How to Change a Diaper

Of all the new experiences involving your baby, having to change a diaper is probably the one you are looking forward to the least. I don’t blame you, that was certainly the case for me.



What I found was most of the time it isn’t too bad. I did say most of the time.

I do remember times when the projectile poop came shooting out right as I opened up the diaper. I also remember times when the odor was so pungent I resorted to the elementary school air filter and put my shirt over my nose.

Then there are the really messy ones where you go through about a dozen wipes and still aren’t sure you got it all so you figure it's easier just to give the baby a bath to make sure you did.

But don’t worry – those times are few and far between. Most of the time it’s business as usual.

So enough of the horror stories, let’s get started on how to change a diaper.

As far as diapers go you have two options. Disposable diapers and cloth diapers. My wife and I used only disposable diapers and for this section that is all I am going to talk about.

I know very little about using cloth diapers but since my goal is to be the best resource for new dads, I have found a site for you to go for all of your cloth diaper needs.

The Cloth Diaper Mom has everything you need to know about using cloth diapers, including cost, health, economic, and environmental benefits.

Now back to learning how to change a diaper.

Like we discussed in the previous section on how to bathe a baby the best thing you can do is to get all your supplies ready before you start.

You’ll need the following:

• A clean diaper
• Wipes
• Diaper cream

That’s a pretty short list – and that’s because you don’t need a whole lot to change a diaper. The main reason to have all of this handy is so that you don’t have to search for it while you are in the middle of changing the dirty diaper.

The first thing you do once you have all of your supplies is to open up the clean diaper and get it ready so you can put it on quickly if necessary.

Now that the new diaper is ready to go and you have the wipes and diaper cream close at hand it’s time to get down to business.

Generally speaking you’ll know what kind of diaper your dealing with before you start. It will almost certainly be wet, but it may be dirty as well.

If it’s just wet then no problem – these are the easy ones. A tip here is to volunteer to change the wet ones any time it is needed – this way when a dirty one comes along it’s easy to ask your wife to take it since you got the last two. See how my mind works? Scary huh?

So if all you have is a wet diaper then follow these steps.

Lay your baby down and undress him as much as necessary to get to the diaper. Pull the sticky tabs and open it up. If you’re changing a boy then you may want to place a cloth or wipe over his penis to prevent him from spraying if he decides to go.

With either gender take a wipe and clean in and around the genitals to make sure you get all the pee off their skin. You always want to wipe from front to back (though this is much more important with girls than boys).

Remove the wet diaper and slide the clean diaper underneath the baby’s bottom and fasten it with the sticky tabs.

Put the wipe in the wet diaper and wrap it up. If you roll the front end towards the back end you can use the sticky tabs to seal it up. Dispose of it and redress the baby.

You’re done – see told you it was easy.

Now for the dirty diapers – there really isn’t much difference in what you do, but you will want to pay more attention to how you do it.

You’ll want to make sure that you pull the baby’s clothes back out of the way in case the poop starts to run down his back when you go to change him.

Grab the baby’s ankles to keep him from moving around while you wipe as well as to be able to life up his bottom so that you can see that you got everything wiped.

Again be sure to wipe front to back. You don’t want poop getting in places that can be harmful.

If your baby needs it, put some diaper cream on any places that are irritated. You simply put some cream on your finger and rub it wherever it needs to go. You’ll probably want to wash your hands after doing this.

A quick note on diaper cream. Some parents apply cream every time they change a diaper to prevent any irritation. Others only do it as needed. Our pediatrician recommended doing it as needed. Ask your doctor for advice, but we never had much problem with diaper rash so only doing it as needed worked well for us.

That’s really all there is to it. Chances are your technique may vary a little from what I just told you. That’s fine – it will take you a few times to get it, but by the end of the first week you’ll know how to change a diaper like a pro!

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