Thinking about testing the waters with cloth diapers overnight? We KNOW how important comfortable and dry nights are for you and your baby (really, we’re moms ourselves 😅 you gotta make the most of the restful hours you can get!) – and happily – you can totally use cloth diapers for the longer overnight stretches, without any leaks! You just need a few tips and tricks to get you started.
In this blog post, we’re breaking down everything you need to know about using cloth diapers overnight, so that you and your baby can catch as many z’s as possible and continue saving money and reducing waste, even while you sleep 😉
What You’ll Need to Cloth Diaper Overnight
Proper Fit
We’ll start with the obvious: the first thing you’ll need to make sure you have is a cloth diaper that fits your baby properly. Check out this blog post for more tips on getting the perfect fit with your diapers.
Two Pieces
Make sure you have both parts of the diaper. Esembly cloth diapers are made up of two parts – an absorbent Inner organic cotton fitted diaper and a waterproof Outer diaper cover. Both are needed for the diaper to perform properly.
Absorbency Boost
When your baby starts sleeping longer stretches (6+ hours), you’ll want to add our Ultra Overnighters into their nighttime diaper to prevent leaking and keep baby comfortable. These new-and-improved nighttime diaper doublers are 3× more absorbent than our previous version, giving your baby the extra “thirst” they need to stay comfy and dry until morning.
A quick guide to the basics:
Ultra Overnighters are designed to boost the absorbency of your baby’s nighttime or nap-time diaper
They’re generally not needed until your baby is sleeping 6+ hour stretches
-
Each Set includes 2 pieces:
1 rectangular booster (perfect for newborns and light wetters)
1 contoured insert (ideal for average wetters)
Use them individually or together for customizable absorbency (more on that below!)
Made from a premium hemp + organic cotton blend with a stay-dry fleece topper to wick moisture away from baby’s skin
Machine washable right along with your Inners and Outers – no extra steps for you!
Check out this blog post for everything you need to know about washing cloth diapers easily and effectively.
Customizable Absorbency
One of the best things about cloth diapering overnight is that you can customize absorbency based on how heavy of a wetter your baby is and/or how long your baby sleeps. With Ultra Overnighters, you can mix and match the two pieces in each Set to build exactly the right level of absorbency:
For younger babies and light wetters, use the rectangular booster on its own
Average wetters sleeping 6-9 hours, try the contoured insert by itself
Heavy wetters, dream feeders* and sleep marathoners need the most absorbency! This is where the diaper lasagna comes in. Layer the contoured insert + rectangular booster together (fleece side facing up**) inside the Inner for maximum leak protection.
The ability to layer as much or as little as needed makes cloth diapering at night the best solution for even the heaviest wetters!
*Dream feeding is when baby wakes up for a little snack but isn’t fully awake. You don’t want to change their diaper and risk truly waking them up so you top them off and let them roll back into slumber. This is asking a lot of your nighttime diaper since the baby is taking in more liquid but still relying on the same diaper. Boosting absorbency with the Ultra-Overnighters Set is key to preventing leaks.
**Using the fleece side facing up will give your little one a cozy, stay-dry feel while they sleep. The fleece allows moisture to pass through to the absorbent layers below while remaining dry to the touch. But if you prefer to keep only natural fibers against your baby’s skin, no worries – you can simply flip it and use the cotton/hemp side up instead.
Other Things to Consider
We’ll close things by noting that in addition to these tips for overnight cloth diapering, you’ll also need to make sure that any skincare products you use with your cloth diapers (during the day and at night) are cloth-friendly. Using skincare products that are not cloth friendly can lead to greasy build-up on your diapers, which will cause them to no longer be absorbent. And as you might have guessed, lack of absorbency = leaky diapers! So make sure whatever you plan to use is cloth-friendly by checking out this blog post!
With these simple tips, you can rest easy knowing your baby will stay dry and comfy all night long, and you can save money and reduce waste with your cloth diapers while you enjoy a (hopefully peaceful) leak-free night!
Cloth Diapering 101
Our co-founders host a free, virtual, Cloth Diapering 101 class every month to help cloth-curious parents get all the tools and information they need!
You'll leave with the confidence to Live Less Disposably and a 20% discount code to use on your first order. 🥳 We hope to see you there!
