The Nighttime Diaper Dilemma
Sleep. Ahh sleep! I remember those nights when I snuggled into bed and enjoyed an unfettered slumber of more than eight hours without a second thought. If I had six hours of sleep or less, my day was spent barely coping with my shocking state of sleep deprivation. My how things have changed!
When our son Roscoe was first born, our biggest struggle was colic. There were hours of crying, often scheduled by our purple, screaming son to continue between the hours of 3:27 and 5:46am. We noticed that the whites of our eyes were permanently pink and we often found ourselves breaking into hysterical laughter for no reason whatsoever. When Roscoe was asleep, we almost forgot how bad the constant crying was. Here he is dreaming of plans to interrupt our sleep in the middle of the night.
Then, just as we overcame the colic, we moved into nighttime wetting. As dedicated cloth diaper users, we tried a variety of strategies including double diapering, fleece and wool liners, 10 p.m. diaper changes, and a variety of covers. Roscoe managed to pee through whatever obstacle we placed in front of him. If peeing were an Olympic event, that would be great—but it isn’t, and we were tired.
When we talked to our cloth diapering friends, they all told us their dirty little nighttime secret—disposables. Oh the horror! At first we continued with diaper and clothing changes in the wee hours of the night, but eventually our fatigue-addled wills gave in. That was months ago, and now Roscoe sleeps for most of the night wearing disposables.
We use seven disposables a week (which is seven more than we’d like) but we’re still concerned about some of the health factors related to disposable diapers. Click here to read about links between disposables and male infertility as well as an increased risk of developing asthma.The best tips seem to come from moms who are up to their elbows in diapers. What do you do to keep baby dry at night? Do you use G-diapers, double diaper, or use a cloth diaper product that seems to do the trick? I’m desperate for a solution…and some sleep!
March 29th, 2008 at 1:55 pm
Thanks for sharing all this helpful information regarding cloth diapering. For more information about cloth diapers visit http://www.mybabyfirst.com/baby-advice-center/
March 31st, 2008 at 5:57 pm
fuzzibunz and a thirstie insert, even a microfiber towel folded behind the insert!!!……double the inserts—–it works for our heavy wetter and she wets through SPOSIES!
April 1st, 2008 at 7:36 am
I heartily second the Fuzzibunz with a microterry insert - double if need be. My son was wetting through whatever we tried - until the Fuzzibunz solution. Best of luck!
April 25th, 2008 at 8:25 am
Hmm…I think this comment may be a little late, and perhaps you’ve already found a solution. But I third the Fuzzi Bunz recommendation. I use one microterry insert (the one that comes with the Fuzzi Bunz), plus two hemp inserts (nice and thin, but super absorbent!). Or if all the hemp ones are dirty, I’ll fold a washcloth in half and put it in with the microterry. No more wet jammies.
I just discovered your blog and I love it so far - I’ll have to bookmark it and come back for more when I have time.