New to EC - what to have in the house when baby arrives ?

[sophi4ka]

I am expecting a new baby at the end of April and really want EC to work for us.
Do you have recommendations of what should I have ready at home to make the EC process easier? I am talking about the first months.
Of course, I could buy stuff later, but I just want to be prepared in advance

Thanks
Sophie

[zoebird]

starting out, i wanted nothing s that i could really throw myself in.

but, everyone gave me something--prefolds with EC covers, an ec belt (made by a friend), and a bag of newborn seventh generation disposables. so, we had stuff.

when he was first born, i just did skin to skin for the first 10 or so hours. the mecomium came a few hours after birth, and was no problem to clean up off our skin and towels. then, we were having visitors, so i put him in the prefold and cover so that others would be more comfortable.

we did EC for the first three days ok, but then it became obvious to me that the nursing was an issue, so i focused on that and kept him in cloth for the rest of the week or 10 days until i felt that was organized.

then, we started to EC in earnest, but i felt more comfortable using diapers as back up, even though i'd initially not wanted to do anything at all! ah well, things change!

after a bit, we went on a pretty long trip and decided that we would use the disposables. he would sometimes have a "surprise poop!" that would cause a huge mess. he was really regular with his poops (still is 7:30 am on the button), but every once in a while, there would be a surprise one. So, we thought it would be easier on us, the car seat, and perhaps even the baby but who knows?

well, on the trip, we pottied him pretty much every break we took and were able to reuse the diaper because it was dry every time! I then realized that when i was out, disposables were so much easier to use than cloth (just less to carry, etc), that i decided to go ahead and use disposables when out.

when in the house, he would have naked time or he would be in a cloth diaper with or without the cover (sometimes a belt). my preference was simply naked time, so that's what i did when home.

here is one thing though. at first, i preferred to potty him in two ways: 1. over the sink rather than the toilet, unless using a public restroom; and 2. using a square box that once held disposable wipes. the square box was so much easier for me to hold between my legs while night-time ec-ing or whatever.

now, at 18 mos, he wakes about 1-2 times per night to pee, poops at 7:30 am sharp (though he might have the occasional evening poop at 6:15), and is a great signal-er. sure, we have pauses like everyone, but it's no problem. it's ok to have those, you know?

but don't worry, you will find what works for you!

[sophi4ka]

Wow, thanks for your detailed response Zoe!
EC just seems like such an amazing and daunting thing at the same time.

Sophie

[FloridaBorn]

As another 1st time mom due in July, I also enjoyed reading your response, zoe.

[weliveintheforest]

I would suggest having things for your bed. A mattress cover for sure, and a puddle pad for over the sheets would probably be nice (or 2 or 3 of those.) Some people use a wool blanket, some buy them with a waterproof blanket. A potty bowl would have been nice for us, but we never had one. An extra sling is pretty important too, in case yours gets pooped in or something. That happened to us more than once

[sosurreal09]

we started EC when DD was 3 m/o. in most countries they start at 6 m/o i live in the US so they start at what like 2 yrs?
anyways we do it pt for now. i do believe in EC but i dont stress out over it. we dont do it at night unless she needs to poop. shes 5.5 m/o now and has begun to "tell" me when she needs to go but the timing is off a bit lol sometimes its when shes already gone. we use gro baby diapers b/c i can just throw the pad in the wash if she wets it and its easy for us. i bought her a cute little pink potty by baby bjorn-thats what we use.

im not a sling wearer im a wrap kind of gal. its better on my back and DD hates slings. i just want to warn you to be careful with a sling and make sure you put the baby in properly b/c just like a carseat sleeping warning the baby's head can tilt forward and the baby can block its airways and suffocate. i could never seem to get DD the right way thats why i quit the sling. i just saw on the news that 5 babies died this way. so please just be careful! i wouldnt want anything to happen...

TIP: tell your doctor about how you potty your child. i didnt think it was neccesary being 2010 and all but when DDs pedi wanted a urine on her and i said oh i can get a urine she goes potty all the time she laughed in my face said no and had DD catheterized....needless to say we have a new doctor now.

[hrsmom]

A waterproof pad of some kind will come in VERY handy! Also, for dressing, it's nice to have t-shirts and gowns, anything that gives you easy access for pottying! A whole bunch of thin pre-fold diapers also comes in handy! That's all my brain can think of right now! Congratulations to the new mamas!

EC is totally do-able! I remember thinking, "this is just how I take care of my baby." I'm so glad we have done EC! It's been quite the journey, but then again, so is parenting in general!

[hrsmom]

I wanted to add, a sling or a wrap (or both?) would be an essential! I imagine you're looking into this anyway, but babywearing makes EC easier much of the time! (And there definitely can be messes in the sling or wrap, especially at first!)

[BirthKathy]

You can also do EC with your baby in a diaper if you want. We use diapers full time, and still catch most pee and all poo. There's no stress about messes or misses. All you would need to start is diapers and a small potty, like the Baby Bjorn Little Potty. We started at 7 weeks.