Dad Needs Nappy Changing Advice

[StewartG]

Hi! First time on this forum. We have a 10 month old son who is super wriggly and it's become almost impossible to get his nappy on without two of us at once. It takes us almost 15 minutes each time and it is sooo stressful.

We don't want to restrain him in any way, but we aside from waving keys over his head we just have no idea what to do.

Does anyone have any suggestions or tips on how we can distract our baby during nappy changing time?

Thank you!
Stu

Start using pull ups? Or just pin them down and do it quick. Small babies are not rational so just go with the options that suits you best!

I use pull ups now and as DD flips onto her front use the opportunity to pull them up at the back. Theyre a lot easier than trying to get a nappy on straight. Other than that, I give her something she isn't usually allowed like the keys or remote, and sing/make faces so she stays on her back looking at me.

You need to restrain him !! Just hold your hand on his tummy for a couple of minutes to get the job done!

Or is he cruising yet? If so, stand him up against the side of the bath/bed and do it with him standing.

Pin him down, tqkes 2 sexonds to pull the straps of a nappy on, seriously can't see how it takes 15mins.

Or pull ups

I'm afraid you have to restrain him.

One hand holding him down and the other doing the nappy work.

You have to be calm and in control. It should be 15 minutes of stress involving 2 adults . You're making it harder than it has to be.

I was pretty wet with my first. Fartarsing about, scared that I was going to hurt him by dressing him while he was resisting

I'd be there taking ten minutes to put on his jumper, scared I was going to pull his arm off . One day my sister took him and shoved him into his clothes in five seconds flat.

I felt like she had actual magical powers.

My point is we've all been there and we all understand. You need to toughen up, basically. It's ok to hold him in place while you change a nappy.

Should not be that's meant to say

Um. Restrain him. He's a baby. Either do it standing, or learn to pin him down with your knee or other hand and get the fuck on with it.

Fifteen minutes and two adults is ridiculous.

Yeah agree with the above, our son was exactly this and we did buy pull ups but after a few days realised we could just hold him down. Making sure he knew what was going on helped rather than surprising him, as he could start to understand what was happening so resisted. I did it by counting 1,2,3, lie down.
By 18 months he started counting and lying down all by himself, so you will find it gets easier. I think half the battle is squaring it up in your own mind as not being child abuse to force a nappy change, convincing him was easier than myself
Good luck!

I use cloth nappies so no option of pull ups. 1. Distraction, distraction, distraction. Usually with something that’s usually ‘off limits’. My deodorant is number one toy at the moment 🤷🏻‍♀️ 2. If that doesn’t work, pin him down, endure the sobbing, get the job done ASAP and give him a cuddle afterwards.

Try putting cartoons on your phone and giving it to him to hold. If you use Netflix you can lock the phone screen. I know the screen time isn't ideal but it's just a few minutes, it worked like magic for us and it's better than the alternative. We had a super wriggly one too!

Change him on the floor and put your leg over his tummy. Not so it’s actually pining him down but just to make a space he has to stay in. Family friend taught me this and it made such a difference.

And to echo pp, you just have to restrain them! Sometimes you don’t have the luxury of 2 people and time. I was usually dealing with a toddler at the same time and just had to get in with it

At that age, he is not old enough to understand negotiation. The only way to stop him wriggling away is restraining.

No idea what you are doing at the moment but I'm actually not sure how you could actually change a nappy with a resistant wriggly 10 month old without any kind of restraining, even with 2 adults.

Hold him firmly with one hand, or knee/foot if needed, nappy done with the other hand. Once its on roughly, you can stand him up and adjust it with 2 hands if needed. 2 adults and 15 minutes is just prolonging the agony. Be firm and fast, get it over with in 2 minutes, much less painful all round.

Truss him like a turkey, it’s fine for a short while. that or pull up.

Two approaches.

An absolute certainty in your own mind that it’s going to happen and you will use gentle but unyielding force if necessary. It’s the self-doubt that causes a lot of problems in parenting the under 3s.

Or a bribe that is only available at nappy changing time, a short YouTube film of a playful kitten or a cartoon, or a song or a game or a normally forbidden toy which keeps their hands occupied. I just stuck a mesmerising black and white picture on the wall of my changing station which worked well for a tiny baby, but wouldn’t cut it for a ten month old.

I used the Veggiepotamus method to very good effect. No pressure on the tummy but they simply have no wriggle room. After a couple of goes the very wriggly baby just waited it out quietly.

Dh says to blow raspberries on their tummy! Apparently that’s his distraction method and he is good at nappy changing!

I think it's more stressful for you and the child pissing out for 15 minutes than a 2 minute nappy change .
When you say restrain we aren't talking a choke hold with your full body weight just just keep a firm hold.

2 adults 15 minute is ridiculos

You hold him down firmly and do it as quickly as possible. 2 adults and 15 minutes is making it way worse for him! And I don’t personally understand the recommendations on here to use nappy pants as they involve stripping off the entire bottom half including shoes at every change. Much quicker to use a taped nappy in my opinion unless they’re actually potty training and it’s just to catch an accident. But each to their own.

If you're having this much trouble at 10 months you're in for a shocker in a year's time.

Just pin him down and get it done.

Some day soon you'll be picking up and carrying home a resisting toddler who doesn't want to leave the park. Restraint isn't usually the first choice, but it's a perfectly valid one, and you might as well learn to use it now.

You need to just get it done, it's much more stressful for him for it to take 15 minutes and it'll just get worse as he gets older.

@RiaOverTheRainbow

Some day soon you'll be picking up and carrying home a resisting toddler who doesn't want to leave the park. Restraint isn't usually the first choice, but it's a perfectly valid one, and you might as well learn to use it now.

And also getting a reluctant toddler into a car seat who has turned into a plank of wood. No one wants to restrain their child but sometimes it's kinder just to do it quick.

Sit on floor, lie baby down, feet on their shoulders, get it done quick. It’s the only way!

There’s a changing mat called the wriggler that is currently subduing my 8 month old!!