Diaper changes?

[EricaW]

I'll admit I haven't changed a diaper in years. Probably the last one I did I was around 13 or 14 years old. To top it off I've changed very few boy diapers in my life, most the kids I babysat were little girls or were no longer in diapers.

Any diaper changing tips for me? Any products I should use or avoid? We are planning on having this little guy circ'd so is there any special diaper chaging care needed there?

We are planning on using disposibles if that makes a difference for anything.

[Nichole]

There's not much to remember other than:

1. Always keep the penis covered when they're little. The cool air is some kind of signal to pee all over you. :lol:

2. Point things south when putting the new diaper on to keep the 'peeing up the front' phenomenon to a minimum.

Other than that, it's a piece of cake. ;) I've always found it easiest to put the new diaper under their bum before taking the dirty one off. That way, you're all ready to cover up the penis as soon as the dirty diaper is gone. ;) They'll probably show you how to change diapers in the hospital, too.

[kim]

i used to throw a washcloth over his penis the second i took off the diaper :lol:.

re: circ'ing. you will probably be advised to slather on the vaseline and put guaze on it. vaseline will direct the pee up and out of the diaper. i guarantee it :lol: . the day tony came home i think i changed his outfit 157 times due to leakage. once it's healed you'll be all set with the 'point down' method.

i find boy changing to be loads easier than girl changing.

[Bev]

I threw a washcloth over the penis as soon as I took the diaper off too. I never put the next one underneath, but I did always have it opened up and ready to go. This is especially necessary the squirmier they become because they'll be rolling all over and you need to get the new one on in a hurry.

It might help to put the vaseline on the diaper not the penis, the target is bigger and it doesn't move. ;)

I used Zincofax diaper cream if there was a rash and found it worked very well. I don't know if it's available in the US. I was lulcky and my kids weren't too rashy.

[Jen]

I love Triple Paste diaper cream and recommend stocking up on some before you need it. I could only find it online but they do have it behind the counter at some pharmacies. It's mostly Zinc Oxide. Several girls online have a home made paste that works wonders as well.

I didn't do anything special when changing my son. Actually, my daughters are the only ones who ever peed on me. I just wasn't expecting it from the girls. It is much easier to clean the boys though.

If you are worried about getting sprayed, you can do the washcloth trick or use a wipe although the cool wipe might make matters worse.

I always open up the new diaper and lay it out so that as soon as I'm done wiping I can lift their legs and put the new one in place quickly.

I also perfected the "diaper burrito" fold which makes the dirty diaper much easier to deal with. You just roll it up and fasten the tabs over the top. It takes some care, especially if it's super dirty and oozing out (sorry!).

I also like to use gallon sized (or quart for the smaller diapers) ziploc bags. I keep them with the diapers in case of any really toxic diapers you can seal them immediately. Many people also use old shopping bags and just knot the ends.

You'll get into your own groove of changing diapers though and you'll have a system that feels best to you. I have heard how impossible it is to keep the circ boys from leaking out though so you'll probably want to use all those waterproof pads in the crib at the beginning. :nod:

[AmyP]

The only thing I can add that the others haven't said is to keep a diaper under him when you wipe. DH didn't know that one and Sarah crapped meconium all over the blanket in her bassinet in the hospital. I generally try to keep her dirty one under her while I'm wiping unless it's REALLY bad, then I shove the clean one under her and wipe.

Oh, and I've found the best way to keep them from dipping their feet in their own poo is to grab both their feet and hold them up with one hand while you're wiping and removing the dirty diaper.

[EricaW]

Thanks girls! All these little tips help. As much as I am unfamiliar with changing diapers Eric has never changed one so I'm sure that will be amusing. :lol: Our poor kid! :lol:

[Nichole]

Don't worry, he'll be fine. :lol: Brendon was a novice as well, and he picked it up pretty quickly. He still gags sometimes when changing a poop, though. Wimp. :lol:

[AmyP]

He still gags sometimes when changing a poop, though. Wimp. :lol:

DH does the same thing. Although he's learned to cover his nose with his shirt. :lol:

[Lyoshka]

Erica, the nurse will likely teach Eric how to do it...so you are ok :)

I didn't find that vaseline made the pee go up the front...I didn't really see the difference, I guess... Q-tips are good to use to put vaseline on the little winkie..

[Clare]

Wear a raincoat for the first couple of weeks :lol: I had a girl first so was unprepared for being peed on every time I changed Harry in the first weeks :lol:

I have a cloth diaper on the change table so if there is any leakage during a change, I just throw that in the wash and don't have to worry about big cleanups.

