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I love my changing pad cover and honestly, wouldn't want to put LO on it without one. It is plasicky, but I can't imagine it's very soft or comfy. Plus, they are pretty cheap and make the changing pad prettier. I have two I alternate though and LO is a big spitter, so I keep a cloth diaper/burp cloth where I place her head and that has saved me from having to change the pad constantly. I've only had one or two times where LO has gotten pee or poo on the changing pad cover. If I know it's a messy poop that has leaked, I'll put either a disposable liner down or a burp cloth. And honestly, you'll be doing so much laundry that a changing pad cover won't matter.

I think the reason for the mattress pad or protector is so that if LO has an accident in the middle of the night you can just whip off the sheet and pad, and then put a sheet back on and put LO back to bed. This saves you time from cleaning in the middle of the night. We haven't had to deal with this yet. They also sell something called the ultimate crib sheet (I think) and you put it on top of your sheet and it snaps on the crib slats, and it's a protector as well. This way if there' s an accident you just snap it off and put LO right back in the crib.

Personally, I love stuff like this. The conveniences are so worth it for me, but yes you can definitely live without some of this stuff. Of the two, I'd go with the changing pad cover if I had to have one or the other. It's seen more and honestly you will use that changing pad more frequently.

@septemberlove: I'm a FTM too, so I'm not much help, but I can tell you that we bought a changing pad cover but not a mattress cover. I just hate the look of the changing pad without a cover. Plus, after baths and during the summer, I'd hate for her to stick to the plastic. The terry cover we got will be much more comfortable. I total agree with you on the mattress cover though. Our crib mattress is vinyl, so it will be easier to wipe it down than wash a fabric mattress cover.

@MungBean: I love those covers! I have 2! I still haven't used the mattress pad covers that I bought and LO is 1.

Clorox wipe or not, poo stains. I happily put covers on everything, so all I have to do is throw them in the laundry. I don't have time or patience to scrub.

Definitely have more than one changing pad cover, early on all I did was wash them. I usually had a little pad to put under him that was easy to change out too. Newborn poo gets everywhere.

I think the mattress protector will be more useful when he is going through potty training and has accidents.

I think changing pad cover is definitely needed, and in fact I recommend you also register for the boppy changing pad liners also. These things are pure gold. LO peed right on it and it didn't leak through.

Both are pretty necessary for us. We have a mattress cover that is safe but it made her mattress more comfortable (safe as in, it's obviously not a memory foam or anything). The Carter's changing pad covers are the ones we used + a plastic oval looking mat over it to prevent from cleaning the changing pad constantly.

We have both covers! I like the changing pad cover because it's cute, much softer than without and also our changing table is right by the window so it would get really cold without it!

We use a changing pad cover because the plastic is cold in the winter and sticky in the summer, plus I like the way they look. We have two, when one gets messy, I swap them out. We never put any cover on the mattress other than her sheet. The mattress is plastic and doesn't need any more protection. FWIW, I've only had 2 times in almost 10 months where we have needed to change the sheet in her bed because of spit up or anything like that.

We have 3 changing pad covers. LO is only 12 days old and we've already been through them each twice due to diaper mishaps. I don't change them daily unless they are dirty. They don't add any extra effort to our routine so far because we just throw them in with LO's laundry, which we do fairly often anyway. It probably also makes it slightly more comfy for him, which is nice because he doesn't love being cold for diaper changes.

@LittleFox:
our LO's have the same birthday? Christmas Eve?

@Boogs: My MIL told me to do that. Seems ingenious to me...whenever we get around to using her crib. Right now I just keep LO in her R'n'P.

We only have 1 changing pad cover and use a hand towel on top of it which we change out every day or so. Most of our accidents on the towel are spit up, not diaper related. We could probably just go with towels right on the cover but this way the towels stay put a little better.

We bought 2 10-packs of hand towels from Costco that we use everywhere for baby since she likes to spit up a lot. I figure te hand towels are cheaper and easier to replace/re use around the house than changing covers (although they aren't terribly pricy either).

I am with @Crumbs: on the disposable liners... We have a cover on our changing pad, but also use the liners... Excellent for baby boys that like to pee during changes!

We also have a liner under the sheet and I see your point, wasn't sure if it was necessary but got one.

@septemberlove: This is another option, so you wouldn't need a changing pad cover: http://www.babysmartusa.com/changer.asp