Pull on nappies for a skinny baby

[apples24]

Hi,

I have a skinny and tall 9 month old (9th percentile for weight and 75th for length).

For the past three months, since he started crawling, nappy changing has been awful. I mean truly bloody horrible. If I'm on my own it sometimes takes me 30min to get his nappy on.

I'm so fed up and want to try pull ups but he's so skinny so worried none are small enough. He's currently in size 3 Sainsbury's own brand nappies and on good days/when I can get a hand from my husband for the nappy change in cloth.

Any recommendations for pull ups that suit a baby built like a beanstalk?

In my experience (4 children and experience nursery nurse) pull up nappies aren't very good.
You have to remove all their bottom half of clothes to get them on and they tend to sag when full which often leads to poo on clothes.
I've found most are less wiggly when changed on a high surface and there's no opportunity to crawl away.

Thanks notso.

I pull of his leggings off anyway at each change as can't get the tapes to fit in a decent leak proof way otherwise. Think you're right about changing at height, I'm just too scared to do it anymore after near misses...

I just wish the novelty had worn off by now. There are occasional days when it's ok but then the wriggles reappear with vengeance.

30 minutes? I sympathise with the awful nappy changes and it taking a longer-than-usual time to sort it as my DD is the worst I've ever seen and the worst anybody around me has ever seen! Absolutely apolpletic and hysterical unless there are other people around to distract her (which often still doesn't work) or unless she's eating at the same time (I know - but it's desperation, I was struggling to cope).

I don't find pull ups helpful at all unless you're doing the nappy change standing up and it doesn't sound like you are, given the age of your child. My DD is 17 months and if I chase her around trying to put a nappy on her etc for 30 minutes that just prolongs the stress for everyone. So I just bite the bullet and change her on her changing table, I find using an ordinary nappy easier when doing laying down changes than a pull up, it's quicker. I would advise doing something similar. It will be much quicker.

Also, I found it got to a point when it’s easier changing their nappies when they are standing up. You don’t need to lie them down to change them.

You can buy a nappy changing mat that restrains wriggly babies. Amazon sell a few and so do Mamas and Papas and Natural baby shower.

But also, he’s 9 months old. Pin him down and change his nappy. 30 minutes is crazy.

Can he stand? I used to do dd’s nappy whilst she stood holding onto the sofa watching Hey Duggee. Just enough to distract her.

Or it was a case of pinning down with knees (gently!) and whipping it on and off.

Apples Could you try and pull one leg out only, see if you can manage that? Will be a bit quicker than taking them fully on and off. I do sympathise, I have poor motor skills due to disability and nappy changes are a huge stressful struggle for me. Nobody else around me seems to have any difficulty with them really and they don't understand at all. How often do you change them as well? Do they get nappy rash? If they don't, maybe you could think about changing less often to limit the stress too if you change very regularly.

Pottering Standing up doesn't work so well for us most of the time though because my DD just tries to run off and hide etc. She won't stand still and that can mean it takes far longer than if she was laying down, and it's very difficult for me to apply creams properly with her standing as I can't see properly. Also I find it impossible to put tights on her standing up - though she rarely wears them tbf. And if she does a poo then standing up is an absolute no-go because I can't get her to stay in one place, she often tries to sit down etc so no way is that possible.

Pampers nappy pants were good on my skinny baby. Look out for offers as they are expensive full price. But agree with pp that until they are standing it may not help as much as you think. The wriggly changes do get better though, as they get older they generally get much more cooperative, plus you can do it standing.

My little boy has a tiny skinny waist and we used Aldi's pull up pants, they were fab.
We also did almost all of his changes standing up while he played with something which helped a lot (he's always on the move!).

It's hard enough getting size 4s in pull up pants, and pampers were the slimmest fitting I found.

Is it worth messaging the nappy lady?

Equally some popper pocket nappies might well work as pull ups if you get the poppers set right in advance - my little lamb pockets have a stretchy waist band.

Yeah, he's standing, will be walking soon as cruising at the moment. He's very physical, was commando crawling at 5.5 months and has never stopped moving since. I often end up putting his current nappies on when he's standing, problem is I don't get a good fit then.

As far as pinning him down goes, yeah, I try. That's what we do when there's two of us, I just cannot do it with one hand and try to change the nappy with the other. I would if I could. MustardScreams, need to see if I can gently use my knees like you suggested.

MeadowHay, I change him normally 3 times a day and very very rarely need to change overnight. Thank god he only poos once a day. During teething he went through 6 poo nappies a day, that lasted a week and by the end of it I would rather have stuck needles to my eyeballs than faced another week of it.

Might try to get one of those restraining changing mats and will give a go for the cheaper pull ups from Aldi, thanks Rosieposie. Pampers look so pricey and if they don't solve our problems, don't really fancy flushing money down the drain.

randomsabrause, will give a think for some poppers actually. Our current cloth nappies are two parters, they work so so so well, it's a shame I can't really use them now (as essentially means two nappy changes per change......)

Pull the leggings down, and leave them like leg-cuffs at the ankles!
Then yes, your legs gently over their chest to stop them from flipping.

For us, pullups were worse, as you needed cooperation for them to lift their legs to step in....

Cheers for the tip, will give that method a go when I next wrestle the little crocodile!

I agree with Cold. Altho I change on changing table so have to use one arm/elbow to try and pin her down which isn't always super successful. Honestly often give her a tiny snack now which has meant less of the utterly horrific changes. But wouldn't do that with a child as young as yours due to choking risks. I only take all her bottoms off if she's done a poo because as she won't stay still there would end up getting it over everything. But if it's just wet I just pull them down if I'm putting a normal nappy underneath, much quicker.