My 5 Month Old Son Keeps on Waking up at Night Soaking Wet

Updated on September 17, 2008
R.R. asks from Fair Lawn, NJ
31 answers

My son keeps on waking up at night soaking wet. His diaper is full and the back of his PJs is completely wet. I tried a larger diaper, double diaper, but nothing works. Do yu have any suggestions?

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So What Happened?

Thanks everyone for your responses. I tried the Huggies Overnight and they really works wonderfully.

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K.P.

answers from New York on

I see that you have already gotten a lot of responses, but I just wanted to add something from my experience. My son has randomly gone through phases of wetting through his diaper and pajamas at night. When he was in a phase like that, there didn't seem to be much difference if I went up a size or not (I've always used overnight diapers), it just seemed that when I felt like I couldn't do another load of laundry, that it stopped. I know it's not really advice, but I just wanted to let you know that it's probably just a phase and won't last forever!

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D.V.

answers from New York on

After skimming the responses the only other thing I could think to do is put a thin maxi pad in his diaper. This is what they did before "overnights".

D.

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J.T.

answers from New York on

Did you try switching brands? I always use luvs or pampers, but my sister's kids had luck with huggies...so it must depend on body shape.

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A.G.

answers from New York on

I change my daughter somewhere between midnight and 3 am. It all depends on when I get up to check her. She is now 2yo and I have done this since she was about 18 months old.

Also have you tried different brands of diapers. My sister swears by Huggies for her boys (they leaked like crazy on my girls). Huggies also makes an "Overnight" diaper. I saw it in Walmart last week. I have no idea about sizes though in those. I have loved "Luves" during the day and "Pampers" at night for my daughter. A.

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D.P.

answers from New York on

I like the huggies overnites. They sell them at walmart

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J.C.

answers from New York on

I love the Huggies Overnights. You can get them at Walmart and Target (even CVS - but they are so expensive there). You can also order them at diapers.com for a reasonable price.

Also, there are diaper liners. Not sure where to get them but they are absorbant pads that you line the diaper with to add extra protection.

Also, to help with the sheets in the middle of the night, layer the mattress. Use a waterproof pad then a sheet. And the another water proof pad and another sheet. If he gets wet in the middle of the night, you just have to take one wet layer off and there is a fresh set underneath.

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A.H.

answers from New York on

Don't give him so much to drink after 8... try a little more food at a later time.. this might help .. good luck.. and Huggies night time's are really good...

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A.R.

answers from New York on

We use Huggies overnights, as many have suggested.

I read a "Mom's tip" in a magazine (Parenting, maybe?) and
the mom said her daughter's diaper always leaked from the
top overnight so she started putting a maxi-pad just below
the elastic waistband in the back. Sounds silly but it's
easy enough to try.

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S.G.

answers from Rochester on

Luvs have been amazing for me. My baby girl hasn't had any leaks since we switched from Pampers to Luvs (I hate Huggies). I guess its all personal preference. Overnights would be *nice*, but they probably are too big for him.

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V.P.

answers from New York on

The other advice that I have is that he might be cold at night. I realized that when they are cold they tend to pee alot more. If they are warm, I noticed that their diapers were less. Hope this helps. :-)

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C.G.

answers from Syracuse on

My youngest daughter is 1 1/2 yrs old and I used pamper swaddlers until just recently--I loved them! They didnt leave marks on her, were soft and seemed more comfotable than other brands we tried, and did not leak through. The only downfall and why we had to switch her recently is because they only make them up to size 2-3.There is newborn,1,2,and 2-3. Iknow brand names are more expensive but we would have to buy 2x the amount of diapers which ended up costing the same in the longrun as buying a brand name.Now that she doesnt fit into them I'm having the same problem finding a brand that she does not get soaked through(her clothes and all)by morning. We have so far tried 3 different brands. I really wish swaddlers went to bigger sizes. hope that helps -I know it was a couple days ago your question was posted and you might have already found a solution but you really should check these out anyhow I really think you would like them.

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A.M.

answers from New York on

i didnt experience but have heard that happening to lots of parents, esp boys. are you sure everything is aimed in the right direction? you could try the larger huggies overnights, they work great. maybe try both his size and the next, if the size is too big, it doesnt always cinched snug enough to his skin and then will leak as well.

also get some of those ultimate crib sheets. they are waterproof with material over them and snap to the rails in the crib. in the middle of the night, you just pull that off. they are the nicest imo, very well made and when walking into the room, the side of the mattress is still whatever cute sheet you have.

i cloth diaper now, but a good idea even for you to look into is a wool cover over his diaper. wool interlock normally goes over cloth and when the diaper underneath is all damp, the outside of the wool still feels dry, he could wear it alone over the diaper or under his pjs. its antimicrobal and doesnt smell, and very breathable. you only have to wash it with woolwash about every 1-2 weeks. also fleece is a cheaper option. just make sure its not microfleece. its not hot either as my daughter wears fleece and wool over her diapers all summer long. fleece isnt as good as the wool, but still it keeps the wetness from getting to his pjs. i cant imagine with an overnight diaper and a cover . message me if you need any more info for a cover, but check out his aim as that happened to my sister for awhile with her son. good luck!!!

