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 !

Would the boy have been any better off if the mother had faffed about trying to please the child. No she just got on with it, same as most of us do when it comes to things that need to be done, like teeth brushing and seat belts, and nappy/ clothes changes we don't stop and try to do it a different way because the child doesn't like it or you would be there all day faffing about.

Skramble I appreciate you still occasionally put a nappy on whilst toilet training but you didn't put a 4yr old over your knee and pin a nappy on him infront of a stranger while he objected !

SunshinePlus - do your 7 and 9 yr old ds's have special needs? Sorry to be nosey but I am wondering why you put nappies on them at all tbh even if they did have an upset tummy?

BabyBaby123 - Don't worry about being nosey , it's a legit question. No, my sons don't have special needs, but are both bedwetters (can count as SN I suppose) so that's why they wear nappies every night.

I was just saying as they have nappies for bedwetting anyway I might as well use them for precaution in the case of a tummy upset.

My DD 5 however does have SN.

Sunfield, This thread has made me LOL
Out of interest, what would you do if you were late for appointment had two children to change and your four year old didn't want to wear a nappy ?

Actually yes I would of, I doubt the child was crying because he was worried about what other people thought. Who was he to know you were standing there tutting away, while his mum did the best thing and just blinking got on with it.

Can I suggest you find something else to concern yourself about.

thanks for not being annoyed at me Sunshine - thought after i posted i should learn to mind my own business just like the op

Skramble I don't know hold old your children are or when they were dry but you said yourself your daughter refers to 'on the knee' changes as 'baby style'.

I can't imagine many mums would do it to a 4yr old in public and faff around with pins while the child tried to escape the ordeal !

Hi Sunfield, Think you missed my first post ....

Out of interest, what would you do if you were late for appointment had two children to change and your four year old didn't want to wear a nappy ?

Oh I do love my name being in bold LOL you completly missed the point of my reference to my DD.

My DS was very late in being dry not that it is relevent.

You now say she was faffing about where as in original post it was on in the blink of an eye.

Your child is three how do you change them? whats so different in 12 months, assuming he was 4 and not a big three year old like I originally suggested could be the case.

There are many reasons why she may have done this. Like he has special needs, he is big for his age, it was the last resort, best idea at the time. Whatever really nothing you need to worry about is it.

Skramble It was done in the blink of an eye so to speak, and in that sense I admire her

When I said faffing around I was meaning terries and pins probably aren't the ideal choice to put on a child who isnt likely to be co-operative at the time.

You have skirted around all the other things people have asked you.

Wow, this thread is still running! And I still don't get it at all!

Oh I see now, instead of faffing about with pins we should lie our child on the changing table all exposed whilst in the presence of a stranger we ask our child to choose which nappy they want to be put in, because that will make the child less stressed .

All the time knowing full well you only have one choice of nappy and the child probably doesn't want to wear it anyway, but it's the only sensible option.

I cant really see why the op was so surprised by the way the mother put her childs nappy on!
One Screaming Wet Cranky Child = As Quick A Change As Is Humanly Possible....Just an added bonus that the child was lucky enough to have such a calm mum.

i think sunfields jealous that she cant put a nappy on with such ease!!!! people that have a problem carrying out a certain task often criticise (without justification)those that do it with ease to make themselves feel less inadequate.

Well i'm already sneered at because my almost 3 year old with SN is still in nappies, can't wait to be judged some more.

Yesterday I was out Christmas shopping with the kids, when as usual DD needed changing. I went into the mother and baby room to find DS's best friend (had obviously wet himself) with his mother who was changing his 3yo sister.

I was still changing DD when the 7yo was laid on the changing table and his mother pulled out one of his sister's terries. He was making a big fuss and struggling until I finished changing DD and left the room, then it sounded like he stopped making a fuss about it.

What I'm saying sunfield, is that this 7yo for obvious reasons didn't want a terry put on in front of someone else, but once I'd left the room he was out in less than half a minute wearing the terry. The mother couldn't have put the nappy on him that quickly if he'd still been making a fuss about it.

Maybe if you'd left the room the 4yo would have let himself be nappied quite peacefully.

Yes thats a thought perhaps she should have vacated rather than gawping at the boy and his mum.

BabiesEverywhere - I too am still waiting to hear Sunfield's perfect solution to the situation in which the mother found herself.

We aren't the only ones to have asked this question either.......

I don't want to hijack this thread and change the subject, but SunshinePine, can you please tell me what sort of wraps/plastic pants you use over your 7 and 9 yr old DS nappies? My just turned 5 yr old DS is a bedwetter, so I put a terry nappy on him at night. He's a very heavy wetter, so I need to boost the nappy, which makes it quite bulky. Also, he's big for his age, and the problem is finding plastic pants large enough to go over the nappy and contain everything to avoid leaks.

tutyfruity - Sorry but my mother actually made their plastic pants herself (don't ask me how I'm useless at those things) so I didn't buy them.
Maybe there are some plans on the internet on how to make them, or someone else in your family might be able to.

Well done for sticking with the terry nappies for your son, hope you can find a solution and sorry again that I can't help.

Sunfield 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.

Hell yeah and I admire this mum....she has the ways and the means to complete the task in a speedy time!!! I want some advice from her regarding my 14m old who sometimes has to be held down my dp while i whip a nappy on him lol

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

And you think any other nappy would have been easier?? hmmmm I guess the mum "knew" what she was doing.

Get out more and stop being so concerned with other peoples way of doing things...

It's all very well saying that but its difficult to ignore when the struggling child is being done under your very nose.

There are many here quick to critcise but I doubt very many would put their own 4yr old over their knee and and put a terry on him (or her) in public if the child clearly didn't want it.

I am sorry but unless there are mitigating circumstances such as special needs I do think that 4 yrs old is too old to be wearing a nappy.
It is unnecessary.