Sleep and cloth diapering

[jessmke]

My DD is three weeks old, and up until 2 days ago was a really easy baby who slept really well. The last two days she has hardly slept, the longest stretch has been an hour. In between her cat naps she is crying and fussy and its really hard to settle her. I am cloth diapering, and i know i should change her as soon as she wets/soils herself, but she keeps peeing/pooping immediately before falling asleep. I don't want to change her because it will wake her up and she is absolutely exhausted and it'll take several hours to get her to sleep again, but i also don't want her sitting in her own filth and getting a rash. She is sleeping on me right now and i can feel her diaper leaking, what do I do??? She has huge bags under her eyes, my husband thinks I should leave the diaper and let her sleep, help!

During the day I have been changing her diaper at least every 2 hours. At night should I be changing her each time she wakes for a feed? I end up with the same problem where the diaper change wakes her up and then it takes a long time to get her back to sleep. If I have her in a disposable diaper and I don't change it she will immediately go back to sleep after a feed/burp. I am just trying to figure out how we can all get a little more sleep!

 

[wish4baby]

I have a 21 month old who was cloth diapered (she's nearly always using the potty now though!)

From what I remember, 3-6 weeks was the hardest!!! My dd was constantly pooping while nursing, and eating to fall asleep, so we had the same issue.
My dd was small (6 pounds 6 oz) so we struggled for awhile to fit into the newborn cloth diapers...I used tiny disposables until she could fit without gaps around her thighs.

The first recommendation I got was to NOT feed to sleep. (It didn't work for us, she nursed to sleep and throughout the night until 18 months old). But maybe you can try!

I always changed the poo diapers right away, even if it meant waking her. Pee, I would let it go for awhile, unless she was obviously uncomfortable. Turns out, I have the most sensitive child on the planet b/c she would freak out if she was even the tiniest bit wet! I noticed it was certain diapers more than others - basically, the stay dry feeling ones are what she needed (micro fleece on top, with a pocket or an all in one). The ones that she could feel wetness in, I just laid a piece of that stay dry material right on top. Helped a lot!

Also, my dd loved being in her carrier (woven wrap) and I wore her all day so she could just cat nap whenever she wanted!

Good luck! I hope you can figure a way to get more sleep