I'm trying something new with Dio's sleeping arrangements, and we'll see if it helps. We have two bedrooms downstairs: Zari's room has a queen bed and a twin mattress on the floor. She's been sleeping on the twin mattress for the past year. Because Dio has been waking up so much at night--often triggered by us coming in to go to bed around 11 pm--I decided to start him out in her room rather than in ours. So here's our new musical-beds routine:
Dio and Zari go to sleep around the same time, about 8 pm. First I get Dio down in his crib (in our room) while Eric gets Zari ready for bed: pajamas, potty, brush teeth, read books. Once Dio is sleeping, I come in and we say prayers together before I nurse and snuggle Zari. We switched her over to the queen bed and she doesn't seem to mind the change. We turn the lights off, we talk about what we did today, I tell her a few stories (recently it's been random dinosaur stories that I make up on the fly, involving "Zari the special pterodactyl"), and then I leave. She usually falls asleep on her own.
Dio usually wakes up once or twice soon after going to bed, so I use this opportunity to transfer him to Zari's room. He goes on the twin mattress with the baby monitor close by so I can hear his breathing. I find that I sleep much better when I can hear him breathing. Am I the only one who constantly checks to be sure their kids are breathing??
At some point in the middle of the night I'll bring Dio into our king-sized bed. Sometimes I'll leave him on the twin mattress after the first middle-of-the-night nursing (somewhere between midnight and 2 am), other times I'll bring him our bed the first time he wakes up.
I've done this for two nights so far. The first night was great, sleep-wise. The second night was so-so (mostly due to a constant cycle of wet diapers and restlessness). We'll see if this helps overall. It's really nice being able to go into our room and be able to turn the lights on and talk when we're going to bed.
As tempting as disposables sound, I'm just not interested in the extra cost, the environmental impact, or in how it might affect Dio's night-dryness over the long-term. I do want to look into other diaper options for nights--probably some kind of pocket diaper with a really good stay-dry liner so Dio won't wake up if he pees. Any suggestions?
We use bumGenius 3.0 and the fleece lining stays remarkably dry. I haven't changed my son's diaper in the middle of the night since we started using them. You can double up the inserts so that it doesn't leak. I'd give it a try and see if it helps.
ReplyDeleteWe use Bum Genius 3.0 and FuzziBunz one-size. Both are great, but FuzziBunz are my favorite. Baby stays dry. No leaks. When the elastics get old, it is a piece of cake to replace them (no sewing necessary...). My daughter nursed multiple times in the middle of the night until three weeks ago (23 months). She was, therefore, a heavy wetter. FuzziBunz works so well; I can't say enough. Sadly, I can't say the same about BumGenius. But perhaps it is because we have been using them for over a year. Good luck! I hope everyone starts sleeping better soon.
ReplyDeleteI'd suggest a pocket with a fleece inner in a bigger-than-usual size, and just stuff the crap out of it. Premium infant prefolds make great doublers. You could add a felted wool piddle pad under his bum too if even that gets full.
ReplyDeleteHi, I have a 6 month old who has been a pretty heavy wetter since birth and we use a bum genius 3.o with their insert and a second more generic insert. It is bulky adn occasionally in the morning it leaks depending on what position he has slept in but over 90% of the time, he is dry when he wakes up.
ReplyDeleteFor a stay-dry liner I cut up some microfleece and laid it in my son's diapers. I doubled up the absorbency underneath.
ReplyDeleteHi, my added two cents worth is to use hemp inserts inside a pocket diaper. I love being able to stuff to whatever amount of absorbency I need (naptime, regular, night-time). The hemp inserts are thin and combined with another type of insert will increase the absorbency without getting too bulky. I love pocket diapers for sleeping times.
ReplyDeleteI like the fit of the bum genius, but am beginning to have a problem with the Velcro attracting fuzzies while in the wash. (I really should switch over to cloth wipes, I know) Fuzzy bunz have been the constant winner and fit both my kids well.
I, too, have had good luck with a doubled-up bumGenius. We've only had a leak once or twice (and I think both times were with a 2.0 hand-me-down), and I don't believe any of my daughter's night wakings are due to being wet. That said, I do think she's starting to wet more, because her skin is damp when she gets her morning diaper change. I like the idea of adjusting it to the next size up and maybe adding a third insert. Will try that tomorrow night!
ReplyDeletethis is what we have been doing with ven for the last week. he starts out in another bedroom in a bassinet (play yard kind) so my husband and i have alone time or can read or whatever. then when it's time to feed him again I either feed him and put him back or I just bring him to my bed for the rest of the night. generally he's with me most off the night but I feel a little less sleep deprived having some time to myself during the night. by morning we're all a cramped heap of sleepiness. I wish we had a king bed!!!
