Reusable nappies and wetness, particularly at night

[Essie3]

I'm now using washable nappies (Modern Baby brand, now discontinued!), and they're a prefold, a liner and a wrap. I find DS is wetter in them. Do I need to do anything to combat this, and any soreness which might result?
Secondly, at night, what should I do? He was wet at 3am, but as you can imagine, changing a nappy then was painful (for me...). Can I leave him overnight like I did with disposables, or should I put him in pampers etc overnight? What do others do?

Hi essie,

I had my ds in disposables for a while, then switched to cloth - flat terries with a liner. Have found him unbearably wet in them, so much that it disturbs his sleep (plus they were so huge he looked like a tellytubby, think it make lying down uncomfy). But it doesn't affect his skin at all.

We've gone back to disposables while I try to figure out what next - you might do a search for an old thread I started called "find me a night nappy" iirc - there was tons of good advice on there.

I'd look myself but am supposed to be booking a holiday

sorry sorry sorry, brain-fritz

he's in cloth during the day - it's no prob, change roughly every 3hrs unless there's a poo (or the stinky wee, but that's special) - all of what I said above only applies to night

Thanks - but a random unrelated question! Looked at your profile - I'm also in my thirties, in Wales, overeducated... where in Wales are you?

I'm assuming you are using disposable liners. If you switch to fleece liners that would keep his bottom drier. If you are worried about soreness you could use a barrier cream (vaseline) but you may not find you get a problem at all.

I don't change a nappy (cloth or disposable) at night unless it has woken them up . I like ellas house bumhuggers at night as they are totally fleece lined and keep them far drier than any diposable - even after 12 hours. They take a while to dry though so you might need 3 or 4 to keep up supply while they dry. I like to use airflow wraps over the top - DD2 gives them the thumbs up for comfort, they are very flexible in fit, breatheable and don't have noisy velcro that can disturb their sleep (DD2 is a very light sleeper)

If you want to stick with the prefold system at night but find you need extra absorbancy then you could always buy some bamboo terry squares, pad fold them and place inside your wrap - that is very absorbant. You may need to cut the square to the right size though.

He is no more likely to get any soreness than he would be in a disposable.

You will find that the nappy feels wet because it doesn't contain the gel that disposables have. The wetness is absorbed by the nappy. This isn't a problem. You are just not used to seeing a wet nappy.

Overnight, even if the nappy is wet it shouldn't cause a problem or soreness for you ds. I didn't change any of mine at night unless they pooed.

I think you just need to give yourself time to get used to the different way reusables are to disposables.

Ok, ok, thanks juuule! I was concerned because the prefold was all wet to the touch, but I guess that's what the wrap is for, to stop that leaking onto his clothes! To feel the nappy all wet like this is normal, then?

I'm glad I posted - don't want to get totally taken in by big brand disposables... DS is 6 weeks tomorrow and I'm still a bit about 6 weeks of environment damaging...

A wet nappy is normal.

As regards a sore bottom whether in disposables or reusables, I would sometimes smear a small amount of barrier cream (vaseline, zinc and castor oil,etc) on any areas that looked a bit pink or potentially sore. I wouldn't put loads on or it reduces the absorbency of the nappy. It worked for us.
With the environment you'll be saving landfill from around 272 weeks worth of disposables so I wouldn't worry too much about 6w

you've done really well to change already! Some parents start in dispos with every intention of swapping then never do as they get into a routine with them. Prefolds are fine to use overnight, we used to pin one round like a terry then pad fold another into the wrap. (bikini twist is good).
Fleece liners are good to keep the skin dry as the nappy will pull the liquid through the fleece away from the skin.
As juuule says it is the chemicals in the disposables that keep the baby dry- I don't really see how paper could hold enough wee on its own.

yes and sometimes you get those little tiny globs of gel that leak out of dispies and lurk in lo's crevices - ew!

must find some new nappy folds to try again with the cloth at night, really don't like using plastic...

I'm in cardiff, essie, for now.

