thread: Nappy change help needed!!

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  1. #1
    Registered User

    Mar 2008
    Nth West Melbourne
    997

    Nappy change help needed!!

    Help! Trying to change DS's pooey nappy on my own is getting extraordinarily difficult. He wiggles and arches and tries to crawl away. He cries. He kicks. He sticks his hands down to grab his penis and gets poo all over them.

    Its like I need three sets of hands- one for his legs, one for his hands and another to wipe. Many times we have ended up in a kind of disaster situation with him running around the room half dressed with poo flying in strange directions. Its not nice.

    Does anyone have any tips? I've tried giving toys/ books etc, but they either get thrown away or he ends up sticking them between his legs so they get pooey as well! Sometimes changing him in front of the telly works a little, but its not consistent.

    Is there some special kind of hold I don't know?! I'm getting a bit sick of this struggle twice a day!

  2. #2
    Registered User

    Sep 2007
    Cairns
    1,787

    I know this sounds really awful (and it feels really horrible to do), but when DS was going through the 'being changed is the worst possible thing that could happen to me and I'll do anything and everything to wriggle out of it whilst screaming blue murder' phase, the only thing I could do (after trying every distraction in the book) was change him on the floor, with my legs holding his shoulders down as gently as possible so that he couldn't roll away. He hated it. I hated doing it, it felt like I was physically overpowering him. But seeing that he hated it no matter what I did, it seemed preferable as it let me get it over and done with much quicker than if he was rolling around getting poo everywhere.

    And after what seemed like an eternity, he decided that he was no longer bothered by being changed, or realised that it was in his best interests to lie still whilst I changed him. To the point that now he climbs up on the table himself, lies down and waits for me to change him. (So there is hope - it won't always be this bad!).

    Good luck!

  3. #3
    Registered User
    Follow Pandora On Twitter

    Jan 2005
    cowtown
    8,276

    what about those nappy pants where you put them on while they are standing up? Not pull-ups, they are a proper nappy but go on like jocks

  4. #4
    Registered User

    Sep 2005
    In the middle of nowhere
    9,362

    We used to have the same dramas with DD. I used to either wait until DH came home (if it wasn't too long) or change her on the floor with one elbow on her chest and kneeling over her legs so that there was pressure on them enough so she couldn't get away.
    Like Suse said though it does pass....thank goodness.

  5. #5
    Registered User

    Jul 2008
    summer street
    2,708

    Oh I know all about this one too! For a while there I was doing all nappy changes with her standing up, holding onto the washing basket!

    Now I tell her its "nappy time", I pat the floor (I have always changed on the floor) and put her nappy on the spot, then lie her down. If she starts to wriggle etc I say "uh uh" and firmly roll her back to her back. It is HARD when you're actually doing the nappy bit, but be consistent and if you have to use your legs to restrain the shoulders, then do that too (I have more than once).

    If she lies still, I use smiles and positive phrases and lots of eye contact etc. Then when I am done I say "finished" which she understands, so she puts her hands out to be picked up.

    It doesn't work when she's tired, but it has made nappy changes SO MUCH easier. Less poo flying everywhere etc.

    HTH. I never had the "hand goes to bits" scenario though. She hasn't discovered down there yet.

  6. #6
    Registered User

    May 2007
    Newcastle NSW
    1,688

    I think i will have to use these tips too, DS loves to reach down and grab his penis and get a handfull of poo at the same time. Then i have to try and keep him still and wipe his hand and he usually then gets the other hand dirty too. I have learnt to put a terry nappy square on the floor underneath him so the carpet doesnt get dirty too. Cant change him on the change table anymore cause he just launches off it