Share your nappy-changing challenges with Pampers and you could win a £250 John Lewis voucher NOW CLOSED

[AngelieMumsnet]

We’ve been asked by Pampers to find out about the biggest challenges Mumsnetters’ have faced when changing your DCs’ nappies.

Pampers say “Have you ever left somewhere because of a wet nappy incident or cancelled a trip over fears of changing facilities? If so, you’re certainly not alone. In fact, we recently asked 1000 mums about their nappy changing nightmares and a quarter told us they have been tempted to cancel a trip for fear of a lack of changing facilities, while 36% have admitted to heading for the exit due to wet nappy incident. Not only that but 71% said that finding somewhere to change baby when they were out and about was either quite or very stressful. At Pampers, we understand that all this stress and wet nappy drama means baby’s happiness, and therefore your own, is interrupted.

As a parent, you know that there’s truly nothing more rewarding than seeing your little one uninterruptedly playing and developing. But when disrupted by the irritation of wetness, or a lengthy nappy change, their experiences are disturbed. That’s where NEW Pampers Baby-Dry Pants come in. They are easy to change and provide up to 12 hours of dryness – no other pant is drier! Simply pull them on and then, when it’s time for a change, remove by tearing away at the sides. So now you can change your baby’s nappy whilst they’re standing, bringing an end to the wriggle-wrestles on the changing mat and making negotiating changing facilities much less of a chore! This means that you and baby can enjoy uninterrupted happiness playtime, night-time, anytime!”

So, what’s the biggest nappy changing challenge you’ve faced? What has been the most difficult changing time for you? If you could invent something to help with changing, what would it be?

Share your challenging changing stories on this thread – whether funny, stressful or downright nightmarish, Pampers would love to hear about it!

Everyone who posts on this thread will be entered into a prize draw to win a £250 John Lewis Voucher!

Thanks and good luck,
MNHQ

Standard Insight T&Cs apply

The worst was when I was totally new to parenting and DS did an up-the-back and down-the-leg poo. I had to change him on the floor in the toilet of a coffee shop (not nice) while my DM ran out to the nearest shop to get him some new clothes! Had not envisaged a tiny baby creating so much mess! Always take a change of clothes for him now!

I would love a changing mat with high sides to help tackle DS's mid-change peeing habit! Would also love to see affordable biodegradable nappies.

A nappy that's easier to do up on an upright child would change my life - and I don't mean Pull-Ups, which require their calm and helpful co-operation in foot-threading. I mean one shaped better to put on a child standing, albeit supported by you. Both mine hated and still hate (in my daughter's case) lying on their backs and being changed, and traditional nappy shapes just make it a total palaver. "Active Nappies" for kids old enough to fight back, with more shaped sides/tabs (like a cloth nappy, almost) would simplify things a lot.

I went shopping one afternoon with my mum and three of my children, who were twins of about 6 months and a boy of just under 2 years old. We stopped at a cafe for a cup of tea and to feed all the babies. They all needed a pit stop, so while my mum watched the other two, i took one into the changing rooms (beside the cafe) When i got in there, a man arrived with his baby. There were two changing mats so we both began doing what needed doing. I finished changing my son, dressed him, and returned him to my mum, swapped him for one of the twins and returned to the changing facilities. The dad was still there with his son when i returned. I changed twin 1, dressed and returned her to my mum, swapped her for the other twin and returned to the changing facilities. Dad was still there I continued to change my last baby and went back to the cafe, before he emerged looking a bit flustered, albeit with a nice clean baby. I felt slightly smug that i could change three in the time it took him to change one!!

The worst thing must be when you need a changing room and there isn't one, or anything like one. DD was prone to wet, explosive poos which ran up,her back, so time was usually of the essence. Changing her balanced on my knees on the floor of boots was one low point.

Dirty changing rooms and not wanting to put my changing matt on a dirty surface which has to then go in the changing bag. Yuck. More disposable changing matts, or some kind of cushion with harness for lap changes would be good

Every day for me is a nappy changing challenge! My ds1 is 11 months and from around 5 months old has HATED getting changed (I had heard about these babies but kind of thought the parents were over exaggerating! ).

I have to do it on the floor; he is so strong and good at rolling it's dangerous anywhere else. If wearing big boots they have to come off, I can't 'pin him down' with them on. Jeans have to be pulled right up over my muffin top to enable maneuverability. I have to sit perpendicular to him with my left leg over his ribs pinning him down. I have become quite quick now though, easily change a poonami in less than 2 minutes. He howls and squirms throughout, happy as Larry when I stand him back up again.

I hate changing him anywhere other than home, it is quite literally a pain in the arse.

DS was about two weeks old, DH had just gone back to work and I changed DS's nappy.

He pee'd as soon as I got his nappy off. He pee'd a lot. It went everywhere - it covered the cot top changing table, cascaded over the floor and obviously over the bed.

I changed everything, wiped down the baby and proceeded to lift his legs up to slide the nappy under. At which point DS projectile pooed. Covering me, the floor in front of the cot and even hitting the fabric wardrobe behind me.

I cleaned up again, got DS bathed, new nappy and clothed. I cleaned the floor, wiped down the wardrobe and lifted DS onto my shoulder. At which point he vomited in my hair.

