Cloth Diapering Guide Part 3 : The nighttime diaper

I was recently written a note asking the question of the night time cloth diaper.

"I hope you don't mind I may need to tap into your cloth diapering expertise. I typically change my baby* at least once at night (usually at the 2 am feeding) If I use cloth diapers, even with two inserts his little onesie still seems to get a little wet. What do you do for night time? Currently I am using the bumGenius diapers from Cottonbabies; maybe a different brand would work better for night time?"

*name changed for privacy

There are two ways to approach this. The first is to use what you have, only modifying your system a little. The second is to use my favorite diaper for night time :-) (ok, it's just my all around favorite cloth diaper.)

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Working with what you have

The microfiber cloth inserts from Cotton Babies, Mother of Eden, and other retailers has never been absorbent enough for my children. I did have much better success if I would use 1 hemp and 1 microfiber together instead of 2 hemp or 2 microfiber.

Why 1 of each? While hemp absorbs more, microfiber absorbs more quickly. The combination together is the beautiful blend of science and nature. (plus it helps cut down on the bulk of 2 microfiber inserts!)

So if you want to keep using your bumGenius, I'd suggest using 1 insert microfiber + 1 hemp insert. Fortunately buying 2 or 3 hemp inserts for nighttime is rather inexpensive compared to buying a whole new diapering system.

While we're at it - if you're going to buy hemp, buy an insert (or doubler, or prefold) that is made from hemp fleece. It's slightly more absorbent than it's other hemp family members.

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Now my all around favorite cloth diaper. I have to say that although I loved pocket diapers as a brand new cloth diapering mom years and years ago with my first I've started steering clear of them.

I have long thought the idea of a one-size fitted diaper was a great one, but never found one absorbent enough for a little baby through night time - let alone a toddler!

Well, I hope you're sitting down because you're going to be amazed!

Baby Beehinds Bamboo. That's right. It's a one-size fitted, that fits my little 3 month old Shiloh wonderfully without looking bulky at all, and it fits my husky sized 20 month old perfectly also. Liam (20 m.o.) is wearing a 3 T in pants to give you an idea for size.

What's amazing about this diaper is that Liam, who has been by far my heaviest wetter (having leaking problems with disposables also for soaking through them!), wore it for 16 hours last night and it wasn't totally soaked when he got up! (sorry Tara, I almost left out how many hours for you... but it helps prove the point of how well it works)

Bamboo is very absorbent but ultra trim. The neat design of this diaper is that it has 2 snap in soakers so you can position them where your child needs the extra absorption the most. And because of the snap in soakers, you get 14 layers of bamboo - that's right, 14!

Now, Bamboo does take a while to dry in the dryer. But the unique design of Baby Beehinds with the snap in soakers helps it to dry more quickly since all the layers are not sewn together trapping all the moisture in.

The price of this diaper is enough to shock you. It's $22.50 individually (small price breaks for greater quantities). But remember that you aren't buying multiple sizes and it is fantastic. After so many years of cloth diapering I can tell you - this one is really worth the money.

But, if you need a diaper that will hold through a 16 hour night with a super soaker baby.. well.. Baby Beehinds Bamboo is for you(r child).

Note to buyers : If you do end up purchasing this diaper, and it's your first diaper made from bamboo, be sure to know it needs to be washed and dried a few times before reaching it's full potential for absorbency. (Just in case you think after 1 wash- hey, this doesn't work as well as she said!)