18 Month Old Wakes up Soaked

Updated on August 29, 2011
S.R. asks from West Palm Beach, FL
22 answers

Hi everyone! Almost every morning my 18 month old son wakes up completely soaked. I bought size 5 diapers for him to wear at night when he normally wears a size 4. That worked for a week or so then the soaking started up again. Yesterday, I bought the overnight diapers and again this morning he was soaked. I've also tried waking him up and changing his diaper in the middle of the night, but that doesn't work either. It seems that the flood gates open up sometime in the morning.

Does anyone have any advice to keep my baby dry? I feel so bad when he wakes up drenched from head to toe!

Thank you!

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So What Happened?

Thank you to everyone for the great ideas! I will try them all! For those of you who asked, we are currently using Pampers which I've always prefered to Huggies, but I think we will give Huggies another chance for night time.

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K.R.

answers from Gainesville on

as expensive as diapers are today, try not giving him a whole lot to drink after a certain time. At 18 months they dont need to drink a ton of juice milk ect.... in the evening.

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R.W.

answers from Tampa on

Stop his fluid intake earlier in the evening. Also you could try potty training him now. Put pull ups on him. They always seemed to work better at night then diapers do.

1 mom found this helpful

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M.H.

answers from Orlando on

My daughter had the same problem... We used the Huggies Overnights (better than he Pampers brand that we also tried) and we went a size up on those. We also used the diaper doubler which is like a sanitary pad that you put in the diaper. I used to get them at Publix but they stopped stocking them in the stores in the Apopka/Altamonte Springs area but they may be where you live. I have now found the same type of product in the AS Babies R Us. The are $3 and change and have about 20 or so in the package. We also limited her milk intake at night, instead of a full cup of milk we gve her a half a cup and she doesn't even know the difference. You can slowly start to lessen the amount so it's not such a dramatic change for your child. Hope that helps...

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T.M.

answers from Orlando on

We've used Diaper Doublers for this issue off and on. My son is 2 but we've gone through times where he just peed through everything at night no matter what I did. We also have issues when car rides. Even shorter ones that are just half an hour to an hour, he often leaks through because of the position of the diaper and how he sits. The Diaper Doublers are great. They are like sanitary pads that just lay inside the diaper and add extra absorbency. They aren't expensive and even Publix carries them.

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M.B.

answers from Tampa on

I had the same problem with my daughter. You won't believe it but we tried the Publix brand (not the Publix Premiums) and haven't had a problem since. Good luck!

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M.P.

answers from Tampa on

Hi S.,

Try Diaper Doublers. It's an insert you put into the diaper (looks almost like a huge pad). I used them for all three of my boys at night and didn't have any problems with them waking up wet. I've only seen the doublers at Publix...they are between $3 and $4.

I would also suggest to limit drinks a few hours before bed.

M.

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T.H.

answers from Miami on

Hi S., I just wanted to reply to your email cause when i saw u write that he would wake up all wet from head to toes. OMG it took me back to when that was happeing with my daughter she was around the same age. She was drinking lots of water. These things were not happening before. At first we thought it was the pampers too but to my surprise it wasnt. After two weeks of this i took her to the doctor and from there we had to go to the hospital.My daughter had diabetes type 1. Please dont get scared i just wanted u to know so in case it contiunes u can take him to the doctor. Good Luck to u.

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S.C.

answers from Boca Raton on

I have been there! There is a product called Diaper Doublers (they are almost like a maxi pad) They are kind of hard to find, at least by me in Boynton Beach, but you can order them online. They work wonders!!

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H.P.

answers from Orlando on

S.,
We had the same problem with my son at that age. Someone suggested Overnight diapers, they didnt work for us either. Then another suggested we not let him drink anything for the last hour before bed & that worked for us.
Hope that helps!
H.

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V.

answers from Tampa on

Hi S..

Question 1: Is the diaper completely saturated as well as the bedding?

Question 2: Are you using the same brand in the size 5 as the size 4?

If yes to both, you may want to try a different brand. Not all fit the same.

The only thought that readily comes to mind:
There are bed pads made out of nearly the same stuff as diapers. Probably best to put it between the sheet and mattress. Maybe that will keep the overflow located at least around the bottom area.

Have you figured out what time the "Flood Gates" open?

Good luck.

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J.S.

answers from Sarasota on

S.,

The same thing happened to my son. Although he's 7 now. What I noticed was the pee was coming out of the top of his diaper. So I had to push his pee-pee in the down position which helped somewhat. Then... I double diapered him, but I put the second one around him like a cumberbund. Your son is older so I don't know if a second diaper would fit around him that way. But if you figure out something to absorb at the top of the diaper it should help. This trick worked like a charm for me. Hope this helps you:)Maybe you could tuck a cloth diaper inside folded over at the top underneath his regular diaper to help with the absorbtion.

