Yup, my life-long dream of having TWO kids in cloth diapers is a reality! Okay, it was only a dream for a shortwhile, and only until I got the coveted “matching fluff” picture. Now, I’m ready for the dream to end with a big boy in (non-poop-stained) undies.

But I digress (don’t I always?). I know a lot of people struggle with figuring out an overnight cloth diapering solution that works, so I thought I’d share with you how both the 11 lb-er and the 35 lb-er are cloth diapered for bedtime, and how I cloth diapered Cub when he was a toddler. 

So the bad news is that there’s definitely not really a one-size option from birth to potty for cloth diapering overnight. (You may come close with the TotsBots EasyFit V.4, discussed below.) The good news is that you can re-use parts of your overnight solution as your child grows. Not all children will be as big as Cub before they potty train… he’s 3 years old and it’s a work in progress. 

[Tweet “How to #clothdiaper at night from birth to potty! http://bit.ly/1N2rFLr via @MamanLoupsDen”]

Cloth Diapering Overnight: 0-12 months

When she was first born, Little Miss was not in a diaper for more than four hours at a time. I’d say that for about the first month, I was still changing her in the middle of the night. Nonetheless, for those longer stretches, she was wearing either her TotsBots Bamboozles, Urban Bums Boutique Fitted or Mouse & Hatter Fitted diapers under a Thirsties, Rumparooz or Sweet Pea cover. (What those all have in common is the double leg gusset.)

Now, she wears her overnight diaper from about 9 or 10 pm until 8 AM without leaks.

She goes to bed with one of these combos, and I expect these to serve us well until she’s a toddler: 

{Update: I expected wrong! We switched to the toddler combo by about 8 months old, and our TotsBots V4s were giving us some leg leaks. However, the new EasyFit Star is EPIC overnight!}

Flip Overnight Insert + Cover with a double gusset

I love Flip Overnight Inserts (Flip is by Cotton Babies, the same brand that makes BumGenius). I fold them down to fit in Little Miss Cub’s covers (Rumparooz Newborn Covers work great now, soon it’ll be into the one-size options such as Best Bottom, Rumparooz and Sweet Pea.) I leave the folded portion at the back, since that’s where the pee accumulates with her sleeping mostly on her back or side.

It does create a bit of bulk on her booty as she’s only 11 lbs, but it doesn’t seem to bother her in the slightest.

She’s not sensitive to wetness, we haven’t had any rashes and she doesn’t fuss when wet. If you’ve got a more sensitive baby, definitely add a fleece liner to create a stay-dry layer!

Tots Bots Bamboozle + Hemp Booster + Cover

This is an option that, without the booster, has been working well since birth. You can read my full review of the Bamboozle here. I’ve since added a hemp booster (I’m equally happy with the new Funky Fluff, hour-glass-shaped boosters as with the 3-ply AMP boosters) to the top for extra absorbency, but also because hemp has more of a stay-dry effect than the bamboo terry. My favourite cover on top of the Bamboozle is the TotsBots Stretchy Wrap, but it works perfectly under Best Bottom covers and Rumparooz, too.

TotsBots EasyFit V4 with included booster

Here’s the simplest, and honestly, my favourite option: the TotsBots EasyFit V4 with included booster. Honestly, this one-size diaper is the bomb. Even at 2 years old, I could use it on Cub overnight without adding anything other than the booster it comes with. For Little Miss, it is more than sufficient for 10-11 hours overnight, and it’s so simple! The one-size EasyFit fit on Little Miss as of 8 lbs. {Update: the EasyFit Star is even BETTER overnight!}

Cloth Diapering Overnight: Toddler

You may switch to what I refer to as my “overnight insert sandwich” earlier or later, depending on your child. I can’t honestly remember exactly when I figured this combo out, but Cub would’ve been somewhere over a year old, and I’d really grown tired of overnight fitted diapers. He always wore this combo for twelve hours with no leaks.

This combo is awesome because it launders well (since all the layers come apart) and because your child’s entire bottom isn’t soaked in the morning as with a fitted diaper that spreads the moisture throughout. 

I fold the Flip Overnight Insert in three, then top it with the GroVia booster and the AMP hemp booster (or Funky Fluff, or Geffen… I just prefer the top to be hemp).

You may be able to achieve a similar effect with other brands of trifolds, I just love my Flips! (Geffen worked for us, too!) 

You can use this combo in whichever diaper cover gives you the best fit. I have some tips on choosing a good overnight cover here, and some comparisons of different one-size cover options here.

Cloth Diapering at Night ~ PEESchooler

Cub is three years old and 35 lbs/40 inches tall. He is potty training so sometimes wakes up dry, but otherwise he pees like a preschooler. Maybe YOUR child will be potty trained before he’s so big that he needs a  Size 3 AppleCheeks and jumbo inserts… but alas such is not the case for me.

Cub wears his overnight diaper from 7 PM until sometimes as late as 8 AM without leaks except in very rare circumstances (like when it was very, very hot over the summer) when he’s drinking a lot of water in the middle of the night. We need the Size 3 cover to fit enough absorbency in, and because the taller rise avoids leaks from wicking onto his pajamas.

A GroVia size 3 prefold can be folded in three and fits perfectly inside an AppleCheeks Size 3. I fold Bummis’ largest Prefold (called “Baby”) down in the front, making lots of extra layers in the wetzone. I tuck the prefold inside the pocket, then, on top of the pocket place the booster(s). Again, the top layer is hemp. I honestly have always found that the best way to avoid leaks overnight is to have a natural layer directly against baby’s skin. Fleece doesn’t absorb: urine is meant to pass through to the inserts. Depending on how the child is lying, sometimes there’s not enough pressure to push the urine through the fleece layer, and I find this leads to leaks at all ages. 

For more info, head over to My 6 Tips for Successful Overnight Cloth Diapering.

What is your overnight solution?

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