Cloth for a power wetting toddler - help!

[bagpuss]

DS2 is 2 and 1 month and has recently started saturating his nappies. He can out wee a bamboozle in less than three hours on a good day which is not very practical considering I would like to occasionally leave the house and not carry a mountain of nappies and trousers with me. Sooo, I was thinking that I could maybe buy a set of Size 3 tots to last us the next 6 months (unfortunately potty training is not on his agenda at the moment or I would be doing that). I have never seen a size 3 in the flesh so to speak and have some questions. DS2 is only 28 lbs but as I have said the absorbancy is an issue for us and also the wraps are wicking (use motherease) as they don't seem to cover the nappy well any more, would I be best with nippa size 3s and some rikki wraps in an XL? Are size 3s really huge and do trousers fit over them? Would the aplix ones be worth considering for speed (I haven't used 2 piece nappies much for ages and am more used to pockets) and would it be too bulky and uncomfy for him if I put aplix wraps over the top? Also, one last thing, numbers - how may nappies would I need, 10? I was also thinking of getting some easy peasy bumpers for night (2 I think) and have already got a couple of large fuzzis and a few other large pockets that fit well which would do for quick changes etc.

Sorry this is a long post and I'm rambling. I'm going to go and bath the kids now but will be back later if anyone has any thoughts I would be most grateful .

does nobody want to talk to me about lovely fluffy cloth?

bagpuss try the business section of mn i think some real nappy sellers give fab advice as they use them as well as selling them---well not them , their children!

Size 3 wouldn't really fix the absorbancy issue though would they? They still have the same amount of layers.

I have only ever had size 3s in white though, all my size 2s were rainbows so I couldn't really compare How about a microfibre booster in the bamboozle - it would keep the slimness, but add a few extra layers of absorbancy. Plus a wrap that fits better

my dd2 was like this and very big for her age. I used the original nippa bumbles on her double boosted with xl airflow wraps.

what about adding a hempresto hemp pad (quicker drying than bamboo booster and probably more absorbant) on the inside or outside of the nappy and move into the next size up ME popper wrap?

You need something thick like a Tots Bots or a Minki. Don't use the hemp/bamboo/microfibre stuffing

Ah, hi flame . Well, I've tried adding a booster and it really didn't make too much difference. The wraps do need changing anyway because despite being the right ones for his weight, they do seem tight. The other reason I thought I may need a size up in nappy was that when I changed him the other morning I opened up the wrap to find that the nappy had burst apart under the nippa. DH (who is no expert) said he reckoned that the nappies were too small, although he has a point in that our petite fuzzis and bumgenius are tight on ds2. Not sure what to do really as they all seemed fine on him until the last week or so. I am sick of changing his trousers though and hate the fact that I can't trust any of our cloth for more than an hour or two at a time . I thought that size 3s would be more absorbant as there is more fabric in them? The other nappy I've looked at is the ME toddler-ease which is more absorbant than the normal sandys - comes in bamboo now apparently.

Pixie why not bamboo or hemp does it not absorb as quickly as cotton??? In dd2's days bamboo wasn't around and hemp was reltively new!

Ooh, cross posted with lots of people . Cargirl, the bumbles we have for night are currently being used by day and seem to be ok - they are difficult to boost as that pulls the rise down and then they are quite tight to nippa though. I think ds2 must have shot up in size recently - I'm always being told he is quite tall/big for his age. We had a similar thing with ds1 when he was the same age only he was in disposables and I knew nothing of the world of cloth then .

Pixiefish, that's kind of what I thought too. The microfibre stuffing in the Fuzzis we have gets totally saturated - two inserts sopping wet from end to end in two hours the other day and then it all gets squished out of the side of the nappy, especially on a car journey . Hemp I find slightly better though. I have a couple of Ella's house inserts and they are my favourite booster for nights.

Becasue it's thin it doesn't deal well with floods

Just noticed his age, size 2 tots would have been too small for my DD too tbh. The bambinex bamboo have a much higher rise which could help without adding too much bulk.

I thought that it was that hemp/bamboo took longer to absorb. I seem to recall someone saying that if you have a microfibre booster on top, it draws it all away quickly, and then gives the bamboo etc time to take it away from that.

Pockets in general aren't great for heavy wetters unless you can boost them really well (hence minkis being good).

We had a few weeks recently where he was just doing power wees - and it would all pour out the sides before it got absorbed... ended up just putting him in very snugly legged PUL wraps Luckily it stopped, but I think at just gone 2 you're getting to the potty training holidng wees for longer stage aren't you - hence the flooding.

