Close to quitting - Help!

[Romily]

My DS is 6 months old and we have been trying to use reusables since birth and I am reaching the end of my patience with them.

They keep leaking all the time. I have a selection of Tots Bots Easy Fits, Dotty Bots and Little Lambs for day time and all of them leak within 1-2 hours. They have been strip washed and still they leak so I am having to change clothes/nappies/both a ridiculous number of times a day.

At night I had been using Bamboozles and wraps which have successfully kept the wetness in, however he reeks in the morning and I don't like the thought of him being that wet for so long.

What can I do to improve things as I spent a lot of money on them and I am keen to not use disposables.

Two partners are the only thing that works for us.

We use Mother ease one size or a Size to prefold with a bamboo booster nippa'd under an Airflow wrap during the day and Disana wool shorts at night.

Pockets, all in ones, hybrids etc just don't work for us.

As for the bamboozles do you use a fleece liner over night? These act as a stay dry barrier so his skin won't feel the wetness. I find using wool helps with the smell and keeps the nappy a little dryer.

Which version of TotsBots? Which type of Little Lambs?

Poo leaks or wee leaks?
Poo leaks improve when they stop being exclusively bf and their poo solidifies a bit...
I used terry squares - trying to remember which waterproof pants - Ellie pants, mother ease, tot bots -had a selection some given to me some I bought.
I found up to to six months/solid poo best was a kite fold square...so well fitted around the legs and back and covered by the pants but then a terry square used as a pre -fold with paper or silk liners worked in a pocket type pants no problems...
And with real nappies you will have to change more often than disposables ...(but I always told myself that then for hopefully less time as they should potty train sooner - DD2 was out of nappies by 2 and dry at night (but DD1 was a different story - still dry in the day by 2.5...)

Thank you for the responses!

To answer the questions:

The bamboozles we just use them as they are with a mother ease wrap but by the morning the whole nappy is completely saturated so we have been using disposables at night.

Totsbots easy fits and Little Lamb all in one pocket nappies.

The leaks are all pee, mercifully not poo!

Nappies that require a wrap are supposed to be soaked through because the whole thing is avsorbant rather than relying on a booster or insert like a pocket/all in one type, the wrap stops the wetness coming through. Skin shouldn't be wet to touch though, there are fleece liners/lined nappies that keep skin dry if this is an issue.

Do you know which version your Easyfits are? Very few people I know get on with these but I know that V1 and V3 are well known for being shoddily made but you could try adding a bamboo booster for extra absorbancy with minimal bulk.

I found the sized Little Lamb pockets worked well with the trifold booster but it had to be folded wide enough to fill the space.

No birth to potty nappy fitted properly here, there's always a gap in the leg or at the waist.

Are they V2, V3 or V4 Easyfits? The V3s do not have any bamboo in them so you will get leaks very quickly. They are really pocket nappies rather than AIOs. Try adding a V4 'Binky' booster and see how you get on.

I find DD goes through phases of not fitting a particular brand. We swap between Tots Bots (bamboo boosted V3s) and BumGenius V4s. When one brand fits the other doesn't. We boost the BG nappies with Hemp Babies 'Little Weeds' boosters. I have had 6 hours from a boosted BG on one occasion (DD is 22 months). Have you tried a BG?

I bought the sized Little Lambs (bamboo) with Motherease and Blueberry wraps for overnight nappies. We used the fleece liners to keep DD dry. The smell was powerful though! I have heard charcoal boosters can reduce the smell of overnight wee. DH was never happy with the overnight nappies so we use a disposable overnight. 7 a week is still much better than average!

Is there a nappy library or Nappacino near you? Sometimes RL help can be the ticket! Are you on FaceBook? There are Tots Bots and BG and cloth nappy groups on FB that are full of great advice.

Easy fits and the little lambs both fit nicely but are really unabsorbant. add a booster or two and your problems will disappear. I use the little labs pockets with the 2 bamboo boosters they come with plus a hemp booster - last 2-3 hours. We've always used disposables overnight