6 week old HEAVY wetter

[howzat]

My 6 week old boy is a super heavy wetter. He can and will piss through anything you throw at him. Unsure if he's flooding or just has the bladder of a full grown man but he wets through literally everything we put on him. The entire nappy and insert(s) are always absolutely soaked through when we take them off. Sometimes we don't even get half an hour out of a nappy before he's wet through. Cotton trifolds sitting on top of a pocket, trifold in a cover, bamboo and hemp, bamboo terry, booster with a wash cloth, bamboo charcoal, microfiber, microfleece.

He's a big boy at almost 6kg already and we get a good seal on the legs and recently got a fit check and made the suggested adjustments to no avail. My husband and I are both ready to quit. Except he leaks through disposables too.

I've got some wool covers on the way and I'm hoping they save our cloth journey.

 

[celticpiping]

@howzat Hello from a mom of another 6 week old boy who pisses like a racehorse.

I use something like this for overnight. I do not use this exact one, it was just what came up when I googled. The key is that it’s a wrap-around fitted cloth diaper and then I put a cover over it. Tips and tricks: I use either the fleece booster that comes with it or I use a bamboo charcoal booster folded over in front near his penis for extra absorption. Then I unsnap the rise snaps on the cover so it is at the largest size possible. Now it properly covers all of the extra fluff I have stuffed around him, because it gets bulky. Because he is just sleeping in it, I feel fine about the bulk.

I change his diaper 1-2 times a night, depending on what type of booster I am using and experience. I cannot get away with a whole night of just 1 diaper, he soaks through it all. I find the wrap around material catches more pee than just a flat or prefold.

Finally, if he is soaking through everything you’ve got, it makes me wonder if your wash routine is building up ammonia and making your cloth diapers non-absorptive? What’s your wash routine? I’ve had it happen to me, and stripped them and started over. They started absorbing again, it’s not hard, don’t go buy new diapers because of it.

Finally, if he soaks through disposables too…. How often are you changing him? I change every 30-1 hour depending on the type of diaper I am using during the day. Because I use prefolds/flats with a cover, I re-use the covers and just change the cloth part. It’s easy, fast, and not a big deal. I have enough prefolds and flats to last me 2-3 days before washing, and I prefer how customizable it is with the covers versus and all-in-one or an all-on-two. Like if I know I am leaving the house and it might be 1.5 hours before I can change him, I add a booster or choose a bigger flat.

Final final thought — I ignore the age recommendations on the pre-folds and just fold them how I need to fit them. Like the blue-edged green mountain flats are fine for around the house (marketed as suitable for 0-6 month I believe), but it would never last us for an outing. I use bigger flats for that.

Happy to answer any other questions!

 

[howzat]

@celticpiping Our wash routine is currently:

Prewash daily on a 1 hour, 60° cycle with 1/4 stain remover and 1/4-1/2 cap of detergent depending on how many nappies, cloths etc are in it and then dry pailed
Main wash every other day at 60° 2 hour cycle with 1/2 cap stain remover and 1/2 cap detergent

The inserts go in the dryer and the shells on a clothes horse as it's currently winter and nothing is drying outside at the moment! We have a large haul so everything is rotated pretty fairly!

Bulk at night definitely doesn't bother me either as he's swaddled in a jersey wrap so there's lots of space for bulk. Our night nappy set up seems to be working really well so far, he usually only wakes once overnight (don't hate me). It's during the day that's the problem!!! When I've tried the night time set up during the day he's leaked through it which is why I'm just scratching my head.

During the day he's changed anything from hourly to 3-4 hourly depending on sleep, feeds, if we're out etc or whenever he's done a poop it gets changed immediately. Sometimes I'll change him right before walking out the door, drive 15 mins to an appointment and in that time he's already soaked through everything. When I get him up in the morning I immediately change him and then feed him and most mornings by the end of the feed he's already wet through that nappy.

I've got new hemp/bamboo inserts that I'm trying to build the absorbency in.. is there a way to do it faster than just washing and drying repeatedly??

Thanks for your help!!!

 

[celticpiping]

@howzat Hoping a more experienced person than me chimes in — this is so baffling.

Hemp bamboo inserts — not that I know of, just keep washing them.

Okay, now I am really confused. Might check your wash routine against the sidebar/wiki, but it seems fine to me. What detergent are you using? I use Tide free and clear. Pre wash is a straight rinse cycle no detergent. Then a full wash cycle on hot with a full cap of tide free and clear with the extra rinse extra spin setting. But your wash routine seems fine. When I had the ammonia build up which repelled liquids I was using rockin green cloth diap detergent which was sadly marketed as cloth diaper specific but was the worst for my diapers.

Final thought — are your covers used? The elastic on some of my used covers need to be replaced, and are currently too loose to use on the legs of my 6 week old boy. I only have about 5 covers I am using right now that properly seal around his leg…. When I do not get a good leg seal/make sure to tuck all the fluff in around his leg, yes, I get leaks through the his clothes.

Otherwise, all that to say I am so sorry! This is super frustrating! You change as often or more often than I do during the day and so I am equally baffled for you….. other option is to start trying different folds with pins or snappis. I like the jelly roll, which is shown how to do in the link I included.

 

[kamienzen]

@howzat I would try doubling the microfiber and bamboo/hemp. Microfiber will wick it away quickly and the bamboo hemp with hold more.
Other combinations I have used are cotton flour sacks towels with bamboo, and bamboo/microfiber with a hemp booster.

 

[jedi4christ]

@howzat Try bayrli inner with their cover. Lifesaver

 

[howzat]

@jedi4christ Unfortunate the shipping is $50!!

 

[jedi4christ]

@howzat Wow. Where are you based?

 

[howzat]

@jedi4christ Australia

 

[ondistantshores]

@howzat There are hemp fitted nappies from https://www.babybeehinds.com.au/ and night nappy options too which may help with heavy wetter. Their inserts are very good quality.