Got angry when changing baby's nappy

[catlike1979]

I feel so bad, I have just got so angry and frustrated with 9 month old DS - when changing his nappy he flips over time and time again and will not lie still for even a second, I know this is normal behaviour but it drives me mad!! I just flipped him back over firmly and raised my voice at him, and now I feel like a terrible mum. Has anyone else done this?? Please help me feel less like the worst person in the world :-(

I got a pack of mini wood dinosaurs from the supermarket. They were interesting enough to keep DD occupied and small enough to put through sleeves when dressing and undressing. Made a game of choosing different ones each time.

They literally saved my sanity for about 6 months. She lost interest at about 14 months, after that I had to do a silly dance wearing a nappy on my head .

You wait till DC reaches the 'just turned two, don't want to wear a nappy but don't want to use a potty' stage. That is fun.

My DS is the same. Drives me mad. Stickers work a bit. Toys that are only used for changing. Pinning him down. Its not much fun.

I've been there. I've shouted. Amazingly at one year DD has started being more cooperative, but she's been doing horrible liquid teething poos that have been awful to clean up, and I still get pissed off.

Pull ups!

Can he stand?

I used to put a book for DS to look at on the sofa and change him standing up. It saved incredible stress on both our parts.

It's a horribly stressful phase - I posted a thread asking for advice when my baby was about ten months old. It makes every nappy change a nightmare. I can't remember when he grew out of it but it didn't last too long. Some things that helped were changing somewhere near a mirror so he could admire his reflection, or wearing big reflective sunglasses so he could see himself in them as I bent over to change.

Also, for the wet but not dirty nappies, just figuring how to do it as he was standing up or crawling cut down on some of the stress. I can laugh now at the memory of his bare bottom wiggling away from me at a rate of knots but at the time, it was such a battleground.

Alternatively, you could consider making this a firm boundary issue and being really consistent in showing that you will not tolerate any messing at changing time - more work in the short term but will probably make the phase pass much sooner.

Thank you so much everyone for your replies, I do feel less alone reading this and some of them are very funny!! Sellotape - trying that right away!!!

Another one here who changed to pull ups as I couldn't even hold my DS on my knee without him trying to roll off!
I would change him standing up from about 10/11 months old. I used Aldis

Changing matt on the floor and lightly pin his arms down with your toes and change change as fast as possible.

And this is why I switched to pull ups at 9 months....

Try it, with a toy on the sofa. May change your life!

Sit on the floor with your bum at the bottom of the changing mat, one foot on each of the baby's shoulders (gentle but firm pressure) talk animatedly and change quickly. Release and soothe.

God, you're not alone. It's the one thing I've been pretty strict with ever since DS started doing it around 6mo (he's 11mo now). He still does it quite regularly though. I find 'high octane' changes help - commentating like I'm doing a F1 pit change, along with silly songs and faces so he's too distracted to flip. That and toys in his hand. We have a song:
No rolling over on your changing table,
Even though you're physically able,
It's not a thing that we like to do,
Otherwise you get smeared in poo.

It's super classy in our house.

This is me at every change. It's driving me nuts!!! Think ds1 did it as well but not with the same determination or volume of screaming. Can't wait for the phase to pass... sorry no constructive advice but I too will try the sellotape!