How to prevent cloth diapers from leaking
It is perhaps inevitable that your baby will leak through their diapers at some stage, and whilst we have carefully designed Bayrli diapers to be leakproof, we wanted to create this guide to help you with any queries.
All diapers will leak. And you will be frustrated when it happens and will be determined to prevent this from occurring again. Regardless of brand, it is one the most prominent concerns that parents have when they use reusable diapers.
However, there are a few common causes as to why leaks occur and some simple solutions to prevent your cloth diapers from leaking.
Getting the right fit
The diaper may need to be adjusted if a leak occurs more than once. And knowing how to get the right fit is essential to a stress free diapering experience with your little one. See our complete guide to getting the right fit for your baby.
Boost absorbency
More absorbency is often a first step to preventing diaper leaks with many brands. If the inserts of your Bayrli diaper are saturated, and you think the diaper should be lasting longer, please feel free to boost the diaper with an additional insert or try an inserts made from a different, higher absorbing material. This should not be necessary in most cases, but is worth considering.
As your little one develops from a baby into a toddler you will notice a remarkable change in feeding habits from birth to toddlerhood. At birth the primary source of food is liquid, therefore it is expected that they will pee and poo a lot, and they will do it often in small amounts.
As your baby grows older, they are able to instinctively hold their bladder and therefore can flood the diaper, and in some situations the absorbency cannot keep up with sheer release of liquid. We have carefully designed and tested bayrli diapers to ensure they are leakproof and blowout proof, but it essential that you remain diligent and consider changing the diaper sooner if you expect everything to happen at once.
If you feel there isn’t enough room to add more inserts into the diaper with the chosen fit we recommend that you consider changing the fit. Undo the rise snaps therefore making the cloth diaper bigger and add in more of your chosen absorbency. The additional room you have just created will accommodate the added absorbency.
Material that makes up the insert is also something to think about. Some materials will hold more but absorb slower while others absorb quickly but do not lock in the liquids as well. The ideal balance of diaper inserts can be created by pairing a quick absorbing insert such as microfiber or our bamboo cotton with an insert that holds a greater volume of liquid such as bamboo or hemp.
More frequent changes may be required
The Bayrli Inner and the Bayrli Terry Diaper are the perfect diapers for getting through the night, with absorbency to last around 8 hours in all situations. But what if you use another diaper for nighttime, or what if your chosen brand is having issues with leakages? In this case, the diaper needs to be changed more frequently if additional absorbency options didn’t to the trick for you. All Bayrli diapers should comfortably last up to 4 hours on your baby, but some brands will will only last 2 hours max before they reach their capacity and a change is required.
You should also consider compression leakages. When inserts are saturated and are compressed and squished, it often causes the liquid to seep out as this is the only place the liquid can go. If this is common, we recommend choosing Hemp inserts or our Ultimate inserts for peace of mind.
Consider the age of your inserts
There is a reason we advise you prewash your diapers and inserts. Through our own extensive testing we have found that this simple step drastically improves the entire experience of cloth diapering. Many brands and blogs encourage this, but we insist upon it.
Leaks are more common when inserts and absorbency options are brand new. In particular, new bamboo, cotton, and hemp inserts absorb less than ones that have been used and washed time and time again.
The reason for this is rather simple yet surprising. The fabric of the insert or liner goes from smooth when new, to rough over time after being washed. Don’t worry, our inserts are designed to do this. Why? The surface area of the fibres within increase over time with washing due to friction and the fibres become looser and a phenomenon known as micro piling occurs. Thanks to this larger surface area, the more micro piling you have, the more absorbency you achieve.
A note on pocket diapers
If any style of reusable diaper suffers from leaks more than any other, it would be pocket diapers. The reason this is true is that they are customised by the parent with each use. Your baby will change how much and how often they dirty their diaper and so the absorbency they need will also change. A set up that may have worked last week may need tweaking and without noticing this can cause leaks to occur.
If your baby is out-peeing their diaper and the inserts are fully saturated, it means that they are producing a higher volume of pee than they used to and you'll need to add more inserts or change the materials that the inserts are made from.
If your baby leaks and you notice that the inserts are not fully saturated, they are most likely flooding their diaper very quickly. It may not be a large volume of liquid, but the rate at which they are going. Again, you may need to adjust your insert materials to be a faster absorbing material to ensure that the diaper lasts as long as it should and prevent any leaks from occurring.
Again we must point out that Bayrli Everyday Diapers have been designed to avoid this common occurrence that other brands suffer from. When we created our design, we wanted to combat the places most diapers leak at most - the back above the bum crack, the front at the tummy, and the legs. We have gentle elastics on all of our Bayrli diapers and have added tummy panels inside all three styles. We also have a back panel on our Bayrli Outers and double gussets at the legs of each of our diapers.
