Four Overnight Cloth Diaper Solutions

Four Overnight Cloth Diaper Solutions

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Have you tried cloth diapering overnight yet? You should. For some reason a lot of people are scared to cloth diaper overnight. Some kids are super heavy wetters and the thought of waking up in the middle of the night to a soaked baby and a soaked crib is not my idea of a good time. Guess what? It is completely possible to cloth diaper overnight without leaks. True story. I was hesitant at first with The Heir, but after he blew through three disposable diapers in an hour at bed time when he was six weeks old (and when I say “blew through” I mean that literally), I decided to give it a go. Worst case scenario? He’d poop out of those or end up soaked. Either way, it couldn’t be any worse than poop up his back three times in an hour. You know what happened? It worked and we never looked back. I love using cloth diapers overnight and you can love it too. Let me share the different combos I’ve used for overnight cloth diapering. Maybe one of these options will be the bullet proof solution for you too!

First off, I always use a pocket diaper for overnight diapering. I like to be able to stuff the pocket with different insert types and know that the stay dry pocket inner is going to keep baby from feeling damp all night long. My pocket shell of choice for overnights is the BumGenius 4.0. The combos that I’ve used have all been able to last for 10-12 hours and sometimes longer. Whether baby is sleeping through the night or still waking to feed every few hours, at a certain point you don’t want or need to be changing their diaper in the middle of the night. I have always stopped changing diapers at night when baby stops pooping overnight. For Petit Prince, that was somewhere around 6-7 weeks old. Before that time, an “overnight” diaper only needed to last up to 6 hours.

Option 1:
Adjustable one size BumGenius 4.0 microfibre insert with the newborn BumGenius 4.0 microfibre insert.

Four Overnight Cloth Diaper Solutions
BumGenius 4.0 adjustable one size microfibre insert with the newborn microfibre insert.

This one is easy, and if you are already using BumGenius 4.0 pocket diapers, you already have these inserts so you don’t have to buy anything extra. This is the overnight solution that I started with when The Heir was 6 weeks old. At the time, it was mostly out of necessity as I didn’t actually own any other inserts. This overnight solution worked great for The Heir for a long time. He didn’t leak out of this combo until he was around 10-11 months old. He was in the diaper for at least 10-12 hours and it worked quite well for most of his first year.

Four Overnight Cloth Diaper Solutions
Ribbit (green) BumGenius 4.0 stuffed for day time next to Piccadilly Circus stuffed with option 1.

Option 2:
Newborn BumGenius 4.0 microfibre insert with a BabyKicks Joeybunz one size hemp insert.

Four Overnight Cloth Diaper Solutions
BumGenius 4.0 newborn microfibre insert with BabyKicks Joeybunz one size hemp insert.

This is the first overnight diaper that I used on Petit Prince. After diapering The Heir for almost two years, I developed a love of hemp inserts, so I was really keen to get Petit Prince in hemp right away. He was in this cloth diaper overnight from just under three weeks old. When using a combination of insert materials, like microfibre and hemp, you want the fastest absorbing material on top (closest to baby) inside the pocket. With this combo, the newborn microfibre insert goes on top of the hemp insert, and then both go in the pocket. I put the wide end of the BabyKicks Joeybunz at the front of the diaper and fold it to fit at the front. This is because I have a boy, and boys tend to wet up front. If you have a girl, you would most likely want the wide end of the BabyKicks Joeybunz to be folded at the back of the diaper. This option is really nice and trim fitting, so it’s great for a younger baby. This combo lasted all night on Petit Prince (as long as he didn’t poop during his middle of the night feedings), up to around 10 hours. Now that he is in his overnight diaper longer than 12 hours, we have had to move up to something more absorbent. This combo worked for the first three months and if your baby isn’t a heavy wetter like Petit Prince, this one could work longer for you.

Four Overnight Cloth Diaper Solutions
Ribbit (green) BumGenius 4.0 stuffed for day time next to Piccadilly Circus stuffed with option 2.

Option 3:
Adjustable one size BumGenius 4.0 microfibre insert with a BabyKicks Joeybunz one size hemp insert.

Four Overnight Cloth Diaper Solutions
BumGenius 4.0 adjustable one size microfibre insert with BabyKicks Joeybunz one size hemp insert.

Now we’re getting into the big leagues. This is the combo that I used with The Heir from 11 months until he potty trained at 22 months old. It was pretty darned bullet proof. The microfibre went on top of the hemp folded in the front. The wide end of the BabyKicks Joeybunz went at the front of the diaper, but I folded it at the back to fit the shell. My reason for doing this is that the microfibre is already folded at the front, so folding the hemp at the front too just makes it too bulky up front. Again, microfibre on top closest to baby, both inserts in the pocket. This combo lasted The Heir a solid 12+ hours and we never needed to increase the absorbency right up to potty training. Petit Prince has worn this combo as well, and I don’t find it too bulky on him.

Four Overnight Cloth Diaper Solutions
Ribbit (green) BumGenius 4.0 stuffed for day time next to Piccadilly Circus stuffed with option 3.

Option 4:
Large Funky Fluff LUX bamboo insert with a BabyKicks Joeybunz one size hemp insert.

Four Overnight Cloth Diaper Solutions
Funky Fluff LUX large bamboo insert with BabyKicks Joeybunz one size hemp insert.

