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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

aibu to ask how often you change your dc nappies?

128 replies

judgejudithjudy · 11/12/2013 16:14

as op :-)

OP posts:
MiaowTheCat · 12/12/2013 13:20

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

hooochycoo · 12/12/2013 13:23

As pointed out, EC or whatever you would like to call it isn't potty training, for me it's a way or wiping up less poo, washing less nappies and not filling up landfill with disposables. Holding a baby over a potty for 30 second a few times a day is a waste of precious babyhood? Or filling the world full of disposable nappy waste is a waste of previous resources and lazy and selfish? Crikey

2Tinsellytocare · 12/12/2013 13:31

Bollocks is it 30 seconds, a non potty trained baby without a nappy will need a lot more toilet dangling than that

StephenKatzCrackerHat · 12/12/2013 13:33

But DD never ever has a bulging nappy? Why the hell would I change an un weed in nappy? Just because that's what a random person says I should do?

Zara1984 · 12/12/2013 13:34

Ooooookay. The thread has gone a bit feral.

DS is 14 months. He gets changed first thing (and during the night if he wakes), and then about twice in the morning and twice in the afternoon, new nappy at bedtime. When he does a poo it's ASAP of course. His crèche changes him 3-4 times a day between 9am and 4.30pm.

hooochycoo · 12/12/2013 13:39

It is 30 seconds on average. Unless it's a boy baby doing a poo. Which can take forever. Especially it he's hot a Thomas box set of books.

Honestly, sounds weird before you try it, but it isn't. I literally just put/ hold my baby over a toilet/ potty for 30 seconds every time I use the toilet or they need changing, and most of the time they use the loo. Then I use less nappies and wipe up less poo. And that is it. Not feral not weird. Just sensible really.

notsomuchroomattheinn · 12/12/2013 13:48

Surely though it is just luck that they do anything. I have been trying unsuccessfully again to potty train DS2 who turned 3 this week. This is my 4th attempt. He stays dry until I am doing something like putting DS3 for a nap then wets himself or stays dry and wees or poos in his sleep.

DS3 20 months also sits on the potty when he has his nappy changed because he wants to copy his brother. He has sat on it well over 60 times and done nothing in it he just sits there and fiddles with his penis.

I am really hating the whole experience. My older two were both trained at 2 and a halfish in a week or so.

hooochycoo · 12/12/2013 14:30

Maybe it's a certain amount luck, a certain amount habit and a certain amount instinct. In varying proportions depending in baby/developmental stage/ parent.

BlackholesAndRevelations · 12/12/2013 14:30

I heard that breastfed newborns don't need to poo very often... Shame nobody told mine that! I have it all to look forward to again in a week or two! Grin

My ds has decided he wants to wear pull ups or pants but he's nowhere near ready. We're humouring him when we can and wiping up the mess as we go.......

notsomuchroomattheinn · 12/12/2013 14:52

Hoochy did they always do something from the very first time or or did it build up to being most times? What age did you start?

DS2 has just woken up from a nap with a soaking wet after being dry all morning. This is so frustrating Sad

Artandco · 12/12/2013 14:55

Same as hoochy- from around 9-12 months they were hoovered over toilet at each change. They probably went 90% of the time. Never used a potty

WelshMaenad · 12/12/2013 15:27

Mine are no longer in nappies but we changed 3 hourly, more often if needed. Both were in cloth.

Even in sposies I wouldn't have wanted to leave it more than 4 hours. I wouldn't want to sit on a soiled sanitary pad all day so doubt a baby appreciates a fousty nappy full of their own waste being strapped on their arses for hours on end. It must be horribly uncomfortable.

notsomuchroomattheinn · 12/12/2013 16:14

Really 90% of the time? From the beginning?
I just don't understand how it works, they can't know what a toilet is for, it can't be coincidence or it wouldn't be so high a percentage, I don't think it can be having no nappy on either because DS2 and 3 have really sensitive skin so we have given them nappy free time at almost every change or they get sore and I would say they have wee'd or pooed about 20% of the time.

DeckTheHallsWithBoughsOfHorry · 12/12/2013 17:02

Maybe the gravity helps too?

bluecheeseforbreakfast · 12/12/2013 19:29

That must be horrible trawling around with a big wet nappy stuck to your backside

Even ds's nighttime nappies don't feel wet after 12/13 sometimes even 14 hours, modern nappies keep the baby feeling dry even if they have weed lots.

