Our youngest one night pooped while I was nursing her. She was about 2 months old at the time. I waited until she finished nursing, then set about changing her. The diaper had already blown out, so I was tenderly trying to tidying things up when BLOOP! It went everywhere. At 3 am, there I was, scrubbing everything that had been in the line of fire from that explosive poop.
Needless to say, I’m well-versed with blowout diaper situations. I’m thrilled to the girls not to have to deal with them anymore. However, I have plenty of wisdom to share with you new mamas about dealing with this ordeal.
The best thing you can do is make sure your diapers fit your baby right. Think Goldilocks…not too big, not too small. Just right!
The elastic needs to be snug on the back but have some room for growth. If there’s no elastic in the back, this may be a problem for you.
In addition to using the right size diaper, putting it on the right is important too. How do you do that? Simple!
- Put your baby on the changing table.
- Lightly hold the ankles and lift her hips slightly, so her butt is off the table.
- Slide the diaper under your baby’s bottom and hips.
- Lower your baby back down gently, so they’re on top of the diaper. The diaper should be high on the back.
- Between their legs, bring the front part of the diaper up to the navel. Make sure the elastic on the legs is pulled out. This will create a seal around those little legs.
- Use one hand to hold the diaper from down while the other hand unfastens the tabs for the diapers.
- Now, fasten those tabs on the waist, pointing toward their belly. It should be snug, so it is tight enough to stay in place but without causing irritation.
- Do a double-check to ensure it’s on properly and all points are sealed around the legs, privates, and back.
Diaper blowouts from the leg usually come out the back too. It’s important to check both prone areas for gaps. Diapers that have curved leg holes are designed to halt blowouts. If you keep experiencing this problem, you may want to choose a different diaper with that kind of elastic leg hole. You can also add those blowout blockers for more protection.
Honestly, it feels so weird when you’re getting used to this whole routine. I’d never changed a diaper before I had my eldest, so I truly felt I had zero clue what I was ever doing back then. But after a few weeks, I had the hang of it, and the husband did too.
And once he saw the error of his ways of buying those cheap Chinese diapers, he was on board with purchasing the good ones even though they were more expensive. Because saving on price is necessary but not at the expense of going through more diapers than you normally would because they don’t do anything to stop the mess.
Leslie Berry lives with her husband and two young daughters in Los Altos, California, where she loves helping other moms get comfortable with motherhood and embracing the insanity with facts peppered with laughs.
She loves eating too much sushi, exercising, and jamming out on her Fender. Read more about Leslie here.
