Search for a Nighttime Solution

In the cloth diapering world there are certain easy to understand terms and abbreviations: AIO, AI2, ebf, OBF, DS, WAHM, RnG; all you need to do is learn the abbreviation and you're able to follow the questions and the comments on any Facebook group. It took me a couple days of immersing myself into the Facebook support groups, but I learned quickly and took solace in the fact that those terms are uniform. One term, however, has been elusive: heavy wetter. It is the elusive nature of the term that also creates such diversity in the all important nighttime solution. Whenever a question about one's nighttime solution comes up, I am struck by the variation in each answer. Some claim that a Flip insert in a Thirsties cover is all they need while others are satisfied with the performance of a KaWaii GNHW. I see some mom's vouch for a double-stuffed pocket or an s'bish snapless fitted; each mom claiming that she is dealing with a heavy wetter, yet each solution is vastly different.

A pocket user, I was appalled by the idea of fitteds, a diaper that would encase my precious boy in a soaked diaper for hours at night. Surely feeling that wetness would be uncomfortable for him; therefore, I vowed never to use them. As he grew so did his nighttime diaper. I tried all of the so-called heavy wetter solutions: one microfiber insert became one Joey Bunz premium, which became two Joey Bunz, and then two plus a doubled over Hemp Babies doubler; then all of that plus a newborn microfiber insert. The only pocket with enough stretch to contain these variations was an Oh Katy!, but by the final concoction even those were stretched to their limit. I'm fairly certain my son couldn't move at that point. After lying him in the crib, he would roll onto his tummy, stick that huge booty in the air and sleep for twelve hours. Eventually, however, even that final combo failed again and again. Tired of changing diapers and clothes and sheets every morning before running off to work, I was desperate. I had to make a change.

I asked for advice from the support group and once again got a variety of responses most of which, though claiming to keep heavy wetters dry through the night, were what I was using during the day while changing every two hours. Hoping to stay committed to my pocket promise, I tried a GNHW, but it was no match for my boy. Finally, the only consistent answer for a bulletproof solution that was more drastic than what I was doing was the OBF and wool. Deciding to revoke my no fitteds rule, I simultaneously launched into wool, a solution I had been afraid to embrace. Once I figured out how to lanolize, I was back to dry mornings, mostly. Although during this journey I learned that "heavy wetter" is a relative term, more importantly I learned that when it comes to raising (and cloth diapering) children, vows like never licking your thumb to clean a child's face or never using fitteds are going to be broken.

Bio: Emily Robbins currently lives in San Antonio, Texas, with her husband and two sons: Harper (2 years) and Caedmon (3 months). She has been cloth diapering since Harper fit into OS at about four weeks old. She is taking a year off from being an English teacher to hang out with her fluffy bottomed boys.


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