Ideas Needed of What to Do About Leaking Diaper at Night

Updated on December 26, 2006
K.J. asks from Minneapolis, MN
41 answers

My son is all of a sudden leaking out every night on the top end of his diaper. Therefore making his sheets wet etc. And it is such a pain to change his sheets every day in the crib. He just turned 5 months. His diaper is changed at 12pm or 1am when he wakes up to feed and he is wet at 5 or 6am. Any ideas???

He sleeps on his side, in a side sleeper positioner that just goes under him. He wears diapers that are the right amount of pounds for him. (size 2 or 1/2) He is 15 pounds.

Sometimes pampers swaddlers, sometimes babies r us brand. Both he is leaking in.

Any thoughts???

Thanks for the help!

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So What Happened?

My son is doing great!!! He is wearing size 3 diapers at night and not leaking, EVER!
What diapers actually worked the BEST at night for him were the Cosco diapers, Kirklands. They have a band that goes around the top and locks in the moisture. And they are a great price too! I still like the Pamper during the day but I definetly needed to move him up a size. The weight chart on the diapers is not the most acurate. I think that he will even start wearing 4's at night in not too long. I also have taken out the sleep positioner and it seems to have helped as well. I little scary at first but now is doing great!! And I think that helped with the leaking as well. I also make sure he is "pointing down" when I put on his diaper at night! WOW I am so impressed by all the responses!!! Thanks so much everyone! It has made me feel so supported as a mother and that is wonderful!!!

Featured Answers

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L.S.

answers from Appleton on

We had the same problem with my son. I got sick of having to change sheets every morning, so I started trying different things. Pampers didn't work, Luvs didn't work, Huggies didn't either. I tried every brand. Then I found Huggies has an Overnight diaper and no more leaky diaper since!!

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T.K.

answers from Milwaukee on

Try Huggies Overnights. I was having the same problem with my one year old, but when I switched to Huggies Overnights, she can go all night without a change!!! Good Luck!

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M.M.

answers from Madison on

When my daughter would start to leak through her diapers, that was kind of my cue that she needed the next step up..

Good luck :)

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J.

answers from Minneapolis on

Move up to the size three diaper. My nearly ten month old is just under 19 pounds and has been wearing a four for about a month now with no leaks. Good luck!

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M.G.

answers from Minneapolis on

Hi Kristen,

Have you tried Overnight diapers from Huggies? My daughter had to start using them because she was leaking through at night also but she is 18 months now and we haven't had a leak since. I think they have size 3, 4 and 5.

Good luck,
M.

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J.M.

answers from Philadelphia on

I use the Huggies Overnights and they work great. You can get them at Babies R Us.

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A.S.

answers from St. Cloud on

I have to agree with the mom who talked about the target brand diapers.. I had tried every kind of diaper/ pull up out there and found that the target brand didn't leak like all the rest of the others I had tried did.. my daughter wore the target brand diapers and then pull ups from the time I found them to be the best until she was potty trained completely and the other plus is that they are cheaper than even the white cloud Walmart brand.. lol.. hope it all works out for you.. good luck.

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A.V.

answers from Minneapolis on

I had the same problem with my son when he was little you could try a night time diaper a little more pricey but those didn't help him most nights so what we did was wrap a cloth diaper or birp pad you can get packs of 10 for like $5 then put a rubber training cover over it gerber makes them they are about $5 for a 3 pack and both are reusable and machine washable i have already put both on my list for our new baby's necesities. I hope this helps.

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E.B.

answers from Minneapolis on

I used huggies supreme maybe a bit more money but i didnt really have any leakage problems

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C.M.

answers from Janesville-Beloit on

We had the same problem with our son. As soon as he could roll over, he was sleeping on his tummy and leaking every night. We were using a cheaper brand of diapers too. I think what worked in the end was to change diapers. If you've used lots of different brands, you know that the same sizes aren't necessarily the same size if you hold them up together. (Size 3 in the cheap brand were smaller than size 3 in Huggies) We now use Huggies because they seem to be bigger size-wise and will hold more. That seemed to work just changing the diaper brand.

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L.S.

answers from Milwaukee on

My son always leaked out of his diapers when he slept on his side too. He's almost 5 months now, and we use the Target brand diapers, which can hold A LOT!!! He also sleeps on his back now, so no leaks.

Good luck!

L.

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M.K.

answers from Duluth on

I've had good luck with Huggies not leaking, too. I found that I had to go up one size with my son for a period when he was going a lot at night. Best of luck!

