Conquering Cloth Diapers at Night

note from Jessica: This is a guest post from my friend Gabby over at Mama Gab. My confession: I actually (gasp) did not use cloth diapers with my kids. I was late to the party. But I’ll be coming next time! (The last straw was that time I washed a disposable diaper in the washing machine for the second time in a month. Sigh.) I’ve always wondered if I’d have to use disposables at night, though, and that seemed like a waste of money. I found Gabby’s post about conquering cloth diapers at night totally entertaining and very helpful. Thanks for sharing, Gabby!

I’m back in the saddle again with cloth diapers and I couldn’t be happier. It really makes me happy to save money and not throw money in the trash can six times a day.

If you’re not feeling the cloth diaper love or you want more information on cloth, check out my Cloth Diaper Roundup that has everything I’ve ever written on cloth diapers, including my favorite brand, my laundry routine, and why I converted to cloth four years and two kids ago. I’m currently cloth diapering my third baby. And yes, it really does save money. That’s the first question anyone asks.

Most moms are primarily concerned about a few things regarding cloth: The ick factor, leaking, and overnight diapers. I don’t find cloth to be extremely icky (the poop just plops into the potty–no swishing or dunking diapers for me), my cloth diapers never leak, and I’ve solved the overnight issue.

The funny thing is that before potty training a few weeks ago, my two-year-old would wake up sopping wet, having completely soaked through his Pampers. My one-year-old, however, who still wakes up once or twice a night to nurse (and doesn’t get diaper changes) always wakes up with no leaks!

In cloth.

Psst: If you do use disposable diapers, no worries. I’m there some days, and I get it. We’re all about grace here, and my parenting choices don’t have to be your parenting choices. So thanks for putting up with the cloth diapering lingo!

Want to know my secret to cloth diapering at night? It has worked for all three of my babies, regardless of their ages.

It’s all about the inserts.

Repeat after me:

A diaper is only as good as its inserts.

This may not be anything earth shattering for some of you, but I hear so much talk about cloth diapering being impossible at night that I thought I should share my “secret.”

Other moms highly recommend fitted diapers with wool covers, but quite frankly, after investing so much into my pocket diapers, I have no desire to learn another “system.” When I had issues with nighttime leaks with my first baby, I decided to stick with my pocket diapers but make the inserts work for me.

Hemp inserts or doublers can make your pocket diapers go the distance at night. My silver bullet for overnight cloth diapering is the SuperDo insert. They’re pricey, but still cheaper than disposables, especially if you factor in that I bought mine back in 2009, and I’m still using them today.

My absolute favorite hemp insert is the SuperDo, but I’ve found that even the LoopyDo, its thinner cousin, is great for nights if you don’t want to invest in several SuperDos. Both of these inserts with the hilarious names are made from a combination of hemp terry and microfiber. The SuperDo is more absorbent than two microfiber inserts combined, but a whole lot thinner. These inserts are sewn in a loop so that they dry quickly.

I started out with two good nighttime inserts like the SuperDo and have since inherited many more hemp inserts so that I can make just about any diaper a nighttime cloth diaper.

How to Turn Any Pocket Diaper into an Overnight Diaper

Create a Color Coded System: First, I’ve figured out that I’ve got enough good hemp inserts to easily make five night time cloth diapers, so I examine my cloth diaper stash to see what color I have only five of. Bright green, like the Bum Genius Ribbit works for me. My husband knows green diapers are for nights. This is important!

Stuff ’em: Then I add an insert like the SuperDo with a good quality microfiber insert, and I’m home free. The microfiber is good at absorbing fast, and the hemp absorbs a ton of moisture. Another great combination is a microfiber insert plus the LoopyDo and a thin hemp doubler, just in case.

SuperDo Overnight Diaper

Hemp Insert Overnight Diaper

Using these simple steps, there’s no reason to have a baby leak out of cloth diapers at night, because you can make them as absorbent as you want.

Pampers, on the other hand, are a completely different story. Maybe my two-year-old should be wearing cloth at night, too. Maybe I’m onto something…

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