Awful nappy changing a toddler

[Blue2020]

I have a 17 month old. He’s never really liked having his nappy changed, he would complain but give him a toy and he would comply enough to get him cleaned and a new nappy on. However the last few days it’s gone up to mission impossible (well incredibly hard). He will use all his body to try and roll and crawl off. If we hold him in place he will cry/scream hysterically and still try to wriggle away. If it’s just a wee I don’t mind very quickly wiping him and then trying to put the nappy on when he’s stood up. The problem is when he’s pooed and I need to be more thorough before he moves off.

Oh toys don’t seam to work anymore, he just throws them aside straight away and continues to try and get up. I don’t think he’s ready to be potty trained yet.

Hi, does anyone have any advice to help me please? Did you do anything to help improve nappy changes?

You just have to find the knack of holding them still with one hand and doing the nappy with the other.

Will he stand up to be changed? Mine did at that age. It is tricky though for a poo

Mine is exactly the same! I change him standing up and only use pull ups now, so much easier than nappies

Another vote for changing them standing, whatever’s in there. Once he could stand I stopped trying to get him to lie down.

I’d say the opposite to PP and that pinning them down and using taped nappies was easiest! They do need to be fairly compliant to be changed standing, which unfortunately mine was not. Worth a shot though if you haven’t tried it yet!

Lie him on the floor, sit down next to him. Put the leg nearest his head over him to hold him down, like on the picture, change his nappy with both hands. He will still squawk, but this way is quicker and easier.

I had continence training in school just yesterday (primary and lots of SEN pupils with nappies). Their advice was to change children standing, she said we only lie babies down to change them because they can't support their heads. Advice is also to begin getting children used to the toilet from 12 months onwards... I was surprised by this but it's been a long time since I potty trained mine (he's 25 now!)

This was the reason I changed to pull ups. I couldn't be bothered with the stress at every nappy change.

I have done a few changes standing up today. He varies between standing still and then just trying to walk/run/move away. I now get him dressed in the morning (or whenever) while he’s either sitting on my knee or stood up. So we eliminated him having to lie down for all of that.

It’s mostly his poo nappies, which take quite a few wipes to fully clean him.

We do have a potty in the livingroom to get him used to it. Although he’s mostly using it as a seat and hasn’t connected pooing with it yet. I think it’s too early, he doesn’t really say any meaningful words yet. I get the impression from some with older toddlers that it’s easier once they can communicate with you which is why a lot end up potty training between 2-3yrs old?

Do you use wet wipes? Have you tried flannels? We use full size flannels and they are much more effective, I can clean a bum with one flannel so it's much quicker than wet wipes. Then I pop them straight in the washing machine. We used to use cloth nappies and they'd go in the nappy bucket with them but we use disposables now. Might be worth a go.

@frogspawn15 i use wet wipes and disposables. Dh uses cotton pads.

I think it’s the lying down part that is the issue for him. He’s the same with the cotton pads (and warm water) or the wet wipes.

I used to change DS standing on a folded towel placed on top of a radiator under a window. I suppose the windowsill would be better if you had one - we didn't (old house). He could see out and was entertained for long enough for me to do it. Once he could roll over at about 7 months he would not lie on his back at all!

Agree, we had this and went to pull ups. Honestly you get the hang of the standing poo change pretty quickly!

I had this. The solution was giving him half a biscuit (toddler version of one). Probably not the healthiest option but sometimes he wouldn’t fully eat it anyway. Highly recommend.

Nothing helpful to suggest but it's reminded me of the time I changed 18m old's nappy, lying down, popped him back up to standing and he toddled off. Then I changed newborn's nappy, popped him up to standing and he didn't toddle off...!

Around that age we resorted to hosing down with the shower rather than wiping

I was going to suggest reusable wipes for poos too - I can use just one or two where I need 5 wet wipes. They actually remove the poo rather than smearing it around so it’s much quicker. Might help a little bit??

That's interesting, and I'm glad to hear that the tide is perhaps turning against the "wait endlessly until they are readyyyyyy" stuff - possibly because schools are now twigging that said advice seems to have resulted in more and more kids turning up in reception not toilet trained...

To OP, my experience, looking at friends who struggled with toilet training, is that the biggest barrier is not "communication" but "habit" - ie, the commonest issue by far is the child who is so used to thinking of their nappy as a toilet that they actually have difficulty "going" unless the nappy is on. Can't tell you how many triends I have who struggled with this problem, sometimes into the long term. I don't think communication matters much at all - if a child actually wants to use the potty/toilet and needs to go, they will find ways of letting you know.

The Oh Crap potty training book is pretty good if you want to make a start now.