Argh! Struggling a bit

Today, my son has weed his way through my entire stash of reusable nappies - and I've got about 20 (OK so some still weren't dry after being washed last night.) I'm exhausted (and so must he be) as he's been on the go since 7 this morning and has only slept for a couple of hours all day. Every time he nodded off, he woke himself up doing a big wee! Felt neverending! As I am out of reusables, I've put him in an eco-disposable for now and will keep him in them for tonight. I love my reusables and really want to keep them up, and I know this is what I signed up to when I got pregnant - nobody said motherhood was easy - but I feel really frustrated by today - very tired and emotional in fact! On a related note, daytime television is actually driving me insane. My brain is going to be useless mush after a couple more days of this. My laptop is broken and my stitches hurt too much to sit in front of our PC for too long. so I feel a bit out of touch with reality. Has anyone got any advice and/or encouragement (on the nappy front at least - I'd feel happier if that was sorted)? Help!

How old is your son and which nappies have you been using for him?

It will get easier, honest. How often have your nappies been washed? It may be that they're just not up to full absorbency yet. Also I notice from your other post that you are using ME/Onelife OS. Are you using the snap in booster? I know you won't be able to snap it in because you'll be folding the front down to get the smallest size but you could just lay the booster inside the nappy or even between the nappy and the wrap. This may be enough to get you through this mega weeing phase. The super wetting phase doesn't tend to last for too long - it does settle!
Hope he's now sleeping for you and you can get a rest. I know it's easier said than done but try and get other people to do as much for you as possible so you can concentrate on yourself and your wee bundle and put your feet up whenever you can.
hth
Cathleen xx

He's 2 and a half weeks and I've been using BumGenius and also ME/OnelIfe one size with either a Rikki or Thirsties wrap. I like both systems, and they both contain the wee (and poo) well but the wetness wakes him up every time he does a wee. I'm considering using disposables at night for a while at least as he only wakes up once or at most twice in the night then, and in his reusables, he wakes up 3 or 4 times.

They're probably not washed enough and functioning at full capacity though.

Cathleen - no I haven't been using the snap-in booster, that's a really good idea! I'm so tired I'd never even have thought of it for myself! Had a terrible labour (haemorraghed and needed blood transfusion and 2 ops) so am still pretty tired and knocked for six and I am just not functioning on all cylinders at the moment.

Is it worth investing in a couple of night nappies? What's good? Weenotions?

My DD wet rivers for the first few weeks, then settled down a bit.

I definitely agree that boosters would help. Re. night nappies, Weenotions Night Notions are good, and so are Upsy Daisy night nappies - I'm not sure if either is available in size small though.

The first few weeks of motherhood are harder than anyone tells you, and the sleep deprivation doesn't help. It will get easier, I promise

Are you using fleece liners in the MEOS/Onelife? He may be sensitive to being wet. My DD was at first, used to scream when she had a wet or dirty nappy, but grew out of it after a few weeks.

We used Baby Beehinds, Swaddlebees OS and Bumhuggers as night nappies (although Iris was about 12 weeks old when I stopped changing her overnight and so made the switch to night nappies). Adding lots of bamboo and/or hemp will aid absorbency no end. You can pick boosters up quite cheaply; places like Easy Peasy make their own and don't charge for postage. I aways had to boost night nappies a huuuuge amount in the early days - babies drink so much overnight they pee for England. But it does get better! And easier.

And sympathies for the bad labour. I had a blood transfusion and emergency surgery after Iris' birth. If need be, take a break from cloth for a few days (or few weeks). Try to recuperate a little and enjoy motherhood and come back to cloth when you're feeling a little more human again.

Thanks so much for all the advice, it's hugely appreciated. i think I may be obsessing about this too much - but hey that's anxious new mums for you! Nice to know there are people out there I can talk to - my husband is as exhausted as me and crashed out on the sofa so no use to man or beast right now!

I do have fleece liners but I worry they make him too hot! It just seems an awful lot of layers for him to have wrapped round his botty in this muggy weather. I know our mums did etc, and people in hot climates manage OK, but it's different when it's your baby!

Just thought, have you tried using wool with your fitteds? It's breathable, while PUL wraps aren't, plus it doubles as clothes - so you have one layer less which is super-effective! You usually can pick up small longies and shorties up in the classifieds section, and last time I looked, Natural Knits for Nippers had some discounted.