How often do you change newborn?

[kathleen_mary]

I am going through MAD diapers with my 4 week old. I think her output is pretty normal, but she doesn't go all at once. I always change her as soon as she fusses about it, but then sometimes she'll go again right away. And again. So we often go through three diapers in rapid succession. I've taken to leaving her out naked a little bit at each change and letting her just go on top of a diaper (which is faster clean up then getting the diaper on, diaper cover on, clothes back on, etc.). She seems to like the being naked part, but it's winter here and I can't leave her unclothed for that long. My problem with this is, especially at night, the multiple diaper changing routines wake her up too much, and then it's hard to get her to fall asleep again.

So, I guess my question is, how long do you let them sit in a dirty diaper if you know they are going to make it dirtier really soon? If she wakes up to eat in the middle of the night and doesn't fuss about her diaper, should I check it anyway? Sometimes if she's really drowsy she'll eat and go back down without fussing, even if she has something in there. Is it ok for me to let her go until she fusses, or should I still try to change them right away?

We use prefolds and prorap covers.

[CrunchyKnitter]

At that age I feel like we went through diapers ALL THE TIME. At about 6-8 weeks I think it really lessened up as he went from pooping smaller poops 10 times a day to 1 poop a day. But at that age I changed him whenever he went poop or was really wet, pretty much right away unless it looked like he could still be going within the next 5-10 min.

Luckily that stage passes!

[kawa kamuri]

I don't let a baby of any age sit in a dirty diaper.

[ldsmom06]

15+ diapers a day and I use sposies at night so she can sleep without waking up uncomfortable(sp?)

[Ola_]

You could try pockets to avoid the multiple night-time changes, or even a fleece liner to keep wetness away from her skin.

[tsfairy]

Put her in a pair of Babylegs and prefolds or fitteds with no cover during the day, and a longish t-shirt, dress or gown, and change her every time she wets. She'll stay warm and changes will be much easier.

At night, after a couple weeks old I usually didn't worry much about changing in the middle of the night unless baby seemed bothered by it or he pooped. Wool over a fitted is a great nighttime solution. It's so breathable usually that my little guy's diaper would actually dry out by the time we woke up if he peed in the night. Put a fleece liner inside the dipe to keep wetness away from babe if that worries you.

[kawa kamuri]

Originally Posted by tsfairy

Put her in a pair of Babylegs and prefolds or fitteds with no cover during the day, and a longish t-shirt, dress or gown, and change her every time she wets. She'll stay warm and changes will be much easier.

this worked well for my 1st daughter but my 2nd often pees so heavy that she needs a cover. i'm not at all opposed to sticking a finger in a pul cover to check for wetness and wool makes it easy to gauge

[DevaMajka]

We went through 20+ per day with ds2. I tried to change every time he peed, but I'm sure I didn't always get it right away. He pooped just about as often as he peed. That was just for daytime.
At nights, I used a fleece liner (though I'm not sure how "stay dry" they are) and only changed him if he pooped or was already awake awake. If he was just awake enough to nurse and go back to sleep, I didn't dare change him (unless he pooped)!

So we tried to change every wet/soiled diaper during the day, and at night used a stay dry liner and only changed poopy diapers.

[octobermom]

NB stage we easlly used 20 diapers a day we were also still doing sposies and yes often did the 3 diapers per change thing...

Deanna

[Lineymom]

I have a 4week old today. I think it is about 12 diapers a day. She only poops every other day, and we don't change at night. I cut up some microfleece to use as liners and she sleeps all night (well we cosleep and she nurses at night, but never really wakes...I really don't either, lol)

[sunshynbaby]

We don't let DS sit in a dirty diaper (except overnight). I do wait three minutes when he poops because I know there is often a second blast We were changing diapers like crazy at that age, but it has gotten a little better. We still do 3 changes in an hour sometimes, though.

[kathleen_mary]

Ok, so she's not a freak of nature...Thanks for the replies! Btw, I've been really pleased with prefold/prorap combo, in terms of containing messes. She's starting to "save it up" and have bigger poos now once a day and they never get on her clothes. And she even has little chicken legs, so I was worried about the proraps containing it.

I think the diapers wouldn't be as big of a deal if I weren't recovering from a c-section and hauling laundry up and down the stairs is still off limits for me. So DH is in charge of laundry...this is kind of a new thing for him. He really wants all the diapers to be clean at once, but in the time it takes to wash and dry them, she has dirtied another 6-8. It's kind of funny, actually.

[dachshundqueen]

Originally Posted by kawa kamuri

I don't let a baby of any age sit in a dirty diaper.

This. At least 20 a day sometimes more.

Liz

[kickinitbabystyle]

LOTS OF DIAPERS!!! that's all I can say

[Logan]

Originally Posted by kathleen_mary

He really wants all the diapers to be clean at once, but in the time it takes to wash and dry them, she has dirtied another 6-8. It's kind of funny, actually.

This is just a kid thing though, they will always make messes faster than you could clean them up I could follow my toddler around all day and still not be able to have everything all clean. Its a fact of life once you have kids...I can picture your DH though, bringing the clean folded laundry basket out with a big proud grin, then you hand him a full dirty load

[Juliacat]

I've been changing her just once in the middle of the night. Yes, having a clean bottom is important, but sleeping is more important.

[kathleen_mary]

Originally Posted by Logan

...I can picture your DH though, bringing the clean folded laundry basket out with a big proud grin, then you hand him a full dirty load

LOL!! You have the image exactly right!