to think there has to be a better way to change a toddlers nappy...please help!

[ICBINEG]

We are still using a change table which we should have stopped using about 6 months ago.

We also have a technique that seems to use around 200mls of water, 10 cotton wool squares, around 15 sheets of kitchen roll, and more patience than we apparently can muster. The location is our bedroom which means we have a shit covered toddler roaming over the bed while things get made ready and basically the room is full of non toddler friendly things and it sucks and I'm fed up.

Please tell me how you go about changing your toddlers nappy and where, for the sake of the environment if nothig else....

[MoelFammau]

Special offer on pull-ups last week so we stocked up!
Normal nappies in some ways are better because you don't need to fully remove the tights / trousers, effectively hobbling the toddler.

My latest strategy is to change her standing up next to the coffee table, where I've put a couple of Dinky cars. She plays while I clean her up.

Whatever the method, do it fast!

[RichManPoorManBeggarmanThief]

Pull ups all the way. If you're quick (watch like a hawk for when they shuffle into a corner and look as though they're concentrating), you can avoid the poo getting squished. Then just rip sides off nappy, catch poo in nappy, chuck poo down loo and flush, wipe bum like you'd wipe a normal bum, and stick new pull up on (much easier to do than a normal one).

[StarsGhostTail]

All sizes of baby and toddler get changed on a mat on DD2's double bed, which had a plastic sheet on it.

I find knelling on the floor at the foot of the bed less awful on my back than the floor.

It, takes a very rolling baby to get to the edge of a double bed and fall, she never managed it.

So long as you have every thing in reach when you start, they don't escape.

[StarsGhostTail]

No I don't know a way of cutting DD2's nails, she's 11 and she still runs away.

[TiddlyZomZomZombie]

I sympathise with your satanic cat toddlers, my 18mo has chilled out a bit, but has his octopus moments every day. His favourite tactic is to roll like a crocodile until I start swearing.

For nailcutting, I usually do it when I've just turned the CBeebies on, as he gets quite hypnotised by it at first. I sit him on my lap, close in, pinning him down gently with my forearms.... If he's really wriggly, I give him a biscuit to occupy his free hand.
I use baby clippers - the ones that have a bulb on the end so they're a lot easier to handle. If DS is octopussing, I just cut one side and 'tear' the rest of the nail off, it usually comes off cleanly.

For nappy changes, we do it whereever's closest, so either on his changing mat, on my lap, or just on the sofa/floor with a mussie under him. On bad days I hypnotise him with CBeebies (volume up!) while I change him.
A bad poo takes three wipes, I get on well with Waitrose Organic ones, they're not too wet. I have to let DSs bum air dry tho, a fresh nappy on a damp bum is uncomfortable and chafes him. Once the poo's dealt with and his bum's dry he's usually happier and will tolerate the new nappy being out on.
I got v zero-tolerance about his wriggling a while ago, so he's mainly given up trying to escape, but it's amazing how strong they are!

[YouSeveredHead]

cerealqueen Wed 07-Nov-12 00:51:28
Pull ups are expensive! Do the nappy up and it becomes a 'pull up'.

Genius

For nails, straight out of the bath is best, never get them all done in one go, just go for the longest. With dd I have been known to bribe with chocolate.

Nappies; on the floor so you have no concerns about falling, or the bed. I stick my legs either side of him and tbh as soone as he is laid Dow he starts, it's like trying to hold on to a bucking bull. The strength in his shoulda and neck is frankly amazing. Pull ups are easier, as is changing the second they do something.

[kittyandthegoldenfontanelles]

My daughter is one and I've never used a baby wipe on her. I used a homemade wash solution and little fleece squares which I wash with her nappy. She still flips over and crawls off with poo all over her bum.

Great toenail advice although finger nails is our worst thing. Can't bite, can't clip. I file them but I always think we will break a finger of something because she struggles and resists so much. It's a traumatic 10 minutes.

She isn't interested in the telly really.

[differentnameforthis]

I had a box of wipes, nappies, bags in the lounge & one in the bedroom so it didn't matter where I was, there was stuff that I need only a hand grab away.

In that box I had a waterproof mat & a soft cloth (in case it is cold) to put on top of it.

OH & don't remove the nappy until you are absolutely ready to change said toddler

[differentnameforthis]

If your dh doesn't like wipes, get some flannels & sock them in a watertight container with a mix of water & gentle baby wash. I know that some mumsnetters use camomile tea as a soaking agent too.

Then you just throw them in the washing machine (the wipes, not the baby..)

[differentnameforthis]

how the actual fuck are you supposed to cut toenails

While they sleep

[ditziness]

Anyone who is interested in "potty training at 18 months" to avoid all this toddler wrangling and poo wiping, then google "elimination communication". Ignore the hardcore and stereotyped nappy free tree hugging nutter element, and don't think of it as early potty training. Just think of it as not teaching your baby to go to the toilet in their nappy, only to fret about having to teach them the opposite after a couple if years.

I think of it as a way to not have to wash as many nappies ( when using cloth), send as many nappies to refill ( when using disposables) and to have to deal with shitty bums.

And it's easy. All you do is put them on the potty whenever you change them, or whenever you think they need the loo, or after naps and mealtimes and then praise them when they do something! Then they soon get the idea.

