Night Nappies - The Final Frontier
You’ve mastered your reusable nappies, you’ve worked out your wash routine, life is going smoothly but you’ve still got that one last nagging disposable, the night nappy. It’s very normal for people to be a little intimidated by using cloth at night but really it’s not that hard. It’s just a matter of increasing absorbency. You don’t even need to go out and buy an expensive specialty night nappy, you can use what you have or purchase flexible options. Night nappies can be extremely economic and easy, if you know how. I’m going to show you three different night nappy options; a boosted all-in-two, a fitted nappy and a prefold.
It is important to note that depending when you start using cloth you might not need a night nappy straight away. If bub is still pooping at every feed and feeding every 2-3 hours. That’s not a night nappy, that’s just a day nappy that you have to change in the dark. Only worry about night nappy solutions when they start sleeping longer stretches and out-wetting your existing nappies.
So, how do cloth nappies work overnight? Read on and find out.
Night Nappy Solution #1 - A boosted Candie
The simplest night nappy is using the booster that comes with your Candie. Most babies will outwet this from a young age but when they first start sleeping long stints this can be a really effective and easy solution. If you’re lucky you might be able to get away with it for a few months. Just place the inserts into the trifold of your Candie as shown below, make sure you’ve got a good seal around the legs and you’re good to go.
Night Nappy Solution #2 - A fitted with a night trifold
When your little one starts sleeping lovely long stretches through the night you’re going to need to up the ante. A great option is a fitted nappy, our Bamboo Delights are made from gloriously soft bamboo velour and are a OSFM nappy (One Size Fits Most) so they’ll last you from close to birth all the way to toilet training. Our Bamboo Delights have just had an update with all new colours and newer more absorbent fabrics, but still the same lush bamboo velour outers.
They make an excellent day nappy with just a cover but very easily convert to a night nappy with the simple addition of a Night Booster. Place the booster between the fitted nappy and the cover so you can still maintain an excellent seal around the leg to keep any poosplosions in.
If you're interested in trying this option it's available as a Night Pack set including one Bamboo Delight, one night booster set and one cover, check it out here.
Night Nappy Solution #3 - A boosted prefold
A really flexible and economical option for night cloth is a prefold with booster/s. Lay your boosters inside your tri-folded prefold. Depending on the sex of your child you can move them to where you want the absorbency. For example, I have a boy that requires two boosters so I lay one flat and fold the other in half at the front.
Use the angel fold as shown above and fasten with a snappy. Use a PUL cover over the top and you’re good to go.
This video below shows how to fit your covers the get the best possible seal around the leg.
Two further notes regarding overnight cloth:
- Night nappies do require a little extra rinsing than normal nappies. They have a far greater volume of urine in them and it’s often more concentrated overnight. This isn’t hard though. Simply rinse once with hot water in a bucket or sink, then with detergent, then with hot water again. I sometimes find it beneficial to give it a small soak in the detergent water, just 10-30 minutes but always be very very careful. Any vessel of water can be a drowning hazard around small children. If you want to see how to do this you can check out this video.
- Night nappies should smell of nothing but pee in the morning... unless of course, you have another surprise awaiting you! They should not smell overpoweringly strong or of ammonia, these are signs that something is awry in your wash routine and may need adjusting.