Nappy

[Husbandno4]

My wife and I are disagreeing about when is appropriate to change our new baby’s nappy.
Is it normal to change it every time they have a wee?
Or AIBU for us to change it only when they have a poo. (Currently like every 3 hours, sometimes more frequently than that)
I don’t like the idea of the kid sitting in its own wee? But there is quite absorbent stuff in there so I don’t imagine it’s all that bad.

You don't need to change with every week or you'd literally be changing constantly. They're absorbant. They can hold a few wees before they even feel wet.

Change frequently.

They cost pence, why anyone would want their child in a piss soaked nappy for any length of time is beyond me?

I haven't seen nappy rash yet 18 months so I assume it's because of frequent changes.

Not after every wee, but frequently- 2-3 hourly. if the nappy feels wet to touch when you open it, you may be leaving it a bit long. Overnight, it is a balance between not letting them get too wet vs not disturbing them. we obviously changed for poos, and initially at every wake up (2-3 hours). After the first few months we only overnight changed for poos or if nappy felt full

I personally did for my baby what I was trained to do in childcare (nursery I think you call it in the Uk).

We checked nappies regularly (no way 2hrs would pass before we had checked at least once except for when baby is asleep). We changed nappies if wet. Even if it was just a little wee. Yes disposable nappies are absorbent and advertising suggests that they keep babies drier for longer. Which helps to prevent leaking while they are asleep.

However, urine can irritate the skin, cause nappy rash. So yes, change nappy when wet.

It’s ok to not change nappies while baby is asleep because you do not want to wake baby and disrupt their sleep routine.

If you want to save money on nappies then let them have nappy free time if it’s warm enough.

You also need to wipe baby after wee (front to back) with either a baby wipe or a wet flannel (used once, get another one for next nappy change).

Having nappy free time is good for baby not just about saving money.

Was told by my HV that every 3/4 hours if nothing solid in the nappy was a good benchmark. Nappies are absorbent and don't need to be changed after every wee or you'd constantly be changing them.

And I didn't change at night for wee.

*And mine never had nappy rash or anything so obviously wasn't too bad :)

@avamiah

Is this a joke post ?? Just when you think you have heard everything 🙄

Why would it be a joke post?

You don’t suddenly know everything about babies when you’ve had one

Surely we should be encouraging parents to ask questions on how to best care for their baby rather than ridiculing them for not magically knowing.

How on earth do you know when a newborn has done a wee? I mean, I know about the indicator, but it's under their clothes. Are some posters on here constantly undoing poppers to check the stripe? Mine certainly didn't have any tells that they were weeing at that age.

We changed every few hours and for every poo at that age. No real structure or routine. When s little bigger and getting gaps between feeds I'd change before a feed in the hopes that they'd feed to sleep.

Why are people saying things like is this a joke post? If you read the comments everyone disagrees on the answer so evidently the answer isn’t obvious.

I was told by the midwife (this year) to change before every feed (every 2-4 hours) and after every poo.

@HeReWeGoAgAiN1112

I changed my sons first thing In the morning and just before bed. It worked fine for us and saved loads of money

I hope this isn’t true. That’s absolutely disgusting and neglectful.

@Thehenbunringsock

I had no idea people didn't change their babies after every wee. That's why there's a colour changing line on the outside of the nappy. Size 1/2/3 nappies are relatively cheap so surely not a massive hardship to make sure your kid isn't sitting festering in its own piss? (clearly this doesn't apply to people who are destitute, but I'm sure the majority of people on here are not!)

There is the environment too! Modern nappies are fab. But create so much plastic waste. You really don't need to change too often, they are fabulously absorbent.

Also - the colour change line is just marketing, you know that eh? You can feel if it's getting overly wet anyway as the filling swells up. Honestly, it's not necessary. They are just trying to sell more product!

@cadburyegg

I used to change immediately after a poo. Every 2-3 hours during the day if no poo. Only change at night if poo.

I was the same. I had no idea people changed nappies after every wee!

@Husbandno4

About every three hrs is fine, or after a poo.

I was told by the midwife (this year) to change before every feed (every 2-4 hours) and after every poo

Same here. Works for us.

Size 1/2/3 nappies are relatively cheap so surely not a massive hardship to make sure your kid isn't sitting festering in its own piss?

It's environmentally irresponsible though.

It changes as they get older, toddler I only change 1-2 times per day now and one nappy overnight. We do have poos on the potty though.

Change after a feed rather than before. They tend to poo just after a feed so you don't waste so many nappies.

Use the indicator on the nappy. You'll start to learn when baby needs changing anyway as they grow

@Hercisback

Size 1/2/3 nappies are relatively cheap so surely not a massive hardship to make sure your kid isn't sitting festering in its own piss?

It's environmentally irresponsible though.

It changes as they get older, toddler I only change 1-2 times per day now and one nappy overnight. We do have poos on the potty though.

My child's comfort is more important than the environment. If your child's nappy needed changing would you genuinely delay the change because the environmental impact?

If your child's nappy needed changing would you genuinely delay the change because the environmental impact?

No.but nor would I change it every wee. That's unnecessary.

I changed after every wee, yes nappies are more absorbent nowadays but I didn't want them sat in their own pee. Yes it means you change them a lot as a newborn but nappies at least for me are one of those costs that you know you will have to spend so budget accordingly.

If you can afford to buy enough nappies to change one every wee then you can afford the initial outlay for re-usables.

So IMO most of the posters on this thread, OP included, ABU purely on that basis.

@FrangipaniBlue

If you can afford to buy enough nappies to change one every wee then you can afford the initial outlay for re-usables.

So IMO most of the posters on this thread, OP included, ABU purely on that basis.

Newborn nappies are about 85p a pack in Aldi/Lidl

I was told about every 3 hours too. The NHS says some babies might need changed after every wee if they have sensitive skin (or if you have nothing better to do and like to shame other parents like some on here I suppose).

www.nhs.uk/conditions/baby/caring-for-a-newborn/how-to-change-your-babys-nappy/

In reality we probably do change him about every 2-3 hours and before each nap, just going off how the nappy looks through his clothes. We use the ones with an indicator and its handy to know when he hasn't had a wee at all to keep an eye on his hydration but I don't take much notice of it otherwise. Most nappies don't have an indicator strip on at size 3.

One thing that not everyone knows but if you have a baby boy you do not need to clean behind the foreskin, it is fused to the penis at this age and trying to move it back to clean can hurt the baby. They'll get cleaned up fine from normal wiping at nappy changes and then their baths.