Cloth Diapers Leaking -Help!

[Soggydiapers]

Hi,

Hoping that some of the more experienced cloth diaper users can help me. I just started getting into cloth diapers, and am using pocket diapers with stuffers. They're from Snap-EZ. I like the pocket diapers because they wash easily and dry quickly. Love the fit, and the feel. Much nicer and not as hot as a disposable.

However, I'm having the hardest time with the diapers leaking out of the legs. This is the ONLY place the diapers seem to leak, but the result is when I sit down, I get a big wet spot on each side of my pants right on my butt! I've tried everything I could think of to alleviate this problem -I've washed the pocket diaper and liners several times in HOT, HOT water to improve absorbancy. I've checked to make sure they are not repelling water. I'm careful not to use any creams or lotions that might affect that (save those for at night, when I wear a disposable). I've adjusted the fit on the diaper to make it tighter. I've tried to arrange the stuffer(s) so that they are against the sides. And I make sure to change frequently, even though the microfiber top liner stays so dry, it's sometimes hard to know how wet I actually am.

Nothing I seem to do helps! And, this is the only place the diaper seems to leak -like without leak gathers the way disposables have, the wetness just seeps out. I suppose this is why some infant/toddler cloth diapers are now including leg gathers, but we're not quite there the adult cloth ones.

What am I missing or can I be doing differently? Please don't tell me to use traditional cloth with pins or anything like that. I'm looking for something convenient and easy to use and pocket diapers are it. I can't imagine people who use these on their children have this issue, so I must be doing something wrong. In the meantime, I'd love to wear these more, but the leaking/press out issue makes it so that I can't even sit down.

Thanks for any guidance,

A newbie.

[redneck diaper boy]

There is one solution. Double it up. It isn't thick enough!

[Fakename4me]

Add a baby diaper as a soaker... And I realize that it is supposed to be a all in one but plastic pants over top might help...

[diapertime42]

What is the diaper made from? cotton? I bought a "shaped diaper" from e-bay once....

it seemed nice and thick, yet leaked like crazy.

It turned out the filling was a kind of polyester fluff, that does not absorb at all...

(Though it works good inside a winter coat!)

[clothbaby]

I agree with diapertime.Polyester will NOT do the job.You have plenty of diapers to pick from and flannel or cotton is the way to go. Next,you need a perfect fit plastic pant...diaper cover. I would reccomend Fetwear for a nice heavy duty pant. Get the high wasit pant especially for overnight.

[Darkfinn]

All-in-one cloth diapers are crap. They'll always leak out the legs because cloth doesn't lock moisture away like disposables do, when you move it will squish out somewhere.

Ditch the all-in-one and get a more traditional cloth diaper with separate plastic pants. Then you can say goodbye to your leaks.

[Little BabyDoll Christine]

Nothing fits as well as a pin-on because they can be adjusted to fit right. With any kind of snap-on diapers if the snaps do not meet then there is no closing. velcro wares out or collects lint and becomes useless

[babykeiff]

I have tried the AIO diapers, but they don't survive laundering.

• The cloth tends to bobble and clump

• The plastic, no matter how rugged it is designed, tends to tear at the sewn seams

• The velcro fixings tend to get clogged with fluff, and need to be picked clean.

• The velcro, due to it being different material than the rest of the diaper, will shrink faster/slower than the rest, and bunch up.

• The seams will shrink, and break.

• The snap-on ones tend to be either too big or too small.

• Cloth has a tendency, when wet, to stretch, so a cloth diaper will fall off without a onesie - however, a separate plastic pant will hold a wet cloth diaper on.

• With the plastic included, there is little to keep the diaper on.

• Rashs will be created / exagerated at the seams - where either the plastic is touching the skin OR the diaper will weep cause the cloth is touching the skin with no plastic protection.

• Friction rashes will be exaggerated due to the bulk needed, and the plastic on the inner thighs.

• The elastic tends to break down after multiple washes.

All in all, I find that, as a cloth diaper the flat folded diaper works the best (covered by plastic pant), followed by the prefolds. AIOs are just a gimmic that don't last. They might last as a baby diaper considering that a baby will outgrow each size range of diapers in a few months, but in the long term, (the main selling point of cloth diapers) they cant handle it.

Now, all I use the pre-folds / all-in-ones that are still surviving as a cover overnight for a disposable. Where a disposable can't last overnight, a cloth one can OR a disposable covered by a AIO / prefold. As a result, they don't need as hot a wash as they are only damp.

Overnight, I prefer flat folded cloth. They can be made as thick as you want via a twist fold, but still thin enough at the hips so one can side sleep. Also, with a liner, a soiled cloth diaper is easy to take care of - and will not leak unlike disposables. A soiled disposable diaper overnight has a greater potential of leak / split due to the stretching nature of the diaper when soiled.

More information in relation to this subject is http://www.dailydiapers.com/board/index.php?showtopic=29634&st=0&p=436068&#entry436068

[Honu]

I've had the same issue with Snap-EZ-4-Life. It's a pocket diaper, not an AIO. The outer shell is 1 mil PUL, the inner liner is microfleece or similiar and the stuffer is hemp terry based. The sides, front and back have lastin elastic sewn in. Not that I've solved the problem with any of my pocket diapers, but the usual advice is to NOT let the stuffer extend to the edge of the pocket, "strip" the diaper as necessary to ensure the microfleece passes water through quickly and use enough stuffer to capture all the fluid you're going to give it.

Since I've wicking issues at the legs of all the pocket diapers I've tried, I'm trying to design and make a diaper that works for me. The pocket concept is brilliant because the stuffer gets separated for washing and drying, PUL is hot dryer friendly and no pins or snapie is required. Pinning on cloth diapers takes time and patience. Vinyl baby pants must be gently hand washed and get brittle over time, particularly if exposed to sunlight. The shiny, waterproof side of PUL really sticks to skin and is uncomfortable if worn in direct contact. This is why the "stay dry" microfleece is necessary all the way to the leg elastic, but it will wick to the polyester side of the PUL if wetness gets to it. The trick, which I haven't mastered, is keeping wetness from it.

[BabyJune]

My question is, is it an actual leak or is the wetness "wicking" outside the AIO through the elastic. If any part of the elastic is both inside and outside the AIO, then wetness will find a way out. Make sure that the elastic isn't touching the cloth diaper. That's why I like cloth diapers with separate PUL pants. Very seldom do they actually leak.