Gametes In Love

It’s happened. G fights diaper changes now oh, roughly about 50% of the time. And by fights, I mean “battle-on, catch-me-if-you-can, scream-the-whole-time” fights. He squirms and flips over, and tries to slide down the dresser (where his changing pad is). It’s like trying to change a diaper on a cat… or what I imagine changing a diaper on a cat would be like.

I know I’ve talked about this in the past, but now there’s no rhyme or reason to a diaper change. The battle begins the moment I interrupt his activity of the moment to change his diaper. Even giving him a heads up is problematic. Then the running away starts just to catch him to get him to a change. I’ve tried books, toys, different things to keep him happy, but they typically get hurled at me and I don’t think that wearing a helmet should be necessary for a simple diaper change.

What’s really prompting this re-consideration is the planning for G’s new big(ger) boy room. I’m trying to decide if we should set up a diaper changing station for him, or let loose and go for the bed/floor option instead. Here’s the deal:

– I REALLY like having the diapers, the wipes, the protective cover, the butt creme all in one place.We have this today on top of a dresser and it rocks. Floor changes just don’t offer the convenience of all my supplies in the same place.

– I REALLY like that we have our diaper pail (well, really an automated kitchen trash can) about 1ft away from the changing table and I can literally dump dirties with the wave of a hand.

– I really DON’T like the fact that G is squirmy so much these days. While I can manage to change him none-the-less, the fact that he flips over and tries to slide off the changing station is not cool. Diaper changes are becoming a 2-person job around here, which let’s face it, is just not realistic.

– I really DON’T like that if I change him on the floor, he just crawls or runs away. While I’ve been lucky not to have to deal w/ a smeary, poopie butt yet, cleaning poop off the carpet if not my idea of a swell time.

– I REALLY like that my changing station is my height, and I don’t have to bend over. My body is hurting through this pregnancy and anything that requires me to lean over, or even sit on the floor causes me notable pain in getting up and even ceases my back at times. Plus I just can’t crawl as fast as he does. When he’s running/crawling away on the floor I just can’t go after him fast, and a giggling kid while I swear under my breath in pain is not my idea of a good time. I feel like a 90yr old trying to change my 2yr old’s diaper.

I’d love it if G would be ready to potty train, but he’s not. He’s far, far from it… at least for now, so I need to plan for more diaper changes in his future.

We’re trying to play around with standing diaper changes. I’m working on this, but the diaper just feels kind of saggy and loose. Even though I tighten as best I can, it doesn’t feel as secure when applied in a horizontal position. Obviously I’ll get better with practice, but I haven’t even had to tackle a stinky diaper change with G standing up. Plus, even though he’s standing, it doesn’t keep him still. If anything it makes it easier to run away. Ugh… now the thought of a running, butt-naked child with poop drooping of his behind is really not sounding appealing.

Advice is welcome.

My thoughts for now is to keep doing what we’re doing. It’s not great, but it still works even though changes take twice as long. At least my back hurts twice as less 🙂

I think what I’ll do for now is plan for another diaper changing pad. I want to get a dresser for G’s new room regardless, so the furniture piece won’t be a wasted purchase. Worst case, I end up getting a changing pad I won’t need and will resell/donate it. I’ll investigate getting a little diaper supply caddy too for those changes “on the run”.

I really thought that changing should be getting easier now, not harder. I mean… why would you want a wet or stinky diaper on you?

G has progressively gotten harder and harder to change out of his dirty diapes. Morning, mid-day or evening, he just doesn’t want to be changed. I thought at first it might have been the diaper-table, and that he had “outgrown” it, so I started changing him on the floor. It worked all of 3 times, only to go back to the same squealing, squirmy kid… or worse… one that flips over and runs away. There’s nothing more fun than chasing a naked, dirty baby bum around the room, lemme tell ya’. And G crawls fast! He sees you coming and picks up speed and those little legs cover a lot more distance then they deceptively let you think. Arg!

Well, I now have a solution, at least to the morning part of changing: a bottle of milk. I remembered a friend telling us that she just let her daughter suck down her morning bottle while she changed her, so I decided to try it. Well, what do you know? It worked! G’s far more interested in getting his morning milk on, than trying to twist or run away from a clean diaper.

It also makes my morning routine even shorter. I can typically change a diaper, put on socks and pants on before G’s done drinking. I now feel like I’m competing for a personal record. I haven’t managed to get shoes on yet in that timeframe, but I’ve got that goal in my sights. It’s like training for the Kid Dressing Olympics.

I don’t have solutions yet for the diaper changes for the rest of the day, but at least the important morning one is somewhat resolved. I’m open to ideas for the others 🙂

P.S. Ah, yes, we have given him multiple objects to hold an marvel at. They’ve extended from the “permissible” rattle toy, to the “marginal” diaper creme tube, even the bulb syringe. Yeah, can’t get close to him w/ a bulb syringe when it’s time to suck his nose, but he enjoys playing with it on the table. Alas it’s only temporary and gets chucked. I can tell you that my son has an amazing arm and can cover quite a bit of distance throwing stuff when he wants to. I also learned to read the instructions on items I hand to him. For example, G’s grammie gave him/us the little snow globe with a little snowman inside. Super cute. I gave it to G. It occupied him for about two days, until he tossed it, it hit the edge of the dresser and broke. Now I had a naked baby, glitter all over the room (did you know they used glitter for the snow?), water and broken glass all over the floor. Oh and we were running late for the day too, so it’s not like I had a ton of time to fix it all. As I was picking up the broken glass, the back of the snow-globe read “Not for children under 8. Contains glass”. Yeah, well, I learned this the hard way.