still waking from feeling wet you will either need to change baby more often or add layers. To add layers you need to choose fabrics that are safe against babies skin such as cotton, bamboo or hemp for added absorbency and wool or fleece for wicking and stay dry properties. If you AIO does not have a stay dry liner you can use a stay dry liner laid inside to help keep baby comfy. Try wool or fleece.

Prefolds, fitteds and flats:
These are great absorbers but have no stay dry properties. In order to keep babies bum feeling dry you will have to add an inner liner that will allow moisture to pass through it, wicking it away from babies bum and into the prefold. My suggestions are either wool for a natural fiber option or fleece. Both are safe to lay right against babies skin. You can also add a layer of extra absorbency behind the moisture barrier to help keep baby extra comfy.

To add layers to prefolds, fittedes or flats, lay your diaper out as you would to put on babe. Lay your extra layers on top of the diaper right in the center. Now lay baby on top and fold diaper around babe and fasten as you normally would.