Overwhelmed - want something super easy to take off at home (not necessarily perfect) and possibly also something to wear out or at night

[wisper]

Feeling overwhelmed, so might cloth diaper part time to at least start! But I have 3 needs/situations:

1) Baby is home in just a diaper (or possibly also leg warmers and tshirt). We are starting elimination communication, so if we have a miss I will immediately (ideally) see it and move him to the toilet. It doesn’t have to be waterproof beyond saving furniture from getting pee on it. If pee gets on me as I move him, fine. The more independence (I’d LOVE baby to learn as quickly as possible to take this off on his own!) and ease of taking off at the toilet, the better. It does have to stay on through crazy crawling and standing and coasting and falling. Considering prefolds with just a wool diaper belt? Unless I am way off.

1. We’re going out. Might use disposables for these and save if we catch anything. But looking for convenience in this case. However, looking at an all in one diaper, hybrid, or pre folds from above with a cover?
2. Overnights. No hope of catching these yet. Currently we’re using 12 hour overnight disposable diapers, and I’m fine with that. Would want something super absorbent and it’d just be for pee.

Overall looking primarily to stop using diapers throughout the day and to make it easier to start practicing EC by getting things on/off faster and having baby “feel” wetness.

 

[wisper]

What we wound up buying and recommend nowadays:
* prefolds (GMD) (6-12?)
* merino wool diaper belt (Babee Greens)
* flat diapers (GMD) (6-12?)
* doubler, night (GMD)
* merino wool liner, night (GMD or Babee Greens)
* cover, either single diaper cover in baby’s size and a size up at night from Puppi, which you can lay flats/doubler/liner in at night and just a flat for the day… or wear belt etc under a lanolized pants/shorts

During the day he doesn’t wear a cover. We only use covers when going out and at night. We’ve found ourselves using the diapers for cleaning the floor (he doesn’t know how to aim yet, and we’re working on shaping it to just try to go in the bathroom) more often than as an actual diaper, but it’s really useful for both, especially in the beginning! It’s also nice to have as a backup when baby is teething, growing, etc.

 

[bogle]

@wisper For overnights, that would depend on how heavy a wetter your kid is.

Some people, as a cost effective solution, just layer flats. Two flats on top of each other, with another laid padfolded in the center, with a wool cover.

If that is your preference, my recommendation would be GMD flats and Myecobaby wool cover from Etsy.

We have a very heavy wetter. 10oz/hour during the daytime.

Pooters overnight is the usual choice for fitted, but that is only able to be a nap diaper in our house.

The only thing that has worked for us is the monarch overnight fitted solution in LOSM. Their fitted + the four inserts they ship with the full set. Then I add a GMD fleece liner and wrap it in all in two Monarch fleece liners. And then I put an oversized wool cover on top of that.

A bit pricey, but you could probably get away with only having two or three. They will take an entire day to dry.

 

[buckeye_momof4]

@wisper We do ec at home and baby is running around in just a flat diaper or a snapped workhorse most of the time, if he’s not naked. He obviously can’t get the flat off on his own, but he does know how to unsnap the workhorse. We have undies too, which he wears on days when we’re having a lot of catches. We’re starting to teach him how to get them off and on, but it’s a slow process.

We don’t have any fancier diapers, so it’s the flats or a workhorse for going out with a wool cover/longies. We take the flats folded and have done this since birth, so I personally don’t find it difficult.

At night, baby is in a beefed up flat with wool longies over top. Because he pees before he goes to bed and we can usually catch him before he pees and poops in the morning, it doesn’t have to be super absorbent.

Editing that baby is 14 months, have been doing ec since 10 months.

 

[wisper]

@buckeye_momof4 Thank you! We're also starting EC late (well, kind of, we briefly did it earlier, but then took a break while traveling for a bit and then moving). We're thinking prefolds + wool diaper belt or snappi at home during the day, then either a Puppi wool velcro diaper cover or a wool 'cover' (looks like underwear, though they also have shorts and pants?) for our daytime outings or if we want a short break from EC during the day and won't be watching.

Any reasoning behind flats vs prefolds?

And any drawbacks to using a wool 'cover' (pants? underwear? shorts?) rather than something like the velcro Puppi wool cover? The most obvious one to me is that the cover would make standing diaper changes way easier, and also be easier for baby to 'learn' (he's already "stepping" in and out!). Does a flat or prefold stay "put" properly in a wool cover? Do pants instead of an underwear style wool cover mean things move around more? Sorry for all the questions, but definitely appreciate any experience!

I think we'll wait to implement overnight cloth diapers until we have our daytime cloth diaper routine down, and maybe by then EC will be a little more solid anyway.

 

[buckeye_momof4]

@wisper Happy to answer questions!!

Our only real reasoning for flats was that in theory, you only have to buy diapers once because you can fold them to fit any size baby. In practice, we’ve just purchased large flats because baby has gotten so big. The one size technically fit, but the bigger ones are so much easier. Flats are also more customizable in general, but I’ll be the first to admit they’re not the most ec friendly diaper style.

When baby is going to go out and wear real cotton pants, or if he’s going to nap in just a diaper, we use babeegreens wool snap covers. Diapers do definitely stay put better under a cover than in the loose fitting longies, but I’ve just transitioned to using mostly workhorses for going out since they stay put better. Personally, I found that snaps (or Velcro) makes diaper changes easier no matter how you’re doing it, though it is very nice that baby already knows how to step out of pants. The only piece he’s still missing is being able to push them down himself.

I will say that it’s been fine not using covers at home, since we do catch most things and if we miss, he’s kind of just like a damp sponge level of wet. And he’s usually standing, not squishing a wet diaper bottom into furniture. Skipping the covers for speed and ease is one of the big reasons I think we’ve had as much success as we’ve had.

 

[lifeword]

@wisper How old and how big is baby now? I am not really personally familiar with EC, but what sort of system to start with and what products will be beta vary on the kiddo's age!

 

[wisper]

@lifeword 9mo, on solids, crawling and coasting and standing.

I think EC only matters because I’m wondering if I need to use a waterproof cover when at home. Ie the goal isn’t to avoid getting his clothes wet and if he starts to go, he’ll only get a couple of seconds in before I move him over.

 

[bogle]

@wisper You don't need a waterproof cover with a prefold.

However, they do hold a lot. I usually only see wetness on the outside with that or a fitted after an hour.

Maybe a flour sack instead of a prefold? They are $1 per towel at Walmart.

Or a mix, prefolds and a pull up cover if you leave home, maybe. The happy beehinds fusion pull-up trainer is on sale, if your baby is large enough to fit in it.

 

[chrisleatherman40]

@wisper I think using something cotton without a waterproof cover is ideal for ec when you’re home. Prefolds with a snappi, or fitted diapers would be great. I haven’t used a diaper belt yet (though making one is on my list) and I’m not sure how it would hold up to a very active baby? I just discovered flappy nappies and they look really cool as well.

 

[wisper]

@chrisleatherman40 Thank you! We'll start with this. It's also the least intimidating and will cut down on the majority of the disposables we use anyway.