How to Change Baby Diapers

Your baby’s diapers can be the most challenging aspect of raising him or her up. It needs a lot of care and understanding because of its sensitivity. The most basic idea about diapers is that you should change your baby’s diapers regularly. Though it may sound like a difficult task you will get used to it once you start doing it regularly. Needless to say first and foremost you would need diapers, a container with warm water and cotton balls, cloths to wipe and wash and a changing pad or cloth that you would place under your baby when changing the diapers.

Wiping – use the wet wash cloth and wiper to clean your baby. This should be done in a very specific way and that is from the front to back and it is important to do it from front to back only. This is because if this is done the other way round means from back to front then there is chances of spreading bacteria. This may cause urinary tract infections. Hold your baby by his or her ankles and lift the legs for a better reach. For boys it is advisable to cover the penis with a cloth as they tend to urinate with the exposure to air. Once you have finished then pat your baby dry with a clean cloth and then apply diaper ointment.

Now there can be two types of diapers, one is disposable and the other is cloth diapers. You need to treat these two in two different ways. Let us take them one by one:

Disposable Diapers – Here what you should ideally e doing for disposable diapers:

1 - Lift your baby’s legs by grabbing the ankles and then slide the diaper under you baby. The portion with the adhesive for fastening should be at level with your baby’s belly button.

2 - Now bring the front part of the diaper between your baby’s legs and then fasten the diaper where the adhesive lies. You must be careful not to stick it on to your baby’s skin.

Cloth Diapers – While disposable diapers are more convenient, some people also opt for cloth diapers as they believe these are much more environment friendly. Then these are more affordable but it must be regularly washed. There are a few variations to wrap these traditional cloth diapers. Here is the standard method -

1 - You can fold the cloth in a triangle, and then place the baby on the diaper by lifting the legs and sliding the diaper under. Be sure to place the longest side of the diaper behind your baby’s back. Bring all the sides to the center then fasten it with a safety pin. Be careful not to hurt your child with the pin.

You must always wash your hands, before and after  Also, do try and use cornstarch powder instead of talcum which contains talc and create respiratory problems. Apply it carefully so that your baby does not inhale it.