Success with Cloth Diapering at Night

I’m so happy because finally we did it…we used cloth diapers all night and without a leak. At last I can ditch the disposables at night time and I am now even more on my way to being a 100% cloth diapering Mama – yippee yay!

I wrote previously about my choice to use the Prefold Diapers during the daytime. These prefolds are wonderful; they are inexpensive, easy to use and maintain and are perfect during the day when regular changes can be made. However night time is a different story when a diaper has to be able to endure a good soak without leaking and also keep baby’s bottom relatively dry for a much longer period of time. The prefolds just would not do and it was clear that I needed another product.

To find the right selection I scoured the web for reviews and probably read about a hundred posts in cloth diapering forums to find what more experienced Mamas were choosing as their favourite. Finally I settled on Fuzzi Bunz Pocket Diapers which so many people were raving about. These diapers have a sturdy yet flexible waterproof outer and are lined with a soft fleece. In addition they have a space for a thick microfiber insert that works to hold in wetness. I read that for night time use it is also recommended to use a doubler which provides extra soaking power. I chose Knicker Nappies Stay Dry Hemp Doublers which are hemp on one side and soft fleece on the other and designed to wick away the wetness from baby’s delicate skin. Since I was placing quite a big order of various cloth diapering items I bought everything through Cloth Diaper Outlet who offer a wide selection of products, great customer service and best of all they accept International orders!

Fuzzi Bunz Pocket Diapers

So the package arrived last week and I was ridiculously excited (I’m amazed at how much our priorities of happiness change so much when we become mothers…is this a hormonal thing?). I read the instructions and set about giving everything good wash as is recommended to enable the fabric to become absorbent. I kept my fingers crossed for a sunny day so that everything would dry quickly and as soon as they did I started trying them on my unsuspecting baby, Keeyah, who wriggled and squirmed as usual, quite unaware of the great event that was taking place!

I put them into practice the very same night but with minimal success…we had a leak! I’m not sure if I hadn’t fixed them tight enough, not put enough layers in or if they just hadn’t got enough absorbency yet so I rewashed and tried again the next night and yippee it worked! Since my darling baby sleeps through the night, I put one on her just before bed time (about 7.00pm) and then changed her again when I went to bed (about 11:00pm). Since the second one had to last right through until we awoke (about 6:00am) I really expected to wake up in a damp patch, but all stayed dry and I felt a glow of joy as I finally succeeded in using cloth diapers at night.

Knicker Nappies Hemp/Cotton Doublers

The only downside I have to report with Fuzzi Bunz and the Knicker Nappies Doublers is that do take a while to dry. The washing instructions for all pieces say to tumble dry but hey, does anyone have a tumble dryer in the Caribbean? So if you live somewhere with plenty rain and or humidity (as I do) you will need to allow far more time for drying and thus have a greater supply on hand. I hang mine close to the oven when I am baking!

Now onto the economics…initially the investment in these types of diapers can be a shock to the system! Each Fuzzi Bunz is US$17.95 and each hemp doubler is US$4.50 which equates in Eastern Caribbean dollars to about EC$60 per diaper change! However this is nowhere near as bad as it first appears. I worked out that each disposable was costing between EC$1-2 per diaper so it really only takes one or two months to completely recoup the costs and then it’s essentially a free ride! The Fuzzi Bunz have several fitting options which mean they can expand with the baby so are going to last a long while and their high quality means they can be used for future babies and even sold in second-hand cloth diapering circles afterwards. If you need more convincing about how cloth diapers shape up to disposables on the cash side of things, check out the great cloth diaper calculator at Diaper Pin which allows you to work out the total cost of your cloth diapers with washing against the cost of disposables. According to this calculator with the amount of cloth diapers I have so far, I will make following savings (costs calculated in US$):

I will break even in 12.86 weeks or 2.96 months.
I will save $415.06 in 6 months.
I will save $961.1 in 10 months.
I will save $1234.12 in 1 year.
I will save $2053.18 in 1 1/2 years.

Great huh? Of course I have to say that as well as the economic benefits, using cloth diapers is also a better environmental and social justice choice which also contributes to me and my conscience getting far better sleep at night.

I’m really pleased with these products and am having lots of fun with cloth diapering. I would love to hear of your own experiences so please leave comments!