Having trouble with cloth diapers

Dannielle - posted on 07/28/2009

Hi Amy,
My son had the same problem to start with. He was so used to a dry bottom. I just made some fleece liners (by cutting them into rectangles) which draw the moisture away from his bottom which seemed to work. Having said that I just use a disposable overnight, I'd prefer for him to get the best sleep possible and can't stand the thought of him having to sleep in a wet nappy. The fleece liners help also because you can then use nappy creams without worrying about ruining the nappy.

Julie - posted on 07/28/2009

I bet if you started useing a cloth diaper that wicks moisture you would be much happier! I think you should invest in a Fuzzi bunz pocket diaper or something similar.. they have a fleecy inner that wicks the moisture.. give it a try, you may really enjoy the cloth experience if you found a diaper that you like.

Jen - posted on 07/14/2009

Honestly, if you feel a wet disposable vs. a wet cloth diaper, the disposable isn't really all that more dry. I use cloth all the time, period, because I'm too cheap to buy disposables. How old is your baby? Young babies don't like being wet sometimes, it will hopefully be something he grows out of!! Esp for your sake, hope he takes a nap for you! You might want to consider a pocket diaper for naps and nighttime. You can stuff them with as little or as much absorbancy as you need, and they are lined with fleece or seude cloth or some other synthetic material that wicks the moisture away from baby's skin ... somewhat! That being said, I think I've seen on here that some moms just buy some fleece and cut it into rectangle peices to lay in the diaper between the diaper and baby's skin for tha same exact effect. Good luck!

Jaclyn - posted on 07/13/2009

I've never had any leaks with mine, as long as the cover fits well and is tight enough. Like another mom said, make sure no cloth peeks out around the legs and across the back. I use the hemp/cotton blend diapers and they are VERY absorbent. I got them from Growing Greens and I love them! Another good brand is Bumkins Bamboo diapers and covers.

Amy - posted on 07/13/2009

How do you get your babies to nap while in cloth diapers?? Every time my son starts to drift off, he wets and then wakes up crying. He hasn't had a good nap all day today and is exhausted! Rrr...

Joanne - posted on 07/12/2009

The trifold diaper in the pocket only works on my kids when they are newborn. Once they start moving, definitely use the snappi to get a nice snug fit.

Vilate - posted on 07/12/2009

so Amy, if you decide to continue with CDing i have a webpage that has lots of info about CDing. It has a list of different types of CDs and covers.



http://www.niftynappybyvilate.weebly.com



Good luck and stick to you will be glad you did!

Stina - posted on 07/11/2009

At night we use disposables (especially when they have newborn poo) But when we did use cloth at night for my first baby once the poos became once a day, I doubled up the diaper and only changed it when he woke up. Now that we are on baby # 3, we use disposables at night and cloth during the day.

Folding the diapers well really makes a difference. The diagrams you can find online are great. I always think of it as making a pocket for the poop and we don't have too many leaks. When we do though, we have several covers so it's not a big deal to put the soiled one in the pail and use a new one.

Amy - posted on 07/11/2009

Shanda, that is exactly what's been happening! The service we have is just providing standard prefolds. When my husband and I read your post we we're like "duh!!"...we haven't been careful to tuck the diaper all the way into the cover. Since reading your post we've been more careful to do that and things have been better. I'll also google it to find out about different ways to fold them. Thanks so much for your help everyone!

Michelle - posted on 07/11/2009

It depends on what material the nappy is made from. Hemp and bamboo are extremely absorbant and durable. If you're wanting to continue after the service is finished look into Eenee's. You can use cloth or disposable with them. But it may be a good idea to make your own hemp/bamboo nappy to go with them.

Shanda - posted on 07/10/2009

What kind of diapers do you have with the service? The service I had the only option was prefolds (no snaps or velcro or anything.) They told me to just tri-fold the diaper and stick it in the cover but that did NOT work for me at ALL!



If they're prefolds, google "folding prefold diapers" or something like that and try some of the folds. Get a snappi fastener (you can google that too :) ) and use that to close it. Then make sure that the covers fit him well, especially around the legs-- even if they're good covers, if they don't fit they aren't going to work. Make sure that ALL of the diaper is inside the cover and there's no cotton poking out around the legs or top of the cover, because if it is it, it's gonna wick onto his clothes.



Hope you can get it figured out! I didn't know where to look for help when my ODS was little and ended up quitting the diaper service after 5 weeks. If I had known where to go for help I think I would have continued using it!

Jocelyn - posted on 07/10/2009

i actually have always put a disposable on at night, my son was a heavy sleeper and wouldn't wake up :P

Vicki - posted on 07/10/2009

I don't change my boy's diaper at night. He usually goes to sleep around 8 or 9pm and wakes up about 5am DRY. I'm kinda amazed by this; he's been doing it since about 3 months old and is nearly 7 months now. He has some milk when he wakes up and within about 20 minutes the diaper is soaked. I'm looking forward to potty training this kid. :o)

Amy - posted on 07/10/2009

Thanks for the tips. Hopefully tomorrow will be better! :) Just out of curiosity, how often do you get up at night to change your baby with cloth diapers?! I'm just wondering how "regularly" you need to change them since cloth diapers don't wick moisture away from the baby's skin like disposables. I'm still putting a disposable on him at night, because I can't imagine... Anyway, I'm sure part of my issue is that this was a gift...not something I researched or decided on myself. I'm trying to catch up now, and I really do like the idea of cloth diapers, I just need to figure out how to make it work practically. It's also not the best timing...we just moved, so we're in the middle of that transition as well, so that's probably partly why I'm feeling like it's a hassle! Anyway, thanks for the help and I'll try out your advice!

Jocelyn - posted on 07/10/2009

depending on the type of diaper, see if you can adjust the leg openings to make them smaller. i found when my son did leak, it was because the diaper was too big around his legs (he's got chicken legs lol). you could also try putting in some extra inserts to increase the absorbency. good luck :)

Vicki - posted on 07/10/2009

Quoting Jacqueline:

Also it may be the cloth diapers need to be treated more, washed then dryed, before they meet the max absorbency potential. The ones I purchased I had to wash then dry six or seven times before use. I have diaper covers as well and I bought them too big and they worked great!

If it's anything like the cloth diaper service I use, the diapers have probably already been washed and re-washed many a time. The same size diapers actually vary greatly, new and old, bigger and smaller, snaps of different colors. Once I even had a diaper without ANY snaps LOL.

Jacqueline - posted on 07/10/2009

Also it may be the cloth diapers need to be treated more, washed then dryed, before they meet the max absorbency potential. The ones I purchased I had to wash then dry six or seven times before use. I have diaper covers as well and I bought them too big and they worked great!

Vicki - posted on 07/10/2009

I'm compelled to say that cloth diapers aren't really made for absorbancy, they are meant to be changed regularly... It actually really bothers me the way disposables are used. Friends have told me, "Well you don't have to change as often because it soaks up the mess." Um, ew. Why don't you wear depends so you don't have to go to the washroom as often then? Gross.



Also, make sure the cloth is completely covered. I haven't had any leaking incidents since my boy was a couple of weeks old, with covers too big for his little bum.

Joey - posted on 07/10/2009

Try smaller diaper covers.