April 2019 Moms
lyse01
member
Product Spotlight: Changing Table Supplies and Accessories
lyse01
member
Here we define “changing table” as “place you change diapers, whether or not it’s an actual table or even consistently one place” 
Changing Pad: Did you buy a dedicated pad for the table? One for each level of your house? What are the most important factors to look for: comfort, firmness, wipeability, other? Pros and cons of what you actually bought? Did you use whatever came with the diaper bag or in samples from the pediatrician? Is there other relevant info?
Changing pad covers: where did you find the cutest prints and/or cheapest useful covers? How many do you need? Do you layer them? Are they plastic-y for easy cleaning? What else do we need to know?
Wipe warmers and other wipe prep: worth it? How quickly did wipes dry out? Have you made a DIY version for your cloth wipes? Did you make a soapy solution for cloth wipes - recipe please?
Diaper creams/butt paste/lotion/baby powder/rash protection: what do you swear by? Is it cloth safe?
ETA: Diaper genie/disposing of dirty diapers: thanks to @Mrdcle for the reminder. What do you use? Pros/cons?
Give us the pros and cons of what you have, or ask about what you want.
FTMs: when you look at these extras, what’s overwhelming or confusing? Ask away!
Want to discuss something else? Recommend it here, or second some recs by loving someone’s post (I’ll try to prioritize): https://forums.thebump.com/discussion/12734953/product-spotlights-upcoming-or-requests
All product spotlights can be resurrected at any time for further discussion - type “Product Spotlight” into the search bar at the bottom of the page to find previous threads.
Changing Pad: Did you buy a dedicated pad for the table? One for each level of your house? What are the most important factors to look for: comfort, firmness, wipeability, other? Pros and cons of what you actually bought? Did you use whatever came with the diaper bag or in samples from the pediatrician? Is there other relevant info?
Changing pad covers: where did you find the cutest prints and/or cheapest useful covers? How many do you need? Do you layer them? Are they plastic-y for easy cleaning? What else do we need to know?
Wipe warmers and other wipe prep: worth it? How quickly did wipes dry out? Have you made a DIY version for your cloth wipes? Did you make a soapy solution for cloth wipes - recipe please?
Diaper creams/butt paste/lotion/baby powder/rash protection: what do you swear by? Is it cloth safe?
ETA: Diaper genie/disposing of dirty diapers: thanks to @Mrdcle for the reminder. What do you use? Pros/cons?
Give us the pros and cons of what you have, or ask about what you want.
FTMs: when you look at these extras, what’s overwhelming or confusing? Ask away!
Want to discuss something else? Recommend it here, or second some recs by loving someone’s post (I’ll try to prioritize): https://forums.thebump.com/discussion/12734953/product-spotlights-upcoming-or-requests
All product spotlights can be resurrected at any time for further discussion - type “Product Spotlight” into the search bar at the bottom of the page to find previous threads.
Re: Product Spotlight: Changing Table Supplies and Accessories
We had one on top of his dresser that we used frequently. We have one level on our house, so it's not like it was ever too far away. I think it was Serta brand? It was nice enough. I passed it along to my SIL. We just got a few covers from target that were fleecy.
Changing pad covers: where did you find the cutest prints and/or cheapest useful covers? How many do you need? Do you layer them? Are they plastic-y for easy cleaning? What else do we need to know?
We just got a few covers from target that were fleecy. They're so easy to change out we did not layer them. I had maybe 3?
Wipe warmers and other wipe prep: worth it? How quickly did wipes dry out? Have you made a DIY version for your cloth wipes? Did you make a soapy solution for cloth wipes - recipe please?
If a wipe felt to chilly I would stick it between my boobs for a few minutes. Boom. Wipe warmer.
Diaper creams/butt paste/lotion/baby powder/rash protection: what do you swear by? Is it cloth safe?
Previously, we used Aquaphor. We just have a giant tub of it. It lasts forever and its so effective. We are planning to try to CD this time, so I will need to see if that's cloth safe or not, and if not, finding a new one!
