Don’t Forget These 6 Precautions When Changing Your Baby’s Diapers

Ready? Get Set!

Before you begin, make sure to wash your hands clean. While you are soon going to be touching poop, you do not want to touch your baby’s private parts with dirty hands in the process!

Next, make sure all the things you will need are at hand, easy for you to reach. This includes:

• Changing mat
• Fresh diaper
• Diaper rash cream
• Dusting powder
• Baby wipes
• Disinfectant
• Fresh set of clothes
• A soft cloth or napkin (for general use)

As soon as all your requirements are in place, make sure your baby is on the changing mat, on a flat surface, preferably not too elevated from the ground. Finally, prop pillows around your newborn, especially if she has completed 3 months or more. Most babies do not roll over till the fourth month, but some babies whose development is fast may be able to roll over by the end of the third month.

Precautions To Take At Every Step Of Changing A Diaper

Have you heard about bonding with your baby over diaper change sessions? Believe it or not, such sessions can actually be enjoyable for both of you – yes, we mean it! Just keep in mind these quick fix tips and precautions on how to change a diaper.

1. Removing the Dirty Diaper

It is important that you do this swiftly, without fumbling too much, so that the poop in the diaper does not rub off on anything around the baby.

• Before you start, make sure you keep a carry bag or old newspaper ready for you to wrap the used diaper.
• When you open the diaper from the sides (most diapers have tabs that are pasted together; they can be easily peeled off), roll over and conceal the sticky tabs so that they don’t stick back on, or stick to your hand or other things around.
• If your baby is a boy, put a cloth over his genitals when you open his diaper so that if he pees during the process, it will be soaked up immediately by the cloth without spraying here and there.
• Since your baby is still very young, the quantity of the poop in the diaper will not be much. As you lift your baby by the legs, fold the clean front part of the diaper onto the soiled part, so that the poop does not rub off on your baby or on anything else.
• Pull the folded diaper from underneath your baby, and place it in the carry-bag or old newspaper.

 2. Cleaning Your Baby

This is the most crucial part of changing a diaper as it will affect your baby’s health greatly. It is very important to keep your baby’s genitals clean to avoid any unnecessary skin infections and rashes.

• Your newborn’s skin is very delicate and sensitive. Nonetheless it is important to keep it clean and healthy. Use lukewarm water to clean your baby’s genitals thoroughly – this will ensure all germs are washed off, and will also ensure your baby is comfortable. Cold water can ‘shock’ your baby.
• If your baby is a girl, make sure you use front to back sweeping motions. This is to reduce risk of any urinary tract infection.
• Use good baby wipes, preferably antibacterial ones. If you want to use home-wipes, make sure the cloth is super clean and super soft. Just to be on the safer side, you can use a mild disinfectant in the water when using home-wipes.
• Pat your baby dry. Make sure you dry your baby down there completely, getting all the skin folds carefully. Moisture trapped in skin folds can give rise to a lot of skin allergies, rashes and infections. Use a good diaper rash cream or dusting powder to control moisture and keep your baby fresh.

3. Putting on a Fresh Diaper

This is one of the easier steps of changing a soiled diaper of your newborn. However, a couple of things need to be ensured.

• Make sure you select the correct size of diaper for your baby. The diaper should not be too small, or it may fit too tightly around your baby’s waist of thigh and pinch the delicate skin. At the same time it should not be too big, or it may move around your baby’s body and may not contain the poop and pee properly! The right size of diaper will be a snug-fit and will sit easily on your newborn’s skin.
• Do not cover the umbilical cord stump by the diaper. Tie the diaper below the stump, leaving the stump exposed. To ensure this, you can either buy specially designed newborn diapers or fold up the front in the regular diapers.
• It’s crucial that the part of the diaper between your baby’s legs should be stretched out as much and as evenly as possible. Your baby’s skin is soft and too much bunching around the legs can cause discomfort and even cut the skin.

4. Dressing up Your Newborn

Yes, this is part of the whole diaper changing ritual too!

• Most diapers are able to contain pee and poop well, so that your baby’s clothes remain unsoiled. Nonetheless, it would be a good idea to just put on a fresh set of clothes on your baby.
• It is important to wash your hands thoroughly before dressing your baby.
• It is important that you do not let the fresh clothes get anywhere near the used diaper.
• If it is winter, you may choose to dress up your baby before discarding the used diaper. If it is summer, maybe your baby will be okay with being left khullam-khulla for a couple of minutes! If you have help, however, both these steps can happen simultaneously.

5. Disposing the Used Diaper

If you followed the tip given in the first point, your baby’s used diaper is in a newspaper or a plastic bag, and not just lying around on the bed!

• If there is too much poop in the diaper, it might be a good idea to get rid of the bulk of the poop before disposing the diaper off. The best way to do this is to flush the poop out in the toilet.
• Having done that, wrap the used diaper in the carry-bag or old newspaper. Make sure it is properly wrapped so that the soiled part of the diaper is not directly exposed. This will ensure the germs to remain contained.
• Follow the instructions on the packet carefully while disposing the diaper.

6. Hygiene for Your Hands

This is another important step, especially since the same pair of hands that you used to change the baby’s diaper are going to pick up and cuddle your baby!

• Use a good antiseptic handwash to wash your hands thoroughly before touching your baby again.
• Even if you washed your hands while dressing the baby, wash them once again after disposing the soiled diaper.
• Consider giving your baby a rattle or a toy to distract her as you wash your hands.

There you go! Go ahead and blow a raspberry on her tummy!