Help - leakage issues!

Just wondered if anyone has any advice....my LO is now 7.5mths and has been in cloth since she was 3mths and all was going smoothly....I was feeling quite proud and happy with my nappy research and trials and "thought" I'd pinned down which nappies suited her best.....so much for assuming I knew something!!....
She's recently started getting a lot of leakage - sometimes b'c she's out-peed her nappy and the entire thing is completely saturated when only half an hour beforehand it was mostly dry, and sometimes just b'c her nappies have leaked at the legs, making her clothes wet - I think this is sometimes due to me having boosted the pockets with extras and therefore the legs gape a little bit?? I'm not sure what the answers are, tho!!!!
Driving me a bit nuts as many nappy changes now involve whole outfit changes and my washing machine is going mental.
Any tips, anybody???? We use pockets, mostly BBSS, and also some Dream Dris, Bambootys and Easyfits V2 - these are our main choices.
She does drink a lot in the day - has about 5-6 bottles on top of her meals....she's a real milk-lover!
Thanks, ladies!

[clothmama]

Hi Charlotte,

Unfortunately this can happen as babies change shape / weeing patterns and just needs a bit of a tweak normally to get you back on track.

What are you boosting your pockets with and in what order?
Has she drastically changed shape recently?
Have you had a play with different settings on the legs etc?

how do you wash them?
Have you tried giving everything a strip wash?
Has anyone accidentally washed her nappies with fabric conditioner?

Sorry for the 20 questions but just trying to identify if there is anything obvious or easy fix to start with!

Frustrating isn't it - we've all been there! I used microfibre fine until my boys got older when it no longer coped so switched to bamboo & hmep which helped. DS2 still drinks plenty though so we struggle to get past 3 hours without leaks

Hope you figure something out

ah thanks.....so to answer your questions....
I don't have a huge number of boosters/things to boost with so I generally grab whatever's at hand - sometimes a bamboo booster, sometimes microfleece, and I've also cut up an "Ecotowel" which says it's 100% viscose and that seems to work as well as anything. I've been laying whichever booster on top of the Blueberry inserts inside the pocket - the BB inserts are microterry and hemp.
I've tried making the leg setting on her BB nappies tighter, but it's hard to do and sometimes it leaves marks on her little thighs Most of our other nappies aren't separately adjustable at the legs, annoyingly.
She's not had a major change in shape, altho she has had a bit of a general fast growth stage now for the past 2mths, I guess.....she's long and skinny! (7.5mths and going into 9-12mths clothes now, for length)
I haven't tried a strip wash - wasn't really sure what that entailed, but I suspect that may work...hoping so! Just read a bit on here.....which method do you recommend? I read about a 90 degree wash with Bio, wash with dishwasher tab, or wash with vinegar and bicarb....???
Sadly, I am the only one doing washing in this house so I can safely say nothing's been washed with fabric conditioner....I buy Ecover in bulk so that's our only washing detergent and I also add soda crystals to the wash to soften the water as we live in a hard water area.
All our nappies are preloved, nothing new (bar one Easyfit) so maybe everything could really use a good strip??

Thanks so much for any help you can give.....getting very annoyed with wet vests!! (I have hardly put her in any dresses at all b'c tights are a given wetness disaster )

[clothmama]

You dont' need to strip wash at 90 - in fact that would likely kill your PUL and your elastic! My prefered method is a full dose of bio powder on a long wash at 60 and then keep rinsing until there are no bubbles at all left (this can take a while! Put a couple of tablespoons onf vinegar in the final rinse.

Ecover has had some bad reports on here as not being great for nappies, can't remember if this was just the liquid or powder as well.

You mentioned vests - these can be a huge culprit of making cloth leak - especially microfibre as it gets smooshed out like a sponge with pressure. You can buy vest extenders to increase the rise of your vest to fit over cloth loosely. Maybe try just using a tshirt to see if this is the problem to start with and if that improves things then go up in size for your vests or get some extenders.

Third thing would be to always have microfibre closest to your LO and the more absorbant like bamboo and hemp further away. I would also advise not using solely mf as it is not great on its own for heavy wetters. Easy Peasy do good value hemp boosters which I found fab to help with pockets.

Hope you can sort it out. Try the vest thing and the strip wash and boosting a bit more, and let us know if you are still having probs after that!

Tory, you're a star....thanks so much!

I just sized up in vests around Christmas - she's now in 6-9mth vests/tops with poppers and sometimes 9-12mths, and she's only 7.5mths so hopefully they're not too short otherwise she's gonna be swimming in those suckers if we need 12-18mths!!! Her prob has always been that she's long and skinny so all her tops/vests fall off her shoulders as when they fit in length they're too wide at the top end! Babies are so complicated!

I think I'll try ordering some extenders tho, as I'll bet they'll come in handy.

That's also really interesting about Ecover....I've always bought that b'c I'm really keen on using something that's environmentally friendly but, like you say, loads of people haven't found it good with nappies....I shall give something else a try...maybe I can buy a diff detergent just for nappies as I've got a monster box of Ecover liquid Btw, not that you asked but I've had no probs with Ecover getting the nappies clean (or any other clothes) - i usually wash on 30, mixed in with our stuff, and everything gets clean.....at least one thing is working!!!

OK, will stop waffling now and go and do something productive.......thanks again

I agree, sometimes things can work great then as babies change shape you suddenly don't have as good a fit as you used to. Plus maybe she is doing bigger wees now she is a bit older?

I completely agree about the vest thing, my DD always leaks when she has a vest on (which is why I don't put them on her but sometimes my DP forgets and puts one on her). Microfibre is great for being very 'thirsty' but them once it is compressed then wee can leak back out.

When I had trouble with pockets with MF inserts I tried adding a bamboo or hemp booster (try Little Lamb bamboo inserts or an Easy Peasy Hemp booster) and this seemed to do the trick. However I will also say have you thought of trying fitteds? They can be a lot more reliable than pockets AIOs. I like Little Lambs, Motherease Sandys, Dunk n Fluff and Weenotions Northern Lights (to name a few!), and for wraps I use Motherease Rikki/Airflow, Weenotions, Little Lambs and I also like using fleece. I haven't tried wool yet but I know a lot of people on here swear by it!

Rach xx