Changing nappies a nightmare

[ellasmum]

HI..

I was hoping all you wise and experienced Mums might have some top tips for me. The problem is my 8 month old DD - she will not lie still so I can change her nappy and it has become a total nightmare - I am sure this is totally normal but I really need to get it under control as I dread every time she does a poo!!!!

Basically, she has started trying to stand up so she rolls over on the changing table, then sits up then starts to stand up on both feet with her hands on the mat. As you can imagine it makes putting a nappy on very hard - she point blank refuses to lie on her back.

I have tried to be forceful but it ends in screaming from her.

Any tips??

Thanks in advance

I sing "if you're happy and you know it clap your hands" - then dd's hands aren't free for rolling over. Or "touch your head", or "wiggle your toes" (if her legs look like they are getting restless), or "touch mummy's nose" (if I want to put my face in really close so she can't see what I'm doing!). Sometimes works long enough to clean her. I also have a supply of pull ups which I find easier to put on her if she's standing.

Can you give her a toy, or something to amuse her - ds used to be the same, and just something for him to hold did the trick - like a rubber duck or something, or a set of keys.

If it makes you feel better, ds now is sweetness and light as far as changing nappies goes - he's 17 months, and fetches the nappy, unfolds it and lies down on the mat when he wants it doing. So there is hope!

Still have the same problem and dd is 14 months ! I always sing a nursery rhyme or give her something 'special' to play with ! Good luck !!!

My ds went through a rolling over/wriggling phase/grabbing the nappie(ugh!) during nappie changing around that age. I kept a supply of interesting toys near the changing table and gave him one to play with during changing. As long as I gave him something new each time, it seemed to work pretty well at distracting him.

First tip has to be - put the changing mat on the floor! My dd rolled/struggled/fell off her cot-top mat last week when DH was trying to change her and landed completely winded on her back - rapid trip to A&E...

A really interesting toy can help. Singing close to her face can help. Snack food can help! We are now experts at changing dd standing up as that's the only thing we can really do to get it done. Or you can live with the screaming!

Second that about alwasy having something for her to hold. I also found that if I changed ds with his head between my legs, rather than his legs so he was upside down IYKWIM (I changed him on the floor) he wasn't able to wriggle about as much.

a bit more difficult chnaging a nappy that way up mind....

DS2 wants to help wipe...

I change non-dirty nappies with tot either standing up, or more likely, sitting on my lap (facing away from me). We shower dirty bottoms down at home, but while out and about, resort to pinning the baby down with a leg to clean a dirty bottom.

ds was like this at about that stage, but has improved quite a lot (now 12 mo) so it may get better once she's got over the novelty of being able to escape! Holding something, singing etc helped for him. I tried easy-up pants recently but they're not really much improvement.

I very conscientiously abandoned the high changing table for the floor, but couldn't persuade dh to do the same - he kept on insisting that ds was fine up there! I have now gone back to the table and infuriatingly, have to admit that it works better - I think he knows there's no-where for him to run off to!

oh dear... know what you mean... but what works an absolute treat with dd (16months)... (bit ashamed to say it really!!!)... is when we've got one of those mornings when we must absolutely get out of the house at x time... i put the old video on... teletubbies, tweenies or baby mozart (if i feel particularly guilty!!! Hey! it's classical music!!!)... she goes absolutely still and will just lie there mesmerised...you could do anything to her when the vids are on... wipe face, clean eyes, put lotions and potions on... AND change nappy!!!!... and when we're finished... a few extra mins to watch... then off and off she toddles!!!!

Agree with bea, my ds is too heavy for the change table now anyway (he always hated it), so I just lie him on the floor to change his nappy. He either plays with a toy/looks at a book while I'm changing him, or else he'll watch tv if there's something on that he likes. I find the tv really good for a few minutes' distraction.

Done that ... been there. Yep, put them on floor. I find pull-ups a great help so they can be on their feet as quick as possible. Distract them anyhow you possibly can (singing's great even if the neighbours complain that I'm strangling the cat again). Discovered that a plastic pouch with various items inside fascinates DS and will lie quite still while trying to figure out how they got in there or how to get them out.

Patience. It does get better eventually.

PS we haven't got a cat!

It was easier to change a nappy when my baby son was lying on his tummy. I used to hold him round the middle and slap a nappy on before he started to crawl away.

Lying on his tummy, he could play with toys more easily, so simpler to distract him, too.

Hi...

I have tried toys but think I need to extend the selection. Have tried changing her on the floor but as I am pregnant think this will ger harder and harder.

Thanks for the tips - better go and get some exciting toys.

Sobernow - I tried exactly that today and it does seem a bit better - more chasing around the bed but at least she stays on her tummy which means I can get the nappy on.

I found a retractable tape measure the best distraction yet. The sluglet lies there pulling the tape out and letting it go back for a good five minutes before she's off again.

I,m with Bea and Ellasmumon this, I have to put the teletubbie vid on to get ds to lie still to change his nappy,But it is an absolute nightmare trying to change him when we're out and about.I am just hoping it is a phase he will grow out of.

sorry that should be Liamsmum.

Ellasmum,

We had this for months, rolling over standing up, the works. We moved to the floor early on, but it doesn't stop the gymnastics just makes it safer. The thing with pull-ups is that you still need to open them up to clean botty and I don't see how having pull ups makes that easier.

As for poos, I have always washed down his bottom with the shower head, either bend her over one arm (depending on how heavy she is and how pregnant you are) or soon she'll squat in the bath for you.

This phase lasted for a good couple of months for us, but now he fetches the nappy and lies down himself and wipes himself (very badly) too.

Good luck, don't lose it, it's not worth bursting into tears over as I did earlier in my pregnancy.

ds1 was an absolute nightmare for this. Made worse by other mothers saying things like,'my dd lies down and lifts her legs up for me.'

It was always a real struggle and I dreaded doing it. With ds2 we got in first and hung a mobile from the ceiling on a really long bit of string so he could just about reach it with his fingers. We always changed him under it and he would be interested in the mobile for just long enough to whip his nappy off, clean him and put another one on.

I started this thread a long time ago. Dd is now two and exactly the same
I have tried everything to no avail.

hilary, i always comfort myself with the thought that when other mothers say this they are probably - shall we say - "exaggerating"! not just on this but on the many other potentially problematic areas of parenting...

Jasper - thanks for the link. Think I am going to try something hanging from ceiling.

Whenever DP changes her, I always wait for the screams but she is as good as gold for him. Drives me mad!!!!