Either an incontinence pad (you can buy reusable fabric ones) or a plastic trash bag with a towel on top (the towel catches the moisture, the bag protects the bed).
These are quite a bit more affordable and work just as well.
Medline Softnit 300 Washable Underpads, Pack of 4 Large Bed Pads, 34" x 36", For use as incontinence bed pads, reusable pet pads, great for dogs, cats, and bunny https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000FED594/ref=cm_sw_r_apan_glt_i_41CNJ5P59RW9EM6MFBTP?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1
I think you're referring to these?
What about getting some chucks to toss down over their sheets? You can get washable/reusable ones and it's a much easier task to replace and toss in the wash.
Amazon has lots for an example. They work great.
Amazon sell these awesome reusable washable pads. They're huge and really durable. Highly recommended. I also like the grass/sod in the middle pool idea. Could even lay grass on top of these reusable pads too.
Medline Softnit 300 Washable Underpads, Pack of 4 Large Bed Pads, 34" x 36", For use as incontinence bed pads, reusable pet pads, great for dogs, cats, and bunny https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000FED594/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_UYpCDbK1P3KW5
We bought a pack of these and I put one down under the sheet on my side of the bed. I figure that it would probably catch the worst of it if my water was to break. I also have one down on the couch and in my car just in case.
Washable bedding for the piggy enclosure:
-Bottom layer: bed liner pads, there are dozens of different size options available on amazon, so you can find ones that will fit your enclosure dimensions.
-Middle layer: Moisture wicking "sheepette" faux wool. Soft and provides a thick, dry layer between the piggies and the urine absorbing bed liner pad. Easy to cut to size.
-Top layer: regular fleece fabric (if you buy new fleece, wash in hot water with unscented detergent and some Borox powder, this helps remove any moisture repelling chemicals on the surface of the fabric that will prevent urine from quickly absorbing). I get the plain fleece blankets that come in a roll from ikea, they're large and inexpensive, you can cut them to the sizes you need. Or if you want to get fancy you can go to a craft store that sells fabric.
I put my 3 layers in the enclosure, then take the top fleece layer and tuck it in on all sides so the piggies don't lift up the fleece to hide underneath it.
Feed good food. I feed my piggies Sherwood pellets, and i order hay from Small Pet Select. The bigger the box/bag you order, the more money you save. Also, NEVER buy hay at petco or petsmart. Their prices are OUTRAGEOUS. 20$ for 5lbs of oxbow, insane! I pay 72$ for a 60lb box of hay from Small Pet Select (i have quite a few pigs lol need a lot of hay). If i bought hay from petco, 60lbs would cost me like 240$.
Feed healthy veggies every day. Fruit should be a RARE treat. I only give my pigs a little bit of fruit once every 2-3 weeks. Fruit is just natures candy, its not really healthy, its a special treat and should not be a part of a guinea pigs regular diet. Raspberry is one of the lowest sugar fruits so its a good choice for the occasional treat. Always rinse veggies well before feeding. Red/orange/yellow bell peppers are extremely high in vitamin c so they are fantastic as part of a daily piggy salad. Other good veggies are green leaf, red leaf and romaine lettuce, celery, cucumber, escarole (aka curly endive). Fresh herbs in moderation bc they have high calcium contents. I never give my pigs things like kale, spinach or broccoli, too much calcium and oxalates. Carrots have quite a bit of sugar (not as much as fruit though) so i only give a little carrot 2x per week.
I give my piggies a Sherwood joint support tablet daily to help prevent arthritis bc guinea pigs are extremely prone to developing arthritis in their knees (my vet told me most pigs have significant arthritis in the knees by age 4 and it is certainly not comfortable).
Last thing i can think of that i think its important for piggy owners to know is that piggies are very sensitive to sound, they don't like loud TV/music/etc. I leave classical music on a low volume for my piggies on a radio or streaming from my computer (WQXR and KUSC are great classical stations you can stream online or on those smart speaker devices a lot of people are getting these days). Its nice for them to have something pretty and soothing to listen to, makes their living environment more interesting.
Guinealynx.org is a very good resource for piggy info.
I bathe my piggies once per year, using Gorgeous Guineas shampoo. Its an adorable little company and they sell affordable shampoo, even some in very small bottles so those with just 2 piggies dont need to spend money on big bottles theyll never get close to finishing off.
we just used medline pads. https://www.amazon.com/Medline-Washable-Underpads-incontinence-reusable/dp/B000FED594
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000FED594/ and I will PM you a list I made
I take care of my mother who has vascular dementia. She had dementia for a few years before she started having bladder and incontinence issues.
Like you mentioned, you can discontinue all liquids 3 hours before bed. Also, encourage the person to use the toilet every 2-3 hours during the day time. I assist my mother and take her to the bathroom and have her sit on the toilet.
She would frequently wake up 3-4 times a night to urinate. We had a bedside commode for her but she still required my assistance in using it.
Now that her dementia has progressed (she's now on home hospice), she no longer wakes up during the night to use the toilet.
