Wet diaper - questions

[daisyd]

How do you clean DC after a wet diaper?

Is it necessary to change the diaper after every wet one or only the heavy wet ones? I've been changing each time DS wets but sometimes the diaper bears only a trace wetness that's really hard to detect. Is it overkill to change those? I'm concerned about diaper rash if I don't change, but DS goes through about 15 per day!

TIA

[hillview]

Yes, I'd change them everytime DC wets (I remember checking them every hour or 2 when DC is awake). Avoids diaper rash. 15 a day sounds right to me. Good job mama!!
/hillary

[SnuggleBuggles]

No, I don't change just wet ones unless it has been about 4 hours. I think it is unnecessary. It's what we have done with cloth, disposables and g-diapers and rashes have not been a problem. I decided not to change every wet diaper when ds1 was in cloth and would pee as soon as he got a fresh diaper. It would have been never ending diaper changes. I tried out waiting and since he did fine we went with that.

I usually don't do a wipe after just a wet diaper.

Beth

[WatchingThemGrow]

We were somewhere in the middle. DH must have changed more frequently than I do, as he flies through diapers with our babies. The LC and ped wanted to know how many "really" wet diapers we were going through, so I sacrificed a new diaper and poured 2 or 4 oz (I think it was 4) into a diaper to see what they consider a "wet" diaper. Try it, you'll be amazed.

We used a wipe to clean the skin adn Dr. Smith's diaper ointment the moment we saw any redness. It kept us from ever getting anything uncomfortable or rashy looking.

[Aishe]

Are you using cloth or disposables? Disposables are designed to withstand three "insults" and still keep the baby dry. We change about every two hours.

[KrisM]

I don't change with every little pee, but do change every 1-2 hours. Whether cloth or disposible, I just don't like him sitting in pee for very long.

[ahrimie]

i'm about in the middle too... during the day, usually at each feeding (or more if it's really full or a poopy). at night, it's only about once since we still feed once at night.

my baby's never had diaper rash though she's had plenty of really really full diapers WITH poop in the morning.. and who knows how long that was in there for! (bad mommy, right? haha) some babies just have more sensitive skin.. but if you skip a diaper or two, i think it's ok :)

[daisyd]

Thanks, that makes me feel a whole lot better. As a newbie I'm always anxious about whether I'm doing the right thing.

[nfowife]

When my kids were newborns/infants, I changed them every feed and also if there was a poop. 12+ dipes/day was the norm for at least the first 3 months. Once they got to be a little older and on a more reliable schedule (2 naps a day) I changed much less frequently- wake up, after each nap, bedtime, plus any poops- usually averaged out to 7 a day? Now my youngest is almost 2 and he goes through roughly 4-5 dipes a day- wake up, after nap, bedtime, and one or two poops. He wears sposies.

[ett]

When my kids were newborns/infants, I changed them every feed and also if there was a poop. 12+ dipes/day was the norm for at least the first 3 months. Once they got to be a little older and on a more reliable schedule (2 naps a day) I changed much less frequently- wake up, after each nap, bedtime, plus any poops- usually averaged out to 7 a day? Now my youngest is almost 2 and he goes through roughly 4-5 dipes a day- wake up, after nap, bedtime, and one or two poops. He wears sposies.

This is pretty much what we did too. And I don't wipe if it's just pee unless it's the first morning diaper. I can't imagine how many diapers I would be going through if I changed it everytime they peed in it.

[bubbaray]

When my kids were newborns/infants, I changed them every feed and also if there was a poop. 12+ dipes/day was the norm for at least the first 3 months. Once they got to be a little older and on a more reliable schedule (2 naps a day) I changed much less frequently- wake up, after each nap, bedtime, plus any poops- usually averaged out to 7 a day? Now my youngest is almost 2 and he goes through roughly 4-5 dipes a day- wake up, after nap, bedtime, and one or two poops. He wears sposies.

:yeahthat:

I change DD#2 regularly. DH tends to leave her, especially if there's no poop, and then wonders why she gets diaper rash for him and not me.

[codex57]

Yeah, when he was younger, it was about 12+ diapers a day. Now, it's maybe every 3 or 4 hours. We'll check by hand every hour or two but only change it if it's pretty wet. Otherwise, we'd change every 10 min or so cuz DS likes to pee a tiny amount after a fresh diaper change.

We all have different tolerance levels. Grandma seems to go by time more. Every 3 or 4 hours. I do it if I feel a decent amount of that gel stuff built up. DW likes to change if there's barely anything. Sometimes she'll change him and then realize he hasn't even peed yet. In any case, i don't think he's ever gotten diaper rash from a wet diaper. He rarely gets it and only if we don't change a poopy diaper soon enough. I attribute it to the Lansinoh wipes. He had it as a newborn when we used the Costco ones. Switched shortly after to the Lansinoh ones and haven't had a problem since.

[daisyd]

I've noticed little white crystals - like sugar, after DS pees. I've been using wipes only if I noticed that after a wet diaper. What are these crystals and are wipes sufficent after a wet diaper with those?

TIA

[SnuggleBuggles]

It's probably the absorbent crystals in the diaper. If the diaper were over full of pee you would be seeing gel beads on the baby. If you cut open an unused diaper you should see what they look like when dry and it sounds like what you are describing.

They shouldn't be coming out though. I would feel uncomfortable using those diapers.

Sometimes ds has gel crystals on him in the AM if his diaper is really full and i just use a wipe on them.

Beth

[daisyd]

thanks snugglebugles! i had no clue..

[SoloMelody]

About 12 for the first 3 mo, everytime I fed DD(2-3 hrs) at least one change. sometimes 2. We did prefolds and covers. I have seen moms with dispos letting babies go for about 3-4 hrs.

Now that DD is 6 mo old and I am switching to pocket diapers, I have been counting closely as I want to know how many pockets we need. We go through on an avergae 5-6 pockets a day.

[vonfirmath]

Now that we are cloth diapering, (at 15 months) we find we need to change diapers every 1.5 to 2 hours or he overflows.

With disposables, we changed the diaper much less often because he didn't need it.

OTOH, the cloth just get tossed in the wash so it does not matter.

Some days we get by with less changes, others more. It really depends on how much he is peeing (and probably some the inserts, but I'm not sure how the inserts are affecting things yet. We're using a LOT of different inserts so each diaper is different, almost!)

[kijip]

12-15 diapers for a new baby seems normal. Those boxes with like 140 diapers in them should last less than 2 weeks or so when they are brand new.