So I should expect to need to buy a different type nappy for night? I've still got 5 weeks to go but I've already bought some Sandy's with some ME wraps, 2 x totsbots (no idea what type) and some Kissaluvs. Do I now need to get a different brand for nights? I've seen Ellas House mentioned quite a lot ....

you don't have to - some people just choose to boost their usual day nappies and use them at night. Sandy's are very absorbant - you could boost them with a bamboo booster or similar but you may find - especially in the early days - that you don't need to boost at all.

If you do want to part with some cash and try something else the ellas house bumhuggers are excellent!

I would see how you get on once your baby is here before splashing out.

Oooh, I've been wandering the same thing. I have Bambinex Teddies and bamboo shaped nappies with Airflow wraps. (still pg with DC1 btw) should I buy a differnt nappy for nights or will these be ok??

I would tend to use a fleece liner if you choose to boost though - really does a good job at keeping bottoms dry.

AnnVan - teddies are very absorbant too so you could probably just boost them for night use like I suggested Lollipop did with the sandys.

Thanks BBM, I've got some fleece liners already, is that a booster? (I am slightly confused with the terminology).

I also have a fleece blanket I got from Ikea a couple of years ago, it's only been washed three times I think but it's got a cigarette burn on it from a party we had so I was thinking of making my own liners, does this sound an ok fleece to use?

sorry - got brainache today so probably not making much sense.

The fleece liner is not a booster. The liners just catch poo, and in the case of fleece ones, keep the bottom dry too.

Boosters absorb wee and thus boost the absorbancy of the nappy. You can use anything as a booster whether it is made from terry, hemp, microfibre or bamboo. Supermarket 'value' microfibre dishcloths make very cheap, effective boosters. They are 3 for 89p in Tesco and Asda.

Any fleece will do. Some people use anti-pil fleece that doesn't bobble but mine have never bobbled that much and they are made from an old cot sheet. Your fleece blanket should be fine

Local nappy agent said she cut up an ikea fleece blanket to use for liners, so I reckon it should be ok. Wandering now whether to get some fleecce liners. My sister said she stopped using them cos she kept flushing them down the toilet by accident.

I found the original cotton Totsbots nappy and Little Ewe terry squares reliable as night nappies and didn't have to boost them. I used them during the day aswell. So no need for special night nappies.

I never felt there was any extra absorbency to be gained from bamboo or hemp and they just seemed to take longer to dry than the cotton.

I did try pocket nappies but never got on very well with them, they always seemed to leak sooner or later.

Ok thanks for the advice ladies! I'm definitely going to use the fleece to make my own wipes and maybe have a go at some liners too then.

Might anyone be able to tell me what type of Totsbots I've got from this description? They are pink, have velcro and have two long flaps that I assume are the liners, the top most one is white fleece and the bottom is pink, and they hang from the front but aren't attached to the back, I assume to reduce the drying time after a wash. I got them off ebay and it didn't mention what type of Totsbots they were, they're lush though and brand new, I do love a bargain!

rainbow cotton tots size 1 old style (newer ones don't have the fleece liner attatched). They are slightly thinner and less absorbant than the original (white) tots but really nice. I used them for DD2 when she was young and thought they were fab - the Size 2 wasn;t absorbant enough for her though

took me ages to find one (nothing better to do ) here

oh yes...and they fade in the wash - although I think the pink ones hold their colour better than some others.

fwiw I found I didn't need to buy a different type of nappy for night, but there were times when I needed the next size so I could fit the booster in.
DD (11m) is currently in size 1 Bimbles or Totsbots with a medium wrap during the day, but at night she needs a Bumble or a size 2 Bimble with a booster and a large wrap...

Confused too - my nappies (Modern Baby) have a sort of tongue of fleece built in! Is that the booster?

Interestingly, when I put them on the line to dry, the fleece bit (which goes up) was dry, but the underside of it was wet...so they work!

the fleece 'tongue' is an attached liner. If you need a separate booster put it underneath.