I have a confession to make – shortly after writing this post about trying to find a good nighttime cloth diaper solution for Monster, I switched to using disposables during the night.
I switched over in the hopes that Monster would sleep for longer periods at a time (we’re still breastfeeding, so Monster typically wakes up 3-4 times a night to eat). It seemed to work for the first couple weeks, then Monster started cutting molars and a restful night’s sleep eluded all of us for about a month. Now that Mosnter’s molars have cut through, he’s gone back to sleeping longer periods at night, although some days are still better than others.
Given how much I extol the benefits of cloth diapers, I kind of feel like a cheater by using disposables at night. I still have plans to try to make my own fleece liners for nighttime use, but this summer has been hectic and every time I plan to go to the fabric store, something more pressing comes-up that needs to be dealt with immediately, and so the trip to the fabric store gets delayed.
I also have been looking into cloth diapers specifically designed for night-time (translation – really absorbent cloth diapers). However, these usually come with a pretty hefty price tag (typically starting at $25 for one diaper). I know, I know – given the rising cost of disposables, a $25 cloth diaper will pay for itself in approximately 4 months (since I only buy disposables at Costco, when they’re on sale – making them ~$0.20/ea). If I knew one of these diapers would keep Monster feeling dry all night long, I’d buy one in a heartbeat – my hesitancy is in spending that much on a diaper that DOESN’T end up working out.
So, with that in mind, do any of you cloth diapering mamas have any nighttime cloth diapering solutions? I’d love to hear them!
Mom! You know I hate wearing clothes!
Daytime diapering – rocking the cloth diaper (and chocolate smears on the face…)
Me & Monster 
Ha! We ended up using disposables at night too. There are fleece covers that work really well for holding in leaks, which was the first problem we tried to combat (since I disliked washing my sheets everyday): http://www.happybabycompany.com/Dancing-Bears-Bear-Bottoms-Fleece-Soaker-Night-Weight_p_131.html They are really hard to find though! But Alisdair hates feeling wet at night and I haven’t really found anything that works for that. I was doubling up prefolds and using a feel-dry insert for next to his body, but he would get so wiggly during the night and I know it’s because he felt wet.
At this point I think I’m just going to wait it out until he’s night-trained (he is dry about 1/3 mornings, so I do reuse the dry disposables) and then find something to try again for the next one.
Just found your blog (from the comment you left on mine) so don’t be surprised if there’s a mess of comments on super old entries… 🙂
I’m glad to hear I’m not the only one who uses disposables at night! I was doubling up on the prefolds as well and I used a fleece liner to help him stay dry, but it just didn’t cover enough and he would wake/ whimper once he go really wet and wouldn’t settle down until he had a fresh diaper on. That’s great you’re so far along on potty training already…we just started and so far it’s hit or miss…
I’n reference to sleeping all night; (Pat will roll his eyes up at this since he & you probably thought of this a year ago) is there a soothing sound or music that would occupy his senses at night without interrupting yours? (works for my tinnitus)
It’s a good suggestion and we did try it. Unfortunately he kept himself awake by humming along to the music and either emanating or identifying the white noise sounds we tried. It did help when he was really little though!
I’ve heard wool is a great option, maybe you could try it. My baby hasn’t arrived yet, but we have soakers for her.
Yes, I’ve heard the same thing about wool. Might give it a try this fall, once the weather gets cool. Thank for the suggestion!
It actually helps regulate temperature even in the summer =)