The Quest for the Perfect Nighttime Diaper

Nighttime diapering is where I think many cloth-diaper enthusiasts meet their match. While diapering by day seems simple enough, it's another story altogether when trying to find a cloth diaper arrangement that works at night--one that minimizes leaks, keeps baby feeling dry, and can last for hours at a time. After all, the last thing anyone wants to do at 3:00 a.m. is change a sleeping baby's diaper (let alone a sleeping baby's pajamas or, worst case scenario, bedding)!

When I first began cloth diapering, I was nervous about nighttime. I learned quickly that my son is what they call a "heavy wetter"--he can soak a cloth diaper in very little time. I wondered how any cloth diaper could stand up to such a challenge. And so I Googled--and wasn't relieved by what I found there.

I did find a few bloggers' lists of favorite nighttime underwear, but reading these lists was mind-boggling: "An Imse Vimse wool cover with a prefold and a Joey Bunz Hemparoo insert." "FuzziBunz OS, double-stuffed." "Fleece-lined Happy Hempys with Thirsties inserts." "Goodmama with two bamboo doublers and a fleece soaker." It felt more like a game of assembling a Mr. Potato Head than information about how nighttime diapering works, and what the best products available are! Bear in mind, too, that I was new at this time to cloth diapering, had only experimented with one brand, and had barely even heard of these others. I wasn't keen on the idea of purchasing one of everything, "just to see."

So here's what I've come to understand: nighttime cloth diapering is doable, and there are several variables to consider--each of which plays a part in what type of nighttime diaper you choose.

FIT
A good nighttime diaper fits snugly, with no gaps at the back or legs. Obviously, every baby's physique is different, and therefore each baby's diapering needs are different in this department. If your baby's thighs, for example, are thinner than average, you'll need a diaper that allows for a lot of adjustment in that area. FuzziBunz OS diapers are extremely adjustable, and can be changed over time as your baby grows. You might also consider pull-on covers, such as those offered by Imse Vimse, which are snug at all openings.

ABSORBENCY
Of course, absorbency is of primary concern. A diaper's absorbency depends on the material it's made of, and there are a host of choices in this department: cotton, microfiber, fleece, hemp, bamboo...or any combination thereof.

Gro Baby diapers feature organic cotton inserts that count as six layers of absorbent material in one fairly slim soaker; they also have cotton boosters that can be layered in for extra absorbency. However, given the size of the soakers and boosters, usually only one soaker and one booster will fit in a diaper cover. Usually, this is enough for the average baby overnight.

Hemp and bamboo are both environmentally friendly, sustainable materials that are also exceptionally absorbent. You can get a lot out of an insert or doubler made of these, and they're usually quite thin as well (which is to your advantage if you plan to be layering these on top of other inserts or prefolds). Parents of "heavy wetters" would do well to purchase a few of these to have on hand--a good example would be Joey Bunz Hemparoos. These are simply hourglass-shaped inserts that can be layered in to almost any kind of diaper cover, which converts whatever you have in your stash already into a nighttime-worthy combination.

FEEL
Of course, what really matters is how Baby feels in his or her diaper. Nobody likes to feel wet! And so the construction of the diaper, and how the inserts work inside it, is very important. Some diapers, like bumGenius!, can stand alone without inserts, with a microfiber lining that wicks moisture away from the skin. FuzziBunz and Happy Heinies also operate as a pocket diaper with a microfleece lining that is very soft and leaves your baby feeling dry even after a full night's sleep.

Fleece is also a good choice for the diaper cover itself, as is wool. While the polyurethane-lined covers do an excellent job of keeping clothes dry, they don't always breathe well, and that can lead to discomfort in some babies. Fleece and wool covers, such as those sold by Bummis or Imse Vimse, can help wick moisture away if it gets through the diaper itself, while allowing for maximum airflow and comfort.

While it can be daunting to explore all of the options available for nighttime diapering, remember that your baby's daytime needs can help inform you of his or her nighttime needs, too. Observe how often he or she soaks a cloth diaper during the day, and that can help indicate to you how much absorbency is needed to get through the night. Experiment with different combinations of covers and inserts to determine your baby's comfort, and keep checking in as he or she grows Remember, as babies grow and no longer need to feed constantly throughout the night, the amount they will urinate through the night will also decrease; also, increased mobility means that diapers may not fit the same way they did when your baby was a newborn! If cost is an issue, consider the following options:

• Purchase different styles of diapers pre-owned, and therefore discounted;
• Invest in items that you know you'll use at some point, regardless of diaper choice, such as hemp inserts;
• Investigate the possibility of swapping with other local moms so that you can try out styles in their stashes, and they can try out yours!

Cloth diapering at night can be done, and it's worth it! Feel free to list your favorite nighttime diapers or diaper combinations as comments here for other moms to see.

