I have an epic wetting toddler.
Aren’t they all epic wetting?, you might ask. I’m sure toddlers in general produce plenty of wet diapers the globe-’round, but I have reason to believe that DanO and I hath borne a particularly large-bladdered boy.
5:40am yesterday, OBaby is awake. And unhappy. I discover that the unhappiness is due to the fact that the ostensibly absorbent disposable diaper he is wearing was full and he had quite literally soaked through the entire front of his pajamas from his feet to his chin.
(Allow me to remind you that it was before 6 am. If there had been a(n unnamed brand of disposable diapers) executive within arms reach, I probably would have punched him. And I’m not a violent person.)
So, the kid. He pees like it’s his job, and we’re also still kind of heavy handed on the water consumption because of the 2010 Diaper Rash Debacle that became the 2011 Diaper Rash Debacle of which dehydration seemed to be the catalyst (and a formidable foe). With winter skin and dryness in general PLUS that rash, I’ve been a water vigilante. But I think it’s time to stop.
Because a 5:40am urine-soaked start to the day is no one’s cup of tea.
We had been using cloth diapers with great success until The Rash this winter, at which point we got some medicated cream that would gunk up cloth, so we used disposable for quite a while. We made the official switch back to cloth in January, but it has been a very, very bumpy (read: leaky) road since. I would double the absorbent layer inserts, I would change him as often as possible, I would constantly check the leg fit… but still he was just soaking through the diapers (and his clothes) at an unreasonable rate.
One grim afternoon I changed him IMMEDIATELY before putting him down for a nap, from which he woke 1 hour and 15 minutes later because he had soaked through the cloth diaper and subsequently through his clothes.
(Again with the desire to punch someone despite my natural non-violent tendencies.)
So we broke down and bought a whole case of disposable diapers from Costco. An entire case. $40. FORTY DOLLARS. $40 to save our sanity… except it wouldn’t just be $40… it would be $40 this month, and another $40 next month, then ano…
Because I already have a cloth diapering system, inserts, laundry soap, wet bags, etc., plus I am used to and have no problem with keeping up on the laundry for diapers, it tied my stomach in knots thinking about setting that all aside and dropping $120 on disposables in the next 90 days.
That day I put out an SOS to my friends (some of which I haven’t met yet) on twitter, looking for something to make cloth diapering fit our new, heavy wetting situation. Several friends (::waves hi:: to Blair and Sidnie) suggested Fuzzi Buns brand cloth diapers. They are all-in-ones (AOIs) and have fleece material covering the entire inside of the diaper, which helps with leaks, but they are also pocket diapers, which means you can stuff them good and full of absorbent stuff.
I figured if I spent less than 2 months worth on disposable diapers in order to get a handful of re-usable diapers, it was worth the money. And at this rate, we have another little bottom on the way that will need fluff, so if it doesn’t work for our toddler, it’s not a waste.
The diapers came on Monday. I’ve never really been a “diaper stasher” – someone who gets excited about getting pretty new cloth diapers in an array of colors – but when I saw these I totally got the stashing fever.
OoOoOoOoOo… preeeeeetty.
Pretty, yes. But effective?
YES! The very first time he used one, there was some minor moisture escaping around one leg, but I think it was me not fitting it quite right because the diaper was by no means ‘full’. But since then? Not a single problem! In fact, I’ve had more issues with the night time disposables (which we are still using while feeling out these new diapers’ limits) these last few days than with the cloths!
The only downside I’ve noticed so far? Their name. Fuzzi Bunz. I just can’t take myself seriously when I say it.
But did I mention that they’re pretty?
Yes. Pretty poo catchers and posts about toddler pee. That is exactly what keeps you coming back for more on O My Family.
Happy to oblige. See? More pretty:
{for the curious: I bought these Fuzzi Bunz brand diapers new, but at a discounted rate from here.}
I follow you on twitter and just caught this post. We CD around here too and oh so many times I have thought I.am.switching.back.to.disposable. But, alas, we have not and I am a huge huge huge fan of Fuzzi Bunz and Bum Genius. And YES, they are pretty!!!
I use the Fuzzibunz as well but we use them only at night and we started using them b/c of leaking issues with disposables at night. LOVE them!
So it really works? Do you just use the inserts that came with them or do you use extra or special ones?
My DS is also a super soaker and last week, every night, we were up at 2am soaked through his double stuffed BumGenius. I wonder if your post will help convince DH that these will work!
Fuzzi buns never worked for me — I never “got” all the different sizes but I’m so glad they work for you. Kendall pees a ton as well. I use bumgenius almost exclusively and double stuff with the regular and newborn insert. During the day I have to change her every 1.5-2 hours and at night we also include a hemp artsy fartsy foo foo insert. If you haven’t tried those I highly recommend!!
We have been using 3 inserts in our pocket diapers since our son was 8 months old (for night time). He’s 13 months now, and we’ve found we have to change his diaper every two hours during the day. I guess all toddlers are super pee-ers.
we use Kawaii heavy wetters. they are amazing! and, pretty colors! I couldn’t be happier! I hope these work for you guys but like you said there is another little bum that will need fluff!