Not that any of that has helped you a lot. I am still in unfamiliar territory with older children - DD was in disposable pull ups from about 15 months (possibly younger), so I am at the learning as I go, and thinking scientifically stage!

I'd put one of thee boosters on the outside instead of stuffing it inside then. DD2 was a 98th centile girl but I suppose with girlie bits they don't need quite as much in the rise, plus she probably had the build of a rake by then

I think hemp boosters may be the way to go as they are less bulk for the absorbancy, I didn't think much of microfibre tbh.

check out hempresto.co.uk they do toddler hemp pads, they are like huge flannels that you fold so can get them to the exact width etc

Flame, yes I think you are right about his age and the holding on for longer. I have 2 WBBs/Bambineos which I currently use together as one night nappy - it is still soaked in the morning but the rise is good. Actually you have all been very helpful - will maybe have a play tomorrow with our hemp inserts and then providing it works buy some more hemp to sandwich in between the nappy and wrap and in the pockets that still fit him.

Um...dd is a power nighttime weeer (although slightly better now she has finally stopped having a night feed-yay!)and i find the best absorbancy is when i use layers of different fabrics-have no idea why this works as it doesn't seem to matter much what the layers are, just that they are not all the same fabric. so in a bumhugger (hemp), I'll put a microfibre,terry or bamboo booster or in a weenotions (microfibre), I'll put terry, bamboo or hemp booster etc. 2 layers is usually enough but sometimes she has phases of out weeing that so i'll add another booster of a different fabric again. After much trial and error this does seem to be the way that works best

If you really need extra soaking up power, rather than wee grabbing immediately power (did that make any sense?) then try putting a padfolded prefold between nappy and wrap- it will soak a lot up.

Hi, more trouser changes today .

Experimenting didn't really go to plan as he either didn't wee at all or dirtied the nappy before I could assess how wet it could get. My main problem at the moment is the daytime nappies though. The night ones seem strangely OK but I do use either wool or fleece covers or a big minki pocket (which I now note is also getting a bit small, humph). I could boost the day ones a lot I suppose, but it is all getting a bit complicated with all the different layers etc. I really want to keep as much slimness as I can and ease of use with a wriggly toddler too!

Flame, I had a look at Twinkleontheweb before, they have a fairly comprehensive section for toddlers which gives quite a good description of what all the different nappies do and when they can be used from. I still quite like the sound of the motherease toddlease nappy and am tempted to order some and only a couple of tots (thought about what you said re layers). This couldn't have come at a worse time really though as we are off on holiday in a few days and so I can't place an order until we get back because I have no time to pre wash etc. Not looking forward to more trouser changing whilst away but don't want to use disps either.

Claireybee, will have another try with the layers tomorrow, thanks.

Littlekiwi, I think a prefold might be a bit bulky but I do have one handy so may give that a go too. I was looking at your nappies earlier too, they look really good .

thank you.

hiya

sorry to crash thread, but my 19mo is a bit of a power wetter too and have been reading this with interest to get tips (am v new to all this cloth business. enthusiastic tho )

in the day he gets changed every 2-3 hours anway as he seems to have v sensitive skin... but they are always soaked or soiled by then (pockets of various types)

have attempted sleep nappies (day naps and nightime) with v little success.

todays nap lasted only an hour and a half tops and in that time he completely soaked a totsbots bamboo thingy (tho the wrap contained it)

and a nightime attmpt consisted of a bambineo, with extra insert, plus the two part filling of one of the wonderoos and a kiwi quick flip (bamboo) and all in a PUL wrap... had to change it after about 4 hours, which surprised me.

mind you, all my nappies are quite new still and (apart from the bumgenius) havnt been washed loads of times yet and they get more absorbent dont they?

the delicious woolywrap shorts arrived today, so need to lanolin them and give them a try...

how did you get all that under a wrap - was the quick flip just a booster from it or the whole nappy? - i am imagining allsorts here?

nope, the whole nappy. he looked pretty ridiculous i gotta tell you

but all absolutely sodden within 3-4 hours

am hoping my wooliwrap may change all that... (along with just one bamboo nappy and a couple of boosters various, of course.)

hes a lean little fella anyway, thank goodness

wow! i have a nappy stuffed with a prefold and a microfibre insert and that does him - maybe i dont give him enough drinks lol! Tonihgt before i de-robed my boy he looked ridiculous...

whats a prefold again?

its like a fatish wadge of sewn together material that you would make up say a bambinio mio thingy mabbob - bulky and not something i would purposly buy but had hanging about and is good to stuff a night nappy when nothing else about that is slender.... absorbant

eh?
so is it like a whole terry nappy, folded up?