Need Advice for Overnight Diaper Leaks

Does he drink the milk before or after you brush his teeth? I'm assuming it's before, for the sake of his teeth. You can always add a few books after you brush his teeth and THEN put him in a night diaper. Also, give him less milk. Why is he still getting that much milk in the evening? Is he not eating enough at dinner? Transition him to a drink of water before bed. If he's thirsty, he needs water. If he's hungry, perhaps dinner and bedtime should be closer.

Good luck!

I have found 2 things that work for my son. I buy the huggies overnight (works much better than the other brands at nighttime) also/or i bought the plastic pants with liner for potty training bought in baby dept i think and put them on oveer diaper. Works like a charm!! The plastic pants are nice because you just wash them and use again, comes 3 to a pack i think. Gerber is the brand.

Drinking at bedtime is the #1 culprit here. Try giving him a drink 30 minutes before bed instead or giving him only 2oz of milk instead of the usual 4 to 6 oz. That was what I had to do with my daughter and it worked.

Funny, my son woke up this morning completely soaked through, again...I share in your frustration. I buy a larger size diaper for the night time, Huggies Overnight ones work great, BUT they are more expensive and the 1 size up of our regular brand (mom-to-mom) works just the same. I have cut out the sippy before bed (he gets it in the morning, thats how I was able to take it away, I remind him that he can have one in the morning). Sometimes though (as with last night) even the larger diaper doesnt work. I noticed that his diaper was put on in a way that there was more in the back than the front (thanks to daddy helping last night :) they do try dont they?), anyway, I have another thought for the both of us to try: my daughter has crib pads (crib pads are much nicer that mattress protectors because they are fleece on both sides and dont slip around) on her bed incase she has an accident (she is 4 1/2 and wears underwear to be). I think I will get a couple of those for my sons bed to save on sheet washing. You should try those too. You can find them in the baby department, they come in a 2 pack and they are washer/dryer safe...Good luck and may you be blessed with many dry nights! :)

I'm going to suggest something a little different. I wouldn't take away his routine but I would try to ween the sippy cup by 30 minutes each week. Meaning if he usually has it at 8pm try cutting him off at 7:30pm and so on until you get him use to no drinks after 6pm or 7pm. Whichever one works best for both of you. Until he gets use to this, you might have to slip in and change him while he sleeps. Eventually you will want to try bathroom trips in the middle of the night when you begin potty training. I potty trained two little boys this way and my dog as silly as that sounds. The task is similar though. Try to limit liquids after a certain time, and your son will eventually be on a routine. My little guy gets change around 6am when he gets a bottle and he is good again until 9am. I would try until something works. Eventually you will both be on a patttern that will hopefully work for both of you. My son pee's alot and I absolutely hate Luvs. Huggies and Pampers are the best for absorbants and the generic brands smell like urine right after my son does his business. I hope this advice helps you.

my now 4-year-old daughter was about that age when we switched her to a bedtime snack with a very small amount of milk. she still does it that way. a granola bar, apple, dry cereal, sometimes ice cream or cookies (depending on the behavior that day). it seems to be working well.

if you think your son is too set in his routines you will have to do it more gradually, but give it a try. i thought my daughter would balk at the routine change, but she just went along with the flow.

I've had this problem. I currently use a Huggies Overnights one size larger than his normal diapers and they work great! Before I discovered the Huggies Overnights I would use a maxi pad. What I would do was take a normal diaper and put the maxi pat horizontally across the top/front of the diaper. That also always worked. Good luck!

I used a product called Diaper Doublers. It increases the absorbency of the diaper. Double diapering and feminine maxi pads don't work well because the waterproof backing on these products keeps moisture from passing through to either the diaper or second diaper, in your case, rendering them somewhat ineffective. Diaper doublers are like a maxi pad in that they are very absorbent, but they do not have a waterproof backing to inhibit the diaper itself from doing its job.

You could also gradually cut back, over a couple of weeks, on the amount of milk in the pre-sleep sippy until he either gives it up or it contains just a little bit. He won't notice a half ounce or so missing every couple days.

Hi S.,

I know this might be too early but what I use to do was change his diaper once in the middle of the night and my baby was still asleep while I was changing it. I had my alrm set for 3am and again at 8am1 hour before I had to get ready for work.

Nowadays I change them at 8 or 9pm and again in the morning as soon as they wake up. No leakage, just full. Sounds grose but I save on diapers.

