What is the best nappy for overnight?

We believe our reusable two part extra absorbent night time nappy is the best nappy for overnight, no matter whether you use disposable nappies or reusable nappies during day. They'll leave your baby so comfortable they will gift you with a good nights sleep! And our customers agree!

Love the cheeky nappy! I ordered face wipes and a trial kit of the reusable nappy. I love both these products, the nappy is so soft and not bulky like others I’ve tried.

I'm about to order some more! Becky Jan '22 trustpilot

Some examples of the overwhelming and contradictory advice for tired parents of newborns... 

• Sleep when the baby sleeps
• Make time for yourself while the baby sleeps
• Feed on demand
• Stick to a four hour routine
• Co-sleeping is great for breast feeding
• Co-Sleeping is dangerous!
• Bottle feeding is fine
• Breast feeding is best
• Don't leave baby to cry
• Don't spoil them and pick them up too quick!

There is an assumption that you will know what to do when presented with your little bundle of joy! Your mental health and ability to manage day to day is directly linked to getting as much sleep as possible.

It is so important, and making sure baby is comfortable overnight is essential! A baby or toddler who wets the bed will wake and stripping the bed at 4am is no fun!

Why does my baby's nappy leak at night?

Your baby's nappy probably leaks at night because they outpee them! We had our twins in disposables overnight but fast found out they could wet right through them overnight! Who knew that this was possible?  The nappy manufacturers, that's who - hence the need for specialist disposable nappies for heavy wetters and more expensive 'dry nights' nappies with even more micro crystals to store moisture.

My third was my cloth nappy baby and he slept through far sooner in his soft and comfortable bamboo nappy and made it to morning with no leaks. We could change the boosting to suit him and position them where he wet most - tummy sleepers can have their absorbency in different positions to back sleepers!

Lots of people use disposable nappies during the day but switch to cloth nappies with cotton nappy covers overnight. This is eco-friendly, saving on waste, decreases your carbon footprint, only creates a small amount of extra washing and keeps baby away from chemicals for at least 12 hours.

Can you get night-time nappies?

Yes, you can get night-time nappies.  There are four main types of reusable night-time nappy plus disposable nappy brands too:

• two part reusable nappy & wrap
• all-in-one reusable nappy
• pocket reusable nappy
• flat cloth nappy
• disposable night nappy

Two Part reusable nappy and wrap:

• Pros: Bombproof, poonami proof! Great overnight, fast drying time as can be tumble dried, good newborn nappies
• Cons: Need to put two parts on baby

All In Ones / Twos reusable nappy such as Tots Bots all in one:

• Pros: Easy to figure out, stays together, granny and nursery proof
• Cons: hard to boost, long drying time, prone to leaks especially overnight

Pockets cloth nappy such as bambino mio and baba & boo:

• Pros: Cheap, can mix and match boosters
• Cons: have to be stuffed, longer drying time, prone to leaks especially overnight

Prefolds / flats nappy - muslinz: 

• Pros: Adaptable, easy to wash
• Cons: can seem complicated to fold, need quite a lot of prep

Disposable night nappy such as pampers baby dry / huggies dry nites:

• Pros: Convenient and can be used until toilet training
• Cons: chemicals near baby, overheating, bad for the environment, single use plastic, not biodegradable, run out easily, less  absorbent, expensive, prone to leaks & nappy rash etc 

Two part nappies come with a shaped absorbent nappy, in our case, bamboo - super soft, slim, absorbent, cooling and antibacterial - with an outer waterproof wrap. Whilst it can at first seem harder to popper two different parts onto your baby, it quickly becomes clear that this makes 2 parters leakproof, especially overnight!

We had a lovely night time routine with nursery rhymes, a book, some baby massage and poppering on first the nappy with a break for a song or some milk then adding the wrap became normal. No rushing or stress.      

Case study - Night time nappies on a 4 month old

Our Customer Services superstar Erika has been trialling our 2 parter overnight!

The nappy goes on at 7pm with a fleece liner closest to babies body, then a cotton booster, then a bamboo booster.

Babies normal onesie and babygrow fit over the nappy fine.

The night nappy is soaked all over in the morning after a 12hr sleep, but the outer wrap is still dry on the outside and on the elastics and no leaks or rashes! The wrap can then be wiped over with a cheeky wipe and left to air for the next night!

How many night nappies will I need?

You'll need three reusable night nappies and one wrap to switch to reusable nappies at night.  Our starter bundle comes with 3 grey absorbent nappies and one waterproof wrap, along with 3 liners and 3 extra boosters giving you 6 (2 per nappy). This will do you three nights in cloth and on day 4 you can wash, tumble dry everything grey and be ready to go again! So a complete night system!

We have a handy fitting guide and a washing and care guide if you need more information!

I will leave you with a word from a happy customer - 

'We bought the nappies when they came out at the very first trial period and loved them straight away. They are nice and soft and very absorbent.

We used them as night nappies. We had pocket nappies at day time and two part nappies at night but the brand we were using started to leak when our son got older. So we tried Cheeky Doodoos as they were a good price and we loved them so much we bought five of them in total.

Our little boy was around 18 months when we got them. Never had any problems, no leaks at all, they lasted full night (10-12 hours as he slept through so we didn’t change him at night). Occasional poo in them always washed out well.

Sometimes he asked to wear one at day time too instead of his daytime pocket nappy so he must have found them comfortable :-) Only shame is that we could only get the red wrap at the time and that we couldn’t get them when he was younger.

Our boy decided to potty train himself at 26 months and is dry day and night so we only got 8 months use of them. Glad to have a potty trained toddler but sad we have to get rid of his lovely nappies :-) Customer service at Cheeky wipes was also great and very responsive and helpful via email.' Hana Oct '21 Trustpilot 

We hope you've enjoyed our Cheeky guide to night nappies and that the door is open for you to try some too. 

If you enjoyed this we think you would like this blog on Making Reusable Wipes Easy!

As always, if you're unsure of what you need to make the switch, please do drop the team a line or use the online chat function. The team all use the products themselves and just LOVE to chat pee poo and periods, all day long, nothing is TMI and we all love to overshare based on our own experiences...

About the Author:  Kirstin Scriven is part of the Customer Experience team at Cheeky Wipes, which since 2008 has been selling the original reusable wipes kit. She is mum to 3 and loves the forest, the sea and the hills!

Along with the rest of our crack team, she spends most days talking about poo, pee and periods and loves a chance to overshare. The business was recognised with a Queens Award for Enterprise in Sustainable Development in 2021, celebrating their hard work over the last 13 years.