Just seen the worst nappy change ever :-(

[Sunfield]

Earlier today I took my 3yr old into the changing room in a local precinct, another mum was already there dealing with her young daughter. Her son who must have been at least 4yrs wasnt in a nappy but had obviously just had an accident ! He patiently watched as mum changed his younger sister and I expected her to simply dry him off and change his clothing.

What I didnt expect to see was once she cleaned him up she produced a terry from the changing bag promptly folded it on her knee, grabbed the now nervous 4yr old and despite his obvious distress held him down while the nappy was pinned into place :-(

I've never seen a child so distressed, but from what I could see it was a regular thing after an accident. Mum just ignored any crying or tantrums and before you could blink the nappy was on.

Not a pleasant sight but this mum sure knew how to get a nappy on a wriggler in double quick time !

I'm v confused.

You say "The point I'm making is if you need to put a nappy on a 4yr old there are ways and means of doing it.

Surely you use a nappy thats easy to put on and do it discretely. "

but you also say she put the nappy on quickly...so it obviously wasn't a difficult nappy to put on.

I can change a babies nappy on my knee and I can use terries, I did so on a plane to Morrocco (blooming baby change was soaked with water and had no light)

If my dd made a fuss while I was changing her I'd ignore it and get on with the job...isn't that more discreet than arseing about for god know's how long while she gets more upset

Sunshinepine I can't believe you are seriously suggesting you'd but a terry on a 7 or 9 yr old if they had an accident

I wondered why this kept coming up in active convos, how odd, maybe we should call the papers

'Mother Changes Child in Baby Changing Room Shocker'
'Mother Leaves House Without Enough Spare Clothes'
'Mother of 2 under 5's able to Change Nappies Suspiciously Quickly'

Sunfield, you are hereby notified that your use of the smiley has been overused and abused in the name of absurdity. Your right to continue to be shocked has been revoked.

Sunfield, so your problem IS the use of terries? Can you come up with any rational explanation for this terry-phobia?

This is a cause of my terry-phobia.

This is a cause of my terry-phobia.

This is a cause of my terry-phobia.

This is all a bit twilight zone isn't it?

Chirpygirl - Terry wogan, LOL

Sunfield - quote
"I can't believe you are seriously suggesting you'd put a terry on a 7 or 9 yr old if they had an accident"
Why not? They might not like it, but they would like sitting in wet or soiled pants even less.

I think your problem is with terry nappies, please correct me if I'm wrong. What is your problem with them? Surely it's the child's decision whether they mind the bulk or not.

FYI my boys find the pictures on disposables and their general design very babyish which is why I try and get Tesco's if I have to use a disposable, as they don't have pictures on them.

The last time DS2 7 wore a disposable was half a year ago due to the fact that a bout of diarrhoea meant all the terries were in the wash. It was about 6pm on a Sunday and the only thing open was the local convenience shop so I had to buy some pampers.

After his bath I put the nappy on him and he was quite a sorry sight, a 7yo in just a nappy lying on a changing mat crying. That's the only time he's ever been upset over wearing a nappy. If he hadn't of had diarrhoea I would have let him sleep without the nappy on and change wet sheets.

You might have a thing against terries but my children prefer terries so I respect that.

Personally I think she's being more judgey about the age of the child than the Terries. I expect she's one of the ladies that like to think that their child self-potty trained at the age of 6 months.

Sunfield - you still haven't told us what you thought she should have done.

Should she have changed the baby in the changing rooms and then dragged the wet child and the baby to the nearest toilets (which need not be that near) and attempt to clean up and change her child in a cramped toilet cubicle. Or should she have left the child in wet trousers - would that have been kind of her?

I'm sorry, but having been in town with two children, one in a buggy and one about 4, I can tell you for nothing that there's no way I would drag around the place trying to find the loos so I could do there what I could equally well have done in the mother and baby room!!!

Sunfield - you still haven't told us what you thought she should have done.

Should she have changed the baby in the changing rooms and then dragged the wet child and the baby to the nearest toilets (which need not be that near) and attempt to clean up and change her child in a cramped toilet cubicle. Or should she have left the child in wet trousers - would that have been kind of her?

I'm sorry, but having been in town with two children, one in a buggy and one about 4, I can tell you for nothing that there's no way I would drag around the place trying to find the loos so I could do there what I could equally well have done in the mother and baby room!!!

Its as much about the age of the child and the way it was done.

Lets face it this mum put a nappy on a 4+ yr old exactly like he was a baby. He was put into one of his baby sisters terries and dealt with him in exactly the same way despite his obvious distress.

I cant imagine many 4yr olds would be too impressed at being changed on their mums knee and at the same time having to co-operate while she used nappy pins !

I appreciate there's a few here who admit they'd happily put a 4yr old in a nappy following an accident (and that may be appropriate at the time) but I bet there's very few mums who would carry it out like this if the child objected.

Every night after his bath my 7yo is laid naked on the changing mat whilst I pin him into a nappy like a baby, same with my 9yo.
Is there a way of changing a nappy not like a baby?
Are you trying to say that changing a 4 year old's nappy is different from changing a 4 month old's nappy? A nappy change is a nappy change no matter the age of the child.

As for the child objecting, have you considered that you may have been the cause of his distress? My 7yo would allow me to pin a terry on him in private but would be far less willing if someone else was watching him being put into a nappy.

sunfield this really is a ridiculous thread, the boy had an accident ( quite common for a 4 year old), his mother had no spare clothes (also not an unimaginable scenario), she was changing his sister, he needed changed, she put him on her knee and did what needed done. my son objects to having his teeth brushed, he still has them brushed twice a day. im getting the impression that you are one of those sort of people who finds fault in anything done a different way to how you would have done it, the world is a huge place and people have different ways of making their lives as easy as possible. i highly doubt that the child in question would even remember now that he had a nappy put on him over his mothers knee, he will however probably remember the strange woman that was noting every moment of this event.

not seeing need for nappy. back to car or bus and home.

also whats with the ,,backing out of ridic thread..comments?

So if you were the parent in that situation and it was your 4yo with no change of clothes, what would you have done?

Put a nappy on him?
or
Leave him in his wet clothes?

All of you feel free to answer so Sunfield can see if her views match the majority.

Sadly I don't think Sunfield is going to answer this question, SunshinePine - I've already asked her twice with no result.

I'd also like to know if she feels it's realistic for a mum to change a baby in the mother and baby room and then take the wet toddler, still in his wet clothes (which would hardly be pleasant or comfortable for him) to try to find a loo so she could change him in a cramped cubicle - presumeably leaving the baby and her shopping and the buggy outside the cubicle!!

She's been very quick to criticise but seems to have no interest in providing a sensible alternative course of action for the mum concerned.

custardo she couldnt take him to the car or bus and home because she was late for an appointment, hence she needed to keep him dry for the duration of that appointment.

missed the mention of the appointmet - which post was that?

That could have been me with my DS he was a big boy at three and looked 4+, I used terry nappies and if we were potty training I would have had a terry in the change bag to put on if need be, he was very late out of nappies. He still had pull ups at nursery just in case.

Of course you ignore tantrums and I liked her matter of fact tactics, "before you could blink the nappy was on", yes and the boy was probaly calmed down by the time they left the shop.

Nice to know how much I would have been judged back then.

Oh and on the rare occasion I have to help DD wipe her bum ( when its all gone horribly wrong), she goes on my knee baby style as she calls it.