Nappy changes leading to bankrupcy

[BigNoseBaby]

We have a new 2 week old.

She wouldn't finish her bottle and was losing weight so we decreased the amount and increased the feed times to 8.

This worked (hurrah!) but there is another issue. Basically she just poops and pees endlessly and it's causing me intense frustration. I'm looking for help.

The pattern goes like this.

1. Check her nappy and change her
2. Feed and burp
3. Nappy check - usually a poo or at least a wee.
4. Change nappy and swaddle
5. Oh she pee'd again when we put the new nappy on.
6. Change nappy and swaddle
7. Oh she pooped again in the new nappy.
8. Change nappy and swaddle.
9. She is drifting off to sleep (little angel)

10. Oh no! Crying again, what's wrong? 11. Oh she peed again - new nappy.

Etc etc

I'm getting through between 4-5 nappies every feed! She feeds 8 times a day. This is unsustainable. I dunno what to do. I tried putting her on an absorbent matt and moving her around after every incident. It worked great but! BUT! She's not swaddled and so can't go to sleep.

I don't want to leave her in a dirty nappy (she cries anyway) but at the moment she literally seems to time her next bowel movement for the second we get a new nappy on. I'm at my wits end!

DD would poo at every feed and for a few weeks I logged everything. Looking back she easily did 8+ a day, sometimes 12+! Agree with others don't change for a wee. As a seasoned pro now I only change wet nappies that are heavy. Newborns do such little wees that a nappy should last a couple of hours without a poo in it.

Congratulations on your daughter 💕

nappy liners are helpful for little poos, just replace the liner, not the entire nappy.

Have you got anyone who can come & look after her while you get some sleep?

I second the Lidl and Aldi nappies. We don’t have either where I am but had some sent over (jersey) and also bought from France when we went. They are ace. Cheap and do the job better than any branded ones.

we typically used the mama bear ones from Amazon though. Subscribe and save. They just arrived at the door in bill.

My child was breastfed, which I know has an effect on these things, but at 2 weeks old it was literally impossible for me to change her nappy everytime she pooed. The poo seemed to be constant and she needed to eat and sleep as well (and so did I). I would feed her and she’d usually fall asleep at the breast and then when she woke up I’d change her, she’d have a little awake window and then more milk, more sleep and another nappy change. I tried to change her every couple of hours basically. By about 6 weeks her digestive system seemed to have matured and bowel movements became once a day rather than constant. From that point on I would change her nappy as soon as she pooed. I figured the ´change for every poo’ advice must be based on what you do after that constant pooing stage.
She didn’t have nappy rash though and breastmilk poos don’t smell bad.

Use the yellow metanium nappy rash ointment if you haven't already tried that yet. It's magic.

Small wee or big wee - don’t change the nappy! Just for poo.

DS was very susceptible to nappy rash too - we would put a thin layer of yellow metanium cream on with a thin layer of white metanium over the top as a barrier cream. Really cleared his up fast. He would develop a terrible one if he pooped in the night - it would wake him up and he’d be hysterical and red-raw, poor lad. But the cream layering really knocked it on the head. We also only used water wipes on him and patted his bottom dry before putting a new nappy on.

What about cloth nappies?
You have to take initial costs and washing into consideration but you can certainly save ££ compared to disposables.

You definitely need the stinky yellow metanium for nappy rash

She won’t be crying because she’s done a wee, the nappies pull away all the wee so unless the Bally is really full they can really feel that it’s wet. If it’s after a feed then it’s most likely wind, or silent reflux causing discomfort (with silent reflux you tend to hear them sort of gulping as they swallow it). Also, you mentioned swaddling? She might just not like it, none of mine did, they all liked their hands free to chew on. Is she swaddled and put down to sleep or are you holding her? If she’s been put down she might just be crying to be held.

lots of poos can be a sign of CMPA, nappy rash after poos can as well, especially if you’re changing quite soon after and there’s already a rash. I’ve got 3 DC all with CMPA (family members with it on both sides so they were doomed). Are there any other signs? If your GP has suggested lactose intolerance (which is rare in babies) maybe talk to them about CMPA? See if they would be open to trying that formula for a couple of weeks and seeing how it goes.

My baby used to poo 2/3 times per feed at that age too. Sometimes pooping during a nappy change! So I’d leave it right until the end and never changed for a wee.

That should say ‘so unless the nappy is really full they can’t really feel that it’s wet’

I agree on waiting abit until she's done her second poo.
We done nappy free time, even when so young to help with nappy rash and it helped a lot.
I just put them on an old blanket I wasn't worried about getting soiled.

