Tell me about Dancing Bear fleece covers...

[newmamalizzy]

We're new to cloth diapering and have so far just used Flips. These were fine overnight until DD started wriggling side to side, so now we're looking to venture deeper into CD land. I've heard the Dancing Bear covers are great for overnight, but I'm not sure I understand how to use them. What goes underneath? Are they as great as people say?

[cristeen]

I can't speak to that particular cover, but I can tell you that no cover is worth a darn without sufficient absorbency underneath it. A cover still requires a good dipe under it to hold all the pee - the cover only prevents the pee from wicking out onto the sheets/blankets/you. If you don't have enough absorbent material inside the cover, the cover will leak.

You would need a PF/flat or fitted under that cover.

What I've found is that my guy does the bulk of his peeing at night. So I need a LOT of absorbency at night. My favorite night-time dipe is a Happy Hempy - it's a pocket fitted, so I can customize the absorbency for him. Right now we're stuffing it with 2 pfs and a Babykicks Hemparoo doubler. That holds almost 30 oz of pee, and still the cover is soaked by morning (wool covers will absorb the excess until they reach capacity). We use almost entirely wool, especially at night, so I can't speak to the fleece.

[newmamalizzy]

Originally Posted by cristeen

I can't speak to that particular cover, but I can tell you that no cover is worth a darn without sufficient absorbency underneath it. A cover still requires a good dipe under it to hold all the pee - the cover only prevents the pee from wicking out onto the sheets/blankets/you. If you don't have enough absorbent material inside the cover, the cover will leak.

You would need a PF/flat or fitted under that cover.

What I've found is that my guy does the bulk of his peeing at night. So I need a LOT of absorbency at night. My favorite night-time dipe is a Happy Hempy - it's a pocket fitted, so I can customize the absorbency for him. Right now we're stuffing it with 2 pfs and a Babykicks Hemparoo doubler. That holds almost 30 oz of pee, and still the cover is soaked by morning (wool covers will absorb the excess until they reach capacity). We use almost entirely wool, especially at night, so I can't speak to the fleece.

Ah, this makes me feel silly. I didn't even realize there were diapers like the Happy Hempy, like a bumGenius inside without the cover. But now that I think of it, this is exactly what a cloth diaper IS. I feel like this is a CD basic that I totally missed. Consider me enlightened!

[olien]

Happy hempys are GREAT & so are dancing bears!!

It is true its whats underneath that counts, but the dancing breas covers are leakproof for us.

Under it I use the happy hempys pocket stuffed with a hemp stuffin & a superdo insert. When I try to use other than a happy hempy, the DB cover is very damp although no leaks.

[Galatea]

A good fitted or 2 prefolds snappied on plus a Dancing Bears cover works for almost everyone at night. You do need enough absorbency under there, but the cover will prevent those leg leaks that come from the baby's position or wriggling.

[Beauchamp]

I've only had a leak with our DB once, and that was when I think DD was on one side for soooo long and a bit came out by her leg. I just pulled the cover down a bit on her leg and she didn't leak anymore that night. We use our DB over a Happy Hempy stuffed with a Super Do insert as well. The large Super Do is a tight fit inside a large Happy Hempy, though. Kinda wish I had bought a medium Super Do to test that fit.

She needs Babylegs with the DB cover, since no pants fit over it for us. Our is the purple/plum color, and I don't love the color. Wish I had gone with either something totally neutral or something way more vibrant.

My DD is very tall for her age, and 23.5 lbs, and fits in a medium right now. It's a very good cover. What I love best is that you can't ruin this cover. It can go in any wash cycle, on any temp, in the dryer, etc. Someday I may try wool (maybe if we ever have Baby #2) but for now, this is a good next step for me, that is nearly impossible to mess up.