Updated with pics!! Photos needed cloth bum leaking still!!!!!

[Zfbaby]

Anyone know where I can find detailed pictures of good and bad fitting nappies?
I am constantly getting leaks around the legs. I have eliminated a build up causing leaks by strip washing, I have added bamboo boosters to my nappies for extra absorbency, I've gone up and down in the rise and I use a few different brands (bg v4, fuzzibunz elite, bambino mio solo,tots bots, little lambs and mostly recently bg elementals and softbums omni!) and I'm still getting leaks. I thought my new elementals seemed really good so I ordered more and then today leaks!!!
I just dont get what I'm doing wrong other than it has to be me fitting them all poorly. I change him regularly anyway but Before I get a chance to do it they've leaked. I poke all my linings in like a crazy woman and make sure i pinch nappy arpun knicker line to atop chunky legs getting trapped too
I refuse to give in and use disposables full time but instead of being at a point where I can knock nighttime disposables on the head I'm starting to use them in the day for fear of leaks. I used a little lambs osfa as an experiment for night time with a bamboo insert and a hemp little weeds in it and that leaked (no sure at what point but when I went in for night feed roughly 6hrs after fitting nappy it was soaked and so was lo and his bed )
Am i being stupid and missing something obvious should I have put a microfiber insert in as well to speed up absorbency? Is there a cheats way of working out if rise is wrong?
I'm getting so pi**ed off with getting it wrong all the time

 

[Rachel_C]

My advice is to stop using cloth at night until you have daytimes sorted and working properly. Night time leaks are the most stressful with bedding changes and, honestly, if you haven't got days sussed I don't think you stand much chance at night, so make it easy for yourself and just work on the days for now

Have you looked in the photos thread stickied at the top of NP? There are loads of nappy shots in there but I don't think you will find photos specifically of good and bad fit really, because it varies so much by brand and by baby. Many people advise that the nappy should sit in the knicker line to prevent leaks and rubbing but on MY baby, they work better further down the leg. On my first LO, I always left the nappy loose around the waist and it was fine but with the same nappies I need them to fit snugly around the waist for my youngest. It's trial and error for your baby. As well as the photos thread, I think the best you will find is the promotional shots of each nappy brand you have - that will give you some indication as to how high the manufacturer expects the rise to be, where the leg elastic should sit etc.

I think a better approach would be to take photos of your baby in the nappies you're using and people can advise from there.

 

[doggylover]

Can I ask how old your LO is? It sounds to me like you are using all BTP at the minute and while, in theory, they should work from birth to potty, if your LO is still tiny then maybe they just aren't fitting well enough. Do you use any sized nappies?

 

[Zfbaby]

Can I ask how old your LO is? It sounds to me like you are using all BTP at the minute and while, in theory, they should work from birth to potty, if your LO is still tiny then maybe they just aren't fitting well enough. Do you use any sized nappies?

He's 17wks and is 17lbs. We don't have any sized nappies but I think maybe I might get one and try it.

I've been doing some experiments today.
I noticed when using an elemental that even with the rise on the smallest setting the legs seems a little loose. He was in it from 9-11 (when he did a poop). The poop was dangerously close to the edges and would probably have gone flying out if he had wriggled. I also had dampness on the edge of his vest (leaking or wicking??) the back of the insert wasn't saturated.
He was then in another elemental from 11-2 (during nap) and again I had a wet vest but when I changed him the back of the insert wasn't wet at all. The insert had become quite bunched up in the crotch though so I think this had caused the leak. And then he was in a bg 4.0 on the smallest rise with the insert on the medium setting with fold at front
( normally I have it on the longest setting and fold at back). I had a leak but as I was testing it out it was a while before the wetness came through and the insert was saturated.
I read online that if the insert is not set to the right setting it can cause leaks. I also did not pinch bg in to knicker line. I'm going to continue my experiments tomorrow with my soft bums and rumparooz.
How often do you change lo?
Today I've just tried to see how long I get out of different brands and settings to work out what is going on.
Any tips on stopping wicking? Lou is 4 mnths but I've put him in 6-9 vest to stop it being tight on bum but I'm still getting the wet legs even with all linning tucked in and the new elemental which has the bound seams.
I have taken photos so I will post them shortly.

 

[Rachel_C]

It's worth trying some sized nappies then; if the legs are loose you will get leaks unless you're very lucky! One thing you can try is making sure that the nappy is pulled up quite high even though it's on the lowest rise setting - give it a good yank up high and that might help with the leg sizing a bit.

If I'm having leaks, I aim to change nappies every 1.5-2 hours really... or just change before you'd normally get a leak so if they leak at 2 hours, change at 1.5 until you figure it out.

Wicking is sometimes hard to distinguish from leaking, but if you are having leaks I'd say wicking is probably par for the course too. Sort the leaks and hopefully the wicking will stop. Otherwise, make sure everything's tucked in where it should be, vests aren't too tight etc but you're already doing that

 

[noon_child]

I had a girl so I'm not sure, but do boys saturate the front of nappies much quicker? Does he need an extra layer at the front end if the back of the inserts aren't wet?

 

[Zfbaby]

I had a girl so I'm not sure, but do boys saturate the front of nappies much quicker? Does he need an extra layer at the front end if the back of the inserts aren't wet?

I think that is a major thing for us. I've turned the insert around and that has helped. I originally had the fold at the back because it made the front so bulky u couldn't get a good fit in the waist.

