I have a new 10 month old, chunky, cute little girl in my care. She is in cloth diapers and everyday her diapers leak. Today she was only here an hour and had a bad leak, other days it'll only be an hour and a half and her diapers leak. I change everyone every 2 hours, more if needed of course, but with our schedule, 2 hours has never been a problem for others. I had another dcb in cloth and this never happened. I asked mom how often she changes her and she said about every 2 hours, I don't see how she doesn't leak at home.

So my question is, what can I suggest for mom to do? Sometimes I can't constantly check her and I don't want poo or pee on my carpet or on any of the furniture. I'm not too familiar with what is available to stop leaks for cloth diapers and when I talk to mom, I want to sound like I know what I'm talking about. Here's a picture to show what kind she uses.

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You can ask mom to cover the diaper with plastic pants.
You can also ask mom about her stripping procedures. If the diapers have too much build up on them, they will not absorb and will leak.

Both my under 2's are cloth diapered and I'm noticing that I can't go 2 hours between changes or they diaper does leak. I am having to check about every 90 minutes or so instead. In my opinion, the "green-ness" of cloth diapering outweighs the annoyance I have at having to be more on top of the diaper checks.

It could also be the liners... my one DCG has two liners (pads) inside hers and I think that helps a lot because the liners are usually so thin and very short. My DCM overlaps the two liners to make it longer but double coverage in the center where DCG pees. The other mom has a boy so she overlaps his liners in the front more.

HTH That's all I got for now.

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Thanks!
This is what I figured, but you never know what inventions they come up with next, there could be some super cloth diaper absorber that I don't know about or something....lol

My other cloth diaper mom would fold and overlap too. She probably just needs to double up.

I always wonder if it would be faux pas ( not sure if that's the term I'm looming for) to ask for plastic pants when the child is in cloth. I do put the bm diapers in a plastic bag and they have not said anything about sending plastic home.

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I know nothing about the taking care of cloth diapers, but the one I have here - when there is an issue like this - his mom says she needs to bleach them. After this process it seems to help.

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All my cloth diapering parents double line their heavy pee kids PLUS they add a disposable liner to catch poop.. toss and put cloth diaper in the wet bag as normal

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Where is it leaking from?
What type of fabric (microfiber, bamboo, cotton) is the insert and how many are in the diaper?
Let's start there.

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The fabric is cotton on the inside and looks like nylon (I think) on the outside, and mom only puts one insert in. It's leaking out the sides. Dcg is super chunky so I try to remember to stretch the sides out around her rolls...lol
I talked to mom about it and had her check to be sure I was putting them on right, and I was. Mom did bring lots of extra pants so I'm wondering if it happened at the other dc too. No one brings 5 pairs of extra pants..kwim?

This morning, I checked her pants, they were dry. I then gave her a bottle and by the time she was done, (about 2 min.) she soaked all the way through and onto my jeans.

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I have that exact diaper, same color as well, for my daughter. How many inserts are in it? If only one then she NEEDS to put two in there.

Also, try pulling the diaper up in between the crotch and before fastening it grab the crotch area of the diaper and SQUISH it so it compresses to be skinnier in between the legs. No leg rolls should be in it at all or it will likely leak.

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I am a cloth diapering mom and I actually use plastic pants over my super peer that I convinced to use cloth diapers on. She just floods her diapers (she is 2.5, to be fair) and it can't absorb fast enough. This keeps the green factor/less chemicals thing/less money spent going and keeps her clothing and my stuff dry.

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I was hoping you would chime in...I knew that you do cloth diapers with your dd.

BINGO! I think that's what I'm doing wrong! I've been putting the rolls in the diaper! My line of thinking was that if I put the rolls in, they would stop the wetness from coming out.

And mom only puts one insert in, I'll have to ask her to put two in.

I have plastic pants here, maybe I'll just put them on her when she gets here and take them off at her last change. Or tell mom to bring some.

I'll put the rolls in after nap and see if that helps, thanks!

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I would definitely use two inserts and make sure the leg creases of the diaper are where your underwear creases would go. Pull all those cute leg rolls out of the diaper

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Makes perfect sense! I think backwards sometimes..

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I am cracking up at the mental picture of you shoving the rolls into the diaper legs praying nothing wet comes out! LOL!

I just use the plastic pants I have here and didn't even bother asking this Mom. My logic was...it is MY STUFF I don't want her getting wet so I will just use what I have here. But, maybe without the rolls being in it you won't have any issues! I can almost 100% guarantee that without the rolls in it AND a second insert that you will have 0 issues. If you want to try it before Mom comes today, just take another insert out of another clean diaper that is already there and shove it on in. Grip the top of it with your hand and shove your hole arm in there until you reach the edge.


Also, for the poster that talked about bleach...bleach is used to kill yuckies on a diaper like maybe yeast. But, it will not help absorption AT ALL. Maybe that Mom strips her diapers to get the build up off?

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Yeah, yeah, I have no idea what I was thinking! Because you know, waterproof skin stops leaks... Sometimes I wonder about myself.

She just woke up and had a bottle. I made sure to pull the rolls OUT of the diaper this time!
We will see. And I will talk to mom about putting another insert in. I can't imagine why they wouldn't anyways, less laundry maybe?.

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I once had this problem with a cloth diapered dcg. Turned out dcm was applying cream at home that wasn't fully coming off when she washed the diapers. Dcm thought the homemade cream was safe for cloth diapers but it simply wasn't fully coming out in the wash. After discontinuing the cream (except when using only disposables) and stripping the diapers, dcg had no more leaks.

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My little one is in cloth, when she wakes is barely wet. So if we change her right away. She will soak her first diaper and we end up changing every thing. But if we wait 20 minutes, she fills the night diaper with the double layer in and no leaks.

