Best Baby Diapers for Nighttime Use: A Dad's Guide

My name is Bryan Terry, and I'm a dad with two kids in diapers (one is two, the other is six months), both of whom sleep in the bed with my wife and I. The little leaks and spills of the nighttime accidents take on a new importance when you co-sleep with your children. When the next diaper that leaks is one that might be leaking on you, one tends to stand up and take more notice of your child's night time diapering habits. The following six diapers are ones that we've put to the test (my six-month-old daughter is a champion pee-er) and here are my findings...

1. Kroger Store-Brand Disposable Diapers. Kroger's brand is relatively cheap (as far as disposable diapers go) in our area, and so this is a big plus in the book of a "starving-student" with a young family. However, in terms of absorption, the Kroger store-brand disposable diaper is not the best diaper that a child can have for night time use. After a full night's sleep, the diapers do not absorb a full night sleep's worth of urine output. After using the Kroger store-brand my wife routinely woke up having to shower immediately because the diapers had leaked all over her and all over the bed. Our bedclothes went through near-daily washings while we were using the Kroger store-brand diapers for night time.

2. Huggies Snug & Dry Disposable Diapers. So, the Huggies Snug & Dry disposable diapers are a little more expensive ... strike that ... a lot more expensive than the Kroger store-brands and so that is an immediate strike against them, at least in my mind. However, after trying them out, they are a little better than the Kroger store-brand diapers are for night time diaper use. We didn't have as many spills and blow-outs with the Huggies as we did with the Kroger store-brand but after a particularly long night or another such situation, the Huggies spilled just as badly as the Kroger store-brands did and so, while slightly better than the Kroger diapers, the Huggies still are not the best choice for night time diaper use; they just don't absorb as much as they could (or claim they can).

3. Seventh Generation Chlorine-Free Disposable Diapers. Now, I consider myself to be a pretty environmentally conscious guy. I try my best to recycle, buy organic, buy local produce-diapers are a different issue, especially disposable diapers. They clog landfills, some diapers contain carcinogenic materials in their absorbent lining, the list could go on. Seventh Generation diapers don't answer all of those concerns, but they cover one of the biggies. They are carcinogen and chlorine-free and are, therefore, a little more environmentally responsible and healthy to use to swaddle your baby's precious little butt. They are competitively priced (falling somewhere between the Huggies and the Kroger store-brand) and they are fairly absorbent. While we used them, there were only a handful of nights when we woke up having the bed (or ourselves) soaked in night time diaper leakage. If you can find them in your area, give them a try and I think you'll be pleasantly surprised how good it is to go green.

4. Homemade Cloth Diaper with Simple-Cloth Liner. My wife and I are what some call "crunchy parents." We co-sleep, we baby wear, my wife does extended breastfeeding, and - whenever possible - we cloth diaper our babies. While the initial outlay for cloth diapers can be expensive, in the long run, cloth diapering only costs as much as the water and heat for your washer and drier and the laundry detergent. We have a number of different cloth diapers in our diaper basket, some of them store-bought, some of them ones that my wife has made. Some of the ones that my wife has made are made out of my old shirts or funkily-patterned fabric that she has found. Most of these have a simple-cloth liner in the middle of them, and so when we use them at night time they require a little extra preparation. We usually have to put a doubler in the middle of the diaper to help with absorption. Also, all cloth diapers need a water-proof cover and so the best choice for a night time diaper is to use a wool-cover that has been water-proofed using lanolin. When we use these diapers with the simple-cloth liners, they never leak, but they are in need of immediate changing when everyone wakes up because while absorbent, they are not 100% water-proof and will eventually reach their capacity.

5. Homemade Cloth Diaper with Hemp-Cloth Liner. The other type of diaper that we have that my wife has made include a hemp-cloth liner in the middle of them. These are much more absorbent than those with a simple-cloth liner, and while they don't necessarily require a doubler in the middle (though a doubler just adds to the absorbency of the diaper) they do require a wool cover. These diapers are quite absorbent and when we use the hemp-cloth liner diapers for night time, we have not woken up with any leaks, even with my daughter who can pee through just about anything,

6. Mother-Ease Cloth Diaper with Snap-In Liner. The Mother-Ease Diaper with Snap-In Liner is one of the easier cloth diapers to use. Its simple snaps make putting on the diaper a ... well ... snap. The diapers are not cheap, but the "company" is family-owned and all profits go to straight to this family. The Mother-Ease diapers are incredibly absorbent and we have never had a night time leak or awoken to find ourselves soaked through. They are, quite possibly, the best diapers for night time use that one can find. Even better, they are a One Size diaper which means that they can be used on children of various sizes and "adjusted" to find the best fit for the size and body type of your child. Like all cloth diapers, they Mother-Ease diapers still require a cover of some sort, cut combining a Mother-Ease diaper with its snap-in liner and a water-proofed wool cover makes the Mother-Ease the best diaper for night time use.