Sometime around the fifth or sixth month, changing diapers can be a real workout for both you and your baby. Diaper calisthenics are when you struggle with your baby and wrestle to get the diaper on when the last thing they want to do is lay on their back and have their genitals cleaned with a very cold diaper wipe. In fact, once crawling becomes a factor – your baby can easily take off naked across the floor at high speed.
The first couple of times this happens, you are likely going to be laughing a great deal. After a while though, the wiggling, squirming and fleeing during diaper changing can be a messy frustration. Or worse, the screaming cries of the protesting baby can leave you feeling like you need to pull your hair out.
Take a Deep Breath
We’ve all been there so the best thing to do is take a deep breath and prepare for when you are going to have to do diaper calisthenics in order to get one diaper off, the baby cleaned up and another diaper on. Some tricks you might try include giving the baby a toy to play with – distractions are great.
If you have an older child, they can play peek-a-boo with baby while you are changing them. Still, no matter what distraction technique you employ – make sure you can lay hands on everything you will need to handle the diaper change – from the new diaper, to the wipes to any creams or powder. This way you never have to move away from baby during the diaper change.
Changing Tables
Changing tables are great, but I prefer a pad or a blanket tossed on the ground. The baby is on floor level and all the squirming in the world will not lead to a fall. If you are using a changing table either in a public bathroom or at home, go ahead and buckle them in – for all their squirming, babies are amazingly fast. So if your baby is getting more and more squirmy and prone to running – consider forgoing the table when you can.
It’s also a good idea to keep up a running dialogue of what you are doing:
- Mommy’s taking the diaper off
- Oooh, mommy found the mess
- Mommy’s cleaning up your bum
- Here comes the new diaper
- Wee, let’s get this all fastened up
- Fresh clean baby! Yay!
Inject a lot of cheer into your voice and not only will your baby begin to recognize some of the phrases, but they will also begin to understand what you are doing to them. Many infants and toddlers understand more words and meanings than they can convey. The running dialogue mixes a little bit of respect for their need to know with entertainment to get them to cooperate. Before you know it – your little one will be pushing their tush up to help you get diapers on and off.
Now that’s a better way for diaper calisthenics to go, eh?
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