Whew! That’s a load off my shoulders!
But hey, if they hadn’t worked I would have offered to buy them from you…
So it’d be a win-win no matter what!
I am so glad that they’re keeping OBaby dry. We love our FBs, obviously!
And yes, the colors are kinda awesome. They make me smile.
No. Seriously.
I really smile, every time I put a diaper on Cade.
Fuzzi Bunz are cool like that.
We have good luck with BumGenius. Disposable diapers are way cheaper on Amazon. You got taken at Costco. ;)
That is so good to know! I spent ages comparing and price shopping for cloth dipes before OBaby was born, but never really bothered to shop around for disposable prices… figuring bulk was a good way to go. I hope I never have to use it, but thank you for that info!
We love our FBs. We’ve been using them for over four years now with about a six month break in the middle. They’ve held up so well. … And they really are soooooo cute.
Oh my word, yes!! We have been having very similar problems! We gave up on cloth at nighttime months ago, but in the last several weeks I’ve gotten so frustrated at how quickly they’re leaking even during the day! We use Kissaluvs all in ones (one size) and I had thought that’d be all we’d ever need to buy, so I was pretty disappointed when I felt like they just weren’t cutting it anymore! I got on diaperswappers.com and got a bunch of extra inserts (I love the BG ones) and praise God! It’s really helping!!! He’s still having some minor leaking issues but nothing like it was! However, if we end up increasing our supply someday, I may consider FB-sounds like everyone loves them! My only thing is that I really like the one-size feature so I don’t have to buy multiple sizes and everything. Yay for cloth diapers that work! I’m glad you figured it out!
FB has one-size ones that I LOVE! Work on my 6 month old for anytime and on my 3 year old as her night-time protection. The one-size comes with 2 inserts, a new-born (that serves as a doubler later) and the regular. I just stuff both in for my little one, as he seems to already be a heavy wetter. We had some leakage around the legs until I started doing that, now-no problems. Their customer service is great too!
I’m a Fuzzibunz diaper stasher…it’s like my crack. ; )
So glad that they work for you!
glad you found a workable system–and cute at that:) we’ve used mother-ease for overnights with two babes. prefolds can go in as liners, too, pretty much making them supa-absorbent.
Ok, since I don’t read all of the million of comments you’ve already received on this, you have have already heard this 13 or 14 times. But, we cloth diapered during the day but because of the pee situation at night, we used disposables at night too, when that wasn’t enough we bought the actual nighttime diapers…much more absorbent. Have you tried those?
Hmmm, I’ll have to give these a try whenever we get pregnant again. Our youngest leaked through diapers like CRAZY. That and the non-stop, no matter what we did, rashes made us go back to disposables. I greatly missed cloth diapers, but now she’s just about potty trained, so no sense in going back.
Glad you found something that works! If for some reason – like traveling – you find yourself in a situation where you need to use disposable at night – we’ve had success with Huggies Nighttime. Our daughter pees epic amounts at night, but these absorb it all. They aren’t sold in stores – we get ours on Diapers.com. Expensive – but she only uses 1 a day (or night, rather), and I’m no longer being woken prior to 6 am, so it is worth it to me!
We’ve found Huggies Overnight diapers at Walmart – maybe they’re not the same as Huggies Nighttime? But they sound the same….and they DO absorb epic amounts. :) For whatever it’s worth!
I stocked up when Costco has their coupon for $5 or $6 off each box (the last two coupons they did, so $35-34). This makes them the best deal I’ve found since there is one brand that seems to fit my son best and you get almost 150 for his size. HOWEVER if I’d known about all the benies of cloth when my daughter was young we’d have totally done it, hindsight being what it is. But, my little guy is 2 and I’m planning on potty training within the next month and we’re done having kids so makes no sense now. Kudos to all you who do cloth!
Mad props to you for continuing to cloth diaper….I was vigilant with one…then did it for 18 months with 2 toddlers…then I found Nature care baby ( biodegradable disposables) and well…. just haven’t looked back! I could have made it work with cloth if I had more diapers, each kid had about 8.. but I couldn’t keep up with the laundry. The Nature Care diapers cost the same as Costco on Amazon ( with Amazon Mom and Subscribe and save ) so I’m happy. I really wanted to be “that” mom tho….:)
OK I have SO many questions for you, but I will try to keep this short. I use gDiapers. My son is 10 months old and weighs 20 lbs. He currently wears size Medium in gDiapers. But we are having the same issues as you! He leaks through them almost every single time, so I wash all 3 pieces (cloth insert, plastic liner, and gpant) after every diaper change! On top of that, they stink. As in badly. Does this happen with you? I talked to the gDiapers people and they recommended I strip the cloth inserts by boiling them. Did you ever do this?
Thanks!!!
