struggling with dressing and nappy changes

[Trood]

Help - I have a 13 month old boy who seems to be taking over. More or less from birth, he has never liked being dressed/undressed and having his nappy changed, however it seems to be getting worse.

Now he is getting bigger and stronger, he objects even more - kicking, screaming, getting away etc. I try to stay calm and not to let him see that it bothers me, however it is hard. We feel as though we have tried most things - distractions, singing, changing locations (floor, changing table, in front of TV, lap etc), but nothing seems to make a difference. When he was smaller, you could hold him down and get it over and done quickly - however not really possible any more and I am worried I am going to hurt him. It can now take up to an hour of me chasing him round the house trying to get the job done - I know, he probably thinks it is a game - but this is normally how it ends up.

At present, I feel I am the only one who struggles. Most of my 'baby' friends have little girls and seems to have happy, peaceful (and fun) times and seem to think my tales of woe are funny!! Even got to the stage where I avoid changing him when we are out as I cannot control him.

Can anyone offer any words of wisdom? Here's hoping!

Sorry - just seen the conversation that went on yesterday covering same problem - any further tips gratefully received!!

Have you tried a bit of baby massage to get him to stay still? my ds likes to have his baby lotion put on his back and will then play with the lid while I get 'some' of his clothes on. But it is a struggle - I have to get his ready in my underwear - otherwise I get too hot chasing him round.

Sing "this is the way we put on your...vest/nappy/pants" continuously and very loudly. He will either be enthralled by your singing and stay perfectly still, or appaulled and want to get it over with as quickly as possible.

Bobbybob lol......! This sounds like me ds (now 2). Only advice I can offer is get everything ready before you start and then be firm and fast. I wouldn't keep changing locations personnally - get him used to being changed in one place. Think its a case of pursevering (unless another wiser Mumsnetter nows the secret..!)

dd (14mth) wriggles everywhere and each day you almost need to try something new depending on her mood. Sometimes I can give her a small book and while she reads it I recite it outloud, other days I give her our old cellphone that is only used as an alarm clock to hold, sometimes it is the tube of diprobase, a hairbrush, empty jar of vasaline and she puts the lid on and off. Basically the trick I find helps is to only give her things (apart from the book) that she doesn't play with EVER apart from during nappy change.
For dressing I just dress her on my knee, have everything ready, opened poppers etc.

I find - for trousers - pop them on the highest bed poss and then when they try to dismount have the legs ready for their legs to slide into on their way down.

Trood, it's NOT just boys, my 13 month little girl is exactly the same!

However, she seems to be calming down a bit now - for about a month or two, every change was a battle but less so now. I'm hoping it was a phase - now she's realised it's pointless, she's moved on... (to refusing to go to sleep... )

So maybe if you can, just wait it out!

We went through the same phase. It has calmed down a lot (ds is 21 months) but still not an altogether pleasant task. We sing the Hokey Pokey song for getting dressed and that helps.

Phew - thought there must be some other suffering Mums out there - releived to see I am not alone. Thanks for all your tips and encouragement.

Don't know about 'this is the way we change a nappy' ... why didn't anyone tell me 'this is how hard it is to be a mum'!!

Ho hum, sure it will get easier.

LOL Trood. I don't know about easier, but it does change

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Hiya, my dd went through this too. For a while (quite a long while) she really hated being changed, and we all dreaded any sort of changing time. Where possible dh would join in too, and one of us would change her, and the other would sing, or distract her in some way with a toy, peekaboo, anything that came to hand.

It seemed to last forever, but she did grow out of it, almost overnight, and is now, on the whole, really good about it (she's 22 mo now). Best of luck, I know only too well how you must be feeling, but it will get better!!