Hi!
So, I hope this helps someone who is new to using cloth diapers to manage their incontinence, and is trying to figure out the solution best for them. I don't have the incontinence of the type where I am continually leaking every 30 minutes and my diaper gets wet as time goes on. I occasionally have that, but its not consistent. My voids range from trickles to all out floods, nay, niagra falls. As a result, finding the right absorbency is crucial. I find that if I use less than 2 or 3 layers in my setup, I feel a LOT wetter and can only handle so many wettings before changing. With 1 diaper not layerd, it seems the max is 1 or two wettings, regardless of how thick the diaper is. I was wearing an angel fluff heavy duty prefold with terry and needed to change after 2 wettings. I also had what I think was a compression leak laying down on the bed. Or maybe the diaper was not prep washed since the tag looked very new.
I find that comfort when wet depends on a LOT of factors. How big the void is, how hydrated you are, how many layers you wear, etc. Yesterday at work I experimented with using an angel fluff prefold with 2 shapely series diapers, and I could not tell I was wet. Seriously. I had several decent sized wettings and was comfortable enough to change at home. Well, at least in terms of urine on the skin. There was what looked like a heat rash on the sides of my hips because of how warm it was. But I was not overly uncofortable. While wearing a prefold without the additonal layers, I felt mcuh wetter down in the crotch and leg with roughly the same hydration level. It is my opinion that flannel is the driest feeling traditonal cloth diaper material.
Drying flannel diapers is a more extensive undertaking than other cloth diapers, but if you ignore that downside, flannel is very soft and feels drier that birseye or gauze.
On the number of layers to use, I find that my ideal number is 3. No more, no less, unless the diapers are really thin, then I can get away with 4 layers if one of them is an insert. I tried wearing 4 diapers at once and ended up regretting it when I had to have a bowel movement at work. 4 regular diapers just gets too bulky and causes issues with hips and what not. Just wearing 1 invites leaks and pooling in the cover if I have larger voids.
Anywhoo, that's my 2 cents.
Peace out!
Rob
_________________ "We cannot do great things. We can only do small things with great love" Mother Teresa
"THERE ARE FOUR LIGHTS!" - Captain Picard from Chain of Command, Part II
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