Eight diaper changes a day
It's incredible how many diaper changes babies go through in a single day. I had read about it, but experiencing it firsthand truly underscored the reality—about one diaper change every three hours! As I mentioned in another post, I was largely in charge of diapering in the early days after our baby was born. This post is dedicated to the insights gained from diaper duty.
This post is a bit delayed compared to previous ones due to unexpected travel plans, but we'll get back on track soon. Thank you for reading!
The Linear Growth
As the baby's appetite grows, so does the number of diapers per day. On the first day, there's only one diaper, which likely contains meconium as part of the first poop. On the second day, there are two, and so on. It peaks at about a week and then more or less plateaus.
With 8-10 diaper changes a day, I had expected our daughter to poop almost every day like adults. However, to my surprise, it's normal for some babies not to poop for about ten days. As long as they're passing gas regularly, they're good! This was a fascinating piece of information that we got from the pediatrician.
The Arsenal
Let's discuss the various tools and techniques we discovered while changing diapers. As always, taking tips from experienced parents is the best way to avoid mishaps. Reading and watching some YouTube videos will also help. We'll go through the process of a diaper change and I'll talk about the different things that help.
Identifying when she needs a diaper change is probably the hardest part of the task. Babies cry for various reasons, and a soiled diaper is one of them. Most diapers have a wetness indicator running through the middle. The indicator is usually yellow when dry (which seems counterintuitive based on the color usually associated to pee) and turns blue when wet. During the first few days, even when the indicator was yellow, she would cry for a diaper change. I suspect she was getting used to the feeling, so any discomfort called for a change. Most newborn diapers also have a slight cut near the navel area to avoid touching the umbilical stub that needs to dry out and fall off on its own. Ingenious inventions of the diaper industry!
Once identified, the next step is to take her to the changing station, a slightly U-shaped, water-resistant, small bed. We added absorbent pads to the changing station. These have been lifesavers in many situations, acting as a second layer of protection after the diaper's off. More often than not, she actually pees again as soon as we take off the diaper. Maybe it's the sudden cold?
After the diaper's off, we use unscented baby wipes to clean up. We started with Honest baby wipes and then switched to the Costco ones. A pee diaper usually just needs one wipe, but poop can require 5-10. Our doctor strongly suggested unscented ones because some babies apparently don't like any scent. Also, I noticed that our daughter would get a bit startled every time we used the baby wipes. Upon researching, I found a baby wipes warmer, which keeps a heated environment for the wipes. Wipes are usually a little cold straight out of the box, so warming them up provides a better experience I guess. So, when at home, our daughter gets a nice warm wipe every time.
We don't throw the soiled diaper into our normal bin because it would start to smell and could stink up the entire room. Enter the diaper pail! It's a specialized bin where baby diapers can be disposed off and goes out the way to seal its contents, so that no odor escapes. Ours also has a carbon filter at the top to absorb any extra odor. I keep a room freshener handy as well and sometimes need to use it after getting her fully changed.
Another interesting tool we have is the gas passer. It's a last resort meant to assist when the baby is gassy, hasn't pooped in over ten days, and can't be pacified with anything else. It's a one-time use rectal insert, designed to help the baby pass gas and even poop if she's having trouble. Our pediatrician has asked us to use it only in case of emergencies.
Finding the Patterns
Just like how software developers can develop tunnel vision when too involved with something, it's easy to get stuck in the grind when working with diapers. Baby cries, you try to change the diaper. If that doesn't work, then try something else. This approach not only results in lots of underused diapers that go to waste, but it also starts eating into your budget in the long run. Especially since a baby can go through 2200 diapers in a year on average!
One insight from stepping back was that it's easier to change her diaper when she's happy rather than when she's crying. So, with experience and the wetness indicator as our guide, we now change her diaper before she gets to the crying stage. We'll even feed her until she's full before changing her, so she's calmer.
Another interesting observation was that when she would wake up in the middle of the night, I would change her diaper first, then bottle-feed her. I noticed that it took longer to put her back to sleep. I realized that turning on a light near the changing station likely signaled to her that it was time to get up. Moreover, a wet wipe in the middle of the night would not be comforting for anyone. First, I started using a dim light to avoid waking her up completely, and over time, I stopped changing her diaper at night altogether. She's now able to stay on a single diaper through the night.
A final note to any new parents would be that it gets easier as time goes on. Just like how my first on-call shift at AWS was quite challenging, and then with time I became comfortable, the first few diaper changes are challenging and possibly messy. As time goes on, you get comfortable with the SOPs and known issues, and it becomes second nature.