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S.L.

answers from Milwaukee on

I have to same problem right now with my 8 month son, I use Huggies and the babies r us diapers too. what i have found in just the past week is if i put the diaper higher in the front and lower in the back he has been waking up dry and my son goes to bed @730pm and wakes up @ 7am with no changes at night. I heard about these huggies over night diapers and also they make diaper pads that go in diapers for extra protection . I was going to try them if it nothing else worked but for this past week i have been extra careful when putting on his diaper before bed and its worked great!!!! so before you go out and buy extra diapers try to just move the diaper forward.
Good Luck S.

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J.S.

answers from Minneapolis on

My son leaked around that age too - but wasn't in a positioner. I too changed him around 12 or 1:00 but he was wet at 6 when he woke. I found pampers "Baby Dry" to be better than the others. He was also in a size 3 by that age, so maybe he needs a bigger size.

I guess I just got used to changing his sleepwear/bedding for a while. He out grew it by 8 months or so.

I don't know if I would drop a night time feeding just yet, (as suggested by someone else). Especially if you are breast feeding. My son woke to eat at least once at that age.

Best of luck!
J.

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S.G.

answers from Milwaukee on

I found that huggies have worked for my son... try size 3 if he's leaking through the 2's and remember to point his "stuff" down when you diaper him... otherwise no matter what u do he will continue to wet himself. My son is 8 months now and that problem has been solved for us by doing both of the above (changing the size of diaper and remembering to adjust his "stuff" to the down position... he's my first boy and boys are definately different to get use to after my first was a girl....

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B.H.

answers from Minneapolis on

They have huggies night diapers I believe that are thicker. I also never went by the weight on the diapers and more on how they fit. My daughter was always in a bigger size than she should have been according to her weight. You could TRY a bigger size at bedtime. You could also stop his night feeding at 12/1am he shouldn't need that anymore which would help with wetting his diaper maybe also.

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J.K.

answers from Madison on

Hi! Just thought I would offer my advice. I suggest going up 1 size in diaper. It may seem really big but trust me it works. You can still have him in his normal size during the day but at night go up. I have had the same problem with both my girls. When they start leaking during the day then I move them up to the next size. The other option is huggies makes an overnight diaper, but again I don't think that starts until size 3. Hope this helps!
Jess

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A.C.

answers from Milwaukee on

This just started happening to my 11 month old daughter a couple weeks ago...she's about 20 pounds and in size 3 diapers, we moved her up to size 4 and no more leaks. I think sometimes the pounds for the diapers don't quite work out with all babies. My niece was able to be in size 3 diapers until she was over a year and a half old, but at 11 months my daughter is in size 4...oh well, that's how it goes I guess...all babies are different. Hope that helps!!

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K.N.

answers from Minneapolis on

Try a bigger diaper. My daughter is 16lbs and in size 2 diapers and she was leaking Every night. So we put her in size 3s at night and no more leaks. Its so nice!

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J.B.

answers from Duluth on

put him completely on his back. I had the same issue with my son but he himself would turn on his side at about 1 week old but as soon as he started laying flat on his back he stopped leaking through his diapers I also made the diaper a little tighter at night because babies bellies can shrink up to an inch throughout the night. also make the bed like 4 times it saves time in the middle of the night when your tired all you have to do is pull off the top sheet and mattress pad. I also had to stick with pampers swaddelers because huggies and luvs leaked all the time even after 1 pee.

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J.S.

answers from Wausau on

Just a suggestion- Diaper Doublers- I think you can get them at Toys r Us. They're somewhat like a fem pad and they make the diapers hold more. They're only a few dollars a pack I believe. But I would try moving up a size at night time first. Hope this helps!

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T.

answers from Minneapolis on

Looks like you have a few great responses, but I have one more bit of information to share. As he is a boy don't forget when you are diapering to point his "member" to the south pole. the stream of urine for boys often shoots right up to the waistline of diaper where it is less absorbant.

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M.B.

answers from Milwaukee on

My son has always been a big boy but I seem to recall having to put him in a bigger diaper at night (when he would be within about 5 lbs. of the next size) for the same reason. The biggest problem came when he got to the size 6 and there isn't anything bigger (except Depends - ha,ha). I have now found myself waking him up at 11:30-12:00 to change him so that he can make it through.
I have tried every brand of diaper out there and found out that just like every baby is different...different brands work different for everyone. I know people who swear by White Cloud or Huggies....I myself haven't found anything that compares to Pampers. I started with the Swaddlers, then the Cuisers, and now that we have been having this little wetting problem, I switched to the Baby Dry with the flex sides, that one works the best for me. Like I said it's different for everyone. Good Luck!!

