I received this via private message this evening:
“A few online discussions this week have me grateful that we discovered Wallypop fitted diapers! I have always called my DS a heavy wetter, but after trying your fitteds, I’m not sure if he is any more. He peed out of everything else we had – mostly pockets and AIOs – and we were growing desperate for an overnight solution Someone pointed me your way, and I love love love the fitteds we bought from you. Zero leaks overnight with our ‘heavy wetter’ DS. Thanks!”
It was interesting because a few online discussions I’ve read this week (perhaps the same ones, lol) have me wondering about the perception of having a “heavy wetter.” The email above isn’t the only time we’ve seen this happen – a mom calls her child a “heavy wetter” because he’s peeing out of everything they have, which is usually big name brand pockets, particularly on overnights. Someone points them my way. I give my suggestions for “heavy wetters” and they invariably end up trying out a fitted diaper or two. A few weeks or months later, I get an email or message saying the fitteds were working PERFECTLY!!
And that’s GREAT!
But it does have me wondering – has our perception of what constitutes a “heavy wetter” changed in recent years? I would not generally perceive of a child whose pee can be contained by one of our regular instock fitted diapers as a “heavy wetter.”
Ten years ago, our fitteds were pretty well-situated in the middle of available levels of absorbency in diapers – perhaps off towards the “more absorbent” end, but still in the middle third. Then we’ve had this trend toward trimmer and trimmer diapers – and those diapers are also getting less and less absorbent. Add the influx of Chinese knockoff diapers, which aren’t renowned for being absorbent. And new parents are being advised that using just an insert or two with these expensive but not terribly absorbent diapers should hold their baby all night. Then when it doesn’t, the child is labeled a “heavy wetter” and the parents are understandably frustrated. The addition of the label “heavy wetter” really serves nobody but the people who sold/made the diapers in the first place – “hey, it’s not our fault – your kid is just a freaky heavy wetter!”
When I first started out diapering, it was not super common to hear parents describe their babies as “heavy wetters.” Now, a good 40-50% of the cloth diapering families I know believe one or more of their children is a “heavy wetter.”
Is it, perhaps, that our standards for what a cloth diaper should be able to do have just declined over time?
Because, truly, if Wallypop’s regular, nothing special, in stock fitteds can contain a child’s pee for a reasonable amount of time… that’s not heavy wetting. That’s pretty much a normal quantity of pee. 🙂
Now, you were probably wondering what I’d suggest for heavy wetters.
– If you feel your child is a heavy wetter and you haven’t tried a good, absorbent fitted diaper, that should be your first step. Doesn’t have to be ours, but of course, ours are awesome and affordable.
– If you’ve tried a good, absorbent fitted diaper and that’s not doing the trick, make sure you pair it with a good quality (using Malden Mills brand fleece) fleece cover, or a nice thick wool cover that’s been lanolized well. If you buy or make knitted or crochet wool covers, make sure you make the fabric thick enough.
– If that’s not working, I have made for some kids an extra special super absorbent fitted. I’ve checked back with literally 100% of the families I’ve made these for, at intervals, and not a one has been unhappy with this solution. 🙂 It’s a hemp and sherpa fitted with a hemp and sherpa soaker pad hidden inside the diaper, then a hemp and sherpa soaker pad attached at the front edge, and an extra hemp and sherpa soaker pad that snaps in to the back of the diaper, and then another hemp and sherpa soaker pad that’s available as a lay-in soaker if you really really need it. Pair that with fleece or wool. Poof, no more wetting.
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