Leaking :( - please convince me to persevere with cloth

I'm fairly new to cloth but am now seriously considering giving up. I'm constantly having to change my little girl's clothes, as the nappies - pockets and AIO's - just always tend to leak from the legs, even just after a short wear. I tried different inserts, washed them plenty of times, but just don't know what I'm doing wrong??? They're definately tight enough around the legs, there's no gaping. so why are they leaking all the time? please help, I love my pretty cloth nappies and really want to use them, for obvious reasons. I hate that I'm considering switching back, so please convince me to persevere. What could I be doing wrong?

If she's a heavy wetter, you'd be better with fitted nappies. Some babies just don't get on with pockets or all-in-ones.

Have you tied anything else?

What inserts and nappy brands are you using?

I couldn't (he's potty trained this last week) use pockets on Noah at all as he was just to much of a heavy wetter so we used fitteds with wool.

No, I haven't tried fitted's yet - I'd rather not have to use a 2 part nappy, at least not for daytime, as hubby does a lot of nappy changing too. Is there nothing I can do to make my AIO's & pocket's work? I do have a couple of fitted nappies at home which I have yet to try out, I hope I have more luck with them.

I have different brands: some ebay cheapies - which are a ok'ish, although they leak after about an hour. totsbots are the worst - they leak within half an hour, and the pad isn't even soaked completely. she's a medium wetter, more of a heavy wetter at night, but less so in the daytime

I usually use a bamboo and a mf insert in the pocket nappies.

I was wondering, as her vests are quite tight, could that add to the problem? It's difficult as cloth nappies are quite bulky to fit vests over the top.

The fit of her vests/trousers could cause the nappy to wick if they're to tight. So that combined with microfibre (which acts like a sponge, sucks liquid up but releases it easily under the slightest pressure) inserts could be your problem.

I use bamboo inserts in all of Poppys pocket nappies , with Noah i tried bamboo but had to use hemp behind it too and it still didn't last very long. He was a seriously heavy wetter though.

[clothmama]

Sounds like there could be a couple of issues as the others have said. Microfibre can squoosh (that is a technical word ) wee out when it has pressure put on it so that may be contributing. As already mentioned the vests could be causing issues too. You can buy vest extenders that give you an extra few inches of rise. To be honest I gave up with buttoned vests quite quicly (maybe 6 months). How old is your lo? You're not washing with fabric softener are you? This can reduce absorption. How quickly are the leaks happening?

Do keep at it - once you find your perfect combo you'll be away

Obvious suggesttions first: as Tory said, don't use fabric softener, and only use a small amount of deteregent to reduce build up.

Our ebay pockets last about an hour and half, but our TB easyfits and esayfit brights go about 3 hours, longer if we add another booster. The bamboo boosters are a lot better, so it might be worth stocking up on those. If the pad isn't compleately soaked, she's not outweeing them, but it sounds like leaking due to the fit. Fiona @ TB is great, if you send her a pic of the fit, she'll advise you on anything you can do to improve.

I couldn't get on with Tots Bots at all - they leaked after about 30 mins for us no matter what I tried. In the end I found BumGenius to be the best nappies for us in the early days, then when DD was about 4 months we switched to fitteds and wool as I preferred them (my DH never changes nappies ). We now use Blueberry onesize for nursery and they will normally last about 3 hours - DD sometimes comes home in different trousers if they have left her a bit long, but not often. We never get leaks with fitteds and wool.

I second what the others have said about microfibre - I found using Little Lamb bamboo inserts (you can get them fairly cheaply on ebay) was a good way to increase absorbency in the pocket nappies.