If you’ve got a heavy wetter, this combo is golden. I find the Funky Fluff LUX inserts to be really absorbent. The large size has been the perfect overnight insert. Because bamboo absorbs faster than hemp, I lay the LUX insert on top of the hemp, closest to baby. The front of the LUX insert is folded (again because I have a boy), and the wide end of the BabyKicks hemp is at the front of the diaper. I fold the narrow back end of the BabyKicks insert to adjust the size to fit inside the shell. If you have a girl, you can just flip this one around and put the widest end of the hemp and the folded end of the LUX at the back of the diaper. This combo lasts Petit Prince ALL NIGHT long and then some. By that I mean 12+ hours, and the back of the inserts are often still dry meaning the diaper could have held even more!

Four Overnight Cloth Diaper Solutions
Ribbit (green) BumGenius 4.0 stuffed for day time next to Piccadilly Circus stuffed with option 4.

There you have it! Those are four different overnight insert combos for use with a pocket diaper shell. Cloth diapering overnight often requires a few extra inserts be added to your stash (like hemp and bamboo if you don’t already have some), but it is well worth the investment. Don’t be afraid to give overnight cloth diapering a try! Once you find a winning combination to get through the whole night, you’ll never look back! Promise!

If you’re looking for Funky Fluff LUX bamboo inserts or BumGenius 5.0 pocket diapers, you can find them at Lagoon Baby. BabyKicks Joeybunz hemp inserts can be found on Amazon.

Do you use cloth diapers overnight? What’s your favourite overnight combination?

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19 Comments on “Four Overnight Cloth Diaper Solutions

  1. We don’t cloth diaper overnight. I got tired of changing wet bedding in the night! We do use some cloth diapers during the daytime hours.

  2. It took me a long time to venture into cloth diapering overnight! I found it a scary world to get into as I was so worried that my son would wake up in the middle of the night wet. After talking to a friend and someone who makes cloth diapers she told me to try fitteds and a wool cover. I tried it and I haven’t gone back. I was skeptical of wool
    and how it worked but it is so amazing. I use Omaiki fitteds stuffed with bamboo or hemp or Simply Lavish baby fitted stuffed with the same thing. No leaks ever!

  3. I do want to try hemp inserts though the guru at my local store talked me out of it as I have a large stash of bummis prefolds. A prefold stuffed into a 4.0 is working amazingly well overnight. With a few feeds at night, I sometimes add the newborn insert too. Absorbency is great but drawback is it is very bulky and I have to watch for leg gaps due to the bulkiness.

    • You should definitely try some hemp! It is a slow absorber, so you want to couple it with something that absorbs quickly (like bamboo, microfibre, or even prefolds). Hemp is a super thirsty fibre though, and it’s really trim!

  4. You are SO knowledgeable when it comes to such an array of products and tips to help new moms. I never knew you could contain blow-outs better with cloth! So cool.

  5. Overnight cloth was definitely the hardest part to figure out for us! I had a super heavy wetter, so learned fast that bamboo or hemp inserts were a must, sometimes with wool covers and eventually just stuck with extra stuffed sbish and some other WAHM extra-absorbent ones. Whew, I’m LOVED cloth diapering but am finding myself thankful this moment that its over haha. Great post and blog, thank you!

    • Thanks Amanda! I was glad to be out of diapers period when The Heir potty trained. I got a year long break from diapers, so I was keen to get those cute prints on a tiny bum again!

  6. Only thing that worked overnight so far is fitteds with a fleece cover/pants

  7. Our bulletproof overnight diaper for our 17-month heavy wetter is the Motherease Wizard Duo nighttime insert. Have you tried this? Absolutely amazing. I rinse the cover in the morning and it’s reuse it with a clean insert for a second night before I wash. I only need 2-3 (third cover is just a backup) and 3-4 nighttime inserts in total for my stash.

  8. All of those would only work for us during the day. A bamboo/hemp fitted worked okay but even that needs a doubler now. Pockets just don’t cut it for toddlers who are heavy wetters. We use to be able to use 2 bamboo soakers and a microfiber before that quit working.

  9. will have to buy more for night time. i donated my last stash, so i’ll need to go shopping again. thanks for giving me a list. lol

  10. I was curious about what your 4 overnight solutions for cloth diapering would be. These would work for the daytime for us because LO is a heavy wetter. We have to use a bamboo or hemp with a cover for overnight.

  11. Pocket nappies didn’t work for my son overnight, he was a very heavy wetter. I used Babybeehinds night nappy and covered it with woolen underwear (I also made woolen pants) I made from old woolen tops. I also used a bit of woolen scrap material as a linner so he didn’t feel the wetness on his skin. A lot of nights the nappy would be soaked but the bed and my son were dry. I could have lanolised the woolen undies to make them more waterproof but I managed without doing that and I would just wash the underwear regularly.
    Before I sewed the old woolen tops I washed them on a hot wash to felt them.
    The babybeehinds can last up to 12 hours. My son is now 15 months, and is not feeding through the night, I put his nappy on at about 5:30 to 6pm and take it off about 6:30 to 7am. Even though its over 12 hours he is fine.

  12. I just gotta say none of these would do it for my heavy wetters. It took me a while to find what works for my kids. I have to use a geffen baby flat in an alva fitted with an extra bamboo doubler

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