Reusable nappies - any tips to prevent leaks?

[NemesiaPinkLagoon]

Cloth nappy users out there - do you have tips for how to prevent leaks? I have tried a few brands (Little Lamb, Baba & Boo, Pop In and others) but always find they leak at the 'thigh crease' when my daughter wees. I think I'm putting them on tight enough and I don't think she has skinny legs.

I haven't used them for months because I found I was just having to change outfits at every nappy change. But I would love to start using them again for the environmental reasons. Plus the designs are lovely and I bought them new so it's a shame they're not being used.

Any tips? Thanks!

What age was she when you first tried? I tried btp nappies at about 5 weeks and they just didn't fit so we had loads of leaks. We tried again at 4 months and they now rarely leak.
Tho ther thing is if you are using a liner make sure the liner isnt poking out.

If you wanted to pop up a pick of the nappy can have a look at the fit.

Thanks, I'll see if I can take a picture tomorrow. She was about 5 months old when I first tried (kept going for a few months before giving up). Now she's 15 months. Thanks for your reply.

Are you using bamboo boosters? Are they lined with a water resistant material? Have you tried over trousers?

If it's from the thigh crease it could be that you're not tucking them in enough.

I found we had to push the elastic right into the crease so put the back under then gently tuck it round.

If they're birth to potty adjustable nappies it could be that the rise poppers need moving up to tighten them and remove any gap.

My daughter just seemed to be the wrong shape for birth to potty nappies as we never found pockets/all in ones that fit properly so we had to use sized pockets and 2 parters.

Couple of pictures here. This one is a Baba and Boo with poppers and pocket.

Thanks for advice above. I think I might need to try again and try different fits and persevere with the extra changes of clothes!

Have you got the elastic tucked in on the legs? It looks like you might have a bit of white inner touching your baby's clothes and moisture can escape there.
When you look at the rise, it looks fully open. Have you tried closing the rise a little? When you do, have you pushed the spare upwards? That can give a better fit round the leg.

If you still have your pop ins, then they can be a bit easier to get leak proof as you've got the double gusset. A good pinch together to get it snug in the crease should work.

Another factor could be boosters. If baby is going through a heavy wetting stage then they might be flooding the nappy. There's lots of options here.

How tight are you baby's clothes? There's a chance that if they're a bit tight then it causes compression leaks out the side. Vest extenders could be your friend there.

Microfibre inserts (that most pocket nappies come with) are absolute rubbish. They’re marketed as absorbing quickly but as they’re basically plastic they don’t actually, and if they’re at all squashed (eg tight vest, baby sitting down, etc) the liquid all comes right back out again. I recommend bamboo or cotton (but not a blend! Worst of both without the benefits of either) closest to baby as they absorb quickly then a hemp booster closest to the outside of the nappy as it’s a little slower to absorb but holds so much liquid.

This is isn't what you asked about but it does have an enviro impact so will add my twopenneth: if you're not already doing so you could start familiarisation with a potty with the aim of getting less in the nappy to leak out, daytime at least. I used techniques from the elimination communication approach & both DC were just on reusable nappy pants around a year during the day, effectively dry.

Also personally I found only two-part nappies worked for us! My favourite was Motherease sandys and a motherease airflow wrap or a prefold in a close pop-in wrap (the ones that are just a wrap rather than the outer of a pop-in nappy)

Thanks for all the advice, I am giving it another go today and will have a look at fit and boosters, etc. Good point about tightness and the liquid having nowhere to go!
@HauntedDishcloth that's interesting and I have heard of elimination communication. I think that would be quite tricky for us to do as my daughter is at nursery 3 days a week so it wouldn't be consistent for her.

The fit looks good to me, if anything you could be slightly looser on the waist plus what a PP said about tucking the fold from the rise up.

At 15 months, she'll probably be holding the pee longer and then flooding the nappy. What boosters are you using? Leak issues are usually due to inadedequate absorbsion. A good combo is microfibre closest to baby because it absorbs quickly but doesn't hold a lot of fluid, with hemp or bamboo behind it because they hold lots of fluid but absorb more slowly. The standard B&B ones are usually bamboo.

I had that Baba and boo print, it's lovely.

PS she has beautiful legs.

As restrictions ease lots of nappy libraries will be returning to face to face sessions, if you have a local one they might be able to help.
From the pics, I think shortening the rise would be helpful. Also perhaps try something cotton closest to baby. My eldest used to pee so fast bamboo couldn't absorb fast enough, a cotton wipe on top worked wonders.