The idea that a big nappy inhibits a babies ballence and gate seems to be the opposite of my experience with ds, he crawled at 6 months, walked at 10 months and runs and climbs at 11 months. I can't imagine what he would be doing if he wasn't hindered by a nappy maybe cartwheels.

My ds is a really happy, confident and relaxed little boy. If he was unhappy about his slightly bulky nappy I am sure he would not be running around smiling and chatting with everyone.

purplemurple1 · 13/12/2013 16:35

Jigsaw

Do you leave him nappy free for 10min after taking his old nappy off (blow cold air on him to get him to wee on the change table.
You could also try crunching his legs up a few time before or during changes to help any poo out a little sooner.

Might save a few nappies at least

hooochycoo · 13/12/2013 22:56

Not so much room- it's like everything with babies, it's not linear, it's different at every stage of development and every child.

My ds, I started when he was about 6 months.he was completely clean and dry at 9 months, with significant periods of regression, but completely trained at two.

Dd I started from birth. She's never been completely dry, usually got a damp nappy despite weeing every time she's on the potty. She's nearly two and no way going to be trained! She hardly ever poos in nappy though, she's always let me know when she needs it.

anotherchristmasnamechange · 13/12/2013 23:40

OK - back to the original question - first thing in the morning and after a poo. I'd change if she felt heavy and wet, but she doesn't.

hooochycoo · 14/12/2013 07:31

Maybe so. But if you're interested in it and not just pointing out how ridiculous it sounds, then my DD was more random than my son. She only occasionally has had periods of pooing to a schedule.

But it's called elimination communication because it goes two ways. It's not just you knowing when they are going to go and putting them on the potty. It's the baby recognising that an opportunity is coming up ( through consistent timing), or signalling they need it ( through body language when they are tiny, and afterwards through sign language or then verbal skills) and also reacting to your cues ( ie putting them on potty and making a noise/ saying a word/ singing a song).

It's just a combination of normal stuff, communicating with your baby to see what they need and teach them. Like feeding, that's usually done at regular intervals, at the response to the babies cues. Or giving solids, that's usually done at set points in the day and the baby is taught to expect feeding whilst sitting in a certain place at a certain time. Or like sleeping, most people agree that some level of sleep training is necessary for a healthy happy baby ( ie observing naps and having a bedtime routine or something similar) . And if course there are all different sorts of babies that eat dufferently and sleep differently. But the majority of people agree with a combination of listening to the babies cues for when they are hungry and tired and offering and teaching structure and expectations . Don't know why it's cinsidered so weird and outlandish to do the same with going to the loo.

:-)

Bakerof3pudsxx · 14/12/2013 07:37

Dd is 8 months

I change every 3-4 hours

4 if she doesn't feel squishy at 3

Straight away if she poos.

Bed nappy goes on about 6 til 6.30

BobPatSamandIgglePiggle · 14/12/2013 07:40

For the first 4 or 5 months we changed every 3 hours during the day (with a timer) + extra for a poo and before every night feed... nicu did it like clockwork and we thought this was the norm till HV laughed at us and we got a grip!

Now at 20 months when he asks or he's smelly. Maybe 4 times a day? Sometimes he'll stay in the same nappy for ages if we forget / DS doesn't ask. Meh - its occasional and he's NEVER had nappy rash.

ShoeJunkie · 14/12/2013 07:47

DS is 21 months and in cloth full time.
He goes through 5 - 6 nappies a day.

Spottybra · 14/12/2013 07:54

Every 2 hours until recently but dd is being left in them a little longer now as she's starting to ask to use the potty and I'm trying to get her dry. She's 2.5.

Spottybra · 14/12/2013 07:55

Immediately after she had/has soiled.

KongKickeroo · 14/12/2013 09:05

9 month old, 5-6 times in 24 hours.

Was double that as a newborn.

Best tip I got was to open the nappy and then lay it back on loosely for a minute. 90% of the time DS does a farewell wee in the old nappy. I think it's the air on the penis, or release of pressure of the nappy, that triggers it - probably the same principle that holding them over the toilet works on. Either way, it's stopped all spray situations and saved lots of nappies.