Advice on leaking cloth nappies/wraps etc.

[LizC]

I was hoping someone could give me some advice on leaky cloth nappies! I'm using motherease with corresponding motherease wraps - either air rikka or the other one, can't remember the name, but they're the ones with poppers anyway. The first problem is during the day - we can't now go more than 2-2.5 hours without changing my 13 month old dd's nappy, otherwise it's so wet through it leaks. I'm now using booster pads during the day, but that's not great, as we still can't go too long and they're bulky. A friend has suggested using pre-folds when I'm going out and I want her to last longer, and I was wondering which were the best of these and where to get them (they'll need to fit inside her motherease wraps too)?

Second problem is leaking at night - I've started using either 2 boosters inside the motherease or a prefold inside the motherease, which worked to begin with but she's now leaking again. Which brings me onto my question about wraps. Her nappies have started making red marks and I think it's because the wrap is too tight - with the poppers I realise that you have to do them up looser as they get bigger. I've therefore loosened the leg poppers to their loosest setting to stop the red marks, but I'm now finding that her night nappies are leaking out through the legs! So frustrating, can't seem to get it right. I've got to buy one more set of wraps after this current lot to see her through her nappy days and I'm wondering whether to go back to velcro wraps, as these are more adjustable than those with poppers. BUT I thought I should get poppers as I'm worried about her undoing the wraps - what do other people think? If I put a disposable nappy on her at the moment, she will fiddle with the fastner and do it up and undo it while she's on the changing mat, can't do it once she's dressed of course, but maybe when she's older she might undress herself and take her nappy off (friend's ds did this, which is why I'm worried).

I need to find the best solution to use what I've got as I set myself up with 20 motherease stay-dry nappies, booster pads and wraps so I don't want to spend too much more money on new nappies. I don't mind buying some pre-folds as they're cheap and possibly one or two different nappies for night-time (have tried motherease sandy's nappy, which is a bit more absorbent, but still leaks). Quite disappointed really as all the reviews I've read (including mumsnet) highly recommended motherease, which is why I bought them and they were fine until dd was a year old, but not now!

I use tots bots size 2 for my ds 12 months with a fleece or velcro wrap. We have had one leak in the whole time we have used them and that was last night, but he was in his nappy for 14 hours and had 3 drinks!

If you are worried about the expense you can sell some of the ME and try some tots. There is a buy and sell forum on UKP specifically for nappies.
HTH

Are they the sort of nappy you could put some plastic pants over? I use Sam I Am nappies which have been fine for both my boys to wear overnight and still are for ds2. They do some great plastic pants which are breathable i.e. they don't get nappy rash and they are soft around the legs and waist so they don't get red rings either.

I was so impressed I became a local consultant for the company! If this sounds like the sort of thing you need, you are welcome to get my email address from tech.

I have this problem with my Kissaluvs which I use with the motherease wraps. Dd is starting to potty train now, so that's my solution!

One of the suggestions I was given was to make sure that the wrap doesn't touch the nappy as that can cause them to leak. We find that we usually have the problem when she is sitting in the buggy or car seat for long periods. The only other suggestion is a slightly obvious one - we check her nappy regularly when she is sitting and change it if she starts getting soggy.

HTH a little

LizC, just catching up on this, could the wraps be too small or need to be moved on to the next set of poppers?

Message withdrawn

Just putting in a plug for Ellas House hemp nappies. Incredibly absorbent for the bulk (ie, not bulky at all!). I use them with a prefold as booster, usually, though, to go overnight.

i love house hemp nappies too! incredibley slim fitting.... nice and soft and very cute!... just sad i have to put a wrap over them... surprised they've not had a go at making an aio yet!... have you seen you can now get them with coloured stitching!!! i'm such a sucker for things like that!!!!... and also ordered the lovely print nappy too!!!!

Just been looking at the ellas house bumhuggers and they look great. I presume that because they are covered in fleece you don't need a fleece liner unless you use boosters with them?

My only concern is drying time. I fell out of love with kooshies because they took forever to dry (no tumble dryer, ceiling airer mainly) and so have decided to go with terries this time round but wondered about the bumhugger for nighttime use. Can anyone give me feedback on drying times?

Ps Bloss noticed that Ellas house do hemp boosters.

Thanks everyone for all the advice - I think the idea of buying some different nappies second hand sounds good, to see how I get on with something. I hadn't heard of hemp nappies, so I'll have a look at the Ella's house website.

Bloss, thanks for such a detailed answer. I have tried loosening off the air rikka wraps around the legs although they now seem very loose. dh was convinced that this just made the nappies leak out through the legs more, but actually think this only happened once her nappy was saturated as she'd been in it for a while before it happened (on the other hand you could be right about wee getting more 'forceful' ). I do have 1 Motherease Sandys nappy, which I tend to use at night (still with 2 boosters), but that leaks some nights too. Think it is just a heavy wetting problem at the mo' and she does drink lots of water/milk (interestingly she doesn't seem to be leaking out of her nappies at nursery - probably doesn't drink as much as it's only offered at specific times of day rather than leaving her beaker available to her most of the time, which I do at home).

Thanks also for the advice on the wraps, I am loathe to buy velcro because of the potential problem of her undoing them, so glad you think the wraps with poppers fit better!

Seems a lot of people are in favour of tot bots, so maybe I'll try and get one of these and a hemp nappy or booster to try too.

Thanks too for the offer re. plastic pants, but I'll see how I go with new nappies first as I find it easier to put on wraps than pull-on pants.