Piggybacking off the sleep thread,...do you change diapers in the middle of the night?

[peasprout]

DD sleeps about 10 hours a night but always wakes up 1-2 times for milk. I don't know how to break her of this habit (that's another thread!), but I think it adds to her diaper being so darn heavy in the morning. And she smells like a homeless person when she wakes up. For those moms whose kids sleep 8-12 hours, do you change their diapers in the middle of the night? If not, do their diapers ever leak and do they smell like my DD? ;)

JP- mommy to Ally & Zach
(11/02 & 4/04)

[C99]

I don't change Nate in the middle of the night at all and he usually smells pretty pee-stinky by the morning.

[lag555]

The only time I'll change in the middle of the night is if she wakes up and I can smell that she made a bowel movement. Otherwise I'll just wait until morning. It doesn't smell so good, but she's only leaked a handful of times and that was either because the diaper wasn't put on properly or she was growing out of that size anyway.

Also, if she has a diaper rash or a red bottom, I'll be slightly more aggressive about changing her in the middle of the night.

Aggie

[Sarah1]

I don't change diapers during the night except for rare occasions...and in the days when I was getting up to feed DD during the night, I wouldn't change her then, either.

I was actually just talking to a friend of mine this morning about how our babes woke up so full of pee, and she was telling me she started using Huggies Overnites, b/c her DS was waking up so wet that his PJs and even sometimes the sheet were wet. Audrey usually doesn't have leakage issues, but her diaper does weigh a TON when she wakes up (it falls to the floor like a ROCK!), so I bought some Overnites this morning and will give those a try, just to see if maybe she'd feel more dry and comfortable during the night, although I suspect she might not care...but it might make me feel better. :)

On rare occasions, if I walk in to her room after she's gone to sleep and I smell a big ol' poop, I will change her super quickly. Fortunately, the few times I've done that, she was basically half-asleep and went back into her crib with no problem at all.

[boys2enough]

Hi, I would admit that my parenting style is on the lax side, so please don't flame me for saying this. Of course I don't change their diapers in the middle of the night! I want them to stay asleep. lol. (Ok, unless it is a poopy diaper. But I've been known to ignore that as long as it's a solid one, and not a gooey one that would cause diaper rash...)

Gabriel was born in 11/02 as well, so he's the same age as DD. He still wakes up in the middle of the night to have 1 - 2 bottles. (1 bottle around midnight if he has had a lot to eat before he goes to bed). (Yes, I know it is time to break that habit, mainly because that may cause "bottle mouth," tooth decay. I agree with you that will be another major thread. lol. FWIW, my 6 yo was like that, and he so far has perfect teeth. Maybe I should count on luck the second time around?...) When he wakes up in the middle of the night, I give him a bottle, he does not want me to hold it, he wants to hold it himself. Great for me. I get to go back to bed. ;-) I am sure he does not want me to change his diaper either. He is actually still sleeping when I give him the bottle every night.

To lessen my sense of guilt, I use Huggies Overnight diapers and lather his little bottom with a thick layer of "Triple Cream" diaper rash cream. It is more $$ than the usual cream, and I am not sure whether it really is different. But our pedi. recommended it once when G had very bad rashes (due to diarrhea). So far we haven't had any rash problem even though he wakes every morning, yes, 2 lbs. heavier. ;-) Lin

[LD92599]

We also don't change diapers during the night (though DS doesn't wake during the night...but if there's an occasion where he did wake...didn't get changed) unless, as others have said...there was a leak or BM.

His dipe is definitely heavy in the morning!

Laura
mom to William
3.5.2003

http://homepage.mac.com/ld14m

[peasprout]

Do Huggies Overnights come in size 3? I've been thinking about getting them but I've only seen them in size 4 and up.

JP- mommy to Ally & Zach
(11/02 & 4/04)

[houseof3boys]

Only if I smell a stinky! Otherwise he waits until he is up for the day. Ryan still nurses a few times a night too but he is basically sleeping the whole time and a dipe change would TOTALLY wake him up.

