Back Up Diapers- HELP!

[ranebowchild]

Hi. I'm so happy to have somewhere to ask questions and receive support. :)

I cloth diapered my 3 year old when she was a baby and I had planned to do the same with my new baby due in March.

I came across some information on elimination communication. I borrowed The Diaper Free Baby by Christine Gross-Loh from the library and I've decided I'd like to ec my baby. I can't unknow what I know lol and now it bugs me to not ec.

I've been researching TONS what diaper system is best for back ups and I've decided on a combination of prefolds (especially for the early days), fitteds (which I've never used before) and wool.

I used prefolds and wool for my daughter. I became frustrated with little bits of ebf poop (sometimes a lot!) getting on my wool covers.

I've decided to buy some fitteds this time around, because the elastic in the legs will hopefully keep poop off my covers. I've also heard that prefold belts don't work so great once the baby becomes mobile and that it doesn't hold poo in very well. I really don't want it all over my couch!

I recieved today, 12 xsmall (newborn) and 24 small Mother-ease Organic Sandy's fitteds for use out of the house and for when my baby slows down on peeing. I especially like these diapers, because they can be pulled up and down for older babies.

I'm feeling overwhemed with how much I spent on the Motherease (compared to prefolds), because I'm afraid I ordered too many and that they won't get used. I can afford the diapers just fine, but I hate to see money spent on something I didn't need/use.

I thought they would be great for times when I really didn't want to take a chance with getting poop on my wool cover (like when I can't get baby to potty in time- perhaps grocery shopping, car rides, etc.) and for when the pees slow down.

It seems a little silly to change a fitted diaper every 20 minutes. But sliding a prefold under the bum doesn't seem as silly, especially since they are so affordable and I will have LOTS of them.

Mother-ease has a great return policy and I am strongly considering returning atleast 12 of the small size Sandy's.

I really have my heart set on ec'ing and if I returned some fitteds, I could use that money to buy extra wool covers. Then it wouldn't matter so much if poop got on them, although cleaning them would still be a pain. However, I plan on being coverless at home 99 % of the time, so maybe I wouldn't need the extra covers anyways.

Oh my Goodness! Can you tell I am a tad stressed? I know this is about communication and to have fun and stay relaxed about it and I'll make sure to remind myself of that. :) But I have a lot of money invested in the fitteds and if you guys tell me that they are not going to be very useful, I would considering returning them all even!

Please help! Tell me your experiences with fitteds versus prefolds for backup and please keep in mind that I will be using wool outside the house.  Thank you SOOOOO much for any responses. :)

[nstewart]

Well, I didn't use fitted diapers...I did use prefolds however and found that they worked really well for EC.  Around the house I just used a snappi and no cover.  I found I could get them off and on quickly and easily.  Out of the house I used disposables or prefolds with a Thirsties cover (I didn't start ECing outside of the house until DS was a bit older, maybe 6 mos or so) and then starting when DS was about 7 mos I used training pants full time during the day, and diapers at night (and still do).

I also think that you need to keep in mind that as your DC gets to be a bit older and you get more comfortable with EC you will be using fewer diapers.  By the time DS was 6.5 mos old we usually only had 2 or 3 misses per day.

If it were me...I would consider returning most of the fitted diapers and getting more prefolds and covers for out of the house (I think it'll be way easier to go without covers most of the time at home).  At least for the newborn stage and then you can re-evaluate what works best for you down the road (which might be to use the fitteds without covers at home and with covers out of the house.)

Good luck, EC is great!

[flyrabbitfly]

Relax, serene vessel:) 

We used cotton fitteds with no cover and prefolds with a belt at home and added a cover for out and about UNTIL we discovered ECA pants around 4 mo- they stay on with a belt built in so you don't have to wrestle a dipe on and off for each offer- SO much easier. If I had it to do over I'd probably skip the fitteds all together for those first few lots of pee months and then do as we did with ECA's. We had 4@ of the waterproof and non. We used the non in general and the waterproofs at night and in the carseat. The great thing about having only a few- keeps you motivated and diaper-free time starts to be a great way to save a dipe!

Also you'll have to wait and see on poop issues- DS has preferred the potty for poops from Day 1- so we only ever had lite wet farts (the shot over the bow, we called them) in the prefold, but every kid is different. 

Also prefolds are great for diaper free wipe ups while fitteds only serve that one bum purpose...

At about 11 mo we went to cheap trainers, they still work great. 

Do remember to relax!

[Tjej]

I'd probably return half of those 24 fitteds.  You will have some catches, you have prefolds as well... I think I had 24 diapers total - pockets - and it was never not enough.  I personally really liked our pocket diapers, and we pretty much never had poop leak from them, so I really really liked that ( although DS really was good about cueing for poop too).

Tjej

[anarchamom]

I agree. i don't think you will need that many fitted diapers if you have the prefolds and plan to ec. i have about 4 motherease fitted diapers, but i mostly use them at night because they are easier to change in the dark than a prefold. i was constantly losing snappis when changing at night. they really should make a glow in the dark snappi