ETA AND WHATEVER YOU DO, DONT LIMIT HIS FORMULA/BREASTMILK. HE IS A BABY, THATS SOMETHING YOU WOULD DO WITH AN OLDER CHILD WHO WETS THE BED. DEHYDRATION IS VERY SERIOUS, AS IS NOT GETTING ENOUGH CALORIES. TAKE CARE.

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D.

answers from New York on

Huggies makes an overnight diaper, called Overnights. They are life savers. My son was the same way. These were the only thing that worked. Their SUPER absorbent. Nothing else worked for me. I don't think walmart carries them, but try your local grocery store.

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G.P.

answers from Utica on

I find the overnight diapers work pretty well. I would definitely try cutting back on his fluids right before bedtime as well.

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K.M.

answers from Syracuse on

I have 3 boys, and from time to time they have woken up completely wet no matter what. However, this is what I do...I always fold in the top of the diaper that has no padding. That will help redirect leakage to the inside. Also, make sure the diaper is tight enough. They all have elastic tabs so it's almost impossible to get it too tight. Pull it as tight as you can and still able to get 2 fingers in around the waste. I have never used any special overnight diapers, or extra padding inside the diapers. With my oldest son I used Luvs. With my youngest 2 I have been using White Cloud (you can only get them at Walmart) for nearly 3 years now. We have very few wet nights unless I forget to make sure they start the night with a completely dry diaper.

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M.T.

answers from New York on

Hi R.,
Have you tried cloth at night? If none of the disposable optins are working for you, you might look into different cloth options. I've known some people that's worked for, one friend in particular had a very heavy wetter at night (he was a toddler though) and in addition to doing a triple cloth diaper, she used a terrycloth towel folded into thirds as a diaper doubler and she said this was the only thing that kept the wet inside his diaper at night
Good luck!

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D.S.

answers from New York on

Dear R.,

Stop and Shop puts out a product called Diaper Doublers. They are an additional pad that goes in the center of the diaper and acts as an extra padding for overnight. That in addition to an overnight diaper should help. I used them with my son and it worked. He used to wake and the sheet would be wet his t-shirt pajamas etc. what a mess. These worked great and we were all able to get a good nights sleep.

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S.V.

answers from Rochester on

Go with huggie night time diaper they start at size 3. THey are life savers. Hopefully that will help you.

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A.B.

answers from New York on

Try diaper doublers, they sell them at stop and shop and babies r us.....it worked for us!!!

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D.R.

answers from New York on

Huggies overnights worked for my son around the same age. He weighed less than what the weight says on the package but they still worked wonders for him! It is hard to find the size 4's but worth the search. I found them at a CVS.

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C.L.

answers from New York on

Huggies overnights! Lifesavers!!!!

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D.B.

answers from New York on

My son use to wake up at night almost dripping wet too, it was awful.. here's a couple thing that finally did the trick.

1) i realized the diaper I had him in was too big <that helped alittle>

2> I switched to an overnight diaper (when that wasn't enough, I added the 'diaper doubler' to the overnight diaper, that did the trick.

I'm happy to report that this does pass eventually though it will take some time. Good Luck.

C.V.

answers from New York on

R.,

What kind of diapers are you using? I used Huggies and Pampers and both leaked with my daughter. I now use Luvs and have only had one leak since Ive been using them and its been over a year. It may be the type of diaper being used. Also, do you change him throughout the night? At that age, I was still changing my daugher at least once a night. Good Luck!

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S.T.

answers from Albany on

R., are you sure it's his diaper that making his back wet. I learned from experience with three boys that they sweat back there too you know if he's too warm. Smell his clothing in the back and see if smells urine. If he's sweating and not wetting himself, then he may be just too warm and you know they really don't need to be wrapped up and dressed like eskimos. Someone told me one time dress them as you would dress yourself and I don't always feel that is accurate all the time. Our body temperatures vary from person to person. But, you need to use your instinct and ask Jesus for His Wisdom since He knows your child more than you. He created him for you and entrusted this child to your care. So, check and see if it's really urine. Also, is the diaper too big or too small. That makes a difference too. I know that when I had all three of my boys and bring them home, infancy was difficult becaue they were always wet down the bottom as if the diapers weren't holding all his urine. Alot of clothes I had for them during infancy because of wetting through the diapers. Hope this helped.

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K.H.

answers from New York on

Have you tried Huggies Overnites - they are the only thing that worked for my son. Good luck!

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A.S.

answers from Rochester on

Try a size up - my daughter went through that too and I went up a size and it helped. I liked Luvs diapers...each kid has a different body type and some diapers might fit well compared to others out there...

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J.B.

answers from New York on

Huggies makes overnites but they only start at size 4 I think. So I guess it depends how much he weighs. You should check them out, they worked great for my 3 boys.

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K.R.

answers from Rochester on

Huggies Supreme and they sell pads you can put in a diaper.

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S.M.

answers from New York on

R.,

I have heard of this happenning to a lot of parents, especially boys. Have you tried the overnight diapers? They work great. I know there are disposable sheet covers too so if they do wet the sheets, you don't have to wash everything. good luck

R.H.

answers from New York on

Hi R.,
Make sure that you point his privates down, I bet that takes care of it!
R.

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S.C.

answers from New York on

We use "diaper doublers" we find in stop and shop and an overnight diaper and this has gotten us through many nights - I recommend this. Also, with boys, you need to "point him down".... Nobody told me this for months with my son and we had the same issue

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