Sincerely,
M. Macias
Mommy of two (3 and 2)

Boys do that more than girls. that is my experience anyway. I would try to start cutting back on the bottle at night. Try giving it to him an hour earlier. There can still be a little in the bottle right at bedtime, but don't give him a full bottle at that time. The other thing we did was to put a size bigger diaper on him. THere's more room for absorbancy. Just make sure it still fits snug. If you are using disposable diapers make sure the plastic around his legs is not tucked in. It does make a difference. Otherwise, know he will eventually grow out of it and you will have less laundry.

Good time to introduce the potty. Before he goes to be at night, before his bath or after, but before you get him in his pj's, sit him on a potty chair and read a book. You can pour warm water over his front to help him release his urine and praise him him extensively when he voids. This will help drain his bladder, relieving some of the pressure later in the evening. Best of luck!!

I second the advice to cut back on the liquids prior to bedtime. Start to do this now and you'll thank yourself later when you're trying to potty train and liquids right before bed become an even bigger problem.
Just load up on liquids during the day so that you know he is getting plenty of hydration and slowly cut back on the amount of liquids before bed. Kids truly do not need a drink before bed.

Our daughter was and still is a pee'r. We actually did a night diaper change and it got to where it didnt wake her at all. Slept through it each time. I would change her just before I went to bed each night, which was usually 3-4 hours after her, so it worked out.

I asked this very same question l few weeks ago and found a solution! I've been using the gdiapers hemp and fleece inserts into my son's prefold...no more super soaked pjs and sheets :)

Hi S.,
One suggestion is could you cut his milk amount by half and see if that might help. Another thing I did when potty training for night time was to get some water proof pads, it saved me some time in the middle of the night for the accidents.

J.

I use Huggies overnight protection diapers & make sure they fit well. My son also takes formula before bed, however, I limit it to 4 oz.

I hate to say it, but you need to take it away probably. You can reduce it by 1/4 every couple of days and/or increase his fluids at dinner to make the transition smoother.

You can also try getting diapers a size bigger and then doubling. We use cloth diapers and most of ours are good, but we have one brand that we try not to use overnight. The every so often when we do (because we don't have others clean), we put "plastic pants" over the diaper. Seems to work.

My son was having leaks at that age as well, once I put a onesie one him (do they still call them that?) the leaks stopped.

Have you considered cloth for nighttime use? My favorite combo is the Bamboozle diaper with a wool cover. They can drink and pee all night and you'll have no leaks! Plus, you simply wash the diapers and reuse them, so you'll save a fortune over double diapering!

Let me know if you have more questions or need help! We offer free diapering lessons.

http://www.punkinbutt.com/bamboozle-nighttime-wstacinator...

Sincerely,
A.
www.punkinbutt.com

This started happening with my daughter too, around the same age. We tried the double diaper thing too, and it didn't work for us either. What has worked though is the Pampers Overnight diapers. Occasionally she still wakes up wet, but not every night like it used to be. Also, we don't give her any liquids after about 5 o'clock, other than her night time bottle. I know we shouldn't be giving her a bottle still....she'll be 2 in January! But it's that routine thing for her, and it's so hard to take it away from her. Plus, I think I might like it more than she does~it's that cuddle time that I'm trying to hold on to!! But after reading your post, I think I will try giving it to her in her sippy cup~atleast its better than a bottle! So thank you for your advice, even if you didn't know you were giving any =) Good luck on the leaky diapers~I hope this helps!!

I think that happens alot around that age. I remember my daughter doing it too. Try a bigger size diaper at night or the overnight diapers. And just slowly reduce the amount of milk. Also, maybe give him a little less to drink at dinner time too. I usually cut back the fluids starting around 4pm in our house, otherwise it is wet bed city here! My daughter still drinks a cup of water as part of her bed time routine and she is 3. So, don't try to get rid of it, just reduce the amount.
Good luck.

Hi S.

I have similar advice - here are the three things I have done..

1. Pampers recommended I go up one size when the leaking was occuring at night. & It worked. (via pampers.com)

2. I always used Onesies up until my boys were potty training and couldn't get them undone on-time. The onesie really keeps the diaper from slipping around and getting bunched up at the waist which causes gaps for the the pee to escape.

3. Change your sons diaper after he is well asleep, it's wet or out of place. sometimes i have taken it off to find out it was dry.. but I always put a NEW one on to make sure it is securely fastened. (then use the dry one the next day.)
~ I then also check if I wake up in the middle of the night.. i'm already up, why not. :)

lastly - but not necessairly a point.. I consistently used the more premium diaper at night (luvs/or baby dry) and left the daytime to the discounted brands and pull ups....same as on vacation.
luvs diapers are made by pampers and are essentially the same as Baby dry.. only less expensive. :)

good luck.