Feed Your Stash Fridays!

The Cloth Diaper Blog, managed by Diaper Junction, does a "Feed Your Stash Fridays" giveaway each week. Check it out! This week's giveaway:

• 2 Bumkins OS contour diapers
• 1 Bumkins diaper cover
• 1 Bumkins Dirty Duds bag

Details and ways to enter can be found here.

Sleep, Baby, Sleep

One of the biggest struggles we've had so far in our parenting life is helping Matthew to sleep. From the beginning, he has resisted any and all forms of sleep. Our birth was long, arduous, and a little scary towards the end, and resulted in me not getting any sleep for roughly three days, so I began life as a mother already in a majorly depleted state--licking my wounds and hoping it would be better from now on. And while of course life is better with a baby in a lot of ways, with Matthew, it was not better from a sleep standpoint. And now, five months later, I wish I could boast of major improvements, but really the improvements have been slow and hard-won.

Let's just say that for the first three weeks of his life, Matthew did not sleep willingly. I remember everyone saying, "Oh, you'll be fine. Newborns sleep as much as sixteen hours a day. Just sleep when he sleeps." They obviously hadn't spent a lot of time around my son. He was nursing about every two hours or so, and in between we would do everything we could to convince him to sleep. We'd swaddle. We'd rock. We'd jiggle and bounce. We'd sing. We'd cuddle. We'd lay down with him. We'd put him in a sling. We'd take him for a drive. We'd offer him a pacifier. We'd play womb sounds. We watched The Happiest Baby on the Block and tried those techniques. We read what Dr. Sears had to say on the matter. All was to no avail. By the time we could convince him to close his eyes and stop crying, two hours would have passed and it was time to eat again. And did I mention he would usually cry for those two hours? So even if I managed to pass him off to my husband (or anyone else), I still wouldn't get to sleep because of the ruckus.

He was not at all interested in a pacifier at the time, although he'd suck on someone's finger (or me, obviously). It was never something that would help him to sleep, though. We did find some relief in giving him gripewater, so we thought perhaps he was having some colic issues. However, even now he struggles to get to sleep, and we know him well enough to know it's not usually pain that's keeping him awake. Honestly, we never know from day to day what is keeping him up.

By three months old, we thought we'd gotten the knack of things; we had a regular bedtime routine that seemed to do the trick and didn't take all night to accomplish. Around that age, he also started to get better at taking daytime naps. We noticed a direct correlation between his nap success and how well he did that night....more naps equalled better nighttime sleep, which seemed counterintuitive, but who were we to judge? Whatever works, right?

But then four months hit, and so did the notorious (as I learned) four-month-old wakefulness. Kellymom.com has some great articles about this. I learned it's just something you have to endure. Now my son is five months old, and things are normalizing again--at least until his next growth spurt.

The one thing we can't bring ourselves to do--even in spite of other mothers, friends, and family members who swear that it works for them--is to allow our son to "cry it out." Not only have I read enough material for a lifetime that shows the possibly damaging effects of this technique, it just doesn't feel right to me. There have been times when he's inconsolable and I can't stop him from crying, but I just sit with him and hold him close. He's allowed to be sad and frustrated, but I always want him to know he doesn't have to be those things by himself.

We also haven't really adopted co-sleeping into our repetoire, except for naps. In the beginning, I was worried about him sleeping on our bed because it's a very squishy pillowtop. He would roll easily into the divots made by our bodies. Now he's old enough where that's not really a problem, but because he still doesn't go to sleep easily, it's really not an option if any of the rest of us want to get sleep. I envy those for whom this style of sleep works well, but it's just not for us. If we have any other children, I'm going to consider getting a little sidecar to put right next to our bed.

He's now five months old, and we are just now getting to the point where we can lay him down in his crib awake and he can fall asleep without too much coaxing. This is definitely improvement, but like I said, it's hard-won. It's been months of trying all kinds of things to see what works, and re-trying them later on the off chance that, even if they didn't work before, they might work now.

Anyone reading this is welcome to post comments and questions about infant sleep. I'd like to hear any and all stories, suggestions, and insights!

Gro Baby Diapers: A Review

What better way to kick off this blog than a review of our favorite cloth diapers. Granted, we still haven't tried many (there are more on the way for us to try from Diaperjunction.com), but having used the Gro Baby system for three months, we're happy with them thus far.

Let me preface this by saying that we started out with a diaper service. I knew I wanted to use cloth, but when our son was born, we found the diapers provided by the service to be less than helpful. There were leaks everywhere, both poo and pee alike, and no matter what size of diaper or cover we used, we still ended up with a mess. We had to change his clothes at every diaper change--which for a newborn is a lot! And of course he didn't like having his diaper or his clothes changed at the time, so each encounter was torture for all involved.

