7 Tips to Help Your Baby Stop Peeing Through the Diaper at Night

Frustrated because your baby keeps peeing through the diaper at night? Learn 5 tips to stop overnight leaking and keep your baby dry all night.

Baby Keeps Peeing Through the Diaper at NightI was getting frustrated with it all.

Changing crib sheets and washing yet another set of pajamas every morning. Waking up in the middle of the night because my baby was drenched in his own pee. It didn’t help that he’d sleep on his side or belly, making leakage that much easier.

He’d be fine during the day, but at night, the front of the diaper just couldn’t handle all the urine. He’d wake up screaming because his pajamas were completely soaked, which of course meant yet another load of laundry and a back-breaking change of crib sheets.

I was happy that he was finally sleeping through the night, but with that seemed to come a new problem of constantly peeing through diapers.

When your baby keeps peeing through the diaper at night

Maybe you can relate.

Perhaps your baby wets through her diapers every night, soaking the front of her pajamas from sleeping on her tummy (which presses on her bladder). It feels like she almost always wakes up in a puddle every morning, or that you’re constantly changing the crib sheets.

It doesn’t help that she wakes himself up at 5am from being so wet, and of course, can’t fall back asleep after diaper changes. You even think she might sleep longer in the mornings if she wasn’t waking herself up from peeing.

in short, you’ve just about had it. You’re sick of doing laundry, changing sheets, and dealing with a soggy, cranky baby.

No worries, friend. The ever frantic and frustrated mom that I was, I researched the tips to make this problem go away. I noticed a few trends, the strategies that fellow moms said worked, and gave them a try.

I’m happy to say that my baby did stop having a wet diaper every night and, of course, slept much better as well.

Why do diapers leak at night?

Before we dive into the tips, let’s talk about the reasons diapers leak at night:

  • The diaper isn’t placed correctly. There might be space around the thighs or it rides further up the back than the front. For boys, their penis might be pointing up rather than down, so the liquids are more likely to leak out on top of the diaper.
  • Your baby sleeps on his side or tummy. If his diaper is already full, the pressure on the front or sides of the diaper can make it likely to leak.
  • Your baby fed in the middle of the night. If he still feeds at night but doesn’t change, that might make it more likely for him to have a full diaper.

As always, what works for one person may not for the other. But giving these tips a try can be a huge step in solving this issue:

1. Go up one diaper size for nighttime sleep

Your baby’s current diaper size might be all right during the day, but a bigger size could be just the solution to stop leaking at night.

You see, regular diapers work during the day because you change her more often. It’s also snug, which is important when she’s awake and mobile. But larger sizes at night work not only because she’s less mobile, but it can absorb more than her regular size.

That said, make sure that the larger diaper is still snug enough at night. You don’t want space around her thighs that could leak, for instance.

Free resource: If you’re struggling with putting her to sleep, you can teach her to self soothe and sleep on her own. Whether you’ve tried to teach her to self soothe in the past or are just now considering it, take a look at the 5 key mistakes to avoid.

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2. Make sure your baby is wearing the right size diaper

It’s easy to forget that our kids are growing so quickly that we don’t think to check the weight recommendations of the diapers they’re using (especially if they’ve been wearing the same size for a while).

Even if your child is within the recommended weight, experiment with sizing up or down as needed. He might need a smaller diaper if the area around his thighs is too loose. Similarly, he might need a bigger size if his current one feels tight or heavy in the morning.

3. Use nighttime-specific diapers

Day time diapers might not be cutting it for nighttime. If so, choose nighttime diapers specifically for sleep. These are more absorbent than daily ones, and are designed with sleep positions in mind.

What is the best diaper for overnight sleep? These are some of the best diapers for babies who pee a lot:

Expert tip

Grab small packages of diaper brands and test each one out before buying a larger box. That way, you can experiment with which one works best for your baby.

4. Add extra protection

Disclosure: This article contains affiliate links, which means I will earn a commission—at no extra cost to you—if you make a purchase.

Don’t want to change wet sheets or soaked pajamas? A simple hack to prevent overnight leaking is to add extra protection for the existing diaper.

For instance:

  • Add a pair of fleece shorts over a fresh diaper before dressing your baby in pajamas. While he might leak through the diaper, the shorts can absorb some of the wetness.
  • Double up on diapers. Place his regular sized diaper first, then add a larger sized diaper on top.
  • Use a diaper booster pad or diaper liner like these. Inserts can hold even more wetness than a diaper alone.

5. Double up on bedding

One sneaky trick is to cover the mattress pad with two sets, each with a cover and a sheet.

First, place the cover over the mattress, followed by a sheet. Then, add another cover on top, and finally top it off with another sheet. (So, the layers should go: cover, sheet, cover, sheet.)

That way, when he pees through one set of sheets in the middle of the night, you can simply whip off the top two layers and set him down on the dry set.

6. Change your baby in the middle of the night

If all else fails, you can always change your baby in the middle of the night. The best time to do so is when he regularly wakes up to feed. But even if he sleeps through the night, you can sneak in a change.

For instance, do a “dream change” (like a “dreamfeed”) right before your own bedtime. Let’s say he sleeps at 7pm, but you don’t head to bed until 10pm. Do a quick change at 10pm, preferably by keeping the room subdued and dark so as not to startle him awake.

And dress him appropriately, too. Stick to simple, elastic waist pants or open gowns like these to make for an easier change.

7. Put your baby in footed pajamas

Instead of changing your baby in the middle of the night, consider putting her in footed pajamas instead.

My son had a habit of grabbing his pants and diapers while he slept. He’d push them down his hands or fiddle with the elastic. This would bunch up the diaper and make it much easier to leak.

The solution? I put him in footed pajamas, the kind that zips from neck to toe. That way, he had no way to access his pants or diapers.

Conclusion

It’s definitely frustrating dealing with leaking diapers, from middle of the night wake ups to soaking mornings. Thankfully, you now have several actionable tips to try to prevent this from happening again.

Go up one diaper size for nights, and stick to the regular size for during the day. Add extra protection, from liners to shorts to an added diaper. Double up on bedding so you can avoid adding new sheets in the middle of the night.

Use nighttime-specific diapers which are better designed to prevent leaks. And finally, change your baby in the middle of the night, or at least right before your own bedtime.

No more changing sheets or washing loads of pajamas, friend! Now you and your baby can finally sleep sound and dry.

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4 Comments

  1. Hi thanks for this writeup. Its very informative. I have a question: would you suggest overnight diapers with one size up or overnight diaper same size?

    1. Nina Garcia says:

      Hi Henna, thanks so much for your kind words! In my experience, using the same size with overnight diapers has helped. Otherwise, there’s a chance that a bad fit might lead to leaks.

  2. Our baby wakes in the night drenched in pee. I think he would probably sleep through the night if he weren’t wet. I read some of your advice and will try to put on a bigger size diaper for sleep the next few nights to see if that helps.

    1. Nina Garcia says:

      Yup, a bigger size can definitely help. Hopefully he’ll be able to sleep through the night with a dry diaper!