The Dirty Basics - Changing Diapers

From Day 1 - Raising kids starts with diapers. So, let's start there. As an Infant Classroom Teacher and NICU Mom, I had 10 babies in my Daycare class and my Twins in the NICU for a month. With so many babies at once, I learned some great tips from professionals. Let me teach you some tricks of the trade, that followed me home.

For starters, don't waste your money on every baby gadget ever invented. It's just too much. Less is more here.

7 Things Not to Buy for Changing Diapers

1. A Diaper Genie - Wrap your diaper in the gloves you used to change them

2. Wipe Warmers - Hold the wipe in your hand for a moment, warmers dry out wipes

3. Heated changing pad - A soft cover or towel is plenty warm and easy to wash

4. Light up changing pad - Use a common night light or camping lantern you'll keep for years

5. Waterproof Changing pad liners - If it's water proof, the pee can get your baby wet. Plus if you want waterproof, just use the plastic changing pad and sanitize often.

6. Diaper Caddy Organizer - Use decor boxes that grow with your kids or match your style

7. Pee Pee Teepees - Toss a wipe over it, let's keep this simple

7 Tips for Easier Diaper Changes

1. Start a Routine - Every Two Hours for Infants

2. Prepare a clean and safe location

3. Have essentials in arm's reach

4. Use disposalbe gloves to change diapers and wrap up the mess.

5. Entertain with a song, mirror, rattle and eventually a bar

6. Use a simple trash can...no need for expensive genies

7. Purchase diapers and wipes in bulk and stay stocked

Start a Routine and Avoid the Diaper Rash

As Infant Teachers, we changed every babies diaper, every 2 hours or more. To avoid diaper rash, we changed often. Nobody wants to sit around with a wet tooshie. Letting babies fill a diaper to save money or trash, can have unpleasant side effects that are definitely not worth it. When babies get diaper rashes, they are uncomfortable, fussy and can have a hard time eating and falling asleep. Don't let this upsetting cycle begin. Some skin irritations play a major role, but at least start with fresh diapers.

By changing diapers every two hours, you start a predictable routine. Babies thrive on routine from the very beginning.

Newborns - 2 hour Eat Wake Sleep Cycle.

• Baby Wakes up - Enter calmly and use natural or light

• Baby Has Milk (unless they wake with a poopy diaper)

• Change Diaper - Record in Notes

• Wake Time - Talk, Sing, Read Aloud, Sit Outside, Hold Baby

• Sleep

Infants - 3 hour Eat Wake Sleep Cycle

• Baby Wakes Up - Walk in with a smile and let in a little natural light

• Baby Has Milk (unless they wake with a poopy diaper)

• Change Diaper - Record in Notes

• Wake Time - Read Books, Lay Together for Tummy Time, Engage in Sensory Exploration

• Change Diaper - Record in Notes

• Sleep - Sleep Sack and pacifier only, clean crib or bassinet

If they poop, always change as soon as possible and take note. To monitor a baby's health, Doctors will ask how many times they poop in a day. You should be able to answer this accurately. It matters. As a teacher and mother in the NICU, we all recorded when infants pooped and peed.

The reason I suggest giving your infant a bottle or nursing before changing their diaper, is because they wake up hungry on the cycle. Changing a hungry baby's diaper leads to crying and unneeded stress and frustration for baby and parent. The baby should be content for a diaper change. It should just be a part of their routine, not an unpleasant experience. Remember your smile, they notice learn and mimic.

Prepare a clean and safe location

Not every house has a large nursery and room for a changing table. Not to mention, changing tables are not a pretty sight on their own. I'm not sure who designed an open shelf ladder for a toddler to climb on and pull everything off. Plus, who wants to look at all the items used for cleaning up poop.

With my first child, we lived in a two bedroom apartment outside Denver. She stayed in a bassinet in our room for the first six months. Her room was used as the guest room for family coming to help.

I wondered...should I set up a diaper changing station in the her room/guest room? Should I put it my room where I would be recovering, resting and changing? The living room? Yuck...and too close to the kitchen. Final destination...the guest bathroom. That way bedrooms are private and bathrooms are shared as usual.

Wow! This was the right choice. With just enough room for a small dresser, we secured a plastic changing table to the top and filled the drawers with diapers, wipes, gloves, diaper cream and baby lotion. It was simply the best! Here's why:

7 Benefits of the Diaper Changing Station in the Bathroom

1. You can pee while holding your baby. I would often start changing her diaper and all of a sudden, have to go! I was close enough to the toilet I could keep my hand on her while she was clicked into the changing table. I had very little bladder control right after my daughter was born.

2. Make use of the trash can you already have in the bathroom. If stinky diapers are wrapped in plastic gloves, the smell is contained anyway.

3. When the poops get real...toss it in the toilet, flush and put the empty diaper in the trash.

4. The bathroom fan is great for reducing the smell of dirty diapers, why stink up the bedroom?

5. Washing hands - If you didn't use gloves, washing your hands is that much more convenient. Hands should be washed before and after changing a babies diaper. Remember, the goal is to reduce diaper rash! Sanitation plays a big part.

6. Blow out? Thank goodness you're already in the bathroom. Toss the clothes in the sink or a bucket to soak and place the baby in the bath for a quick clean up.

7. The standing game! (Stay close) My changing station happened to be under a towel rack. It was the most exciting thing to my daughter. She loved to stand while we changed her diaper. It was so much easier than trying to wrestle her to stay on her back and avoid a total mess.

Standing for Diaper Changes