Last [???] night time update

Well, I think night time issues are definitely a thing of the past for us.  I was getting by fine using the prefold/microfiber/pocket/fleece cover combination - I still got the occasional leak, but it was only if she had a super long sleep, and a bottle during the night. 

Last week decided that I would see what would happen if I added an extra microfiber insert, and used a pul cover - rather than inserting it all in a pocket...  So I added a Real Nappies night time booster pad on the top of the prefold, and put the microfiber insert under the first layer of prefold - used a pul wrap, and whaddya know - NO LEAKS... 

I actually preferred that combo over the pocket combo, so started using it each night, and so far there have been no leaks.  I think it's the extra layer of microfiber [Real Nappies night time booster pad has a top layer of microfleece so it can go against the skin] that helps to prevent any of the sneaky little leaks that I was getting with the pocket combo.  Another bonus to this little combo, is that it's a little trimmer - not having the fleece soaker over top actually makes quite a lot of difference, and I guess trimmer means it is a little more comfortable too.


Now my sister is having night time issues with my niece - so I am helping her find a combo for Bronny.  Night time issues are never ending it seems.

and it's solved.

Hooray - our night time issues are solved [insert exclamation mark here... since my keyboard exclamation mark doesn't work]

I have tried the Ecobubs, prefold, microfiber, fleece cover combination for two nights now, and both mornings she has woken up dry, we probably could have gotten away without the fleece cover both times... but since i made my first fleece cover, I've been wanting to use it LOL [did I even blog about my cover??? I don't think I did...].

It is such a relief to have this finally worked out, and I'm thrilled with the combo that eventually worked because it is actually really trim - I don't think it is a lot bulkier than a daytime diaper with two microfiber inserts inside it... and I think that helps Emersyn to sleep better at night too - night before last she slept through from 10.30pm [as usual she woke up during Desperate Housewives and the SERIES final of Brothers and Sisters...], and then last night she woke an hour after going to sleep, but went back to sleep after I gave her her dummy/pacifier - and didn't wake up until early this morning.

If it turns out that an uncomfortable diaper is what has been preventing Emersyn from sleeping through the night, I am going to kick myself.

Moral of the story - if you are having a hard time with cloth, keep at it, you will EVENTUALLY fix the problem, or find a new solution.... and then you will feel a whole new renewed love for the fluffy side of life.

Night time update, y'all

FINALLY.  

SUCCESS...

I think that after 4.5 months of battling leaks and explosions and frustration, I have finally found THE night time solution for us... well, for Emersyn. I posted last week about my success using a toddler prefold, bamboo insert and microfiber insert inside a pocket diaper... with a fleece cover over top - I'm still using much the same system, I've just refined it a little.  

To start with I was using a bamboo terry trifold insert, wrapped inside the prefold, but I decided to give the [trimmer] bamboo fleece a go... luckily that worked just as well as the bamboo terry.  I also wondered if there was a way to fold the prefold so it would actually be the length of the pocket, and I wouldn't have a bunch to fold over - which added a lot of bulk to the whole diaper... I remembered seeing infant prefolds being trifolded width ways, as opposed to length ways [see photo later in post], so I tried this and VOILA - it was the perfect length... it also cut down on quite a lot of the bulk, which if you remember was one of the issues I had with that whole diaper setup.  Last night I began wondering if I even really needed the bamboo inside the prefold - because I know the bigger prefolds are more absorbent, so decided to give it a go and leave out the bamboo.  This morning I was pleasantly surprised when there were no leaks.  

So if you've lost track, the new diaper 'set up' is a toddler prefold trifolded width ways, with a microfiber insert on top of the trifold - and then it's all inserted into a pocket, and a fleece cover is put on top.  I am now wondering if I can eliminate the fleece cover by using a better fitting pocket diaper... I have been using FuzziBunz petite, which fit Em well when they are just stuffed with microfiber inserts during the day, but I find that when they are stuffed to the max they gape at the legs, and the top of the diaper doesn't fit snugly on the tummy - that also gapes.  Those two issues were the reason I used the fleece - I knew the fleece would catch any leaks up the top, or down at the legs.

Upon a suggestion from one of my lovely blog followers, I decided to take another look at some pockets I have - Ecobubs woolen pockets... These are side snapping diapers, and I know they get a really nice fit around the tummy during the day, so I decided to put all my absorbency in and see how it looked on Emersyn.