I use a pad on her bed that she lays on top off. If there is a leak from her diaper, then it's easy to throw the pad in the washer, and it doesn't soak into sheets or the mattress cover. I have 6-8 of these covers.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000FED594/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1
At night, she uses diapers. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B004O9GJ2G?ref=nb_sb_ss_w_as-reorder-t1_ypp_rep_k4_1_11&amp=&crid=3I6643QA0K5O5&amp=&sprefix=abena+abri+
During the day, she wears pull-ups: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0039Y1MLA/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1
I like this brand https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000FED594/ you can also use them as mobile diaper changing stations when your toddler starts wrestling away.
My tips are as follows:
1) Use these https://www.amazon.com/Medline-Washable-Underpads-incontinence-reusable/dp/B000FED594 we actually only needed four, but I was able to have someone help run the laundry once a day during the first few weeks.
2) Read the research regarding disposable vs reusable diapers. In many cases, it's less environmentally friendly to use reusable diapers. https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/291130/scho0808boir-e-e.pdf the reason for this is that landfills are not generally very environmentally damaging. What makes landfills bad for the environment is if you put biodegradable materials in the landfill. the less biodegradable the garbage you produce, the better. So for this reason, we concluded that starting a strict/comprehensive composting system at home was the best thing we could do for the environment with a new baby. Obviously it's harder if you don't get compost picked up by your trash company.
3) Buy as you go. I recently posted about this:
>We realized that as first time parents, we didn't really have any usable information about what would work for us. Our parents weren't any help for various reasons, first in our friends group, first of our siblings, highly opinionated, etc. The industry is designed for people to frantically stockpile (both because many people rely on pre-birth registries and showers, and also because there's a mentality that you have to have everything you need for the first 6+ months before you go into labor). As if you are moving to the moon to have the baby. But in a city, Amazon prime works, you know?
With that in mind, the most important frugal/minimalist step we decided to take was "buy as you go". Before the baby was born, we had the Keyfit 30, a baby basket (don't recommend this, instead just get a $50 pack and play with full size bassinet), the Amazon prime baby bundle, a manual pump I bought to stimulate labor when I was 40 weeks, a diaper sampler (don't recommend this in retrospect, it seemed like most of the diapers were made by the same manufacturers and all we learned was that huggies are worth the money), some baby tshirts, and a lot of burp cloths. I also started wearing my nursing bras before the baby was born, so I had those.
Honestly? We were fine. The one thing we ended up getting in a rush was a velcro swaddle.
We ended up buying some expensive stuff. Specifically, we realized that without a car, we needed a travel system, and after looking at all the alternatives, we sold our Keyfit 30 and bought a Doona when my daughter was 8 months. Worth every penny if you don't have a car, but the good news is we didn't need any other stroller and she's still in it on the rare occasion we use a car. Another example of an expensive item we decided to get were panda pants from Kate Quinn. They last 6 months for us - separates last forever! We also got her very cosy comforter-style wearable blankets for sleeping.
From 5 months to 13 months she was almost always in my ergobaby original whenever we left the house.
We did eventually get a crib (sniglar/jattetrott), two trofasts, and a twin futon/chaise frame for the nursery, etc but most of this was way later once she was much older.
once she fit into the costco diapers, thats all we've used. I think they are particularly frugal because they are so absorbent. once she started solids and her poop started to stink, we got the target generic diaper genie, which may have been discontinued since we got it. as far as toys, she hasn't been very interested in them. almost all the toys she was willing to play with until she was about 6 months old came attached to one fisher price gym. we ended up with lots of books, from our pediatrician, friends, etc. but we often read the same ones over and over - "baby teeth", "home for a bunny" (1983 edition) and "dear zoo". I look at our birth month groups to see what toys kids her age are enjoying and get a couple of them every few months or so.
anyway so it's always a balance for every family, but buying as we went made such a huge difference for us. it freed us up to have the budget and space to spend more when we needed to, which was great.
Definitely be prepared to cover that beautiful chair in pads if you want breastfeed on it. I recommend these: https://www.amazon.com/Medline-Washable-Underpads-incontinence-reusable/dp/B000FED594
You talk to your prescribing psychatrist, and you get some washable pee pads, like these:
Medline Softnit 300 Washable Underpads, Pack of 4 Large Bed Pads, 34" x 36", For use as incontinence bed pads, reusable pet pads, great for dogs, cats, and bunny https://www. amazon.com/dp/B000FED594/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_HIPVDbKRD3V08
Sofnit 300 Washable... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000FED594?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share
I bought these for the same reason, they have lasted me for 4 years and going strong.
Buy a stack of these and have fun.
Medline Softnit 300 Washable Underpads, Pack of 4 Large Bed Pads, 34" x 36" https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000FED594/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_e7cYCbVH7HHM5
Ah hahahaha allow me to suggest these Sofnit 300 Washable Underpad,34x36 in., Pack/4 pink https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000FED594/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_awd_A4LwwbZXB7MH9
It works. have fun. There are green ones on amazon, but these pink are better.