EC & Cloth

[Shann]

Hi everyone,

I'm back for baby number two. I used terry flats and Weenies for my son but never went full time on cloth. This time I'm hoping to get it right!

I would like advice on combining cloth with Elimination Communication (EC). This baby will be born in Winter in a cold climate. Is there a particular type of nappy which would be best to try?

I am thinking that I will want to be able to tell when the baby is wet straight away so no built in covers? I will also want to be able to whip it on and off quickly if I spot a cue to wee so I think my old pinned flats won't work. Is it possible to get one option from newborn up? I have about 8 home made nappies in newborn size (hand-me-downs). How many more nappies will I need if I want to be committed to changing baby after each wee?

I have also started knitting longies (slowly - I suck at knitting). How many pairs will I need?

Is there anyone out there who has EC'd with cloth back up? I would love lots more info but I think at the moment I don't know what I don't know to ask the questions!

Thanks very much,

Bec

[bamboogal]

i think based on my comparisons my ec baby went through about 4 more nappies a day(in the early days) compared to the average non ec'd baby. its not too many more because when you realise they have wet a nappy you can still ec them to get them to urinate again before putting another nappy on.

I'd also suggest baby legs or a warmer version as it means you don't need pull pants down for them to wee.

[Shann]

Thanks for the quick reply Meg,

So baby leg warmers might be a better bet than longies? I am assuming will still want some longies for overnight/when we are out (hope so since I am allready knitting the blasted things).

I will do a search for patterns. Any tips on particular nappies? I am assuming from the above post that any nappy will do if I use warmers instead of pants.

Please chip in if you have any comments to make...

Shann

[Bek]

longies are good, but taking 2 things off every 5mins gets a bit annoying after a while! leg warmers mean that you only have to deal with the nappy!
fitted nappies with velcro are great - very quick and easy to get on and off. you don't need a lot of absorbency, so you can get away with cheaper 'one wee' type nappies rather than needing super absorbent bamboo ones the less 'bits' there are to the nappy, the better, as it gets put on and off a *lot* of times and bits can get frustrating after a while!! i used fitted pockets for ben, which were great, and i got my dd to stuff them for me
will keep thinking and add more if anything comes to mind

[Michelle]

if you are in a cold climate i would suggest leg warmers as well as one of those woolen wrap things.... help me out someone! What are they called?? The open tube skirts for newborns (or young babies) that you just lift up.... (mental blank) But that could be easily lifted out of the way. They work for overnight as well.

If you only have 8 nappies all up i think you'll need more.... unless you plan to just lay bub on a terry flat etc when you run out of nappies. Maybe not in winter though? If you were planning to use cloth full time and EC then i still think you'll need another dozen nappies.

I'd go for anything with velcro if you wanted to whip it off quick. Not sure what to recommend though as if you are looking for one option from newborn up that's not the direction i went so all my favs are sized. I did love my small honeyboys though!! Can't think off hand what other non-AIO velcro newborn nappies i liked......

[Bek]

oh yes, definately need more than 8 nappies.
we were going through 15-20 nappies some days! (it of course depends on how many wees you catch, but when they're going every 5-10mins, lol, some misses seem to be inevitable!

[The_Source]

If you are looking to buy up a stash:

In respect to EC and being able to have something where you can tell straight away the Baby Behinds nappies without the boosters / clip-ins work a treat!

I also got a small woollen bassitte underlay thingy to lay DS3 on without nappy until he was rolling also.

Hope this helps!

[KristyMum]

could still use flats with Snappi or the flannel ones with no pins no Snappi fold?

[Shann]

Thanks for the tips,

I am expecting to need more nappies. I had about 3 dozen in circulation with my son (yeah I'm not a frequent washer) but they were terry flats and take time to put on and off. Either way they went into the great baby hand-me-down circle and haven't come back to me yet...

The baby behinds did look cute... (ok they all look cute)

Thanks for the tip about legwarmers - I couldn't find a newborn pattern but I'm thinking any skinny tube will do with rib on top and bottom. It is hard to remember how small they are though....

Michelle - the tube skirt thing. Would that be a knitted tube with a hole at each end to go from their chest to their knees or a flat knitted piece with a button at the top so that you can just lift the bottom corner out of the way - kind of like a wrap skirt? I can kind of picture it but haven't seen or heard of anything like it before?

Can I ask The_Source about the underlay? I haven't used wool before with a baby. Could I cut up an old woolen blanket (felted a bit) for this? Would you then lanolise it? I was wondering about making some pads to lie on out of terry towelling covered with polar fleece but perhaps wool would be better? I always used waterproof covers for my son so didn't have this concern. I was thinking about something similar to make an apron with as I tend to babywear and am not relishing having to wash my own clothes frequently as well. I have a few home made mai-tai's so they can get wet often.

Thank you very much to everyone for sharing their experiences - it is very valuable as I'm in uncharted waters.

Shann

[Bek]

older child/adult knee-high socks can make good legwarmers for littlies, or else google baby legs (can't remember the other brand names)