Help with leaks!

T

throne

New member
My baby is just over 2 weeks old and around 9lbs, and he leaks through absolutely everything. I wanted to use disposables for the first month or so until he was bigger, but he leaked through size nb and size 1 of various brands. My husband and I decided to go ahead and use our cloth diapers, and then he leaked through those too.
Please help me figure out what I'm doing wrong! I'm sick of the leaks. I'm unsure if the diapers even have time to absorb sometimes - he leaked really bad out of a disposable once, and the color changing line was still mostly yellow!
Anyway, most of our diapers are Alva pockets, and I've used 3 types of inserts: microfiber, bamboo, and charcoal/bamboo with gussets. We change our baby every 2 hours or less. He has leaked out of each kind of insert, both out the legs and up the back.
I'll upload a picture of my baby in a diaper once I figure out how (I've not been on reddit much in years and didn't post anyway).

https://imgur.com/z5eM06g
https://imgur.com/jK6RbuW
https://imgur.com/ipjdE7K
 
@throne Yeah, he's just not quite big enough for those diapers yet. I bet they'll fit next week when he's gained a pound or two. You want to make sure the white parts are inside the diaper, otherwise you'll for sure get leaks.

I remember having leaks with my son in disposables as well... I'm trying to remember what I did to fix it! I do remember I had to upgrade to huggies/pampers/up&up and not the super cheap publix brand I was using. It was like the brand I was using to begin with didn't have enough absorbent stuff in the back to stop the pee from just rolling down his skin and over the back of the diaper.
 
@throne If that ice cream diaper is an Alva one size pocket, you have it fastened as tightly as I put them on my 16ish lb six month old. Try overlapping the snaps.
 
@throne Are there any gaps in the legs or around the hips? Also, make sure none of the inner material is showing, cause it can wick to clothing.

If the fit is ok I'm thinking it's either compression leaks or just not enough absorbency. Microfiber and charcoal bamboo are prone to compression leaks. Try doubling up the bamboo (not the charcoals) and see if that helps. Or you can invest in hemp inserts (personally love thirsties) and you can lay a bamboo over one and stuff it that way.
 
@throne He looks like he might still be a bit too small for OS. If you google newborn hack for cloth diapers there are a few infographs that will have pictures that might help.
 
@throne I think what's happening is the pee isn't getting absorbed in the normal pee area because the diap is too baggy. If the pee shoots around instead of going straight into absorbent material, then it might hit a spot that has little or no absorbency and you'll get a leak.

Are your diaps used or new? The only other thing I can think of is repelling, so even if the pee goes to the right spot, it rolls off toward the legs or back.
 
@amerigo They're new, but I made sure to prep the bamboo inserts. They don't seem to repel since they're always soaked, but when I get a chance I'll test them with water.
 
@throne From what I know, bamboo's actually considered a synthetic material for the purposes of prepping. And even cotton though, I never prepped. You just have to be aware it absorbs less the first couple of times and that's it.

But you haven't used any fabric softener or anything like that, right?
 
@throne Are they wearing onesies, those can cause compression leaks. Also are there leg gaps? If he leaked through size NB and 1 sposies, and cloth, I don't think you're putting the diapers on properly. Cloth needs to be tight - they should be leaving small marks on the legs, but not bright red or irritated ones. Also the rise looks too high.
ETA: if they're also leaking out the back the issue is 100% fit
 
@throne Use Imgur to post a picture of him in a diaper so we can check that it fits him properly. At 9 lbs, he is probably too small for most one-size diapers - they're usually designed for >12 lbs.

If he's leaking out the legs and backs of both disposables and cloth, my first guess is that you're not fastening diapers tightly enough.
 
@karalea11 They always seemed pretty tight around his tummy, and that's the only place to adjust disposables. But I have no prior experience with babies so IDK.
 
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