BINGO.  It was a LOT trimmer than the FuzziBunz, and there was absolutely no gaping around the legs - and the fit across the tummy was nice and snug.  Obviously I need to wait until tomorrow morning to give an official verdict, but I think that if she wakes up leak free [or relatively, depending on how many bottles she has overnight, and how long she sleeps in the morning], we may have found our DREAM night time solution.

Here is a visual representation of the diaper composition, for those of you who like visuals...

step one - the toddler prefold, obviously pre trifolding.  if you look closely you can see the two horizontal lines in the fabric, which would normally be vertical

step two - sides of prefold are folded into the center.  again if you look closely you can see the two horizontal lines

step three - the prefold is then folded into a pad type shape [ie completing the trifold]

step four - the microfiber insert is then placed on top of the prefold

step five - the prefold and insert are then placed inside the pocket - microfiber closest to the microfleece layer [white] of diaper 

step six - 'here is one I made earlier' - place the diaper on the baby.  this photo was the actual diaper that Emersyn wore to bed - I decided to do a photo tutorial AFTER she'd gone to bed..

a better view of the fit around the legs

I will hopefully have a positive report in the morning.. I sure hope so anyway.  If it does work, I guess I need to invest in some more Ecobubs too...

Dare I mess with a good thing?

The last three nights we've had success with our overnight diaper [insert canned applause here]... the one issue I have with it, is the utter bulk of the whole thing.  I am wondering if perhaps using my trimmer bamboo FLEECE insert would make it just a tiny bit trimmer than the bulky [but admittedly very absorbent] bamboo TERRY insert.  I don't know if I want to try it and then fail... but at the same time, if I can make it a little trimmer - and find it's still working, then I win.  Well... Emersyn does... 

I guess it could be kind of like a process of elimination - who knows, perhaps all I REALLY need is the toddler prefold and the microfiber insert that I'm using on top of it all?  I've also been noticing the outside of the diaper is dry when I take it off in the morning - so maybe another possibility is not putting the fleece soaker over the diaper, which would also eliminate a little of the bulk.

End of the day, whether I try it or not, I know the prefold/terry/microfiber/pocket diaper combination works - and it isn't as if her waking up damp/wet is something new to me [or her], so maybe it is worth trying the different bamboo insert tonight, and seeing how dry [fingers crossed] she is in the morning....

Yes, I think that's what I'll do.  Hopefully tomorrow I can report back with positive news.... 

fingers crossed... aka night time diaper, take 10225

Righty ho ho ho....
Seeing as stuffing pockets worked pretty well at the end of last week, I've decided that tonight I shall again go with a stuffed-to-the-max pocket diaper, covered with my trusty fleece soaker.

For anyone who is interested, THIS is the combo I am using....

here we have a toddler size Real Nappies prefold, folded down to the correct length, with a trifolded bamboo booster in the center...

the said prefold is now wrapped around said bamboo insert... into a little parcel [as Gaby said]

But wait there is more [absorbency] - a microfiber insert is then placed on top of the little prefold parcel 

It was then all stuffed into a FuzziBunz petite pocket

the diaper was then placed on a very unhappy Emersyn.  Yes, it's rather bulky - but if it works, then it's worth it...

finally a fleece soaker is placed over top, for added protection...

 ... please wish us luck. It would be nice if this little combo actually worked, but I'm not really holding my breath, purely because nothing else really seems to want to work.  I do think there is enough absorbency there though, so who knows..

stay tuned. 

the night time diaper debacle... continues...

The stupid earthquake in February seemed to bring with it my what now feels like NEVER ending issue - finding the right night time diaper, or really the right night time diaper combination...  To begin with we were quite happily using a pocket diaper with two mirofiber booster inserts and an extra insert, or a microfiber booster, but then all diaper hell broke loose, and suddenly our tried and true combo just wouldn't work.

Sooooo I got hold of some bamboo trifold inserts and threw one of those in with our microfiber - very bulky - but it worked... for a start.  After that I began putting in two of the bamboo inserts instead of the microfiber - again it worked... sorta... but not well enough.  Eventually I began fooling around with prefolds and bamboo, and recently flats and bamboo [and covers, of course].  Both of those worked better than the bamboo-in-a-pocket combo, so perhaps I am on the right path?

What I know DOES work, is using fleece covers - I have a Bummis fleece cover that works well enough - but I do find if she gets too wet, it leaks out the sides and up the top.  I have a FunkyBumz fleece soaker which I LOVE - it works better than any other cover I have... and I'm also still using my fleece-blanket-cheapskate-cover - and may I add, still without a leak too.

