Clothes Tips & Hacks

How To Stop Newborns Peeing Through Diapers

If your little one is consistently peeing through their diaper overnight then it can be particularly frustrating.

Especially if each time it happens you need to not only change their diaper, but also their swaddle or sleep sack, bassinet sheets, and even their mattress.

So let’s take a look at why your baby may be peeing through their diaper, and what exactly you can do to stop it from happening.

Why Does My Baby Keep Peeing Through Their Diaper?

In Between Diaper Sizes

If your baby is right in between sizes then neither the larger nor smaller size fits them well.

If this is the case, you may experience temporary leaks until they have grown into a larger size.

Sleeping Position

If your baby tends to sleep on their front rather than their back, this could be causing some leakages, because stomach sleeping puts pressure on the diaper in certain areas, making it more likely to leak.

Lots Of Movement In Crib

Does your baby move around a lot in their crib or bassinet at night?

If the answer is yes, this could be the cause of their leaking diaper, because all that movement will shift its position.

With the diaper out of place compared to where it ideally should be, there’s a higher chance of your little one peeing through it.

How To Prevent Your Baby Peeing Through Their Diaper

As all babies and situations are different, it can be helpful to try a number of tips and hacks to find the ones that work best for your baby.

So here are our top 10 ways to stop your baby from peeing through their diaper.

1. Check Their Size

In order to do its job correctly and stop leakages or prevent poop blowouts, a diaper should neither be too big nor too small.

Here’s a quick guide to help check your baby’s diaper (or nappy as they’re called in some counties) fits correctly:

  • The diaper closes easily without having to pull the tabs too tightly – if you need to pull the tabs towards the belly button then the diaper may be too big; if the closure tabs are too close to your child’s hips, the diaper may be too small.
  • The waistband and thigh cuffs appear snug, with no gaps around the edges (gaps would indicate it’s too big). Ideally, there should be enough room for you to fit one or two fingers underneath.
  • Your baby’s bottom and belly button are covered.
  • There are no red marks around your child’s waist or legs.

2. Change Last Thing At Night

It sounds simple, but making sure your baby goes to sleep with the freshest diaper possible reduces the chances of any leaking.

There are two ways to implement this tip:

  1. Try changing your baby’s diaper right before your little one goes to sleep.
  2. If this still doesn’t work, you could try changing their diaper before you go to bed. Clearly with this second option you’ll need to wake your child up, but with any luck, they will go back to sleep easily, and this extra change could really help stop any pee from getting through.

3. Switch To Overnight Diapers

Using overnight diapers can make a real difference in stopping pee escaping, because these types of diapers are extra absorbent.

To be precise, overnight diapers are supposedly up to 25% more absorbent compared to regular diapers or pull-ups and many claim to keep your baby dry for 12+ hours, so they’re well worth a try.

One thing to note however is that they are often more expensive than regular diapers, but this could be a price worth paying if they end up working.

4. Size Up At Night

Moving to a larger diaper (at least for overnight only) can help stop leaking.

Why?

Quite simply because larger diapers have more space and material for absorbing liquid, which obviously means it takes more for them to become saturated.

5. Try A Different Brand

I actually found that this was the best method for stopping my daughter peeing through her diapers.

Just like with clothes or shoes, different brands will fit your baby slightly differently, and absorbency levels will vary from brand to brand.

So if you find your regular brand is letting you down, you should definitely experiment by giving some other brands a go, either by buying a new brand in store or if you’re lucky, by switching to another brand from the ones you received from your diaper raffle.

6. Switch To Reusable Cloth Diapers

If you are used to only buying disposable diapers, you probably haven’t considered using ones made of cloth.

But cloth diapers have an important benefit which can really help stop leaking – you can change the absorbency (see below).

7. Use Inserts Or Pads

You don’t have to use inserts with cloth diapers, but if your baby is peeing through their diaper then they can be a real game changer.

By using thicker inserts, or even doubling up, you can greatly increase the levels of absorbency in your child’s diaper, which of course means less chance of leaking.

8. Minor Adjustments

If your baby boy is peeing through their diaper, it may be a good idea to reposition their diaper before bed.

By moving their diaper slightly higher, towards their belly button, there is a greater chance that their pee will be caught and absorbed.

It’s also worth checking the fabric by your child’s legs is pulled out and away, and that it’s not bunched up at all.

9. Point Private Parts Downwards

It may sound funny, but if you baby boy is peeing through their diaper at night, it can help to point their penis downwards before doing up his diaper.

This little tip will ensure his pee goes towards the most absorbent part of the diaper, rather than sending the liquid upwards.

10. Change During Feeds

If you are having to give your baby any breastmilk or warm formula in the middle of the night, it’s worth changing their diaper at the same time.

As both you and your baby will be awake anyway, this is a good time to change their diaper, so they have a fresh one for the remainder of the night.

See Also:

Tori is mama to 3 year old Isabella and co-founder of Rockinbaby. She has a BSc in Psychology, is a certified yoga teacher and is a working mom. In her free time Tori loves cooking delicious foods and baked treats, entertaining and working out. Learn more about Tori here.

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