I really don’t want to switch to anything else because we’ve already spent so much $$ on the gDiapers……
I am *so* glad you posted this! We were using Huggies Overnight Diapers on my daughter up until 2.5 months ago – When we cut out her middle of the night bottles, she stopped peeing so much & didn’t need them. Now, at 2 days shy of 1yo, she has been peeing so much more at night just this last week. Nothing has changed – She gets 6-8oz of milk right before bed like she has since I can remember. This morning she woke up & had soaked through her diaper. . . I just ordered FuzziBunz OS diapers on Friday & they came today. . . I am hoping this is the answer to our soaking through our diaper & clothes problem. I think tonight I am just going to test the waters with 1 insert. . . I am thinking I may need to do 2 inserts, though.
We (my husband Dan and I) started diapering our Micah (see how much we have in common???) 14 months ago, when he was 15 months old. We went whole hog and bought 24 brand new FuzziBunz – and after I hit the “submit” button, I prayed I would love them, since I had a whole stash. I, too, enjoyed the beauty of 24 brand-new FB when the box arrived. I am happy to tell you, 14 months later, there is not another cloth diaper I would rather reach for than my FB. Micah wears them day in and day out and 14 months later, they look almost new. No lie. He sleeps 11-12 hours in them at night, with both inserts, and has never leaked out of them. In fact, I love them so much, I’m having a hard time finding any other dipes I am as happy with. We are awaiting the arrival of #2 in August, and I’m having a hard time convincing Dan AND our daycare provider to use any other cloth diaper BESIDES our FB. If Dan is that attached, that might say something……
Oh and by the way, my Micah LOVES watching videos of your Micah. And saying “that Mah-cah” each time. :)
I have no experience in the cloth diaper department. However, I do know that there’s a 15% OFF coupon code for Amazon through 3/9. Use code FUZZIMOM at checkout. Hope that helps someone out!
Thank you for the suggestion and tips. I’d love to hear if it’s going to work at night too.
I quit Twitter sooo long ago but I wish I would’ve seen your post. We’ve recently discovered Comfy Rumps (which are pretty much just like FB) and they.are.awesome. And affordable. Like, really affordable. Like, I would have tripled my stash had I known about these from the beginning just by spending the same amount we’ve spent for CD so far. If you ever get an itch to try some new diaps, definitely look into them. We love them. :)
Ohh…I am sad. I’m have a gDiaper wearing baby and wondered what might happen as the baby gets bigger and wets more because the cloth inserts don’t get any thicker. I’m getting nervous and hope all works out but she’s only 6 months old and cringe at the thought of investing more money in cloth diapers if these don’t work out… Yikes!
{eyes widen} ppprrreetttyyy! so many pretty colors.
We love our FBs! I bought some used smalls from a friend and some used mediums off eBay. Have you checked eBay? We’re still changing at night, but am planning on getting some hemp inserts for when he (someday!!) sleeps through the night. I’ve heard people say they have good luck overnight with a hemp insert + one of the microfiber inserts.
Hey Allison,
Just an FYI 7th generation disposable diapers are THE WORST disposable diaper on the market today. We had to switch to all non-chlorine diapers since Jackson apparently has some bum allergies, and before we figured that out we had tried every brand of diaper on the market to try to remedy his mysterious rash. I don’t know if that is the brand you are using or not, but out of every disposable brand out there…those one’s are just the absolute worst for leaking and fitting properly. However, I have some good news for you…in the process of finding out what disposable brands are not the best I had subsequently found the very best disposable brand out there…Earths Best. I LOVE THEM. They are the most absorbent softest, best fitting diaper out there and they are chlorine and chemical free. We have yet to have any leaks with these and Jackson LOVES himself some water as well. He can go swimming in these…and has on occasion in the summers, and they still just don’t leak. You might want to consider these for night time if the others are not working as well. Also, buy them at amazon.com/diapers (free shipping in two days) if you buy them from the amazon distributor. Look in parent’s magazine for a 30% off coupon as well. Get the jumbo pack. Amazon is the cheapest place for diapers ANYWHERE.Diapers.com is probably like $10 more for the same amount of diapers in the same brand. Hope this is somewhat helpful. Good luck with the leaking issue.
oh the colors!! lurve!!
question:
do you think it would be doable to start cloth diapering with my 18 month old? he is pretty mellow, but we have only used disposables with him and he gets rashes like you wouldn’t BELIEVE! also, much more environmentally friendly!
You have inspired me to become a cloth diaperer! My son is 9 months old. I went out and ordered 12 FuzziBunz this week! Do you find that size around the legs has to be different at night due to the extra amount of stuffing?
http://blissedoutbaby.blogspot.com/2011/03/nighttime-cloth-diapering-for-toddlers.html
Check out my post on Nighttime Cloth diapering! It will save you time on figuring out the leaking issue!
LOVE YOUR BLOG!!!!
Laura
You have also inspired me to become a CDer! I started thinking about it for my second child when I was pregnant, but I don’t really know anyone well that uses them. I started some more research recently and then you posted. And then my coworker mentioned the same brand to me that she just started using and loves them too. So now I’m officially on board with using FuzziBunz for my 17 month old. I LOVE them. Thanks for posting on this!