Okay, so do I need a mattress protector?

[Miffster]

Am coming up for 33 weeks pg, am planning a home birth for DC1. Am unlikely to actually give birth on the bed - although I suppose it is possible - but am thinking about general issues like...

waters breaking
lochia leaks
night sweats
breasts leaking

etc etc

therefore a mattress protector seems a good idea.

Would prefer not to have to sleep on something

a) sweaty
b) crackly
c) plasticy.
d) that bunches up under the sheet

If it is single bed sized but used in a king size double, I imagine it will scrunch up easily and be annoying so good idea to get one that covers the whole bed, rather than half the bed, or lots of small ones.

I have seen a John Lewis one that is quite expensive, about 35 quid.

Anyone got any suggestions/useful past experience?

Also, do babies need them under their sheets or can you just sling their mattresses in the washing machine if they have a nappy-defying poo explosion disaster?

Thanks

I've got a plastic protector on DD's cotbed - was about a fiver from Tesco. If you cover it with a cotton jersey sheet it still feels nice, not crackly and plasticy. Moses basket mattresses often have a waterproof coating stuff on - and they're only cheap to replace if necessary. DD has never had a poo of such epic explosiveness that it has gone through a normal sheet though - it is usually caught by the sleepsuit if it breaches the vest.

If your waters break in bed you will need something more substantial than a mattress protector - you can get an incontinence pad thing for the bed if you are worried about it - disposable, obviously! I didn't bother. My waters broke in my living room as it turned out - might get a protector next time...

A normal protector (cotton washable type) is fine for milk leaks, assuming you plan to use breast pads. I have lilypadz which are good for night time. I didn't ever have any lochia leaks at night (or during the day as it happens). I used the always ultra night-time towels (the big thick ones, not the thin ones) in the purple packet, the ones with mega wings, and they were very efficient and didn't leak at all.

Oh, and I think the midwife will bring you tons of inco pads for your home birth, so don't worry about that aspect! If you do end up wanting to birth on the bed then it can be covered in the incontinence pads - check with your midwife if you're worried, but that's what they told me at my home birth support group. Didn't end up with a home birth though so no personal experience to add.

I got the John Lewis one and my waters did break in bed so it was worth doing IME. It's not crackly or anything, in fact we still have it on over a year later.

Thanks very much for the responses.

Do you have to wear a bra in bed then, with pads in? All the time? (if you are BF which I want to do)
:( at the thought, I hate wearing anything in bed and it is as much as I can stand wearing light crop tops in the day; as soon as I get home I have to take my bra off.

I suppose I could just wear a clean nightie or T shirt every night and just leak into it, or would that mean the duvet and sheets got all covered as well?

God, why does nobody tell you how messy having a baby is likely to be?

I always wore a bra in bed but probably didn't need to after the first few months. Most people do need to at first though and then you leak less as time goes on.

I was worrying about this too and bought a waterproof mattress protector a few days ago - which has just about to go in the bin as it made me even more horribly sweaty than usual last night. It's not a very cheap one - thought it would be fine as it's not crackly/crinkly, but noooo....
Have a normal quilted one and a spare so thought I might just use both of those at once and hope for the best!

I was paranoid about my water breaking in my new (and rather expensive) mattress, so I bought those disposable ones from mothercare (IIRC). It was fine, no noise, no scrunching etc. Water didn't break in bed, but toddler weed on our bed 2 days after I put it down!

As for bra and feeding, I leaked badly! I got a sleep bra (nursing one), which was super duper comfy so no mess in my lovely bed!!

You can get LilyPadz for your boobs if you don't want to wear a bra in bed - they are silicone and sort of stick to your boobs so prevent the leak. You don't need to wear a bra with them, they work just the same whether you wear one or not. I probably wouldn't wear them 24/7 as I personally think you need to let a bit of air get to your nipples but they're good for wearing in bed if you don't like the idea of sleeping in a bra and they're very effective in my experience. I am a big leaker and they work for me.

My sleep bras are from Mothercare and are more like crop tops than actual bras. I've been wearing them during preg to give some support.

We usually have a mattress protector on our bed anyway, but I doubt it would stand up to all my waters breaking into the bed! So I bought the pack of disposable maternity pads from Mothercare (they were really cheap for 5). I have popped one on top of the usual mattress protector on my side then put the normal fitted sheet over.