www.incontinentsupport.org

Hi all,

While i still am mainly using disposables and will probbly start using cloth pocket diapers that i found more often, I am also seeing if I was a bit too hasty deciding traditonal pin on diapers wouldn't work. I'm wonderingi about this because acquiring a pocket diaper inventory of enough to rotate would cost quite a bit of money and would take time to acquire if i went a few at a time. I still have the prefold from Baby Pants which is a twill diaper.. And i think i came to the conlcusion that after wearing it and it taking a few wetting.. that honestly the feeling wasnt that much different than a disposable being wet.. unless i flooded it. I would think that if i flood any diaper cloth or disposable id want to change immedittely, so being uncomfortable after flooding may not be as much of an issue.

I do have a question about number of pins to use and pinning procedure. Again, I am considering pin-on since they are cheaper than pocket diapers.. but then again, buying plastic pants along with the diapers might offset that advantage. My question is how many pins should an adult be using per side? With the prefold that I have, I have a hard time getting more than 1 per side comfortably. Perhaps because it was designed by AB/DLs, and they probably want their diapers as babylike as possible. Do cloth diapers stay up comfortably with only one pin per side?

By the way, I have worn the prefold with my PUL pants from xp medical, and so far they havbent leaked. I realize these probably werent designed to be used with clloth diapers..but right now I don't have any other PP,. If i decide to use cloth more, what are good pants to buy?

I imagine i woudlnt use cloth that often other than the pocket diaper since a prefold would add bulk on the sides especially if i double diapered.. as of right now, as strange as this sounds.. my incontinence is daytime only.. I've never wet the bed unless i was partially awake.. but i flood upon awakening. So, really, nighttime protection is not really a need. Perhaps those gauze flats would come in handy around the house? Right now i have attends 8 which do ok.. but not sure how they handle floods. as I type this post.. i had an episode sitting down wearing the attends 8.. and i wanted to see how it would do..and unfortuantely it leaked.. Most of the time with smaller wettings they do just fine.. but if i up my fluid intake... I might be in a world of wet (as opposed to a world of hurt).

Regarding the pin issue, do most adutl cloth diapers allow for 2 pins per side? Maybe my prefold was over wshed and dried and shrank too much.. I seem to remember it fitting better when i first wore it.

I don't know... it seems that there are a lot of factors to consider. IT seems that fitting prefold/flatfold diapers to one's body is complicated.. there are different techniques and what not. Yes, i realize there's a pinning tutorial on the primer, but that's for a 4 layer cloth diaper... not sure if id ever wear that much proteciton in public.. and since im not completly incontinent, I don't know if i wou;d need that many layers.

What pinning techinques do you use?

Peace out!

Rob

Rob,

Because cloth diapers are so expensive, and because they last so long, acquiring a usable inventory in small batches is a viable option.

I am a skinny runt, which makes two pins work for me, except when I have a bowel accident in my sleep. I simply pin at my waist, above my hipbone, and my protection stays put all night, no matter how much I toss and turn, or sleepwalk. Depending on your body proportions, the four pin setup might be more appropriate.

Good luck and keep us informed.

As far as my body proportions go, i am skinny, but you wouldn't describe me as a runt. I am 6"3 1'2, approximately between 185-200 lbs, and have a size 37 inch give or take waist. So, given this im guessing a medium prefold would do the triick. I guess i just thought one had to use 4 pins, but youre saying 2 can do the trick? Well, you live an learn I guess.
Another question...how tight does a cloth diaper have to be against the skin in oder to be effective? Does it fit somewhat looser than a disposable? Reason I ask is the maker of the cloth diaper i ordered recently offered to repair the diaepr i bouught from her, which she is now in the process of doing, and she said that I was weairing it too tight, and that as a rule, pocket cloth diaeprs arent supposed to fit as snugly as disposables do. Is this true of other cloth diapers as well?

Thanks in advance!

Peace out!

Rob

Rob,

Re plastic pants, look for Gary PUL pants specifically sized for cloth diapers. Try Fetware. As cloth diapers wick, you need pp that completely cover the cloth diaper.

Do note that cloth stuffers, liners, or inserts are available for cloth diapers, should you need a little more absorbency.

Re pins, some of us use 2 pins and others 4. As I am a side sleeper, I have found using 4 pins to be the more effective. AB/DL has nothing to do with using pins. Function (getting a good fit) does.

I pin my cloth diapers snugly at the waist and at the legs. The diaper itself is large enough in size that it is not a tight fit. The size of the cloth diaper is important in this regard. If you are having difficulty using 4 pins, the diaper may be a bit small for you. The first cloth diaper I bought was wearable, but too small, making it uncomfortable to wear. If the prefold is too small, you will get less cloth overlap and coverage at the legs. Only you can decide what size and how many layers are best.

Instead of pins, some use the Snappi in Toddler size.

--John

Thanks John.

Would a toddler snappi work with a size 37(give or take) waist? I remember reading somewhere that they accomodate up to a size 30.

Toddler with a 30 inch waist? He must be American!! LOL

(Psst, I am American so its all good)

On a serious note, did the product fail Rob or did you break it on your learning curve? I ask because I wouldn't want anyone to order from a company making duds!

Hey Porkchop,

Haven't tried it yet..still waiting for JD's feedback. Honestly, pinning, unsing snappis and boingos still seems somewhat more complicated than using the pocket diapers. I'm not sure yet if thee is an advantage of using traditional prefolds/flatfolds over the pocket diapers I ordered. Bottom line is, for night/morining wettings i need something more substiantial than Attends 8. When i woke up this morninng, I had the morning deluge.. and while I didn't leave a puddle, I could tell that these were on the verge of leaking.. in fact when i laid on my side on my bed before taking the diaepr off.. i think there was some press out..

I am curious.. right now I've been saying i dont wet in my sleep..but thats with less than ideal fluid intake.. I wonde if i had water before going to bed what would happen. The other night i tried doing just that.. and was half awake and had a wetting while laying down. Perhaps I do need more substantial protection at night after all if im hydrated adequately..if nothing else, when my bladder wakes me up to go to the toilet and i don't make it.. I have something that will contain the onslaught.

Peace out!

Rob

In 12 years of wearing cloth diapers I have never used 4 pins. Any new diaper has a learning curve, but that is very short. I prefer the comfort of cotton over paper but that is a personal choice. Comfort though is secondary to absorbency. If it does not work it is useless. The cost thing is not even debatable two dozen cloth diapers and plastic pants last me a min of 3 years. That is almost 1,100 days. If you use only 3 disposable a day that is 3,300 diapers. What is the cost of that? It still comes down to personal choice. Papa

I will give Snappi a try, but have not done so yet. Others have said that it can work as long as you have considerable overlap of the side wings of the diaper. Of course, the Snappi has to stretch somewhat.

--John

I wear cloth diapers at night most the time, and some times in the day. I wear them as tight as disposables and use one pin on each side and this works fine for me. I tried using the Snippi's a before and didn't like them. I guess you should have try different things until you find what work best for you.