Did this my son from 6 months and only had a handful of pooey bums to deal with until he potty trained at 22 months ish. And so I've done this with my daughter from birth and she wees and poos on cue when I hold her over the loo. She's six months. I hardly ever get a pooey nappy from her.

Now I know most people here will think I'm a freak and wonder how I have the time. But seriously I'm not a freak, I don't really tell anyone about it that I know , and door really subtly, because I can't be arsed explaining it or looking like a freak. And it doesn't take much time. You just get in the habit of giving them the opportunity to go the loo. And actually when my son was a toddler, sticking him on the potty with a book and waiting a few minutes for a poo used to be a good strategy for getting something else done.

This is what our grandmothers did. Amazing how the disposable nappy and wet wipe industry can wipe out knowledge and make something easy and Natrual and clean seem weird in a couple of generations. I guess when there's money to be made, that'll happen. Don't be a sheep though. Think about it! Babies aren't born with the instinct to shit there nests, no more than any other mammal. If you give them the opportunity they'll learn quickly not to.

[ViviPru]

Thats it. I'm never having kids. Ever.

[jaggythistle]

i got a change mat with kinda high sides to reduce escaping when DS1 was about 1 year old. i think mine is discontinued, but sort of like the mothercare wedge white one.

the mat lives in DS1's wardrobe in his room along with a tray with wipes, cotton wool, bags tub of water, cream etc. he got changed in the same spot every time.

we always got him to lie down asap and did our best to distract with chatting, random objects and toys, singing etc.

if i use only wipes we do get more rash as we've very sensitive skin. i know loads of people who are fine though so it depends on your baby. i mostly use wipes to get cream off my hands!

[redexpat]

I find an episode or two of small potatoes on the iplayer is distraction enough to clip all 20 nails.

[aamia]

Just to say that for some children wipes do cause nappy rash. We've tried all of the readily available ones but had to end up using cotton wool and water.

[ICBINEG]

Thank you all for the input! A lot to think about.

The floor sitting thing sounds possible - although presumably not while you are out...the average mens toilet floor probably isn't a good location. But really it's the day in day out changes that we need to get right not the one offs.

I like the change of scene idea to break the cycle too but I sympathise with those with the sort of octopus fury balls that aren't really interested in watching telly...

We have been aiming for one toenail every night and so far have had three nights an no toenails cut. We haven't had to bother because she seems to just wear them down/rip them off naturally up until now. Probably it's that she spends more time in shoes now. We were trying the game approach on the cutting and that has been a bomb but we could try with the nappy changing...

This mornings poop involved nappy off both hands and book straight into the poop (using a double bluff feint that totally bamboozled DH).

[pigletmania]

Yes baby wipes are the key, why make more wrk fr yourself. Ds has teething nappy rash so using warm water in a bowl, and flannels if ts a wee, if poo bunging straight in the bath

[Fakebook]

Sounds like a wriggly baby. Not being rude, but I'm suprised you haven't mastered the quick nappy changing technique after 18 months! You can change them anywhere in the house. I use the floor, the sofa, the kitchen floor...wherever! Just put the changing mat underneath and go for it.

Grab wipes and nappy. Open up nappy ready to use. Take out 3-4 wipes ready to use. Put a toy or something different in toddlers hand to distract them. Hold both ankles with one hand in a crossed fashion. You'll have to be quite tough, but don't let go. Open nappy, wipe poo off with nappy downwards quickly whilst keeping hold of legs forcefully. Once the poo has been wiped away with the nappy, she will be relatively poo free, so no more smeared poo anywhere. Grab wipes quickly wipe downwards, wipe around bum and between legs. Then you know the rest.

[ditziness]

Bizarre!

[KenLeeeeeee]

Another fan of sitting at 90 degrees and using a leg to keep them pinned to the floor. Ds1 was very much an octopus of fury and this was the only way of changing him without me getting a black eye from flailing legs.

[FutureNannyOgg]

If wipes are an issue try washable wipes, they are like little flannels, I keep mine in a tupperware, damp and ready to use. Wet them with camomile tea to soothe sore bums. Much more convenient than cotton wool, and they clean better, I rarely use more than 1 per change.

Toenails, do after a bath, burrito baby in towel, count them to make a game of it. Or do it when they are in a high chair.

[HipHopOpotomus]

I change DD also 18 months anywhere really. She is a wriggler - and loves baby wipes.

So if we have a poo situation, I get out the wipes I will need, give packet of wipes to DD which keeps her occupied for about 30 seconds, remove nappy with poo, holding DD's legs up so bum is in air, wipe bum well and then place DD back down onto fresh nappy.

I can still do this on my lap!!

[HipHopOpotomus]

Toenails - DP must do this. I've never been able to do it.
In high chair is best idea, or when she is wrapped in towel & snuggly after bath

[2rebecca]

After they were 6 months or so old changing occurred on the bathroom floor. I never used gauze, just damp kitchen roll or toilet paper. If very pooey you can just stick them briefly in the bath, our bath has a shower over it so the shower hose could always be directed at their bottom for a few seconds then you towel dry them. Less harsh on the skin than dry paper or chemical wipes.
I'm not sure why so many people change nappies in the bedroom, the bathroom seems a much more sensible place.