Help - disposables leaking wee; how can I get them to last till morning?

[AngelDog]

DS is age 4 weeks and in disposables (mainly Pampers, but have tried Wilkos brand too tonight). Four times in the last 24 hours the nappy has leaked and he has had wee up his back (or on legs) which wakes him up.

I now have a rather over-tired baby and am desperate for it not to happen again, as overtiredness = hysterics, and he really struggles to get back to sleep once he's awake. My guess is that he needs the next size up, but I won't be able to get to the shops till the morning.

Does anyone have any suggestions as to how I can boost the absorbtion of the nappies until I can buy some more tomorrow?

I do have some washable nappy wraps, and flushable liners, as well as lots of pre-fold pads and muslins, but I've never tried using any of them before, and I suspect the prefolds will be huge on him. I don't know how much he weighs, but he was 7.5lbs at birth and has been putting on weight well since, so I'm guessing about 9lbs?

Any suggestions would be gratefully received!

At 4 weeks I was still changing nappies in the night, whether they were wet or dirty they still woke DS up. Does he have a feed in the night? Could you change the nappy then and feed him back to sleep afterwards?

Thanks, Bertie - yes, I do change the nappies at the night-time feeds; I was just worried that the leaks would wake him up in between feeds as well (which is what has happened during the day so far). Still, we've made it nearly 3 hrs without any further disasters, so things are looking up - perhaps we have a chance of making it to morning without waking due to wet clothes as well as waking for feeds (although I'm bf on demand, DS does have a bit of a routineas to when he likes to wake up in the night).

Thanks again.

Hi Angeldog,

I found that if I ran my finger on the inside of the nappy when I've put it on, I had no more leaks, that is, to make sure that the 'frilly bit' is on the outside, if that makes any sense! Sometimes a bit gets caught and is a channel for wee to leak out. Good Luck!

I put a waterproof nappy wrap cover thing over DS2's disposable at night, usually works.

I think I saw some disposable boosters on ebay. Maybe worth a try if they're still there!

Oh I see - wow, three hours is not very good!

Just another really obvious thing to check (sorry, I am not assuming you are stupid, these are mistakes I made in the very beginning) - are you pointing his willy straight down in the nappy? That is a really common cause of nappy leaks for boys.

If not, definitely try the next size, and/or maybe he is a huggies rather than a pampers baby.

Sorry that was a bit confusing, I meant it is best to point the willy straight down and make sure the nappy is tight enough especially at night as they tend to get erections in their sleep which can make the wee go in funny directions.

Thanks everyone. Bertie, thanks for the suggestion about making sure the nappy is tight enough - I do try to point him downwards but I've not checked how tight the nappy is at holding things in place.

We managed to make it to the morning after all so it was all okay in the end. Not that I've made it to the shops for more nappies yet - DS keeps waking up grumpy (due to wind, I think) and it takes so long to settle that I've not managed to get him out in the pram. At least it has meant that I've had more opportunities to change his nappy in the meantime! I'll bear all these tips in mind for future reference - I'm sure there'll be a time when I need them again!