Washables frustration

[Apparentlychilled]

Hello all
I'm a long time fan of washables, having used them with DD from 1 month old till she potty trained at 26 months. DS is now nearly 18 months (and I've been using them since he was about a month old) and I'm starting to get frustrated by leaks. We've always had a few with DD, but was manageable.

We mainly use totsbots bamboozles (he's in size 2 and is about 11kg), but sometimes also use bumgenius all in ones (with velcro tabs, though lots of them have started to lose their stickiness, so we've used nappy nippers with both sets of nappies for ages).

With both nappies I use a booster as well as the main nappy and he's generally changed every 2 hours at least. If he's got nappy rash/tummy bug, he's in Pampers (please, don't flame me- each to their own), and he's in Pampers at night.

He recently had D&V for nearly a week, so was in disposables, and I felt like a week of NOT having to change his clothes at least once a day, and being able to go more than 2 hours between changes was a revelation.

So where am I going wrong?!

I don't want to go onto disposables, but I'm finding this frustrating.

Anyone got any tips?

TIA

Boost with hemp and put it between the nappy and the wrap rather than in the nappy?

I had a very heavy wetter and found what worked was double boosted bumbles with air flow wraps...

Thanks Random- do you mean you folded the booster pad on the normal bumbles and then added an extra booster too? Maybe that's something to try. I've also not tried hemp before but will give it a go. Tsk- these pesky principles when it comes to nappies!

Yes the folded one on the inside and then and extra on the outside

I'd agree with Random on the booster between nappy and wrap - just make sure that for the two parters your wrap is big enough, if it's too snug you'll get leaks! Otherwise, have you tried strip washing them? Sometimes that might help? I also find DS's nappies leak if his clothes are very snug over the nappy causing wicking?

Maybe a strip wash will help (is that just doing a 90 deg wash to clean nappies with no detergent?). I put an extra booster into bum genius this morning which seemed to help, so will try that. Vests seem to be the biggest targets for leaks though- he's already had a clean vest and tshirt (both w poppers on them) today.

Another vote for boosted Bumbles and Airflows - it's an unbeatable combo!

Hmm... If you're getting leaks on vests, are they very tight around the nappy? I tend to have DS in a size bigger or friends swear by vest extenders to give a bit of extra material... For a strip wash this is the nappy lady's method:
For the first wash use NO detergent and wash at 30oC or if possible no temp at all on a standard wash

-No need to dry in between for the second wash, use 60oC on the longest possible wash with NO detergent and ideally additional water( sensitive or sometimes called super rinse)

-Again no need to dry, do a third wash with no detergent on the longest possible 60deg wash. Hopefully during this wash you should see no suds during the wash. If you do see suds then you need to wash again (I never have at this stage!)

This should sort them for the short term .

Preventing Detergent Build Up
Ongoing to prevent this happening again we would suggest doing a cold rinse cycle then put your nappies on a long wash at 60oC with no more than HALF the recommended amoutn of detergent. Once a month (or once a week if they are teething) do a 60deg wash WITHOUT any detergent again. This will remove any build up detergent before it gets bad and needs a full strip wash.

She recommends not using vinegar, dishwasher tabs etc as they may degrade bamboo/pul and invalidate guarantees but if you read some of the threads here lots of people use them - I never have, I wash regularly by cold rinse, 60 degree with prewash and final rinse - this seems to keep them pretty fresh and absorbent!

DS is 17 months and is pretty tall and is currently in 18-24 m vests (but I think that's too small, tbh). Maybe time to get some more vests and do a strip wash. And if that doesn't work, I'll buy some extra boosters.

thanks all.