Never wake a sleeping baby! :)

[JElaineB]

They do come in sizes 3, 4, and 5. We use Huggies Overnites in size 4 right now and they work well. DS sleeps about 11 hours straight.

http://www.huggies.com/na/products/overnites.asp

Jennifer
mom to Jacob 9/27/

[papal]

DD is not sleeping thru the night yet (wakes up every 3 hours to go pee and nurse). We don't change her dipe but that is because she goes pee in the potty-chair!!! Waahoo! If she does go pee in her dipe then dh changes her... he will not let her be in a wet dipe if he knows it is wet! She always nurses and goes back to sleep.

[Sarah1]

Rashmi, excuse me if this sounds totally ignorant, but I'm pretty sure you have some Indian background (is this right?) Anyway, one of my good friends here just moved to India (her DH is on an 18-month work assignment there, in the city that is kind of silicon-valley-ish, I couldn't for the life of me write or say it). Anyway, she was telling me that kids learn to use the potty really early in India. Is this why Leela's going potty so early? That's FANTASTIC!

[papal]

Sweetie, first of all, it does not sound ignorant at all! Second of all, yep, I am 100% Indian... the dh is 100% American though. :)
Third, is the city Bangalore? Hyderabad?
And finally, to answer your question... yes, in India (and many eastern countries), babies are usually potty trained by the time they are a year or a year and a half. I think it is easier to train them there. For a couple of reasons:
1. It is always warm. So baby can be without a diaper and you don't have to worry about her getting too cold.
2. We don't have carpeted floors! Mostly tile. So if there is an accident, clean up is easy!!

Some people start training right from birth . Other people start around 6 months. I have since learned that this 'method' is called Elimination Communication here in the US (there is a forum on MDC on the topic). Basically what we believe is that babies know when they want to pee and if you watch for the signs and take them to the potty-chair, they will pee. Honestly, it is that simple. And honestly, it works!
Let me know if you have any other questions!

[Sarah1]

Hyderabad! That's the one.

My friend had mentioned what you said about the warm weather & tile floors...and that since the floors get cleaned every day due to all the dust, that the pee on the floor is NO BIGGIE!

And I'm glad to hear I didn't sound ignorant!! I definitely didn't want to offend you, Rashmi--you're my reality TV buddy!!

Also, what kind of potty do you have? I'm planning to buy one soon. I should probably go to the potty area and check... :)

[papal]

Hyderabad! That is my home town!! Oh, i miss home so much!

I have a Baby Bjorn potty chair. But Sarah, if i were you, i would toddle over to the Toddler Forum and ask there because they will have really good reviews!! :)

[jamsmu]

Rashmi, it looks like you got the ball rolling on the potty training method. What is MDC? I'd love to learn more about "elimination communication." (What a strange name!)

[starrynight]

I only change diapers in the middle of the night if one of the girls woke up otherwise I wait until morning. And generally with my toddler I don't need to change her at night at all anymore since she isn't a big wetter at night.

My ds was a super wetter when he was in diapers and he had stinky diapers in the morning you're talking about.

[Sarah1]

>Hyderabad! That is my home town!! Oh, i miss home so much!
>
OMG! i wish I had known this before my friend left (she left about a week and a half ago). I could have passed along some great advice, no doubt!

She promised to check in from time to time, so I will be sure to share with you her impressions!

[papal]

Is this her first time visiting India? I would love to hear what she thinks! :)
I hope she is open-minded about pretty much EVERYTHING! haha!

[Imperia]

I always change my DD if she wakes up because she is an extremely placid baby except when she is wet or dirty. Almost nothing phases her besides needing to be changed. That being said...she often doesn't go much at night anymore. I am sure that will change but she usually goes from about 10:00 to 8:30 am without needing a change (she saves them all up for me during the day!)

Imperia

[Sarah1]

Rashmi, they went to India to visit a couple of months before their move (mainly to find a place to live) and were pretty pleased with Hyderabad. The place that really scared them was Bombay. My friend said that when they were in Bombay, they were constantly approached by little kids wearing barely any clothes, begging them for $$$...she said she basically got smothered by them, said everything was really dirty, really crowded, just extremely intimidating. She thought Hyderabad was really nice, a much calmer, cleaner place.

And in terms of her open-mindedness, this gal is one of the most positive people I've basically ever met. They had JUST bought a new house here in Chicago when her DH's company told him he was being sent over there for a 18 mo-2 year assignment, and they were like, oh, no big deal, it'll be a fun experience! And their DD is such a mellow, relaxed baby, so I'm sure everything'll go really well for them over there.