ReplyDeleteI don't like pockets overnight. I have found swaddlebees fitted's with a fleece or wool cover to be best overnight.
ReplyDeleteYep -- I still sometimes check on my kids, and they're 3 & almost 5! It's a hard habit to break. Of course, a few scares here and there that they were *not* breathing kinda helps to reinforce that habit...
ReplyDelete-Kathy
Anything with fleece ends up giving my kids horrible rashes. They do feel dry though. I preferred wool soakers with sometimes a wool or silk liner against the skin.
ReplyDeleteI always have to check on my kids a couple of times to see if they are breathing. I'm so glad to here that someone else does this, and I'm not as crazy as my husband thinks.
ReplyDeleteI love SposoEasy and Fuzzi Bunz. The SposoEasy are 100% cotton so they may not wick away the moisture as well as the Fuzzi Bunz. My experience with the BumGenius 3.0 is that after a while, they start to stink. They don't seem to wash as well as the Fuzzi Bunz or the SposoEasy.
ReplyDeleteI have a movement monitor that beeps if it doesn't feel the baby move for 30 sec and I still keep the volume up all the way so I can hear my boy breathing.
ReplyDeleteLike several of the other posters we use the bumGenius 3.0 diapers with the regular insert and the newborn insert at night (as he gets bigger we'll switch to two regular inserts). That combo lasts him all night (up to about 12 hours). The inserts are very wet in the morning but the lining still feels dry. He was starting to get a little diaper rash though so we ordered their stay dry liners to use when we need to use cream. As a test we started using the liners without cream and his bottom has been fine ever since.
I love my bumGenius 3.0. I have not had any nighttime leaks. And he almost always feels totally dry to touch.
ReplyDeleteJessica/viginiadawn
My daughter has always been a very heavy wetter. She did best with the BumGenius 3.0 with both the regular insert AND the newborn insert together during the day to prevent leaks. At night, I added a hemp liner as well. Yes, it's quite bulky, but it's the only way I found for her to stay dry all night.
ReplyDeleteDitto the votes for fuzzibunz and bum genius, with hemp doublers. Be careful using creams with the fleece pocket diapers - the creams don't wash off the fleece well. This can degrade their ability to wick moisture away, and they also start to smell funky. As our son got older, we did finally get to a point where we switched to Huggies Overnites because of leaking, even with the doublers, etc. Fleece pj's are a must as the weather gets cooler. Good luck!
ReplyDeleteRachel
Another recommendation for FuzziBunz with two inserts for night time. Using one that is help keeps it from getting really bulky. That's always been our arrangement and its been working for two kiddos now! For a while when Chunka got older, we started needing three inserts a night.
ReplyDelete- I check breathing all the time!!
ReplyDelete- We use bG 3's with no trouble. When R was small, we'd put in both a liner and doubler (when you buy bGs new you get both). We've used up to 3 liners (!!) at times, and have only very rarely had Robin wake due to wet diapers at night since about 3 months old.
I'll be interested to hear how this works for you. I love co-sleeping... but I also love sleeping!!
Hi Rixa
ReplyDeleteI'm actually expecting a boy next month and I plan on using cloth diapers.While searching for it second hand,a friend of a friend showed me a lot of types and brands of cloth diapers.I've fallen in love with one brand.Bic et Biquette.http://www.bicetbiquette.com/page0.php
They are really much better than even the bumgenius.I have some 3.0 and some organic bumgenius,plus some Biquettes,all in one size.The biquettes are made much better(I'm a seamstress^^),the inside is thicker and softer.They come with snaps or hook and loops.And the lady making them is very sweet.
I know you spent some time in France so maybe you would be interested in participating to a forum in french about cloth diapers?We talk of other things as well.Most of us are from Canada.
Je crois parler au nom de toutes en disant que nous serions ravies de t'accueillir parmi nous a http://vert-bebe.forumdediscussions.com/
"Woe"
Thanks for all the diaper recommendations! I have contacted several of the companies to see if they'd like me to review their products, so stay tuned for that in the future.
ReplyDeleteEt merci pour l'invitation de ton forum! Je vais essayer de participer un peu si je peux trouver le temps.
The only thing I have to add is the possibility of a silk liner in a diaper, especially if fleece causes any issues (it never has with my kiddos, but it's not uncommon). I've heard good things about a simple piece of silk that you just lay inside the dipe. Good luck - hope for reviews soon :)
ReplyDelete