6 Amazing Diaper Hacks to Make Life Easier for Mums in Malaysia

When it comes to the poopy end of your little bundle of joy, diaper hacks come top of the list for mums who will need to kung fu through changing those things 2500 to 3000 times in the first year of baby’s life.

Those numbers are according to expert estimation, so any help in the form of tips and tricks will be a good one.

So, today mum ─ it’s your lucky day. You get to learn skills on dealing with pee and poop inside and out of the diaper, how to change it, what to do if the tapes don’t stick anymore because your fingers are full of diaper cream and how to clean and prevent mess ups everywhere else around diaper spills and all.

1. First things first: how to change a diaper correctly

Before attempting changing the diaper, make sure all the other necessities are placed close by. These include the new diaper of course, a squeezable plastic kicap bottle prefilled with tap water, cotton pads, waterproof changing pad, baby wipes and diaper cream.

Highlighted

1. Place a waterproof changing pad lined with kitchen towels under his bottom before laying baby on his back, on top.  The changing pad is protection for the mattress in case of spillage from the soiled diaper.
2. Remove baby’s clothing first.
3. Remove the soiled diaper. For disposable diapers, pull up the sticky tabs. For reusable cloth diapers, remove the diaper cover and snaps or Velcro from around your baby’s waist.
4. Lift your baby’s bottom up by holding his ankles and pulling up gently so that you can you can scoot the diaper out from under his bottom.
5. If the diaper is only soiled with urine, you may clean him before pulling the used diaper out.
6. Depending on how soiled baby is, use wipes or the cotton pads wetted with the water from the kicap bottle to clean your baby’s diaper region. You can’t tell how many pieces of cotton wool you will wet and use. Therefore it is better to have extra water nearby.
7. Always wipe from front to back to avoid infection, especially for girls.
8. If the area is red or inflamed, soothe it with diaper cream or ointment.
9. Wait for your baby’s skin to dry before putting on a fresh diaper.
10. Take a fresh diaper and place it under your baby. Bring the front part up on your baby’s stomach and fasten the tabs to secure the diaper on his waist.
11. Replace any clothing over the new diaper.

2. Get sticky meconium off with this brainwave tip

If you have just arrived home from hospital, your newborn may still be passing meconium ─ the dark green sticky feces that may be hard to scrape off because its super gluey. You’ll need lots of wipes and many swipes.

Instead, use baby oil.  You can even put it in a spray bottle mixed with a bit of water.  (Remember that kicap bottle above? That’s what it’s used for). The stickiest of meconium doesn’t stand a chance against oily water!

3. Use duct, brown packaging or masking tape to secure that diaper

Your oily fingers from diaper cream may have caused this problem. After slathing on diaper cream, you might notice that the diaper tapes won’t stick anymore. It happens. Lots of mums have had to throw away perfectly clean fresh diapers just because those tapes won’t stick anymore.

Somewhere during handling the diaper and the diaper cream or whatever oils, your fingers touched the tape areas and now that’s put paid to the stickiness of those diaper tapes. However the above suggested tapes have the ability to stick on any surface and hold on forever.

Another reason you want to keep duct, brown packaging or masking tape handy is to prevent a mobile toddler from pulling off poopy diapers while on the run and making disgusting messes everywhere. Super secure duct tape prevents him from pulling the diaper off and this will save you from having to clean up stinky, poopy messes from off the floor, walls, furniture legs or worse ─ your new sofa set.

4. Use pet potty pads to protect upholstery

You might be surprised what might squirt out of the back and sides of diapers when baby sits down. Then again, nothing would surprise a mum who deals with diapers at this stage.

Your child might be a baby still or a toddler in between diaper and potty training stage or newly potty trained. Accidents happen. Everytime weight is put on a full diaper ─ things can ooze and spurt.

Pet potty pads will do wonders in this area, giving protection to bedding, upholstered furniture and even your car seat. Plus, they are cheap and made for the pet, so they are tough.

Pet potty pads are available in most pet shops in Malaysia. They are sold in two forms: washable and disposable. They are quite inexpensive to use, can absorb and hold quite a bit of fluid and the washable ones can last repeated laundrying over many years.

5. How to remove poop stains from baby’s clothes

No matter how vigilant you may be in changing that diaper, spillouts and seepage can still occur. Baby’s poop is especially runny during the early months and when they lie down, the pressure can push out whatever is in the diaper in all directions. Even the best of diapers can’t soak up runny solids. It just happens.

So let’s say the unimaginable or the inevitable has happened. What can you do?

Here’s the run down for Clothes and Bedding Sheets

• Step 1: Rinse off all solids in normal tap water. The longer the stain has been there, the longer you should rinse under running water as it helps remove stain particles.
• Step 2: Mix a scoop of stain removal powder such as Vanish oxi-action or Persil non bio with an equal scoop of warm water and mix them into a paste. Rub the paste into the stain on both sides.
• Step 3: Scrub the stained area a little, then soak.
• Step 4: Machine wash as normal.

Here’s the run down for Sofas and Upholstery

• Step 1: Mix one tablespoon of liquid dishwashing detergent with two cups of cool water.
• Step 2: Using a clean white cloth, sponge the stain with the detergent solution.
• Step 3: Blot until the liquid is absorbed.
• Step 4: Repeat Steps 2 and 3 until the stain disappears.

6. Layer baby’s bed 2X

This is another mummy hack that will save you a lot of washing. You put a waterproof mattress pad on, then a fitted sheet, then another waterproof mattress pad on top, and then another fitted sheet. Why? Because this way, if your baby throws up or has a leaky diaper in the middle of the night, you can just pull off the top two layers and easily put them back to bed without having to wash the sheets first. This also works for kids who are potty training.

For more diaper daze and mummy hacks, tune in to Motherhood.com.my