Still hesitant to CD at night... some support please? ;)

[CloudyDay]

I've gotten used to using my wonderful previously-loved Aristocrats wool diaper cover. I've used it at nighttime as a cover over Nature Baby disposables. (The NBs sometimes leak at night, depending on the positions that sleeps in). I've also used the Aristocrats for naps with a cotton prefold and bamboo doubler. During the day, I use Bummis Whisper Wraps and MotherEase PUL wraps with the PFs.

I feel almost ready to start experimenting w/ CD at night, largely because the Aristocrats seems to be doing a really great job. But, I really don't have confidence in the PFs and doublers to soak up all the pee!

Some questions:

1. Do I absolutely HAVE to have fasteners of some kind if I want to use PFs w/ a pull-on cover? When I use the PFs during naps w/ the Aristrocrats, I don't use any diaper fasteners and so far it's worked fine. Would this setup work at night?

2. 1 PF + 1 bamboo doubler + 1 fleece liner + Aristocrats wool cover = adequate nighttime diaper?? I used this combo for one 2 hour nap and there were no leaks but the PF and the doubler were soaking wet. I can't imagine how they could possibly hold 12 hours of nighttime wetness!

3. If I increase the number of doublers, would that help much?

4. Does CDing at nighttime HAVE to mean a bulky bum-bum?

It seems, from reading the forums, that the majority of nighttime CDers use AIOs or fitted diapers but all I've got are PFs. If I can make the PFs work for nighttime, it'd be more environmentally-friendly and economical than having to invest in new AIOs.


Thanks gals!

 

[mommyof3co]

Aristrocrats are GREAT for nighttime!!

1. Do I absolutely HAVE to have fasteners of some kind if I want to use PFs w/ a pull-on cover? When I use the PFs during naps w/ the Aristrocrats, I don't use any diaper fasteners and so far it's worked fine. Would this setup work at night? Ummm if it's working well then I would say no. If your baby moves around alot that might not work because the prefold could move out of place

2. 1 PF + 1 bamboo doubler + 1 fleece liner + Aristocrats wool cover = adequate nighttime diaper?? I used this combo for one 2 hour nap and there were no leaks but the PF and the doubler were soaking wet. I can't imagine how they could possibly hold 12 hours of nighttime wetness! Hmmm if it was soaked after 2 hrs I'd say probably not. Maybe add in an extra bamboo doubler? Or a thicker one?

3. If I increase the number of doublers, would that help much? yeah

4. Does CDing at nighttime HAVE to mean a bulky bum-bum? No, it really depends on what you are using. I use BagShot Row Bamboo nighttime fitteds...they are GREAT, not very bulky, don't have to add anything to it and an aristrocrat cover would work wonderfully over them. Very baby simply nights are also great and not very bulky

It seems, from reading the forums, that the majority of nighttime CDers use AIOs or fitted diapers but all I've got are PFs. If I can make the PFs work for nighttime, it'd be more environmentally-friendly and economical than having to invest in new AIOs. Didn't see this part before my recommendations lol. I have used prefolds overnight, I used them in a PUL cover though, I had run out of my nighttime diapers while on vacation with no washer....I took it and folded it in 3rds then folded the front down so it would double that in the front...since he's a boy....and then put a PUL cover over it, it worked just fine, but was pretty bulky in the front. But he nursed through the night and it was on about 12hrs with no leaks

 

[saraendepity]

would have said what MO3 said just go for it and see.....generally anything Bamboo or hemp is thirsty so adding boosters made from these will definately help

sara

xxxxxx

 

[CloudyDay]

Thanks MO3C and Saraendipity! Could it really be so easy? I have plenty of those bamboo doublers so I can experiment during the naps first. If I have success w/ a few more naps, then I think I'll dive right in to try nighttime!

A question about bamboo: I've read that cotton is supposed to be the #1 most absorbant with bamboo and hemp following. Any opinions/experience w/ this? Before trying the bamboo doublers, I hypothesized that if I put a bamboo doubler in, I'd have relatively dry cotton PFs because the bamboo would soak up most of the pee... totally not the case! From my experience, the bamboo and the cotton PFs get equally soaked.

BTW my bamboo doublers are bamboo terry MotherEase.

 

[mommyof3co]

In my experience bamboo is more absorbent. I have some "mini flats" which is just 1-2 layers of bamboo sewn together...acutally it's 2 cause one side is bamboo terry and one is bamboo velour, then it came with a lay in doubler, not completely sure on how many layers I'd say the same maybe double that, it's so trim it's hard to say. But I know it's less than my cotton prefolds and they probably hold the same. But if the bamboo was equal to the amount of layers in my cotton I'm sure they would hold longer.

Try putting a fleece sleeper or fleece pants on over the aristocrat if you really think it might leak...that will be double protection

 

[CloudyDay]

Why didn't I think of that? I'll do a side by side test tomorrow for myself to see how much each holds!

Try putting a fleece sleeper or fleece pants on over the aristocrat if you really think it might leak...that will be double protection

Great idea! During winter, he's always got a thin cotton sleeper on, then a fleece sleeper on top of that. I've noticed that when his dipes leak, the cotton sleeper may be soaked but the fleece sleeper's always dry. Fleece is such a versatile fabric for CD!

 

[JayleighAnn]

Not much more I can add to what's already been said.
We use either Little Lamb nappies with the booster at night, or a slinki minki by Nappies by Minki, but I'm not sure what you guys have in Canada?
His slinki minki is stuffed with a stuffins insert, 6 layeres of hemp and we never have a leak and his skin is always dry in the morning.

 

[littlestar]

i must be daft thinking the other way round - to me i dare not use disposables st night as to me they just don't look up to the job!

I don't use prefolds so i can't add any advice to whats already been said!

 

[CloudyDay]

Jayleighann: I envy you UKers (is that the correct term to collectively refer to all of you over there? ) because you seem to have a HUGE variety of CDs to choose from. And, you've got the wonderful BnB to gather at... I can't seem to find a comparable forum for Canadians! (Any suggestions, fellow Canucks?) I will have a look at the dipes you mentioned and see if I can find similar dipes here. If the PFs don't work out for me, I'll have no choice but look into fitted or AIO dipes.

littlestar: It is quite interesting that there's a pretty even split between those who have better success w/ cloth vs. disposables at night! For me, those horrible earth-unfriendly Pampers are SUPER and almost 100% leak-proof. The Nature Baby dipes leak almost all the time so I've had to resort to putting on the next size up with a diaper cover over it for nighttime use. Used that way, the NBs work great for me. I feel slightly better for using the NBs but they're still disposable and I'm sure they still take a long time to break down (if at all) so I really want to start doing cloth full time now.

I'm trying to get some more previously loved Aristocrats wool covers so I can CD full time with more confidence! Not very many on offer so I may just have to get them new off the Aristocrats site. They're pricey but I've been totally impressed w/ the one I've got! Definitely a worthwhile investment!

 

[mommyof3co]

You should check out diaper swappers, it's a US and Canadian site. There are TONS to choose from over here too Hyena cart is mostly US/Canada based as well, though most will ship worldwide, and that's all work at home moms selling their stuff....great prices and dipes

 

[CloudyDay]

Thanks MO3C! I'm adding both to my bookmarks!