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A.C.

answers from Miami on

Hi S., what brand of diaper do you use? i had a similar experience but my son was much younger. his kidneys have always worked EXTREMELY well, constantly going, constantly needing to be changed like htere was no down time. he always slept right through the night so i would try to make sure to change it at least once and it wasnt an issue until he started waking up soaked from the pamper leaking. it turned out that the 'Pamper's brand i was using, although they are GREAT, at night would not keep snug to him - he moves around a lot at night as well. my cousin stated she had an issue with her son - her older daughter always used Pampers brand with no problems but with her son she only used Huggies. i changed my baby over to the Huggies brand and never had a problem again with him leaking. he is now 2 and a half and potty trained and i love their pull ups better than any of the other brands... i could be a spokesperson for Huggies i think LOL hope this helps, good luck!

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C.F.

answers from Jacksonville on

S.,
I too have faced the same dilemma (and still occasionally my 21 month-old wakes up saturated) but what I have done is modify his routine. I give him his 2nd sippy cup of milk around 4 PM (bedtime is 8:30 PM) that way he has had time to process the liquid and pee pee it out before bed, dinner at 7 PM followed by a SIP or two of water, no more than that, and after bathtime he is in a Huggies overnite diaper and he is generally good until the morning when he wakes up. I also have two sets of sheets, both with a waterproof liner between each, so if he awakens in the AM wet, I just yank off the top bedding and there is a fresh set beneath it ready to go. I hope this helps. Sometimes trial and error is all you have to work with. Good luck!
-C. F.

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K.Y.

answers from Pittsburgh on

My recommendation would be the nightime diapers in the next size up. I think the Huggies Overnights work much better than the Pampers Extra Protection. Also, try limiting the amount of liquids he takes in the evening. Try just a cup of milk with his dinner and then nothing more than a sip of water at bedtime. Hope this helps!!! :)

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H.B.

answers from Tampa on

I would NOT limit fluid intake....this is not the problem, simply being able to find a solution to absorbing his output is! It is in no way healthy to stop fluids at an earlier hour...it is healthy to drink whenever thirsty (in fact you are actually down in fluids once you actually feel thirst!!). Plus, we live in FL and have been experiencing record heat! Many babies, particularly breastfed babies drink through the night!

Please just try the recommended ideas for soaking the wetness! I have always had success with overnight diapers as well as doublers, but honestly I ALWAYS change my kids diapers at least 1x each night. I don't wake them or turn on any lights...they are so used to it they never even know:-) I don't think mine would last all night in a regualr diaper either...plus that would be very uncomfortalble to have such a wet diaper even if it didn't leak at all! You can also keep his clothes drier if he doesnt wear a onsie,but wears serarate shirt/pants so only one needs changing if he leaks....

Best wishes!

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B.T.

answers from Orlando on

Hi S., Does your son drink a lot of liquids before bedtime? I find I have the same problem with my youngest daughter is she has a lot to drink in the evening. Try cutting back on what he is drinking, if he absolutely screams for something to drink, like my daughter does, give him half of a sippy cup or less to drink. That usually cures the "need" for a drink. Hopefully that will help, it seems to help in our house.

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J.M.

answers from Gainesville on

Have you seen the "diaper doubles" in the stores? the best way to describe it is basically a pad put into a diaper for extra protection during the nights, that is what I used for those heavy nights

1 mom found this helpful
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L.B.

answers from Tampa on

You can try cutting down his fluid intake about 2 hours before he goes to sleep. Also watch the fruit intake at the same time as well.

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S.M.

answers from Miami on

Hi, S.. A trick that my old pediatrician taught me was to use 2 disposable diapers at night, but to cut a slit in the plastic shell of the diaper that I was going to put on my son first. Then put another diaper over the first diaper. That way, the diaper close to my son's skin would fill up and start leaking into the second diaper, so it would not fill up and explode out the sides.

This worked fantastically! And all I had back then was regular Pampers! It may look a little weird and bulky, but the baby isn't going to be crawling around and needing a lot of freedom to move around -- he's just going to sleep -- so it didn't bother my son at all.

I hope this is helpful. You have to remember to cut a slit in the first diaper so that it will drain into the outer diaper.

Peace,
Syl

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B.T.

answers from Jacksonville on

Ok...don't laugh...take a super maxi and attach it to the inside front of his diaper along the waistband. It give it an extra super absorbant barrier before it escapes.

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H.C.

answers from Orlando on

Have you tried diaper doublers? My sil had to use those w/my nephew. BRU sells them in the diaper section. They're like a giant maxi pad that you put inside the diaper, just for overnight, and it doubles the capacity of the diaper (hence the name). GL!

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A.M.

answers from Daytona Beach on

My daughter started doing that about a month ago. The best advice I got was to stop giving her a drink/bottle right before bed/at bedtime. About 30 minutes before bed, give them a drink and then cut them off. If your son is used to getting a bottle at bedtime it's most likely that he wants it because it's become routine/a source of comfort and not because he needs it (that was a true statement for my daughter). I switched her routine/changed her source of comfort to something else and now she doesn't require/demand a bottle at bedtime ~ and she hasn't been wetting through.

Your other alternative would be set your alarm and wake around 4AM to check/change their diaper but that is less sleep for you, Mom.

Best Wishes!

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