 

[Rachel_C]

If the insert is set to the same size as the rise, you should find you can pull the insert down a bit at the front, just so you have a centimetre or two where there isn't much thickness right at the top where the snaps/velcro fasten. That'll help you get a good fit around the waist but still mean you can have double thickness at the front. If you have the insert too long, it will distort the front of the nappy meaning you're more likely to get leaks. If you really don't like the bulk at the front, you could try using a more absorbent booster in there too - keep the folded over bit of the microfibre insert at the back but put a slim bamboo insert towards the front, doubled over if necessary. Concentrate it in the bit that gets wettest.

 

[noon_child]

We also used microfibre and I got a lot of advice about how compression stops it from fully absorbing so half the insert is sopping but the other half is bone dry. I found I was creating a kind of tight crease because I was trying to get the leg holes too tight (convinced this was a cause of the leaks) and it created a barrier meaning my inserts only absorbed half what they were meant to. As soon as I loosened the legs a bit, pulled the waist higher and tightened that, my leaks disappeared.

 

[Zfbaby]

Thanks Ladies I will give your words some thought whilst I fit some tomorrow.
Good idea about the booster I will try that. I'm guessing as they are so thin I won't need to change the rise. I have some regular ll boosters and some triple thickness ones too.
I wonder if using a bg newborn mf insert on top of a Little weeds hemp insert would be enough absorbency but leave the nappy trimmer so I can get a better fit. I'm not sure why its hard to fit around his thighs, they are so unbelievably chunky.
Sometimes it feels so complicated. I wish there was a nappy dr near me that could come and look at his nappies and diagnose our problems. Wish that even existed.
No leaks today though so that's good. We used a mix of bgs and fuzzibunz. Fuzzibunz seemed a little loose at the top of the legs again so I think I could do with tightening the elastic although that being said the nappy already seems a little short on him and I need to wriggle it down lower than his other nappies to have enough to go up the front.

 

[doggylover]

Sounds like you are using a lot of bumgenius, and I think their sizing is a bit funky. My girl is almost 16lbs and still uses the absolute smallest setting on all the types of bG. On the flips that means the legs do gape slightly, but luckily no leaks yet (absolute luck!!) I don't know how they would fit an 8lb baby.

 

[Zfbaby]

The majority of my stash is bg. Mostly pockets but I've just added a few elementals. Bg was the first brand we got so I guess I have a soft spot.
I also have a couple of rumparooz but they seem to leak a lot. I'm hoping now that I've prepped my new hemp inserts for them I can fix the leaks.

 

[Rachel_C]

The older FuzziBunz Elites are pretty low rise so you will find they sit lower than BGs. It really is just trial and error though. With BG/Flips, we actually moved up the rise settings earlier than their diagrams suggest. LO has chunky legs but a slim waist so we found sitting them around her natural waist rather than her hips (think nipple warmers!) helped get a better fit - the extra height meant bigger legs but tighter poppers around the waist mean obviously meant smaller waist so that could be an option for you if LO is built like that. Just make sure you yank the nappy up really high when increasing the rise, you don't want a poofy/saggy bum. Keep playing around and post some photos

 

[patooti]

Is your lo a boy? We have leg leaks unless wee willy if absolutely front and centre iykwim.

Also with our fuzzibunz and other various pockets we actually have had fewer leaks using them like covers meaning I don't stuff the pocket but put the insert in on top and then I stick an extra bamboo booster folded in half in the front to catch and hold the pee. Done that way no more leaks unless I forget to check the direction of mr pee pee.

 

[Zfbaby]

Is your lo a boy? We have leg leaks unless wee willy if absolutely front and centre iykwim.

Also with our fuzzibunz and other various pockets we actually have had fewer leaks using them like covers meaning I don't stuff the pocket but put the insert in on top and then I stick an extra bamboo booster folded in half in the front to catch and hold the pee. Done that way no more leaks unless I forget to check the direction of mr pee pee.

That's interesting, I've been wondering if I could do that. Do you add a stay dry liner on top?
I guess it's possible that lo might hve slimmed a tiny but during this growth spurt, our elementals are definetly loose although again no leaks today.
I'm making a list of things in going to order as soon as I can. I'f like to try out some two part systems as I know these are the most reliable for avoiding leaks and getting a good fit. I'll also buy some sized nappies too.
Flips are on my list as well as some little lambs bamboo fitted and I'm thinking of trying prefolds and a wrap. Any reccomendations? I think I've been quite closed minded so far, only going with pocket style nappies.
I've taken some pictures on dhs phone, just waiting or him to get around to uploading them for me.

 

[doggylover]

I like the econobum inserts inside a flip wrap personally, and also tots bots bamboozles with their own wraps (I find their wraps one of the best as they seem to be a generous size to cover the whole nappy IMO)

 

[princessellie]

With nappies that I know leak, I always add a velcro motherease wrap over the top, making sure it is snug around waist and legs. I don't have a problem then x

 

[Zfbaby]

That's great, thanks I've been looking at a motherese riki wrap actually and I've put a tots bots on my list to try. I'm not so keen on their easyfit (constant leaks) but I've heard good things about their two parts nappies.

 

[Rachel_C]

We never got along with pockets with my first LO either. It was weird, even BG pockets didn't really work even though other BG/Flip nappies were great!

LL have a good sale at the moment so I'd get some of them now while the offer is there.

Don't let the lack of absorbency in the Easyfit put you off. It's a pretty lightweight nappy but the Stretches are great.

 

[Zfbaby]

Do the ll nappies have a stay dry linning? I don't know why but I'm uncomfortable with the idea of the whole nappy soaking up pee and it sitting all around him ( thats how it works right?) rather than just in the crotch like pockets.