We use Pampers during the day, but switched to Huggies Overnights at nap and bedtime because of the same problem. They are working great for us - more expensive (about 40 cents each) but having considerably less laundry at the end of the day makes it worth it to me.

I have two very big babies and they outgrew their diapers early, so for night time leaks that were driving me crazy, I put a maxi pad in their diapers and it absorbed the extra pee. Worked like magic! Good luck!!

an excessive amount of wetting at night is often the bodies way of detoxing. His body may be having trouble breaking down the milk protiens.

I would avoid dairy before bed. Maybe give him almond or rice milk instead - at the very least, cut back drastically on the amount you are giving him.

I used Huggies Overnights and they did the trick. My 2.5 year old had the same problem and the overnights helped.

Wow, you got a lot of responses on this. You probably alread got these solutions, but just in case...try a size larger than what your child wears (if possible) or the Huggies Nighttime diapers. They do hold a little more than a normal diaper. I too have a little one that would wet through and this diaper helped us. Another suggestion is put a water proof pad on top of the sheet, that way you can grab the pad and wash instead of everything. If I remember correctly Target Online has a pad that is just for this, but for a twin bed. I dont see why you couldnt use it on a crib mattress.
Personally if your little one is as stubburn as mine, you wont get away with a partial cup or taking it away all together. She is 2 i/2 and still has to have her drink before bed.
I hope one of these many ideas will help, I know how tiring it gets to strip the bed every morning and have to remake it just as often.

What we found works best is huggies overnights. If your son is getting close to the weight limit consider going up a size in diapers. diaper sizes do overlap slightly but even if he doesn't quite fit the next size, as long as it isn't falling off, a larger size has more absorbency.

If you haven't already, try upsizing your child's diaper at night. It worked for us. Also, to avoid disrupting the routine, maybe only fill the sippy cup half way with milk?

I will go against the flow here. My daughter is simply too "busy" during the day to drink. So she is always thirsty at nighttime.
Have you tried absorbent inserts yet? Some supermarkets carry them on the same shelf as their diapers, they are called diaper inserts or doublers. You may also have to size up to get a good fit with the insert.
Also go ahead and try different brands, there definitely is a difference in absorbency and fit!

I don't know if you already know this, but if you do have a "leaker" put several layers of sheets with waterproof pads in between them on his mattress. At least then you just rip off the top layer, toss in the wash and he has a fresh sheet underneath it.
Good luck!

Buy a few leak proof pads (probably a minimum of 3...1 for the wash, 1 for the drawer, 1 for the bed)to save you from too much laundry. You can find them in baby stores like Babies R Us but I think Target might also have some.

Doubling diapers might end up being a little too tight. Instead try "plastic pants". They look like toddler underwear and are GREAT for potty training too!

I would also try switching from a full sippie cup to 1/4 or 1/2. That might help some of the overflow. :)

Hope it works! Good luck mama :)

J.

I've been using Luvs for almost the whole time with my 2 year old son. I haven't had any problems with leaking, and he drinks breastmilk throughout the night:)

hiya WOW you have a lot to sort thru, im sure youll find a solution , there are so many great suggestions. here mine.. i had to actualy buy the underjams for my 2 1/2 yr son there way to big but theonly things that remotely hold all the pee... he floats away by morning.LOL. good luck..

My older son always had this same problem. I found that the Huggies Overnight diapers (in purple package) worked really well. I would say that it cut down on leaks in the night by about 90%. Give them a try.

I ended up triple diapering my son. Boys are like that.

I use the system that Audrey suggests (I’m also a very very happy customer of hers and can highly recommend her store) and I absolutely love the bamboo diapers and wool covers. If you don’t want to go with cloth, you could try using a g-diaper insert as a doubler to increase the capacity. I never thought using two regular diapers worked particularly well, especially since you then have two layers of waterproof backer and it seemed like a lot of stuff to be dumping in the landfills. The g-diapers are just the absorbent part, no waterproof cover, and they can be flushed or composted.

Huggies Overnights work wonders for us. Love them!

Try a different brand or different size. We did that with my son and it made a world of differeance. We used them only for the overnight time. Every child fits diapers differently so try a different brand and a different size

Good luck

C.