[stass]

I haven't had that many pee in the face incidents. Maybe it is because I didn't circ them. :dunno:

The only tip I can think of is that as soon as possible after they were born we put vaseline on their diaper area so the meconium wouldn't stick so much. I think it helped. That stuff is sticky! eww!

[Clare]

My boys aren't circ'ed but we got peed on every time we changed them in the first few weeks :dunno: Maybe mine are just troublemakers :lol:

[MrsPeacefrog]

With 3 boys I am a pro at changing the boy nappy, everyone has given great tips. I think i would also add, just to save yourself from going through a gazillion diapers in the first month or so, when you hear the loud explosive sound of a poo (all newborns have explosive poo's) give it a few minutes before rushing to change, there little bodies can hold an amazing amount of poop, the amount of times I have taken a nappy off to have them spray poop on me (it happened once at work too :blush: ) I hate to admit! OR I would get the new nappy on and they would do another poop, my record is 4 new nappies in a row. :rolleyes: (you would think I figured it out the 2nd time I changed the nappy)

But I did learn my lesson and now when I hear the pooping sound I let them have a few minutes to finish off, and then I do the cloth diaper trick that Clare mentioned that way if there is more it can land in the cloth diaper and not the table or me!

Other than that.. enjoy! :awink:

ETA:ALSO all 3 of my boys pee'd on us in the first month (I still get a random one off Jacob :rolleyes: ) and mine aren't circumcized either!

[Jen]

Good one Deb. I'd forgotten about the premature poo change! It's a great tip. I seem to recall getting to about 4 as well. Ah, the joys of experience.

Mine also liked to poop right after a bath. As soon as their clean tush hits a new diaper, it's on. Most of the time I end up giving them a second bath. Guess the warm water relaxes their belly.

Kaden isn't circ'd either but he's also never peed on me. I don't know why. I was really expecting it more. As I said, both girls peed while I changed them, Keira several times and it was always shocking because it had such distance!!

[Mandi]

That's interesting about the vaseline, Stacey! I never thought of that. Meconium is soo hard to clean off at first. That crap (ha ha) is like tar.

I second Deb's suggestion of waiting a few minutes after they poop. My kids (all of them) almost always had a second round a few minutes later. :nod:

Brayden peed on my twice and he wasn't circ'ed. I don't think that makes a difference. I think it just depends on the child.

[Girlo]

Yeah....pretty much everything I was thinking has been said already. :nod:

The pointing down advice is the important one I was thinking of at first. :lol: Boy, did I get a couple of surprsises before figuring that one out! :lol:

Alex is also uncut and I don't recall any pee-spraying incidents either. :dunno: However, he did do his best firehose impression a few times....mostly because we didn't have him covered up after taking the diaper off. Almost always, his little penis would just bend right back and he'd get himself in the face. :lol: :( Poor guy.....

Oh, and what Deb said about the poo....good advice. :aok: Newborns will poo pretty much every diaper. Sometimes it'll be substantial, and sometimes it'll just be a little spray that just covers a little circle of diaper. Just have a peek now and then and make a decision on if it's worth a change. I like getting my money's worth on the diapers, so I wouldn't change Alex unless it was substantial.
And having a few plastic shopping bags in the diaper bag for poo diapers (or clothes) is a GREAT idea. :nod: Alex had poosplosions SO many times in those first months while we were out....and you DON'T want to put those clothes just back in the diaper bag. :dead:

[mcox]

Kaden would ALWAYS pee whenever we took his diaper off the first month or so. We have also had a few explosive poop accidents too. My poor couch. :lol:

A funny story that just happened to my dh last week. He was changing Kaden and apparently there was a little lint on the bottom of his penis from his diaper. Dh went to get the lint off and Kaden had an erection!! It totally traumatized my poor dh. :lol: He asked me if little babies were supposed to get an erection this early. I reassured him that it was perfectly normal and to not panic. :lol: So be aware, they can get an erection at a young age. :lol:

[Girlo]

Ahhhh yes.....infant morning wood. :errr: :lol: Very weird seeing your 6mo old with a little stiffy! :shuffle:

One thing DH told me was to never force a stiff penis into a position that's not natural - like pointing down in the diaper. Wait a little bit for it to go down on its own and then point it down for the diaper. He said it's really painful for him if you do that.....

[Brooke]

My 2 big ones...

Penis Down!

And take his socks off before changing a poopy diaper. That way if he does happen to stick his feet in the poo, you only have to clean his feet and not wash the socks.

[stass]

OOh I though of something. When he wakes up at night check the diaper and if there is no poo then don't change him. It could wake him up too much which you don't want at night. With Flynn it was just feed him and right back to bed. As little commotion as possible so he knows that night is for sleep!:nod: Keep the lights as low as possible to feed at night too.