New dad's survival guide : 7 Strategies for changing diapers without draining all your energy!
This Singapore dad shares some super helpful tips for changing diapers without stressing yourself out!
Baby diaper change can be a very stressful and draining time especially if you have a very active little one!
My wife and I are full time parents to our very active daughter (she is 16 months old at the time of writing this article), and we personally use the strategies below to make diaper change much easier.
Are you ready? Here we go:
1) Have all baby diaper change items that you need prepared beforehand, within easy reach.
This includes items like the new diaper, diaper cream, and baby wet wipes.
This will ensure that you won't end up trying to juggle blocking your little one from falling off a high surface, and stretch for the baby diaper change items like a helpless drowning person at the same time!
2) Use a diaper cream that can last for multiple baby diaper changes.
If you have an active baby who loves to squirm during baby diaper change time, applying diaper cream might end up very messy.
You may end up with diaper cream everywhere except for where it matters: on your little one's nappy area.
Getting the diaper cream out of the equation in subsequent diaper changes will help to make the whole process much faster and easier, reducing the struggle time.
Use a diaper cream that can last for multiple baby diaper changes. That way, one application is good for 8 hours and it is suitable for little ones with sensitive nappy areas too!
3) Let your little one hold a toy or item he/she is interested in during baby diaper change.
This is a good way to distract your little one from the boredom of lying still for baby diaper change.
Ideally hand your little one a toy or item that he or she does not play with often to ensure that it is still interesting.
Like in point number 1, remember to select and have your toy or item within easy reach before you begin the baby diaper change.
4) Make sure that your baby diaper change environment is free from distractions.
Anything interesting that can attract your little one's attention away from lying still for baby diaper change is considered a distraction.
For example, if you leave the television on outside the room, the talking and music may get your little one's attention and he or she may try to go towards the television.
This is unnecessary self-sabotage at its finest!
5) Use walker diaper pants which can be easily worn during baby diaper change.
For children who can already stand up and walk, baby diaper change is made more difficult because they like to stand up.
By using walker or pull up diaper pants, you can quickly slip it onto your little one just like pants even if he or she is standing up.
This removes the need for your little one to be lying down.
6) Use diapers that can last up to 12 hours to reduce the frequency of baby diaper changes.
For example, we like to use really absorbent diapers for our daughter when she's about to go to bed for the night.
They can last for up to 12 hours so it's perfect for your little one to sleep through the night.
7) Sing to your little one while maintaining eye contact during baby diaper change.
This is another method of distraction that is very effective. What is your little one's favourite song? Sing that for him or her!
By maintaining eye contact with your little one, you will be even more engaging and keep his or her attention better.
We hope that you have learnt some useful new diaper changing strategies from this post. What strategies do you use to make baby diaper change time easier? Share them in the comments below!