Other than that we tend not to get leaks, except when I was new at the whole thing and was not washing right for my water type.

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Doesn't bleaching the cloth diapers ruin them? Aren't they supposed to be "sun bleached"? Maybe DCM IS actually bleaching them and thereby ruining them accidentally?

I don't have any advice as I don't have much experience with cloth, but I'm considering cloth diapering my own (future) children, so this thread is great! I love this board

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See, my kid is a super peer so her nighttime diaper is as follows...Kawaii Heavy Wetter/Overnight diaper with 2 microfiber inserts and 1 hemp insert in the pocket, 1 charcoal bamboo insert laid on top with microfleece covering that, and then topped with a Thirsties cover since those 4 layers still soak all the way through and will get her jammies and bed wet. If she wakes, we change her as well. She pees so much. It is crazy.

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People say it can ruin the PUL fabric (waterproof part in most diapers) or make the elastic shot. But, really...no....it is good to do it once a month or so. I cant remember what expensive brand reccommends that?? Bumgenius??

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That's good to know! Thank you!

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Just curious - how do you 'strip' the diapers? I cloth diapered mine but that was before all the fancy stuff. We just had all-cotton diapers and folded them to fit (the folding method was the 'fancy stuff' back then) and pinned them on
If the diapers are cotton (the inserts) why wouldn't the diaper cream wash out of them like it did from the old cotton diapers?

I have cloth-diapered with BumGenius for several children, but I just used what the parents brought for diaper cream. I am a modern cloth-diaper-idiot.

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Stripping only happens if you use diaper cream or the wrong detergent for your water type. Process is to use something like bleach (some use vinegar) and hot water to remove the cream or soap out of the diaper. Some will boil the diapers while I just washed over and over checking the water for suds and gray water. once the water was clear, i rinsed again to remove the bleach and prevent the bum for ammonia burn. I never had diaper cream issues so I did not have to do the covers just the microfiber inserts.
I switched detergent added water softener for my water type and then added vinegar to the rinse cycle to help remove any keep the inserts from getting any build up. Have not needed to strip since. (some will use blue dawn dish detergent to remove the cream, others do not recommend because you are adding to soap build up)

I found that if you use prefolds, flats, flour sack towels or receiving blankets to stuff the diaper with instead of microfiber, stripping is not needed. It is the microfiber, that is man made, which causes the most issues with cloth diapering. Which most diapers come with microfiber unless you upgrade to hemp or bamboo inserts.

Another reason that the DCG leaks is the compression issue with microfiber. Although they are great with absorbing, the leak when compressed, which is why they microfiber is great to clean up spills, they soak up quick and rig out almost dry.

For those of you who are considering, cloth diapers and are interested, there is a forum that.

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Thanks, 284878 (Is it okay if I think of you as R2D2-C3PO?)
I didn't realize that the inserts were not always cotton. I guess I just figured that it was kind of a "natural" movement, so it would be a natural fiber. I suppose people have any number of reason that they cloth diaper though

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Back when I began using them on kids there were many crunchy mamas doing the same. Now, it seems like it is a money saver for a lot, and that is why they do it, so I will start talking to a mom assuming she's crunchy or semi-crunchy and she has NO IDEA what on earth I am talking about in other areas. Ooooops.

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They are so expensive though People really use them to save money?
(Realize this I have never bought disposables either, so I have no real idea of the expense.) I will say that the fabricated diapers are easier to use than the old ones, and even though I liked folding my child's diapers ( weird huh) the new ones would be a breeze. Not sure if I'd like all the special care though. I just did a double-wash cycle on ours and hung them out for the sun to bleach

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For those interested in cloth diapering, there is a Facebook page called fluff love & CD science that has all the info on washing, stripping and disinfecting. They also have a list of cloth diaper safe creams and the best detergents for your water type.
Everything is confusing at first but once it's all laid out in of you, it's really simple.

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Expense is really up to you. Flats and prefold are still available and are the cheapest and easiest route. Now days they use wool cover or PUL instead of plastic pants. I got Alva brand pocket and it was 1/2 the cost of the name brand diapers and work just as good. And it is the microfiber that cause so much trouble, if you stuff with prefold, it works better. (Gerber prefolds are not recommend, man made fabric in the middle) Washing is no trouble, you just have to avoid some of the (new) wives tales about washing them.

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My daughter was in cloth diapers. The pocket diapers (the kind where you stuff the insert) ALWAYS leaked almost instantaneously. She was super teeny tiny too! Prefolds/covers almost never leaked! I changed her roughly every 3 hours when she was in them. Prefolds are more "work" - as in you have to oragami fold them and then snap the cover on - but after a while I could do the whole process in about 10 seconds.

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I have started building my stash (no kids yet but I use my nephew as my test subject). I buy a lot used but the main part of my stash will be new (and are a little pricey). I will be spending around $700 total. These will work for all my kids (hopefully at least 3). So 3 kids in diapers will cost. $700..... Way cheaper than 3 kids going through sposies. Also, diapers have a great resale value.
So $700 total to diaper all my children and that's not even the cheapest way to do it.

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Woo hoo! I make/sell cloth diapers on the side so I'm thrilled to see so many people NOT on a cloth diaper board who know about them!

IME cloth diapers need to be changed a little more often than disposable, and they definitely need plenty of absorption. I've also found that microfiber doesn't hold wetness as well as natural fibers - it'll absorb quickly but the wetness will wick out with pressure, like if she's sitting or lying down. Natural fibers absorb a little more slowly but hold wetness better.

Another problem could be that the PUL (waterproof fabric) is breaking down and letting wetness through. Or it could be that the diaper doesn't fit around her legs well and wetness is leaking out.

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We used wool diaper covers They were really dense wool, I think they were "felted" or something like that. My mom made them in the 50's

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