Use Aldi nappies also!
And don't change after every wee!

Have you tried cloth nappies or bamboo disposables? Eg, kinder to sensitive skin, and those ddisposables were the most absorbent I ever had by a long way. Pricy, but worth it.

Agreee no need to change for every wee, especially if using a barrier cream.

Nappy rash cleared up for my little one when I tried reusables. I also find cloth pads are more breathable. Not preaching, just genuinely think there might be something in it x

Google Elimination Communication. Pooing when they eat is really normal, I fed my son with his bum on a potty and that saved a nappy change for that poo AND going on the potty meant he got it all out in one go but if he went in his nappy there would be 2/3 poos an hour or so apart. The more squat like position is better for pooing. Also pottying at bed time meant he didn't poo at night which was great.

Might help with the nappy rash too because poo wouldn't be going all over her bum and irritating the skin.

And no it's not bad for them, a lot of the world practices similar and they don't have bowel problems, it's a modern thing to train a baby to pee in a nappy. And no my 8 month old is my toilet trained, I bed he's about to poo in his nappy in fact.

Bucking by the trend here. I changed for every wee/poo. For me that’s normal. You can cut down on costa massively by using washable nappies (that’s what those Muslim squares are!). As she gets older you can move into Terry nappies that are more absorbent.

you need,
a roll of liners (semi disposable so wash for a pee bin for a poo if you are me)
some nappies (tons of options)
a bucket with a lid
a bottle of tea tree oil
nappy covers (fleece are best and they don’t get changed unless dirty)

I just washed them in the evening. To be honest they went very dirty because the poop goes on the liner.

When mine were this old I used folded muslins with a nappy cover. Muslins just went in the wash, saved a load of money. Now they are older I use disposable because we don’t use so many in a day!

If she’s sore and you’re using wipes, try cleaning her with damp cotton wool instead, it’s gentler.

Sorry this made me laugh but we've all been there!

I had a pooper. Things I found helpful:

Once old enough for a gro bag, it makes things easier. He pooped after every feed so I learned that changing him in hope of settling after a feed was pointless. Instead I became expert at changing him inside his gro bag. Flip open the end, use a travel mat, they stay cosy and are less disturbed.

My husband accidentally bought hungry baby milk and that made a big difference. Still very regular but less explosive but this is only something you should consider once la rose intolerance is checked. It is known to bung them up a bit and my son needed that. I once had to change him three times in a 45 minute music class!

Buy cheaper nappies. Aldi mamia are brilliant and we liked Asda little angels too. Even if pampers hold more (and I don't think they do) it doesn't matter when it's only on a few hours.

The yellow cream called something like metanium is miles better for nappy rash than sudomcream.

At least it's warmer weather. Having a pooper is worse when you've put on five layers and a snow suit!

My second child only went every other day. I was most confused!

Lactose intolerance is incredibly unlikely. She is much more likely to have cmpa. If you are bf cut out dairy and if your ff you need a dairy free formula from the GP.

The blue line doesn't mean it needs changing, it just helps you see whether the nappy is actually wet. Disposable nappies are so absorbent that you can't always tell. You're using it for something different than intended!

We change every 2-4 hours and only sooner if there is a poo or a leak. You might want to stick closer to 2 if there are rashes. I think we did 2 hourly during the day when he was tiny.

Nappy free time, and making sure you pat the bum dry e.g. with a muslin, or let it air dry after wiping is important to help prevent nappy rash.

Buy small packs of different brand nappies to try them all out and see what shape fits your baby best and what agrees (or not) with their skin, then stick with the cheapest that works. We tend to use Pampers at night because they are used for longer, and own-brand ones in the day because they are cheaper and fine.

You aren't, but I haven't seen that OP is saying she has?

i used grape seed oil on my youngest. It cleared up her nappy rash and she never got it again. I just used to apply if every change.

Do you do paced feeding?

You should be mimicking breastfeeding as far as possible. Look for a bottle called Mimjumi which has a tip like a nipple and the baby's natural suck brings the milk as it would from the breast.

Normal bottles with formula will feed too quickly and stretch the stomach.

This is a fraction of what I learned when I did official breastfeeding training. I implemented it with mine as she couldn't latch until 3.5 months and I topped up formula feeds. I pace fed because otherwise it could have damaged her gut.

Look up paced feeding because the baby could be pooing too much as they are overfull.