Give us the pros and cons of what you have, or ask about what you want.
I suggest getting at least one diaper caddy, depending on the size of your house. We had his changing pad and supplies in his room, but we also had a little diaper caddy that I kept stocked in the living room. So It would fit diapers, wipes, some butt cream, and a little flat changing pad folded up. We could easily take it outside or on the sunporch for quick changes without having to run back inside. If you have more than one floor I would think that would be nice! Just lay down the pad and change him right there.
We also did NOT use a Diaper Genie - we just used a regular closed top kitchen style garbage can, and we take poop diapers straight out (though I think technically, you're supposed to dump the poop no matter what?) Any diaper genie I've ever experienced was staaanky.
Changing pad covers: where did you find the cutest prints and/or cheapest useful covers? How many do you need? Do you layer them? Are they plastic-y for easy cleaning? What else do we need to know?
prevously helloblueeyes
Me:32 DH:33 Married:04/2012 DD:07/2014
BFP 8/14/2018 #2 due 4/18/2019
prevously helloblueeyes
Me:32 DH:33 Married:04/2012 DD:07/2014
BFP 8/14/2018 #2 due 4/18/2019
I had one changing pad and put it on top of the dresser in the twins room. I rarely used it. I usually changed them on the floor. A couple friends had their babies roll off the table and break bones. Babies are so freaking fast and with twins I couldn't watch 2 at once. Also, when they're older it's easier to use your feet to pin their shoulders to stop them from rolling ha!
The diaper bag I bought had a little fold up pad with a pocket for wipes (but only like 5 wipes fit so it was a bit useless) but I used that when we were out or at someone's house. Plastic-y feeling so super easy to clean off the messes.
Changing pad covers: where did you find the cutest prints and/or cheapest useful covers? How many do you need? Do you layer them? Are they plastic-y for easy cleaning? What else do we need to know?
I had a couple cutesy covers for our changing pad at home, enough to cycle through without having to do laundry all the time, but like mentioned above I rarely used the change table.
Wipe warmers and other wipe prep: worth it? How quickly did wipes dry out? Have you made a DIY version for your cloth wipes? Did you make a soapy solution for cloth wipes - recipe please?
I did not use wipe warmers. Make sure you do some research about them if that's what you want - think about bacteria growing in a warm, wet, dark container. Yuck. Also - same with bottles - babies become used to warm, then you're out and trying to change them with wipes that aren't warm and they're screaming their little heads off because it's cold. I really don't think warmers are necessary, nice maybe, but definitely a luxury item.
Diaper creams/butt paste/lotion/baby powder/rash protection: what do you swear by? Is it cloth safe?
Sudocrem is a lifesaver. Our NICU nurses swore by Baby Butz (a Canadian company) it is super thick so it actually stays on when they're little and getting changed super often.
Diaper genie/disposing of dirty diapers. What do you use? Pros/cons?
We did have a diaper genie. It was nice to have it right there to be able to put all the diapers in right away. They do start to stink if you don't change them often though. I used it a lot when the girls were little and diaper changes were frequent and feeding both twins took over 2 hours just for the convenience but once the changes were more spread out it's just as easy to walk over to the garbage or throw the poop diapers outside.
H: 36
L & N twin girls: 3yo. Born at 30 weeks. 2 month NICU stay
BFP Aug 2018: EDD April 2019
Changing pad covers: As much as I hate the milky fabric, it or velvet fabric was my favorite for the changing pad cover. But regular cotton ones worked just fine as well. Again, pee and poop will be getting on these on the reg, so don't go crazy.
Wipe warmers and other wipe prep: You will hate your life if you get a wipe warmer. 1) You are setting it up so your child screams every time a cold wipe touches their butt and 2) Wipe warmers are a germ factory. We just buy the unscented Target brand ones (again, look to what you're using it for), and they have worked well. I don't like the thick Huggie ones, I think it took 5 of them to do the job of 2.
