What am I doing wrong with cloth?

[Justmeinnh]

A year or so ago, when I forecast some economic trouble in my future, I invested in a lot of cloth- diapers, flat and hourglass, lots of Gary Pants, happy endings etc and have been kind of let down by all of them.

 

1. Not sure it is ecologically better. The rinsing, showering in the am, and extra wash cycles use a ton of water. Disposables make my skin feel cleaner in the am, I just wash with an adult wipe and I am good to go.

2. They leak! No matter what I do, when they get wet, it seeps around the leg or waistbands, and wets my clothing or bed.  

3. Too thick! If I pad up enough to really super absorb, I can’t even close my legs- uncomfy for a side sleeper like me. (I know some people love this)

4. They stink after a while. Even after daily rinsing in the shower, and washing every three days, I end up with a poison ammonia smell that requires boiling the diapers for 15 minutes each- not something I can easily or discretely do.

 

i feel like the great way they work for everyone is somehow eluding me.  Am I doing something wrong?

[beallucanb]

 Look up using white vinegar as a way to reduce the smell of urine in diapers.

[Bettypooh]

When you consider everything involved from beginning to end, neither cloth nor disposables have a significant ecological advantage. So I don't worry about that. 

When I wore cloth regularly I learned that the fit of plastic panties was crucial in avoiding leaks. Any movement which pulls on the leg elastic can cause seepage even when it doesn't move. I had found some which I thought were perfect, but they still seemed to leak sooner than they should. Fate had a friend send me some of that exact style except in large, not medium, and that turned out to do the trick very well. Some folks find success by tucking the legbands inside of the diaper. Some plastic panties have elastics enclosed in plastic. None of it seems to make as much difference with me as the fit does as they all work about equally well. Which is to say the legbands always seem to become damp (enclosed or not), and they always seem to leak sooner than they should. That tells me that I need to change sooner than I think to avoid leaks, so that's what I do. The only really leakproof diaper cover I found were the old 'Malaysian' rubber panties with the wide rubber bands at the openings heat-bonded to the main body. Sadly they tore very easily and catastrophically, and they have been out of production for decades so you won't likely find these. 

You just have to keep experimenting till you find what works best for you, and change more frequently. 

Bettypooh

[Soggy Bottom Boy]

My experience is just the opposite. I wear cloth prefolds covered with plastic pants and almost never leak. I seem to leak when I wear disposables unless I wear terrycloth pants covered with plastic pants over the disposable. With cloth diapers you need to adjust the thickness of the diaper(s) to how much you usually wet in the time that you wear them between changes. You also want to have roomy enough plastic pants so that the diaper is covered and not in contact with the elastic waistband or leg bands. I have been dealing with urinary incontinence for 20 years and the first 10 or so years were trial and error. I found a system that I can trust. For me cloth diapers are more comfortable, cooler to wear than disposables and they do not give me nasty rashes like I seem to get whenever I wear disposables for more than a day or two. Cotton diapers wick the urine throughout the entire diaper. Cloth diapers let you feel the wetness so you know when it's time for a change. Plus cloth is way quieter to wear than disposables. 

 

[Craisler]

I agree with the Soggy Bottom.  Cloth diapers are far less likely to leak at night than disposables. If you’re having problems with leaks, either the waterproof pants don’t fit right or you’re not wearing a heavy enough diaper.  Contour diapers are good for daytime use because they are less bulky.  However, at night you need the bulk, especially on the sides to provide enough absorbency.  With cloth diapers, bulk and absorbency are closely related.  

My recommendation would be to experiment to try and find the combination that provides enough absorbency that will require changes about every 4 hours.  That’s long enough to be of minimal inconvenience, but not long enough for the odor to become a problem.  8 hours is as long as I will push it.  By that time, the urine will be breaking down, smell will be a problem, and the diaper will be very uncomfortable.  Disposables have chemicals that slow that process, cloth diapers do not.

You might try looking at incontinentsupport.org.  They have a diaper primer that has a lot of useful information.  However, the people that run the site are not tolerant of AB/DLs.  So, I’d recommend a great deal of discretion if you decide to interact with anyone there. 

[Little BabyDoll Christine]

You have not told us what you do, only the results. so we cannot figure out what youare doing wrong

[dlnoir]

I wear and use cloth diapers quite frequently and have little or no issues with leaking. Thing is you’ll have to be aware how wet it is but that is no different from disposable. I like snug fitting plastic pants over my diaper as I feel they will give support to the cloth diaper. I wear plastic pants with fully encased elastic band if think they do better than plastic pants with exposed elastic band. Last but not least the cut of the pant is important it has to cover the cloth under all circumstances.