Help a lazy Alva-pocket-diapering person graduate to something better for overnight?

M

morehimlessme

New member
Baby is almost 11 months and started sometimes leaking overnight with one-size Alva pockets that are stuffed with:
In the morning the inserts are completely soaked through. These are def not just compression leaks (for context we never have leaks with 2 polyester inserts in Alva pockets for 2-3 hours during the day).

I worry that stuffing the pockets further would be hard and possibly uncomfortable for the baby?

I was thinking of investing in a 5-pack of fancy schmancy all natural super duper absorbent diapers for overnights? Grovia? Workhorses? We've never used anything but cheapie Amazon pockets with cheapie Amazon inserts inside, so in a way we're still beginners.

My husband does bedtime 90% of the time and doesn't have the patience for a high learning curve, so I still want to stay away from baby origami (i.e. flats are probably out).

We have a pretty intense wash routine that includes 3 cycles in the washer and 2 cycles in the dryer on low. I don't want to add any extra laundry work. Line drying is not an option in our apartment.

What would work for us for overnight diapers? TIA :)
 
@morehimlessme We use baba and boo pocket nappies exclusively. We use one insert (and liner) in the day time and have recently boosted him up to 1 Little Lamb microfibre booster, 1 Alva charcoal booster and now he has 1 extra insert. It’s bulky but does the job and he’s not bothered about the bulk.
 
@morehimlessme I used Elinfant fitteds overnight with my son. They are a hemp fitted and come with a hemp insert and bamboo insert and is lined with coffee fleece. They worked well as far as leakage goes, but I can't stand the smell of overnight pee on a cloth diaper in thebmorn so we ended up just doing disposables.
 
@morehimlessme Woah a lot of down votes over this one! I think it's to do with all over absorbancy and compression leaks. Pockets are made out of thinner material than night time nappies and even if you stuff them a lot you are more prone to compression leaks, especially with a wriggly baby! Night time nappies are thicker and more absorbent and you don't have to over stuff anything. Plus have you felt those things? They are soooo soft!

Don't get me wrong my baby has nap times in pockets, but for longer 12 hour stretches she definitely has a night time nappy. This is pretty the consensus in all my UK nappy groups too, so it must be a UK vs the world thing.
 
@morehimlessme If you can afford it, then sure, get a few Grovia ONEs for nighttime! It’s great that they’re distinct diapers for your husband to grab. This is what we did for a while and it worked great. However, it won’t last forever. I can’t recall exactly when, maybe 17 months? But baby will outwet it. Then you can add a booster or they become a great daytime diaper.
 
@morehimlessme We are doing pockets, tons of Alva (and a few other brands), and also new to this.

I learned from this sub that microfiber isn’t super at holding onto moisture but absorbs fast and hemp isn’t a fast absorber but holds a ton. We are brand new to this with a six week old, but we do sleeping diapers with the new microfiber inserts that came with my new diapers (vast majority of my stash is used but I do not bother with the old microfibers at all, thanks to this sub) closest to baby’s bottom and then a Thirsties hemp insert as the second layer further. Interior of diaper, microfiber, hemp (hemp cotton blend I think technically), exterior of diaper.

The hemp is so absorbent, it takes a long time to dry. But with two dry cycles, you’re probably fine. In our condo, we also can’t line dry outside, but we do have a laundry rack so if the hemp isn’t totally dry, I hang them to finish or will run them in the dryer by themselves for just a bit after the rest of the load is done.
 
@morehimlessme I use a cotton prefold (4-8-4) and do a two fold after having folded down the top third to make them fit in my Alva pocket. So I have 36 layers over his crotch (which I need as he’s a tummy sleeper). Currently that’s enough absorbency for him, although he occasionally leaks through if he’s had heaps to drink at dinner. I have hemp inserts for when the prefold isn’t enough on its own. My son in 16 months old.

But as per some of the other comments, I would also recommend replacing your microfibre insert with a more absorbent hemp or hemp blend insert.
 
@morehimlessme I use a green mountain prefolds with the microfiber insert on top (closest to baby's butt in the diaper. It works pretty well for us. I recently bought some five layer 100% bamboo inserts off of Amazon, and I occasionally put one of those in (and I can usually leave the microfiber out and get a better result).

I have specific diapers that are for night (specifically a set of six that I decided would be for night), and I always stuff them the same way. My baby is actually a year old today, and they are still working great!
 
@jaysj84 Microfiber or microfleece?

I do the same thing but I just bought some fleece from joann's and cut it to fit inside the GMD prefold/fitted.

It's my understanding microfiber shouldn't touch baby's skin.
 
@katrina2017 I was trying to imply that it's inside the pocket. I was very tired when typing all that out. Meant prefolds and microfiber inside the pocket, or alternatively omit the microfiber all together and use a five layer bamboo insert with a prefold inside the pocket.
 
@morehimlessme I switched to a fitted overnight, with a wool
Cover. Boost it with whatever you have handy. I have the motherease fitteds - they were only $10 each. Sooooooo worth every penny to just have a straightforward, soft & squishy, leak free system (compared to finagling different inserts and combos for my oldest to last overnight. Then attempting to snap that giant combo into her regular PUL cover without leg gaps and leaks)

You could also use the airflow covers with the motherease fitteds.
 
@hair I have had success overnight with the same combination. I boost the fitted with a hemp insert and use a Disana cover. It's quite simple to put on and we have no leaks. Only downside is that it can be bulky and may not fit under all pajamas.
 
@morehimlessme I'd replace the microfiber too.

The gerber prefolds are 2x3x2 (I think), so trifolded that's 7 layers, plus 3-ply. so you're at ten. The only way I got a prefold to work overnight with my son was trifolding the next size up (Large 4x8x4 for 16 layers of absorbency, then folding the top down a bit so it would fit, giving us a total of 32 layers where it counted) or doubling the large and medium (again for 32 layers of cotton).

My personal solution is a MotherEase OS fitted with an airflow cover. That's sufficient for my daughter right now. When she needs more absorbency (soonish), I'll add a nb prefold. IICR we upped that to a medium prefold for my son around 15 months.
 
@morehimlessme I've been using two hemp inserts in my Alva pocket diapers for a year now for overnights. I belive we've only had leaks like 2 or three times in that time span. So its pretty good. They're best bottoms brand inserts i bought on nikkis diapers website.
 
@morehimlessme You'll want something with bamboo. A lot of them come with microfiber (which is what your Alva inserts are, not polyester) so you'll want something that's pure bamboo. Not hard to find on Amazon.

Thing is bamboo can be slow to absorb so you'll want something like cotton to absorb faster but then use the bamboo with it for better absorbency. Your prefolds would be fine for this.

What you probably don't know is microfiber doesn't do well after a while. You might've learned this if you had to go from one insert to two during the day. I stopped using mine a few months in but a lot of folks say they don't really last a year. That's why most of us use something else at least part of the time. Other inserts tend to last much longer. Definitely worth the investment, whatever you decide.

Good news is you can still use your MF inserts as a booster or during the day if they're holding up well for a few hours. They also make for great cleaning cloths around the house if you decide to stop using them or get enough of other inserts to use them less.
 
@morehimlessme How about replacing the microfiber with a hemp blend insert? Hemp absorbs way more than microfiber but absorbs slower. But you have the cotton if the prefolds, so that should absorb fast enough.

Hemp inserts are fairly trim and you could just add one (or even two if you had to) to your existing set up.

We have thirsties pockets that came with the thirstiest hemp insert. Green Mountain Diaper also sells hemp blend boosters/ inserts.
 
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