Cloth Diapering: Overnight Leaks

It has been nearly a year since I've done a post about cloth diapering! HOW? How is that possible?

I guess it's because once you start, nothing really changes. It's a routine, and honestly, we still love it. I'm so happy that we decided to go with (and stick with!) cloth diapers. And for the most part, we've had a relatively easy time of it. A few small challenges here and there, but nothing that we haven't overcome.

Our latest challenge, however, has been a bit more... well, challenging.

As Nora has grown, we've faced a few absorbancy issues. Suddenly, she'd start springing leaks on a regular basis, so we would know it was time to do something differently. We'd make adjustments to the sizing (since she wears one-size, adjustable diapers that can "grow" with her--see more on that in this post). Or we'd change the inserts with which we were stuffing the pockets (more on that in this post, too). But we've always been able to find a solution that was relatively quick and painless for all of us.

Nighttime cloth diapering is a whole 'nother animal. Up until recently, we've been able to fix leaks the same way I mentioned above--sizing, stuffing, etc. But over time, her nighttime diapers had grown to be HUGE. Like, so big in recent weeks that I could barely zip up her pajamas over the enormously stuffed diaper. We've tried numerous combinations of inserts, different size settings, and Nora was still waking up at 4-5 a.m. (TOO EARLY!) due to a soaking wet diaper. After some trial and lots of errors, I believe the problems are two-fold.

First, let's talk about inserts. Frankly, the inserts just cannot hold the amount of pee that Nora apparently eliminates in the 12-13 hours overnight. When she was smaller? Sure. But now that she's a heavy-wetting toddler? Not so much. We've tried triple stuffing, using three microfiber inserts. No luck. We tried triple stuffing, using two microfiber + one combination microfiber/hemp insert. No dice.

Part of the problem with needing to stuff so much into the pocket is that you start to affect the fit of the diaper. By overstuffing, you start to create gaps in the legs of the diaper, which can cause leaks, too. So, if we weren't getting leaks due to oversaturation of the inserts, we were getting them because the diaper was ill-fitting due to overstuffing. I tried backing down the number of inserts I was stuffing with, trying just one microfiber + one combination microfiber/hemp insert, and although the diaper fit better, the inserts didn't offer enough absorbancy.

A week ago, after a number of nights in a row of Nora waking up crying and soaked at 4-5 a.m., I broke down and put her in a disposable. And, we've had her in disposables overnight ever since then, while we work on figuring out what we're going to do longer-term. The problem now? The last three mornings, Nora's been waking up wet again, even in the disposables.

It might be time to call in the heavy artillery: Huggies Overnites.

Up until now, we've been using our regular, cheap-o disposables that we keep on hand for the grandparents, or travel, or the occasional severe diaper rash (always caused by acidic foods!). But since they're not cutting it, we hear that Huggies Overnites are the way to go. And I already have them in my Amazon Mom cart, y'all. (Do you all know about Amazon Mom? Amazing!) But I am still hesitant to hit "submit," simply because I would ideally like to find a cloth diapering solution!

In reality, I'm probably going to go ahead and order a package of Huggies Overnites to use in the short-term, but continue searching and experimenting with cloth diaper overnight options. Like, I've had a few cloth diapering mom friends suggest trying pre-folds in the pockets. I need to figure out what size and order a few to try out that theory. I think I also need to experiment with our different brands of cloth diapers. We've almost always used Fuzzibunz dipes as our overnights, but who knows--maybe the bumGenius or Blueberry diapers we have will fare better.

At some point, I'm sure we'll be cutting back her liquid intake before bed, but she's still pretty young to do that. After all, she likes to have her milk before bed, and it's a way for us to nourish her before bedtime to help keep her full until morning. Until then, I guess we will have to stick with disposables just for nighttime, or, hopefully, find the answer.

Are there any other cloth diapering moms out there who have conquered overnight leaks with a heavy-wetting toddler? What is your solution?

If you're new(er) here, you may not have even realized Nora is cloth diapered!

Curious about cloth diapering?
See all of my cloth diapering posts here.

Read about our decision to cloth diaper here.

See my starter stash (and links to some cloth diaper resources) here.

Read about the start of our cloth diaper journey here.

See how we transitioned to pocket diapers (and explanation of one-size, pocket dipes) here.