I have several memories of nappy changing hell I would dearly love to forget.

Sat on a plane during a long slow descent trying to breastfeed DS who was 4 months old at the time. Poonami that went all up his back, over my lap and no chance of being able to change him; it was 45 minutes before we could deal with it.

Another poonami when he was about 3 months old that was so bad all the clothes had to be thrown away immediately, a full wet wipe wash that was so distressing for him he needed a long feed to calm down. Result? I over stayed in the car park and got slapped with a £70 fine that was upheld despite my two appeals.

He is quite predictable with his timings these days and I do often wait for hm to poo before we go out. And I am quite happy to bribe him with sweets and TV to keep him still for nappy changes. Sometimes it just isn't worth the fight.

Too many poo stories to mention here. DD2 had a particularly explosive bum and everytime she fed she pooped right up her back out the nappy needing whole outfit change. Me too sometimes. One of our early outing was to the Royal Highland Show. Poor little thing had a few draughty changes as it was freezing.

DD (2.5) likes her nappy to be removed immediately after she's done a poo in it; she won't tolerate a dirty nappy & communicates her demands very clearly!

The other week, she demanded I remove it, whilst I was busy attending to her brother. I said "in a minute" to her.

Of course, that wasn't quick enough & I arrived into the bedroom to see a naked DD, with her nappy off. She'd removed it herself, and left a lovely poo in the middle of the carpet.

That'll teach me

8 week old DS was being changed by my hubby whilst I was in the garden brushing the dog. I hear a blood curdling scream and my name being shouted- I ran in to find DS lay wriggling on the changing mat on the kitchen table with hubby with poo all over his hands, down the chairs and on the floor! Apparently DS hadn't finished pooing before the start of nappy change! It was like a comedy sketch as the dog then ran in trampling through the poo and spreading it across the kitchen floor in little paw prints!! so what would I like in future/ can we get nappies with not only wetness indicator but 'baby has finished pooing' indicator?!!

When we flew with 4 month old DS for the first time, he did a huge explosive poo in the queue for security at Heathrow. It leaked through his clothes and the woman in front of us looked completely disgusted. As soon as we got through security we made a beeline for the toilets and spent the next 20 minutes scrubbing his clothes clean. Glamorous.

The one that has stuck in my memory was the one I had to change squashed on the floor of a tiny restaurant. That bit I could cope with, it was the never ending poo tHat started the second I removed the nappy that nearly finished me.

It was like a bloody malfunctioning Mr Whippy.

I have 3 DS so nappy changing has been an habitual part of my life for nigh on 6 years now. I've experienced my fair share on poonamis (projectile poo anyone?? Thankfully that one was ds3 when he was in hospital for heart surgery, the nurses sorted that one out! ).

I still maintain I should be able to put "can change nappy of toddler while breastfeeding newborn" on my cv when I attempt to return to the world of work.

I guess that's my point. Nappy changes need to be as easy as possible, especially when you have more than one.

Changing was usually a nightmare - too much resistance, kicking and rolling away

I once looked after a baby who suffered dreadfully with constipation. On one nappy change he had produced a lot of hard lumps and was wriggling so they were rolling everywhere. I managed to catch his attention and efficiently finished changing him. Days later there was a bad smell which we couldn't identify. I changed the bin bag and washed the bin, checked the fridge etc and eventually decided to check the playroom and found the offending item from a two day old nappy change!

When your in the queue at tescos and your baby is screaming! He needs changing, when you finally get through to the disabled Loo's, it has literally gone everywhere and you don't have a change of clothes for him. Yes this actually happened!!!.

Living in an old cottage was great but we had a really steep staircase to carry our young baby up and down. We only had one bathroom but it was downstairs so this was a God send when it came to nappy changing. Our son screamed as soon as he was put down on the changing mat but with mobile distractions and music it became easier with time.

Maybe I am just calm & well organised, but I can't think of any incident that was difficult to handle. I always used Pampers as they never let me down & I could always improvise a changing area if there wasn't one available

Not really had a problem if my sons nappy is wet I change it regardless of where I am

poo all over the bathroom radiator and wall after a particularly explosive one

My nappy-changing challenge was even before we had kids!

A friend was walking through our village and found she urgently needing to change her child's nappy. She asked if she could do it in our house.

It took months to get rid of that smell!

Nowadays, you'd never notice, because of our own contributions!

We had a nightmare with our DS when he overfilled his nappy just as we had entered a car wash, it came out everywhere and filled his vest, trousers and car seat and the smell was awful. Trying to move around a small car to sort him out and not being able to undo the window to let some fresh air in was certainly a challenge.

I don't have any horror stories like the ones above, luckily. My Mum was never shy about changing us just about anywhere and I have learned from this. The worst time was changing my niece on Dover promenade, my nephew distracted me half way through just long enough for her to escape. So she was running half naked down the promenade, shrieking with laughter and I was trying catch her and keep an eye on him The locals all found it very funny

Having to change babies nappies kneeling down on dirty floors in miniscule toilet cubicles remains with me as an all time horror - I think I will be scarred forever by the memory. Pooh that seeps all the way up their backs when they've done it while trapped in one of those baby car seats is another. Thankfully mine are well out of nappies now, and I don't miss a thing!