Featured Blog Post with "Sleeping Should Be Easy" - 5 Ways To Make Diaper Changes Easier
If you feel like you are wrestling a crocodile while changing your baby's diaper, you are doing it right. Changing diapers can be difficult when your baby is old enough to start moving around. This week, we were honored to be featured on the blog, Sleeping Should Be Easy by Nina Garcia. Nina helps and explains a step by step process on how to make changing a baby's diaper easier. Continue reading her post below.
How to Make Your Baby’s Diaper Changes Easier by Nina Garcia
Changing your baby’s diapers frequently can be a hassle, but not when you know the right tips. Learn how to make diaper changes easier and less stressful. This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Arabella Baby. All content and opinions expressed are my own.
“You’ll likely change your newborn baby’s diapers 13 times a day,” the childcare instructor announced to the class. My ears perked up. Thirteen times?! I did the math in my head, and couldn’t believe just how often I’d be changing my baby’s diapers.
But that’s exactly where we find ourselves once the baby is born. We’re pulling out yet another diaper, fumbling for wipes in the dark, or dealing with the inevitable rash.
Never mind that changing diapers is often a “learn on the job” task for many of us. Even if we had babysat in the past, nothing compares to changing diapers day after day, sleep-deprived at that.
How to make diaper changes easier
Maybe you can relate. Perhaps you’re frustrated with the hectic pace of constant diaper changes. Maybe your back is starting to hurt, your baby fusses, screams and gets too wiggly, or you’ve found yourself empty-handed with a messy poop change.
I hear you, mama.
Considering how often we change diapers—and for how many years before we ditch them completely—knowing how to make diaper changes easier is key for every mom.
After three kids, countless messes, and exasperated, “I can’t wait until you’re potty trained!” more than I can count, I’ve learned a few ways to make these diaper changes easier. From one mom to another, take a look at these tips to make them stress-free:
- Face your baby’s legs toward your dominant hand
I would never have thought that even the direction your baby faces during a diaper change makes a difference, but boy does it ever.
Because nothing is more awkward than trying to change a messy diaper when you’re fumbling around. Instead, make sure that your baby’s legs face your dominant hand, while his head faces the other way.
For instance, I’m left-handed, so my baby’s legs are closer to my left hand, while his head is closer to my right. This simple tweak is the best way to change a diaper and will make sure you’re able to use your stronger hand for most of the task.
- Keep supplies throughout your home
“I have a few changing stations around the house,” my friend told me. “That way, I don’t have to carry the baby all the way upstairs if she needs a diaper change.”
I thought this was brilliant, so when my baby was finally born, I too decided to have a few changing station, and thankfully I did.
By scattering diaper supplies everywhere, you’ll have one less obstacle between you and a clean diaper. Start by setting up your “main” station, including the changing table, the diaper trash can, and most of your supplies, in the room your baby sleeps.
But then you’ll also want to create mini changing stations in common areas, like the living room or family room. If your baby sleeps in your room, you might add a mini station in the nursery.
Arabella Baby diaper caddies make this much easier to do. You can stock your caddy with diapers, a pack of wipes, perhaps a smaller tube of diaper cream. Then place the caddy in common areas for quick changes, rather than trekking all the way back to the changing table.
And because the caddy is portable, you can bring it with you everywhere, from room to room, and even out and about.
- Have supplies ready to go beforeyou change diapers
We’ve all been there. We’ve held the baby by the ankles to avoid a messy poop explosion, only to realize that the pack of wipes isn’t even opened. Or we’ve carried a wailing baby post-bath time around the house, unable to find clean onesies.
It’s always in those moments—the loud, poop-smeared ones—that we can’t seem to find readily-available supplies. The best way to make diaper changes easier? Have all your supplies ready to go before you even need them.
For instance, before a diaper change, you might:
- Pull the wipes out of the pack
- Open and flatten the diaper
- Grab clean clothes to dress your baby
- Open the tub of diaper cream
- Make sure your storage boxes are still full
- Restock supplies after a diaper change (or coming home)
“I’ll do it later,” says every mom who vows to restock her diaper storage. Except with so many things to think about, we inevitable forget that we’re low on diapers until, of course, we’re scrambling for one.
The best time to restock supplies isn’t before a diaper change, but after one.
Let’s say you notice that you’re down to the last one or two diapers, or that your pack of wipes is getting pretty slim. Once your baby is changed, use that time to restock anything that’s running low. You’ll have one less thing to worry about when you finally do need to make the next diaper change.
Another trick is to pack your diaper bag or Arabella diaper caddy not before you step out of the house, but after you get home from an outing. That way, you can simply leave the house ready to go, instead of packing (or forgetting to pack) on your way out.
The diaper caddy is durable to take with you anywhere you go, from lunch at a family party to a weekend vacation. Because sometimes you need more supplies than can fit in a tiny, already-jammed diaper bag. The caddy, with its open top and side pockets, makes finding and restocking supplies that much easier.
- Make diaper changes engaging
With so many diaper changes throughout the day (13 times, remember?), it’s easy to treat this task as simply that: a task to finish and get done with. Our minds are usually already onto the next thing to do, and we end up shuffling our babies from one activity to the next.
But what if we treat diaper changes not merely as a chore, but as an opportunity to bond and connect with the baby?
These frequent diaper changes could be just what you need to slow down, smile and talk to your baby as you change his diaper. Hold real conversations, despite his inability to respond with words. Describe what you’re doing and ask questions, allowing your face and tone of voice to do most of the “talking.”
And make diaper changes fun! Maybe you’ll sing songs like, “Put your right leg in…” as you dress him in his pants. Or perhaps you create games like ” fast and slow,” speeding up and slowing down your actions. Or maybe you simply tickle and blow raspberries on his belly.
With a shift in perspective, diaper changes don’t have to be the dreaded, messy chore, but yet another chance to slow your pace and enjoy your baby’s company.
Conclusion
As often as we change diapers throughout the day, these tips and daily routines will help make those frequent tasks much easier.
Start by making sure your baby’s legs face your dominant hand to make for efficient changing. Then, keep supplies throughout your home with mini changing stations, and have them ready to go before you start changing his diaper.
Post-diaper changes and returning home from an outing are perfect times to restock your supplies. And finally, use these moments as opportunities to engage and talk to your baby, turning a once-dreaded task into a chance to bond.
Throughout your baby’s constant diaper changes, Arabella Baby diaper caddies are here to make them easier. Built with high-quality materials, your diaper caddy will go with you wherever you need it, from around the home to out and about.
The diaper caddies are so durable, they’re designed to outlast your baby’s diaper needs, and can turn into convenient storage to reuse for toys, crafts, and books.
Make your baby’s diaper changes—from a few times a day to yes, up to 13—that much easier with the Arabella diaper caddy. Grab yours right here:
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