Diaper creams/butt paste/lotion/baby powder/rash protection: I swear by Desitin. Not the stuff in the tube but the stuff in the tub. It's the best. It takes away DD diaper rash within a day. I have no idea if it is cloth safe since we don't cloth. For other random things, we use Aquaphor.
ETA: Diaper genie/disposing of dirty diapers: We used an Ubbi for a long time. Then it started to smell. So now it's is sitting in our garage and is not allowed back in our home. We take pee diapers to the trash in the kitchen (because it gets taken out frequently anyways) and poopy diapers go into a grocery bag and then into the trash bin in our garage. Keeps the smell at a minimum. Because if you use a pail in the room, be ready for it to smell. No matter how much you clean it out or change the trash bag. It will smell.
Changing pad and covers:
We used a few blankets and then a wipe-able pad (I believe we got the three pack from Munchkin brand) on top of a desk on the main level of the house we were in at the time. The drawers held my cloth diapers/wipes/butt cream conveniently. If I didn't change him there, it was mostly on the floor/couch/wherever as other moms have said.
This time I'm planning on using the same kind of set up for baby's room, but since the nursery is downstairs and we spend most of our time upstairs, I'll probably have a basket of cloth diapers and necessities somewhere in the living room. I'm hoping our trash can/wet bag liner combo will fit under the counter in our bathroom so I only have to tote dirty diapers down to the laundry once a day.
Wipe warmers/prep:
I agree with others that wipe warmers always seemed silly to me. I made cloth wipes from one square of soft flannel and one square of cotton sewn together, and I would just wet them in the sink as needed before a change.
Diaper creams:
I swear by CJ's BUTTer, but unfortunately I don't think they have the adorable little sample size containers and fun scents anymore. All I can find is a basic one. Also, @MRDCle , Aquaphor isn't recommended for cloth diapers (I think because it's petroleum based?) but whenever I needed to use a little Vaseline on DS, I would just put a disposable liner in the diaper on top of the cloth liners as a barrier between the cream and the cloth.
Dirty diaper disposal:
Since we primarily did cloth, I had a pail and a wet bag liner to throw diapers in. I generally washed a load of diapers every other day unless they were bad. If we used disposable (especially for overnight since DS was prone to diaper rash and peed A. LOT. at night), I would put them in a grocery bag in the garage until trash day.
we change on the floor/couch/bed.
Changing Pad: we registered for but didn’t get a changing pad. Totally okay. We got one in the diaper bag and two in Enfamil samples handed out by docs. They’re all
about a centimeter thick and plastic for easy wiping, and I never use them, preferring to just lift DD’s butt off the dirty diaper, wipe into the diaper, and toss it all at once. I get poop elsewhere like...once every few months? I feel like that’s possible even with a changing pad. DH likes to take the dirty diaper away right away (he also avoids poop diapers like a champ) and tends to stick her in the bath/shower or grab a paper bag if he needs to stick something under her butt. I mean, it works. Long story short...not strictly necessary?
Changing pad covers: n/a
Wipe warmers and other wipe prep: warmers: ha. I agree with PP that using them basically trains your kid to throw a fit when you don’t have them outside the house. Cloth wipes: I’ve made a soapy solution for cloth wipes but never loved how it turned out or how DD and DH accidentally spilled it constantly (prob need a travel shampoo bottle for that). Usually just ran the wipe under the faucet for a few seconds on my way to changing the baby.
Diaper creams/butt paste/lotion/baby powder/rash protection: Boudreaux’s butt paste (green) is cloth safe and a nice thick cream that sticks around to the next change. Anything petroleum based will make your cloth repel pee.
Diaper genie/disposing of dirty diapers: disposables go straight into the kitchen garbage which goes out every 3-4 days. It rarely smells horrible. Cloth with pee goes straight into the washer, to be washed the next morning. Cloth with poop goes into the bathroom to be washed out in the toilet then put in the washer... or into a wet bag in the bathroom if it’s necessary to delay.