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A.S.

answers from Minneapolis on

Hi K.-

I went through the same thing when my daughter was about that age, she is now going to be turning 3 in December. We bought the size up from what she was in diapers and used those only at night and that seemed to solve or problem.
Hopefully this will help.

Have a great day
Andria

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K.P.

answers from Minneapolis on

I have a 4/12 month old that had the same problem, it is just about finding the right diaper. I love huggies, they are really absorbent and he hasn't leaked for awhile, and he lays on his stomach. He is in the size 3's which is for 16-22 pounds. I would try the size 2 for your 15 pounder. Let me know how they do.

Good Luck,
K.

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H.K.

answers from Milwaukee on

try huggies overnites

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T.S.

answers from Minneapolis on

The same thing happened few times to my son. He fit weight wise, but was leaking at night. When he started leaking at night, we moved him up a size and that solved our problem. As long as there isn't a gap between the diaper and his legs, I'd try moving him up a size.

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A.S.

answers from Minneapolis on

I've heard that boys can have a problem with leakage. I used huggies with my oldest daughter because she would often leak and those seemed to work pretty well. I would suggest putting a changing pad or waterproof pad under where he lays on top of the crib sheet so at least you wouldn't have to change the sheet everytime he leaks.

Good luck!

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M.R.

answers from Minneapolis on

We do cloth diapers and the saving thing has been old-fashioned plastic pants which you can get at Babies R Us. Don't pay more for the Bummis. They don't work as well as the cheap, $3 a package, pants. You could probably throw them over disposables as well.

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J.

answers from Minneapolis on

Huggies Overnights were a godsend!!! Try them - you'll love them. No more having to get up in the middle of the night to change wet jammies, and you and your child can sleep through the night. I used them til my son was around 3.

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S.W.

answers from Minneapolis on

For some reason Huggies worked better for my son and Pampers worked better for my daughter - go figure. When they started leaking through at night, I would put them in the next size up to achieve better absorbancy.

Hope this helps!

S.

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D.

answers from Milwaukee on

you might need to move up to a size in diapers. We found with our son, he would have leaks when he neared the upper weight limit on a diaper. We switched to huggies and he seems to have fewer leaky diapers. He is about 20 pounds in a size 3 diaper. Hope this helps you D.

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J.P.

answers from Minneapolis on

My son started doing that around 7 months, and was sleeping through the night (until 4 am), so I didn't want to wake him up just to change him. I bought the Huggies Overnights (usually I hate Huggies because they leak... these are more expensive, but hold like twice as much, so if you use it only at night it isn't all that much more.

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A.L.

answers from Green Bay on

good morning. We have found that the brand is really a preference but the size is what matters. It sounds like you need to move him up a size. That also gives you room to fold the top over (inwards) to to make it so that it is the water proof side all the way over that curve. Our first son constantly leaked. We also found that if he had two piece pj's on we had to leave the waiste band over the diaper strap part. If it was pulled up over the diaper onto his tummy he would be soaked that way too.
Have a great day,
A.

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P.P.

answers from Minneapolis on

Like the previous poster said I would use Huggies overnites. I started giving my daughter a sippy cup to keep in bed around a year old and she started leaking. The Huggies overnites cured that issue. They go up to size 5 or 6. My daughter is 2 and in a size 5 so they're a helpful diaper for a long time.

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L.

answers from Minneapolis on

I'm not sure if they come in size 2...but Huggies overnites worked really well for us. Good Luck :)

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M.F.

answers from Minneapolis on

At around the same age, my son was leaking through his diapers too. He also was using a sleep positioner, we eliminated that and the leaking stopped. Don't know how or why but it pretty much stopped after that. We use pampers at night and Target brand during the day...doen't happen very often anymore that he leaks. I know how much of a pain that is to have to change the sheets everyday.
good luck!

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J.R.

answers from Minneapolis on

Just get a bigger size and use those at night. You can also put a large waterproof burp cloth under them to catch the leaks.
Good luck,
J.

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B.W.

answers from Minneapolis on

Try a maxipad at the top of his diaper at night. Sounds crazy, but it works.

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D.H.

answers from Minneapolis on

I would suggest moving up a size in diapers. Even though the weight matches his sometimes they still need a larger diaper. My daughter has been in a 4 for some time.

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J.M.

answers from Minneapolis on

My son always needed to be moved up a size before the weight limit was reached to prevent leaking. Also, it seems that Huggies fit better on boys than the other brands. All of my friends with girls swear by Pampers, etc., but they never worked for my son. I have a girl on the way - we'll see what fits her best! My friends with boys always used Huggies. Strange coincidence? Maybe.

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