Never have I been more concerned about bodily I/O since a child came into my life. You need to monitor how much milk the baby is drinking, and later, how much and what solids they’re eating and when. You have to count wet nappies, and track frequency (not to mention consistency and colour) of poop. There are quite literally dozens of apps that help you do this. And when it comes to output, using cloth nappies makes you want to collect data on all sorts of details relating to this endeavour.
I’ve mentioned previously about some heavy wetting issues we’re having overnight, and while logically, baby can only put out what has gone in, it hasn’t prevented us from needing a more than acceptable number of outfit and linen changes. A PUL cover has helped reduce this somewhat, although that only solves the outfit and linen changing issue but still leaves baby unpleasantly warm and damp.
Right now, when she wakes in the night and doesn’t resettle, we feed and change her to eliminate those issues. But often her nappy is quite saturated, so we know that we need more absorbency if we want to ensure that isn’t the cause of the waking. So, how do we determine how much (more) absorbency is needed? Well, first we need to know what the capacity of the nappies and boosters are.
Sweet, glorious data.
Brand | Insert | Absorbency (gm) | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alva | bamboo 330g (3 layer) | 115 | CCNDU |
| Alva | charcoal bamboo/microfibre (5 layer) | 125 | CCNDU |
| Baby Beehinds | Fold-Ups | 151 | Self |
| Baby Beehinds | Magic All Insert (M) | 78 | Self |
| Baby Beehinds | Night (M) | 476 | Self |
| Baby Beehinds | Night (L) | 600 | CCNDU |
| Bambooty | Oval Booster (bamboo) | 40 | Self |
| Bambooty | Options/BASICS Snake (bamboo) | 145 | Self |
| Bambooty | EOS Booster (bamboo) | 46 | Self |
| Bambooty | EOS | 112 | Self |
| Bambooty | Easy Nights (L) | 204 | Self |
| Bambooty | Easy Nights (XL) | 320 | CCNDU |
| Bonnibuns | AI2 Workhorse base | 100 | Self |
| Bonnibuns | Snap-In Insert | 84 | Self |
| Bubblebubs | Good Night Sleep Tight base (retired) | 216 | Self |
| Bubblebubs | GNST outer booster | 55 | Self |
| Bubblebubs | GNST inner booster | 30 | Self |
| Bum Cheeks | trifold (bamboo) | 120 | Self |
| Coles | cook&dine cotton teatowel | 102 | CCNDU |
| Cushie Tushies | trifold | 180 | CCNDU |
| Cushie Tushies | mini booster | 72 | CCNDU |
| Cushie Tushies | shaped | 136 | CCNDU |
| Funky Fluff | LUX (bamboo) (L) (6 layer) | 229 | Monarch Mommy |
| Funky Fluff | LUX (bamboo) (S) (5 layer) | 148 | Monarch Mommy |
| Funky Fluff | deLUX hemp/bamboo (L) (2 + 2 layer) | 181 | Monarch Mommy |
| Funky Fluff | deLUX hemp/bamboo (S) (2 + 2 layer) | 151 | Monarch Mommy |
| Funky Fluff | hemp booster (3 layer) | 125 | Monarch Mommy |
| Grovia | Organic Cotton Soaker | 143 | Self |
| Grovia | Organic Cotton Booster | 82 | Self |
| Happy Flute | Pocket AIO | 200 | CCNDU |
| IKEA | ELLY (teatowel, herringbone weave cotton) | 150 | CCNDU |
| IKEA | TEKLA (teatowel) | 120 | CCNDU |
| IKEA | HAREN (handcloth) | 300 | CCNDU |
| IKEA | muslin (various names) | 200 | CCNDU |
| Itti | Bitti D'Lish Bamboo/Cotton SIO Soaker (Hourglass) (Medium) | 50 | Self |
| Itti | Bitti D'Lish Bamboo/Cotton SIO Soaker (Trifold) (Medium) | 87 | Self |
| Itti | OSFM Long Soaker (bamboo) | 90 | Self |
| Itti | OSFM Short Soaker (bamboo) | 57 | Self |
| Itti | Mini Soaker (bamboo) | 31 | Self |
| Itti | OSFM Long Soaker (mf) | 91 | Self |
| Itti | OSFM Short Soaker (mf) | 54 | Self |
| Itti | Mini Soaker (mf) | 32 | Self |
| Kindy Ecobaby | cotton + hemp (4 layer) | 160 | CCNDU |
| n/a | muslin flat (80cm) | 165 | Self |
| n/a | terry flat | 300 | CCNDU |
| n/a | cotton? 11"x4" (3 layer) | 66 | Self |
| Peapods | bamboo flat | 249 | CCNDU |
| Peapods | microfibre booster | 94 | CCNDU |
| Peapods | trifold | 183 | CCNDU |
| Pixie Poppits | short insert (mf) | 76 | Self |
| Real Nappies | prefold 19"x12" (infant) | 173 | Self |
| Totsbots | EasyFit V2 | 192 | Self |
| unknown | towelling trifold 12"x11" (2 layer) | 183 | Self |
| Zorb | 3D 12"x15" trifold (1 layer) | 155 | Self |
The line items with the source of “Self” are items from our stash of nappies. All the others are data points I have collected from other sources, some for interest, and some because I have these items, but haven’t had a chance to test them myself using the CCNDU method.
CCNDU’s method involves weighing the item dry, saturating the item and wringing it out by hand to a level which you feel won’t result in leakage, and weighing again. This isn’t the most accurate method of determining absorbency, but what we’re after here is relative data for comparison, not precision. Using this info, if there is a saturated nappy, I can tell the minimum amount that bub is wetting, and how much more absorbency I can add to counter it. Or whether we need to use a different nappy entirely.
Want some extra data points using other methods? Take a look at these sources:
- CCNDU
- Monarch Mommy
- Padded Tush Stats
- All About Cloth Diapers 1
- All About Cloth Diapers 2
- What to Expect Forums
[1] I know, right?