Me and night nappies - hunt for a soloution!

[Dollyroux]

Hi all,

Yup ANOTHER night nappy question.
I currently have my daughter full time in cloth during the day. We use mainly pocket nappies - Bumgenius and greenkids with a few itti bittis and BBH thrown in for good measure.

At about 3-4 months, cloth no longer did the job for night. I tried BBH with a woollen lanolised cover, boosted in numerous different ways and amounts as well as extra boosting a Greenkids in different ways and amounts.

She always seemed to end up with a wet back no matter what I did - sometimes sopping and sometimes just damp. BBH boosted with a wool cover and or Greenkids boosted seem to work well for a lot of people but not for my DD!

So I'm now on the hunt for a night nappy. I would prefer something that had a stay dry inner but can lose that cause I have a few stay dry liners. I think I would prefer a velcro/aplix close to a snap close but can also be flexible.

As most of the night nappies out there seem to be around $35 plus, I don't want to do to much searching and wasting of money.

Things I have heard of that seem to be popular are:
Mandy Macs Purple nights
Good night sleep tight
Sandman
Maz night nappy

Would like to hear your thoughts on the above and any other recommendations/suggestions/ponderings/pros and cons etc.

DD currently seems to be in a medium for sized nappies but we tend to use OSFA/M.

Thanks in advance ladies!

[Arimeh]

What combination did you use in the green kids? Cos I use them on both of my heavy wetters and they work fine for around 13 hours. I also use Genesa Forge Super night nappies and snoozywuns. GNST only JUST work in this house, its sopping wet by the time morning comes around.

[Gigi]

Night nappies need to collect liquid for up to 12 hours, so are very different from day nappies.

Typically, they have AT LEAST and often more than double the amount of absorbency layers, that a day nappy has.

With POCKET night nappies, you can customise the amount of absorbency layers, to what your child needs.

e.g put in a bamboo trifold (6 layers say) and a bamboo booster (3 layers) - so a total of 9 layers,

if that is not sufficient absorbency, the next time, try two bamboo trifolds (12 layers)

if that is not enough, try two bamboo trifolds, and a bamboo booster (15 layers)

So when you look up night nappies, the important things are:

- what is the outer made out of (for pockets and aio style)? PUL is not great for long wears.

- what is the rise of the nappy? what is that compared to the rise of my child?
measure her rise before you buy anythign.

• get a tape measure
• start at her navel, take tape down under her legs and up the other side
• stop measuring at the small of her back
• that is your baby's NAKED RISE.

(when you shop for a night cover, take the RISE measurement OVER the night nappy.)

- notice which type of closure of nappy, suits your baby best. then look for night nappies that close in the same way. e.g front snappers, side snappers, aplix.

- you can buy FITTED night nappy and COVER e.g the sandman, goodnightsleeptight by bubblebubs, Wildchild OSFA fitted night nappy. Night covers need to be a higher rise than the nappy, to adequately cover ALL of the night nappy.

- you can buy POCKET night nappy e.g Drybees fleece pocket, Kester Kovers pocket made by Possum pouches, bits for bots fleece pocket (all are Malden Mills windpro fleece)

- you can buy AIO or AI2 night nappy e.g Kester Kovers aio, Widdlewun's "snoozywuns", Fluffy Bubs "Dreams".

When you are starting out with night nappies, i think quick turnover is key, having quick dry ones. pockets and all in twos fit that criteria, as long as you buy MORE bamboo trifolds, than you have nappies. as the pocket or ai2 shell dries fast, but the bamboo takes longer.

i liked the fitted night nappies later on when the wee output was higher. (for my child).

How you dress the baby for bed can contribute to the success of the night nappy.

no tucking pj tops or singlets INTO the nappy for example.

for us, putting baby to sleep in polar fleece sleeping bag didn't work, everything got wet, so we used cotton sleeping bags over night nappy and that worked great.

putting firm fitting pj pants or onesies that snap at the crotch can cause compression leaks, so size up the clothing items, or use a woolly pair of longies instead of pj pants. they double as a night cover for the nappy too.

Fit of the night nappy is crucial, any gapes will likely result in leaks.

A brand new bamboo night nappy will need to be pre-washed three times before the bamboo works up to maximum absorbency.

think hard about YOUR baby, her measurements adn needs and the product you are considering. it doesn't matter is product X works for 99 other babies, they might have a different rise, different body shape, different wetting pattern. it matters what suits YOUR baby.

don't be shy to email the makers and tell them your bub's measurements, ask them for advice.

doing these things will dramatically reduce your chance of buying unsuitable items.

i know because i bought blind first of all, it was very expensive way to learn. when i started measuring and asking questions, suddenly it all fell into place and i stopped buying things i coudnl't use on my child.

it's not that any of the night nappies are bad, it's just that they are all different and suit different shaped bubs.

there is a great useful thread on the nappycino forum called Saga of the Night Nappy, well worth reading for troubleshooting tips.

hth

[Dollyroux]

Hi Ladies thanks for your replies

Arimeh,

From recollection I had tried Green Kids
Bamboo insert x 2
Bamboo insert x 1, Bumgenius microfibre x 1
Bamboo insert x 2, Bumgenius microfibre x 1

I didn't actually have any of the bamboo boosters, but do now. What is working for you?

Thanks Gigi - your post has actually made me think about what I like and what I would want in a nappy.

Another question - I tend to prefer pockets, but do you think it's better at night to have a double barrier - eg fitted and cover? I know you have kinda answered this Gigi but I'm just wondering...and I might as well get those thoughts answered while I can.

In the meantime I'm on the hunt for an aplix closing pocket night nappy!

Thoughts?

With thanks!

[Arimeh]

We use this combo with the green kids:
1 x microfibre, 1 x bamboo insert, 1 x bamboo booster. Works a treat.

[Dollyroux]

Allright, I'll give that a go overnight Arimeh and report back! Ta

[Gigi]

Another question - I tend to prefer pockets, but do you think it's better at night to have a double barrier - eg fitted and cover? I know you have kinda answered this Gigi but I'm just wondering...and I might as well get those thoughts answered while I can.

In the meantime I'm on the hunt for an aplix closing pocket night nappy!

Thoughts?

With thanks!

1st question:
when you are first starting out with night nappies, you might not have many, so i think QUICK TURNOVER is important, refer to my previous post.

2nd question:
i suggested three night pocket nappies for you, did you look them up? cos two of them are aplix closing.

i prolly overdosed you with info, so maybe go back and read my first post again, or in stages. i realise it's alot to digest all at once. (especially when you are a mum of a small bub e.g most probably sleep deprived, and it's harder to read and comprehend stuff when you are exhausted.

hth

[Dollyroux]

Hi Arimeh,

Green kids worked lovely last night - woohoo!
I did microfibre on the top, then the booster, then the insert. It did feel quite loose on her tummy but seemed to fit over her bum fine - anyhow - no leaks - woo!

1 option for night down, many more to explore!

Thanks

Trilby
P.S I feel like a dofus - such a simple solution but I did honestly think I had tried all sorts of boosting options. Maybe I was overboosting. Anyhow thanks again!

[Arimeh]

Try chucking the booster in the middle of the insert (between the hourglass bits) makes it a bit more streamlined

Glad it worked for you