AIBU To be angry that I can't get reusable nappies right.

[daydreamer2020]

So no matter what I do my little one leaks to the point he's drenched every now and then. We use pocket nappies and at the moment I'm using micro fibre and charcoal inserts.

Has anyone got an tips or suggestions it awakes seems to be a pressure leak from his car seat, pushchair or baby carrier.

I'm so angry with myself that I can't get it. When we first started using them and I got upset over it my partner wouldn't let me bin them out of anger because we've spent so much money on them.

I know it's a silly thing to stress over but it honestly upsets me so much that he ends up drenched. And it can be comfortable for him either.

I change him every two hours and sometimes after half an hour he's wet through. I feel like if I add more layers his nappies will be too bulky for him to move....

As others have mentioned, charcoal is often microfibre so you may be layering up two microfibres which are the least absorbent inserts and also the most prone to compression leaks.

Cotton is also a quick absorber but doesn't suffer from compression leaks. I use a cotton muzlinz prefold but you could use a folded muslin, cotton flannel or even tea towel. Anything that's 100% cotton and can be shoved in the pocket!

If you've also got a heavy wetter on your hands you'll want a really good absorbent booster too. Hemp is the most absorbent but expensive. Double or triple bamboo are still very thirsty boosters but not as pricey. Little lamb does them or I ordered some from a fab little company called Easy Peasy which is run by one busy lady hand making everything on her sewing machine :)

I struggled initially until I figured out how to put them on properly. You need to really get the seams into the knicker line so that they aren’t touching clothes as that’s where your leaks happen. They need to fit neatly round the thighs.
Once I nailed putting them on right it made a world of difference.

Plus as others say bamboo or hemp boosters. I use bambino miosolo and have zero leaks.

Deffo join a cloth nappy fb page and get a fit check. If still no luck you could sell your pockets and try a two part system. I’ve been using little lambs a mixture of cotton (for speed of drying) and bamboo (for extra absorbency at night time) never ever ever had a leak with these but the pocket and all in one that I got from my local council as freebies are awful, I never put them on for more than an hour or two at the end of the day as they always leak!

I’ve got tots bots easyfit, I find with no boosters they last less than 2 hours. Usually leaking around the legs. With a booster they’re huge. More luck with close pop ins, get 3.5-4 hours in those. My daughter has skinny legs which can mean certain nappies don’t fit well.

I’ve never once had a wee leak in a disposable. I will acknowledge reuseables are better for explosive poos but now we are on solids those are very rare.

I’d love to use reuseables more but to be honest I find them such a faff and hate having to change so often. Only use them on ‘at home’ days.

I was getting a lot of leaks until I started using hemp and little pants super pee prefolds. They are amazing. If he has anything microfiber he's wet within the hour.

I also make sure he has hemp in the nappy if he is going to be out for a while as this seems to stop the leaks.

I have found cloth nappy UK Facebook group to be a huge source of help too.

@Wildery also hsd that with totsbots. No issues now replaced with baba and boo

Have you tried traditional terry squares? I've only recently started using them but wish I'd started earlier, they work well and save a fortune.

Any other mums use them? I'm the only one I know of that uses them, my sis thought I was crazy when she heard I was thinking of buying terry nappies.

I found similar problems with a heavy wetting DS - I tried different nappies, inserts, clothing - in the end I found an extra wrap on top worked best for me, I use motherease ones I got secondhand off eBay in XXL size to fit over everything. Have always done the same with DD and no leaks.

Nappies are a thing of the past for me, but I never found microfibre or fleece boosters to be any good. Bamboo or cotton all the way.

Best nappies are the 2 parters but i use cheap pockets sometimes, you need cotton or bamboo boosters really, the microfibre ones are shit tbh! If youre using pockets they need changing every couple of hours with cotton boosters but maybe more with microfibre?

Have you checked your fastening them properly? They go up and over the hip when you do them up rather than across like normal nappies, that will help the leaks too x

We used microfiber (bambino mio) nappies with DD1 and had leaks all the time. Switched to bamboo (bamboozle stretchies with wrap) for DD2 and hardly ever have leaks. The few times they've leaked I've realised they werent done up quite tight enough.

the advantage of terry nappies is that there are lots of ways to fold them, eg for a boy you can fold so more layers are at the front, (where the penis is, obvs) and also, they dry quickly as you can unfold them
remember mums used cloth nappies for 100s of years in the days when extra washing was a major chore, so they must have had a way to stop leaks!

@StillWeRise

the advantage of terry nappies is that there are lots of ways to fold them, eg for a boy you can fold so more layers are at the front, (where the penis is, obvs) and also, they dry quickly as you can unfold them remember mums used cloth nappies for 100s of years in the days when extra washing was a major chore, so they must have had a way to stop leaks!

Yea, terries can also be doubled up for extra absorbency overnight or when going out and they can be bought in slightly larger 70cm squares for older toddlers.

I have some of the large terries and they are incredibly absorbent :-
www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Bright-Bots-6PK-Whitebots-Premium-Cotton-Terry-Towelling-Nappies-70x70cms-White/291976672920?epid=2111892823&hash=item43fb2a7698:g:QqQAAOSw-0xYVBgp

I'm surprised more mums don't use terries.

Are you bf or bottle?

I bf my first but my second has been bottle from 6m. Bottles are generally bigger volumes in one go and I really notice DC2 does bigger weeks.

You need bamboo inserts. I use gnappy outers with little lamb bamboo plus a fleece layer for dry feeling. The bamboo pad can be soaking wet and I've never had the gnappy pouch leak at all (DC2 is 1 in 3 weeks).

Things that can be going wrong:

1. not using absorbent enough pads
2. using cheap nappies off Amazon.
3. being reluctant to accept the bulk/expecting it to look like a dry disposable (it won't, if it does it's probably not got enough absorbent material).

What brand nappies are you using? In my experience modern cloth nappies are not a budget option. If you want decent ones, it's more expensive to buy a load than to put your kid in Asda or aldi disposables for 2 years

@Woodentopper, I used Brights Bots terries with ds! They were v absorbent, but I found that as he got bigger and more mobile, I struggled to get them on him! I gave them away in the end, but they were absolutely fab and he was a heavy wetter. We used a kite fold pretty much all the time. Sometimes a bat fold.

[quote SomeWateryTart]@Woodentopper, I used Brights Bots terries with ds! They were v absorbent, but I found that as he got bigger and more mobile, I struggled to get them on him! I gave them away in the end, but they were absolutely fab and he was a heavy wetter. We used a kite fold pretty much all the time. Sometimes a bat fold.[/quote]
How old was he when you stopped terries, did you try the larger squares?

I use the larger ones a lot now and they are a lot easier to put on :-)

DS1 was a toddler when I started (on finding out about DS2) and was fine with the bamino mios which were a pocket type.

DS2 was a heavy wetter and worked best with bamboozles and an outer wrap.

While pee leaks were annoying, they were far better at avoiding poonamis.
DS1 previously blasted neck to knee every time in disposables due to food allergies.

wooden, I stopped when he was 18 monthsish. We use mainly Little Lamb pocket nappies in size 3 now, as he is a huge 2 and a half year old. Also bamboozle stretches for night time. But I always recommend terries to people, as I loved them. The quick drying was a huge bonus and they were really cheap, compared to AIOs.