Cloth Diapering Update #2 the Nighttime Solution

Right around 4 months (when I wrote my last cloth diaper update), we started having trouble with nighttime diapers.  She was waking up in the middle of the night soaked with wet PJs.  You can probably easily figure out that changing a diaper, PJs and sheets in the middle of the night when you're trying to get your baby to sleep through the night is not ideal.  I went straight to the internet to find a solution - and got very discouraged because I found many other CD mamas were having this same problem and had switched to disposables at night.  I checked out our local cloth diaper store (which is awesome), Basic Baby to see if they had any sage advice for me.  Their recommendation was to try out fitted diapers, which is basically a diaper where the entire thing is made out of absorbent material, and then you use a separate water proof cover over it.  The idea is that having the entire diaper be absorbent means you get more absorbency (obviously) and then the water proof cover being separate gives you better protection from leaks.  I bought a Grovia Kiwi Pie fitted that day and a blueberry PUL cover.  I liked this system but didn't love it.

GroVia Kiwi Pie Fitted:
Likes: The diaper is cute, can be used with or without the two soakers, is made of natural fibers, is trim and did do the job as far as absorbing everything. (I used an additional hemp booster)

Dislikes: It was pricey, and the fit is a little small - I'm not sure if she is going to be able to wear this until she is out of diapers.  The rise is low on her and with added boosters it fits funny around the legs.

Blueberry Cover:
Likes: Double gussets, fits well, can be re-worn many times before washing and haven't had any leaks

Dislikes: It's PUL and it smells.  Back to the good old stinky pee problem - I'm beginning to think that Kate's pee just stinks, but this cover does accumulate a funk even after a couple of days, I can't really tell what about it smells either because it is just the plastic cover.

Overall, the system was working way better than pockets at night, so I decided to buy a couple more fitteds.  From reviews on line, and because I wasn't blown away by the GroVia fitted, I purchased two Thirsties Fab Fitteds and I LOVE them.

Thirsties Fab Fitted:
Likes: so soft, fit well, are stay dry (I think she doesn't feel as wet in them), very absorbent

Dislikes: Not all natural (which I shouldn't even list as an issue because that's the reason they are stay-dry), take a little longer to dry

I was fairly satisfied with rotating these three fitteds (a hemp doubler) and the blueberry cover, it definitely fixed the problem of Kate waking up wet, she was sleeping through the night and all was well.  I didn't even know what I was missing! 

We went through a couple of weeks with a fairly serious diaper rash that just kept coming back.  I could tell that it was getting irritated overnight and therefore wasn't really able to heal well, but I didn't know what else I could do to fix the problem, until a friend of mine suggested I get a wool cover - that's right wool like a sweater.  I had heard of wool covers before and knew people liked them, but I just couldn't jump on that wagon - I couldn't imagine that they were waterproof and just thought it was weird.  Well I took her advice and purchased a handmade upcycled wool cover from this etsy shop: myecobaby, which was very reasonably priced and oh so cute.  After a couple of nights in wool (this is still over the fitted diapers), I never wanted to put another cover on her.  The magic of wool is that it breathes, so she wasn't waking up with clammy, wrinkly skin from sitting in a wet diaper all night.  Wool is also naturally odor resistant, antibacterial and it wicks the moisture away from Kate.  Her diaper rash issues are almost gone, we have had no leaks, it's adorable, works well with just a t-shirt for summertime PJs, only needs to be washed 2x a month and it doesn't smell like the PUL cover.  So bottom line, we LOVE the fitted + wool cover combo for night time diapering, and I highly recommend you try it out if you are looking for a solution.  I just bought another cover and two more Thirsties Fitteds to decrease the frequency of laundry, however I was doing just fine with 3 fitteds and 1 cover.

Here's my little model in the Thirsties Fab Fitted

 And then with her wool cover added on top, she's getting this modeling thing down.

Sidenote: We have NOT been having any stink issues since switching to the Rockin Green HardRock + Funk Rock, I don't even strip as often - just 1 time in the last 3 months.

Also, Burts Bees Diaper rash cream is amazing - it was the only thing that worked on our serious rash and it has not affected the diapers.