Diaper Changes and Nose Wiping

[Poodge]

Not sure if this is the right place for this....

Our DS hates to have his diaper changed and nose wiped. I don't want to impose my will on him, but these things need to be done.

For the diaper change I have tried giving him a special toy, let him be without a diaper for five or ten minutes, and sing. He still screams and tries to wiggle away.

For nose wiping I have tried using a wet rag, a dry rag, my fingers, and he always turns his head and fusses. Today he bit me.

Any idea for making these tasks easier on both of us?

[prescottchels]

With littles I usually offer empathy and try to be as quick as possible.
How old is your DC?
If he's old enough you could offer a choice. We need to change your diaper. Do you want to do it now or when this timer goes off (and set the kitchen timer for 2 minutes or 5 minutes or whatever) and if he chooses when the timer goes off, be firm and matter of fact about it being time to change the dipe. It might take a few times of doing this for him to get into the groove/learn the system/know you're gonna follow through.
With nose wiping you could say, I see your nose needs to be wiped. Would you like me to do it or do you want to do it?
Maybe you could pick out special tissues together at the store. Or a special hanky. Hobby Lobby has lots of super cute bandanas w/fun prints.
Good Luck!

[annekevdbroek]

It looks like your little one is almost a year old. I have to say that neither of my kids liked having their nose wiped (they prefered to do it with their sleeves - ewwww). I see it as a "must do", same as diaper changes.

It did help both my kids when they were old enough to stand up for diaper changes. For one the changing table was in the closet and when he was about the same age as yours he woudl stand up and hold onto the closet rod and it made things much easier. The younger (who is now 3) doesn't particularly like it, but he dislikes a messy diaper even more.

[lifeguard]

I just simply say "I know you're having fun & don't want to do this right now but we have to do it" & then I proceed as efficiently & animatedly as I can. He will throw his head back & fuss some but 99% of the time he then relaxes & let's me do it. Giving him toys & whatnot seems to make it worse - he just throws them. I also ONLY change him on the changetable - I think it helps to set the routine of it.

[BlackSheepPDX]

Never had the diaper problem, but wiping a face? Total human rights violation if you ask my DD. I went to the strategy of playing at being "the boogie thief" very early on. I get really excited about that giant green terrible boogie hanging out, saying "ooooh.....I'm gonna theft that boogie! Ooooooh I HAAAAAAAVE to have it!' and go in for the wipe. And then show her what i got, afterward. Though still offended during the process, there's more giggling during than not, and very often interest and/or giggling afterward. I also gently stabilize the back of her head, since she tends to go straight back away, which even if she's squirming, just plants her in my hands better. If it's a dirty food face wipe, I always go in with a wet cloth wipe if possible, because i get the fastest in-out-clean.

[lonegirl]

I don't know if your son is walking yet...when mine started I switched to pullups...much easier imo. AS for the nose....we made it a bit of a fun game (gonna git your nose etc) he would giggle and laugh and we would swoop in and wipe (most often with just the hand) Oh and we told him he had a Goober-nose...he laughed at the word...to this day if he has issues he comes up and tells me he has a Goober-nose and needed help

[sapphire_chan]

I understand that a piece of tape to play with can work wonders if you can't manage to do a standing-up change.

For us, I have more luck with full face wipes that happen to also wipe the nose than going for the nose in particular. Secondarily, if I haven't been doing too much wiping, I can tell her she needs to blow her nose and she'll stay still for one or two attempts at getting a giant booger.

[lmk1]

If it's not a poopy diaper, then you could try changing him while he's sitting on your lap facing away from you. This worked with my ds when he was that age. He's still not that thrilled about diaper changes, but I find that if I don't dilly dally and try to reason with him, he's a lot calmer through it. Also, letting him take a toy that he's playing with while he's being changed helps. Sometimes he just doesn't want to leave his game/toy behind. We also practice putting diapers on his stuffed animals, and he just thinks that's the silliest thing ever, but it gets him to be more ok with it. Now at 27 months, he's doing pretty well with wiping his own nose (and blowing) but sometimes, you just have to do it, whether he's happy or not. Really, when they have runny noses, it's just so annoying for them and sometimes their noses get irritated from having them wiped, but what can you do?