I cloth diapered my first for almost a year. Had to give it up because I thought it was causing her allergic reactions. Later realized it was the lavender in the wipe solution.
2 years later, I have my second. I bought new cloth diapers from a lady who makes them (referred to her from the first lady I bought the diapers from for my first). They are an all-in-one, one size fits all. Perfect, right? Well, my baby was so little that those diapers seemed HUGE on her. And, she had severe diaper rash often. I needed to put cream on her so I used disposable diapers.
We moved and had lots of transitions to work through. Here we are now and she is 19 months old. I pulled out the diapers and started using them yesterday. I have had to change her every 2 hours, if not sooner. She is leaking out the diapers badly. I am using the regular PUL diapers with velcro waist, and adjustable elastic legs. The liner is actually folded into two (double the absorbancy) and it snaps on the PUL diaper liner. Super great design. However, she leaks. I then used another brand that I have that is similar to a Bum Genius pocket diaper. She leaked through that in less than 2 hours.
I don't think they need stripped. I did that before I put them in storage. They've been washed numerous times before that, so I don't think it's an issue of that. They are microfiber inserts.
How often do you change your kiddo? I don't remember needing to change my oldest this often. My 19 month old can go almost 4 hours during the day and 12 hours overnight in a disposable. Just wondering if the cloth diapering is worth it. We have expensive water and I've found my disposables very cheap ($.12 a piece or less). I paid over $200 for the lot that I have......Grrrr. Thinking of selling them and giving up. Talk me out of it!
I don't have any advice but am wondering about the liner. Microfiber is polyester and doesn't absorb as well as cotton.
My coat is made of microfiber and is water resistant, I think, without any added treatment.
I've used microfiber dust cloths. They attract dust but water beads up on them. My cousin uses them as towels but I don't like to use them because it takes longer to dry my hands.
I'm not clear on the liner being doubled - but that's my thought - double the liner. You may need more than what's there.
My daughter will typically leak at around 2 hours in a cloth but not a disposable. I think that's just the nature of the beast. Your daughter may also have a bigger bladder than your oldest.
Other than that, I would have suggested stripping. Or - do they fit around her legs tightly?
Only you can decide if cloth diapering is worth it for you. Why are you doing it? Cost savings? Environment? Healthier for your baby? What are your reasons, and then determine if they outweigh the inconvenience of your current situation.
With my son I used the old fashioned "prefolds" inserts and found they worked better than anything. You might try those if mirofiber isn't working as well.
That being said... If she's peeing enough to soak a cloth diaper in two hours, then she should be changed every two hours, whether she's in a cloth or a disposable. Since the frustration is with leaking, you may just have to adjust your changing schedule to accommodate more frequent changing so she DOESN't leak.
Since potty-training will be on you before you know it, you probably WANT her to feel the wet and get used to NOT sitting in it for 4 hours before changing anyway so that she can start to think about knowing when she pees.
HTH
T.
By leaking, do you mean urine or poop? For urine, I would suggest trying a cover & a prefold. Proraps sells diaper covers for $5.25 per cover for the "seconds" (which work & look just fine!), and it's $1.50 or $2.00 per prefold for the toddler ones.
Or, try using an infant prefold in place of the insert.
Cloth diapers are not meant to be left for long periods on the child if they are wet/soiled, so changing them every 2 or 3 hours max is pretty much the norm.
Check to see if any of the inner (absorbant) material is able to touch the fabric of her clothes (like her shirt or pants). If it does, then her clothes are just going to wick the moisture into them.
You need to narrow down the problem. Where is she leaking (waist, legs or through the PUL).
If she is leaking at the waist or legs you may have to strip the diapers again, even if you don't think so. Try putting a few drops if water on them. If little droplets form on the diaper, they are repellant and the pee runs right out of them before it ever gets into the insert. Stripping should help, I have found that some diapers use crappy fleece as a liner that is never really absorbant and just putting the insert on top of the liner instead of into the pocket helps. I have also found that I really didn't appreciate microfiber inserts and that my pocket diapers leaked a lot less with simple prefolds as insert.
If the PUL is soaking through or the diaper is soaking at the seams it was either not carefully manufactured or the PUL is degraded. Not much you can do about that... they are just shot.
Last thing: yes, a disposable will keep your child from leaking longer, that does not mean that your kid pees less. Just instead of you changing her wet diaper every 2 hours when she needs it , she sits on her congealed pee...
I loved using cloth but I did change him at least every two hours when awake. Disposables have chemical gels to hold that moisture and cloth is natural and does not. At night, I doubled up the diaper by adding one super absorbent hemp diaper along with the cotton diaper. I used prefolds and covers/nothing fancy and never had a problem with leaking. Good luck with whatever you decide, but I do believe 2 hour changes are the norm with cloth.
I use Bum Genius and I have to change my son often. I can't go 2 hours in the same diaper unless it's Pampers Brand. =)
By 19 months, I had mine mostly potty trained. Cloth diapers just aren't designed for toddlers who can hold giant pees! ;-) Let me rephrase that, the one-sizes jut can't do it without really expensive inserts.
Why keep cloth diapering? Do you know how much you could save if you potty trained now? Cloth makes potty training soooo easy. Kids mostly train themselves, with a parent who encourages and educates. Both of my kids even night trained at 23 months! I know it was because I used cloth.