So, sadly, we bade farewell to the service and resorted to disposables. We still had blowouts from breastfed baby poo, but at least fewer leaks. I couldn't escape the idea that we were slowly killing the environment with each change, but I couldn't deny the convenience, and the boy did seem to stay dry for the most part.

Fast forward to a visit to our local lactation store, Baby Beloved. I went there for another purpose, but noticed a display of the Gro Babies and was interested. I purchased the smallest package they offered (which is identical to the packages you'll find on other cloth diapering websites) and gave them a whirl. Here's my report:

FIT
The first big sell for these diapers is that they're all-in-ones, built to grow with your child (hence the name). They have three snap settings to choose from--newborn, infant, and toddler. I have heard from other bloggers that the newborn setting is a little small to comfortably contain the soaker pads, but I never knew this for myself, as my little guy was already big enough at 3 months to wear the infant setting (he was roughly 14 lbs. then). He's now over 5 months old, approaching 18 lbs., and still wears it on the infant setting comfortably.

One of the features I also enjoy in terms of fitting is that the velcro closures can be placed anywhere on the top-front of the diaper--ensuring a perfect fit every time, even as they grow. You can also purchase snap-fronts, or have your old velcro-fronts retro-fitted with snaps if you send them in to the Natural Baby Co. Since Matthew is figuring out how to grab on to the velcro and pull it, this might be something we look into in the future. The velcro itself is amazing--it's so soft, both on the "fuzzy" part and the "sticky" part--it never rubs or scratches my son at all. Three months of constant use and washing haven't worn it out, either.

Elastic around the legs and in the back make sure that everything stays in place. Sometimes I think the fit around the legs is a little snug, but it doesn't seem to bother him.

ABSORBENCY
The Gro Babies come with an organic cotton soaker pad that is six layers of absorbent material. This makes it considerably thicker than a standard prefold, but it is also hourglass-shaped to contour to the baby's body, which is nice. The result is a little bit more bulk on the butt than some moms might like, but we haven't had a problem with it. The soakers snap in and out, so no folding or stuffing of sleeves. This makes them very daddy-friendly, and we'll soon be requesting our daycare provider use them, too.

I suspect Matthew is a bit of a heavy wetter, so he absolutely must be changed every two hours in a soaker alone during the day. For overnights and traveling, you can throw in a booster pad that increases absorbency. We have worn these overnight several times without any leaks.

FLAIR
I have to admit, one of the first things that attracted me to the Gro Babies was how cute they were! The colors are lush and gorgeous, and just recently they came out with some prints, too. I can't wait until summer so the little guy can run around in his diaper!

The covers themselves are great--besides being stylish, they have a quick-dry mesh inside that helps keep baby dry. If the cover itself isn't soiled and might only be a little damp, you can set it aside to dry and switch it out with another in the meantime. They also have the laundry tabs already built in, although I'm finding I get a little lazy about making sure they're attached. I'm not too terribly bothered by diaper chains, though.

I really enjoy being out and about with my son in these diapers. They attract a lot of attention when I change him in public, and I'd like to think I've turned some moms on to cloth diapering who wouldn't normally be. When they see how easy they are to use, cloth diapering seems possible. Just throw a few soakers, an extra cover, and a water-resistant tote in your diaper bag, and you can go wherever!

Overall, we're really happy with Gro Baby. I have heard some discussion amongst bloggers that the company-recommended amounts of soakers and covers to have on hand might be more than one really needs, but we haven't found that to be true. We have ten covers and maybe 16-18 soakers, and find that it's perfect to get us through a couple of days between washes, with a couple left over for while the wash is running.

I would like to add that the company suggests washing them a minimum of 3-5 times before use (the soakers, not necessarily the covers) for maximum absorbency. This is absolutely true! Please don't wash them once and then be disappointed by leaks. Once we had our first set of them in service, we bought another bunch to use, and even after 3 washes, you could definitely tell the difference between the new ones and the ones that had been washed more than 5 times. It takes 10 washes to reach full capacity, so be patient!

Welcome to Issa's Mommy Blog!

Hi everyone! My name is Issa, and I'm a first-time mom to Matthew. At the time of this writing, he's five months old. It's been a wild adventure getting to know him, learning how best to care for him, and figuring out what a baby needs!

But that's why I started this blog. I realized the value of other bloggers' reviews of products, ideas, and so forth early on--it guided many of our choices early on, and continues to do so (although we get more and more adept and confident as we go). We are firm believers in breast feeding, cloth diapering, and earth-friendly baby products and practices, so expect to read a lot about that here.

I also created this space as a way to keep friends and family updated about Matthew and his growth. There will be many pictures!

Thanks for stopping by!