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Preventing leaks

If you are experiencing problems with leaks, check the hints and tips below, and if your problem is not covered, please contact us.

First of all, have you washed your nappies three times, with no conditioner? Some nappies need more washing than others to bring them up to peak absorbency. Never use conditioner on nappies, it will reduce the absorbency.

Next check for the fit of the nappies and covers. You need a neat, snug fit around the leg especially. It isn't so essential to have a really snug fit round the leg with wool covers, so long as the nappy itself fits well. A nappy or cover that is too loose or one that is too tight can both cause leaking. Sometimes leaks out of the blue can mean it's time to change the wrap to the next size up. 

This next one is common sense, but is the most common cause of leaks. Check that all the cotton part of the nappy system is well tucked in. You only need the very tiniest bit of cotton sticking out for a leak to occur. Once that bit of cotton gets wet, if it touches any of your baby's clothing, it will allow the wetness to soak (wick) outwards to the vest, sleep-suit, bedding etc.

Also check you are using enough boosting, especially at night, some babies seem to wee quite large volumes overnight, they can need quite a lot of extra boosting. Try using a muslin if you have one, folded down into a rectangle pad to, lay down the centre of the nappy, or flannelette hush cloths make nice soft boosters.

Also, be sure that you are changing your baby often enough for his/her needs. Some babies just need changing more often than others.

If your baby is a little boy, it may be that his "directional weeing equipment" is pointing to the side, and he maybe weeing straight across the nappy (especially in the case of prefolds), and towards the leg binding of the wrap. Little boys do seem to wee under greater pressure that little girls, and as such, they can overwhelm the nappy and cover at one side, before the wetness has had a chance to be absorbed. In fact this is a much greater problem in disposables than cloth. Ask any Mum who uses them, if she ever gets leaks to one side of the nappy, especially at night, when baby may roll over to the side. There is no out and out cure for this with prefolds (except switching to a fitted shaped nappy for night only), but arranging your little boy's bits to point downwards can help. Also, try spreading the prefold pad out wider in the centre, or at least splaying it out at the back to fit the inside of the wrap better. 

If your baby is now somewhere between 6 and 10 months, average about 8 months, there may be a developmental change happening to his/her body, which can cause leaks until you have learned to adjust the nappy system to cope. Around 8 months, your baby's kidneys are starting to work better, and the bladder is also growing. Your baby is now able to concentrate the urine (you may notice it starts to smell, whereas up to now, it didn't), and also hold it in the bladder for longer. So instead of weeing frequently in small quantities, your baby now holds the urine for a while, then releases a whole bladder-full at one time. This can overwhelm the nappy quite quickly, causing leaks. Now is the time to start using boosters. You may only need them at night, or all the time, but the chances are, at 8 months or so, you will need to adjust the absorbency of your baby's nappy. A  booster is just to add absorbency (as the name suggests), so it can be any absorbent piece of cotton. A half or whole muslin, small prefold folded inside a large prefold, flannelette cotton squares, or specially designed boosters, it doesn't matter what you use inside the nappy, so long as you add more absorbency. Even an old face flannel will be enough to test the theory, before you jump in and buy something new. 

With reference to the 8 month mark mentioned above, it may also be time to think about the next size up nappy, if you are using a two sized system. This will not only add size, but also absorbency. 

If your baby is now a toddler, look carefully at what they are drinking and how much. If your toddler likes a lot of juice or squash, this will cause very large volumes of urine to be produced, and you will need to change them very frequently. While it is not my place to advise on what your baby should drink, do bear in mind the cycle that builds up when a baby drinks a lot of juice or squash type drinks. Baby likes sweet things, so he/she will take the drink very readily. They experience a sugar rush in the blood, so the body sends out insulin to deal with the sugar. However, this is easily used up sugar, and the blood sugar drops rapidly. The body now has too much insulin, so baby craves another sweet drink and will demand one. You give them the drink, and the cycle starts again. This will cause large amounts of urine to be produced, and juice type drinks are very acidic. This causes the bladder to be irritated, so the urine is passed very quickly, the child does not learn to hold the urine for long, which they do need to do to become dry.

If your baby is still very young and still on milk feeds only, you will find that what goes in is liquid, and what comes out is almost as liquid, the poo is certainly very runny. It squits everywhere. This is a feature of young babies, and not one over which you have much control. However, there are a few things you can do to minimise runny poo leaks. Again, check the fit of the nappy and wrap. The correct size wrap is essential, especially with prefolds and pad folded nappies. The other thing to look at is the liners. Most parents do start out using flushable liners, and there is certainly some sense in this. However, the standard liners are very smooth, and runny poo passed under pressure (as it tends to be at this age) seems to just skim straight across the surface and hit the leg area. It doesn't get time to pass through the liner before it's making it's way out of the leg binding, and all over your lap (or worse still, Auntie Jean's best dress!). Experiment, try using liners, both standard and ultra (thicker and less smooth), and try not using liners, especially if the nappy has a loop pile to it, such as terry. You may find that the loops stop everything in it's tracks and absorb the worst before it gets as far as the legs. New born poo is so runny, it is very easily washed out by the washing machine, so don't worry to much about having a nasty mess to clean off. Just throw the nappies in the machine as they are, they will be fine. Don't throw away the liners though, they come into their own when baby goes onto solids and discovers such delights as banana (experienced parents are now laughing gleefully at the thought of you  newbies discovering your first banana poo!), plums, spinach and more.

Last of all, if you are using a cotton or cotton mix cover, you will very likely experience what is called wicking. When the nappy gets very wet, the binding round the leg elastic of the cover will get wet. This will wick or soak round to the outside of the leg binding, then because it touches the cotton outer, it will start to wick across the surface of the wrap. Cotton covered wraps are lovely and soft, and nice for day use, but unless your baby has bad eczema and can't tolerate any other fabric, they are not to be recommended for long periods between nappy changes, or for night time. You will need to change more frequently or change the type of wrap you are using if this is your problem. Look for one of the polyester or nylon covers.