So I generally know I'm okay if there is fleece on top - but preferably a cover with two layers of fleece [as with the FunkyBumz and my homemade pinnable cover].  I BELIEVE that pad folded flats may be the answers to all my night time issues, I have used them the last two nights in a row, and Emersyn has been dry upon waking.  To this point I have been using them inside pockets - primarily because of the staydry layer the microfleece on the inside of the diaper provides.  Tonight we might try something new though...

It's been suggested to me to use the padfolded flats, inside a cover - because the way a pocket goes when it is stuffed to the max, can sometimes cause leaks, purely because the urine rolls right off the diaper - and that makes sense.  So tonight... I'm giving it a go and trying the flats inside a cover, as always with a bamboo booster for a little extra absorption.  I will put the fleece soaker over top - because I really don't want her to wake up at 4am soaked through.... but maybe... just maybe... with the flats/cover combo, I won't need to worry about a fleece soaker.

I think that one of the reasons I've been having so many problems, is that lately Emersyn has been waking up once or twice a night for a bottle - so she ends up having a lot of urine output, and it makes sense that a diaper can't handle 12-14 hours with all of that output.  It can only be pushed so far before there is no more absorbency left.  The first night I used flats inside a pocket, she slept through completely - ie, no extra liquid intake/urine output, and then last night she had one bottle early in the morning - but luckily she still woke up dry.  Obviously one simple solution would be to change her diaper when she wakes, but for some reason it doesn't occur to me, particularly if she's woken me during a deep period of sleep... it's not unless she keeps me awake for a prolonged period that I think "ohhhh.. change her diaper"... so maybe I need to just try to remember to change her diaper when she's up during the night - but that is so much easier said than done, particularly with the sub-zero mornings we've been having lately.  Not that that's an excuse.

SO..... 
What I know works is fleece, flats and bamboo boosters. 
What I know annoys Emersyn is the lack of a staydry layer between her skin and the top layer of the diaper
The obvious solution seems to be:  Using flats, with a bamboo insert and some form of staydry layer, and a fleece cover over the top.
Still to work out is whether flats work better for Emersyn when they are used inside flats, or when they are used inside a pul cover with a fleece liner over top of the top flat [for the staydry layer].

I hope like heck that the above little 'equation' is my getting very close to the end of this whole debacle, and finally finding a night time solution that works.  I'd love to find a night time combo that isn't hugely bulky - but right now I'd take one that is horribly bulky and works, over a trimmer option that DOESN'T work...

.... I guess time will soon tell.

It's Stripping Time!

Not THAT sort of stripping!

There comes a time in every diapers life, where it becomes stinky & seems to be less absorbent than it should be - and this happens because of detergent build up (and other substances) within the fibres of the diaper (I find it generally only happens with microfiber inserts).  The way to get rid of this general stinky nastiness is through a method called 'stripping'.  There are various ways to go about 'stripping' (and no, none include a pole) - but my personal favourite is just putting the inserts through a decent hot wash & hot rinses, until no more detergent bubbles appear in the water.  I also add white vinegar for the last rinse, because white vinegar is magic - it helps neutralise the uric acid (which leaves the body via the urine) & the detergent residue, while at the same time softening the inserts.

Stripping isn't a fast process, so I will keep updating this blog post throughout the day (with photos too!) as I work my way through stink killer that is stripping.

TO BEEEEEEE CONTINUED!

UPDATE ONE:  Apparently in order to strip diapers (or do any form of washing), one needs to actually have a water supply!  Seems the council have turned off our water in order to do some repairs!

UPDATE TWO:  We're back in business... water is back on.  So here it is, my stripping cycle...

Step 1 - all the (clean) inserts in the washing basket, ready to be stripped

Step 2 - all the inserts in the washing machine, ready to be stripped

Step 3 - eureka!  We have water!  Inserts are put in a HOT wash, with no detergent

Step 4 - rinse cycle - lots of soap bubbles in the water coming out of the machine, keep rinsing until the water is free of soap bubbles

after 3 rinses there are no soap bubbles in the water, just bubbles from the water rushing out of the hose.  You could quite easily finish your stripping cycle here - spin the diaper inserts as usual & then hang them out or put them in the drier

Step 5 - I now add 1/2-1c of white vinegar

Into a final (lower water level) rinse the white vinegar goes...

and then it's done!  The machine stops, the inserts come out & go into the drier.... 90 minutes later they're nice and dry, soft & NOT SMELLY, and get stuffed back into the pockets from which they were removed.