Before I had my daughter, one of my biggest fears was the fact that I had literally no idea how to change a diaper, which would be a big part of the day to day of taking care of a baby.

Let me share with you all the tips that I wish I had known before that very first diaper change. And hopefully that will make you feel a little bit more prepared. Experience is the best teacher, but knowledge gets you a head start.

In the video below, I show you all the tips I have learned from changing diapers over a year now. The things I wish I had known early on that make diaper changes a breeze now.

Let’s start with the anatomy of a diaper. Most diapers have the same structure. We are fans of Huggies Little Snugglers. The outside of a diaper usually has nice little patterns on them, and clearly spell out which is the BACK.

Diapers have a yellow line right down the middle that serves as a wetness indicator. It will  turn blue when the diaper is full/wet. If it is just a little bit blue, it’s just a little bit of pee in there. If it’s all blue all the way around, baby is due for a diaper change. And you’ll be able to feel when the diaper is full as it absorbs the liquid and bulks up.

On the inside, you have the inner absorbent part of the diaper with coverage from the front to back. These wicks away the liquid off of your baby’s skin to help keep them dry.

There is also an inner lining which keeps everything inside. You really want to make sure when you change your baby’s diaper that these containment flaps are on the outside of their bum.  This keeps everything in.

The back has a little pocket that serves to catch blowouts. A blowout is when your baby’s poop escapes the diaper, usually escaping out the back or down their thighs.

If you already have a pack of diapers at home, it is a good idea to grab one and get comfortable with the structure well before you have to do that first change.

Changing pad: I use the changing pad from Skip Hop. Very nice and soft, very easy to wipe  down. It doesn’t feel cool to the touch even during winter. And it just feels very comfortable to the touch. So you don’t have to worry about a cold surface  for your baby.

Wipes: You’re going to need baby wipes. I have used and liked the Huggies Natural Care sensitive wipes. We have used these since my baby was born.

Diaper disposal: You’ll need a way to dispose of used diapers. I am a fan of the diaper genie complete and this has worked great for us, even till today that my baby is a toddler.

Step 1: Get all your supplies close by. We have our wipes.  We have our baby and we have the new diaper that she’s going to get into. Right, we’re ready.

Step 2: I  like to open the pack and pull out the number of diapers that I think I’m going to need. So, if  it’s just a P change, two is usually good um for me. You will from experience learn how many you  need and adjust. But two is a good starting point for a pee diaper. If it’s a poop diaper, I honestly  I I use a lot. So maybe I’ll leave I’ll pull out three and maybe have one close by. Easier to pull  out.

Step 3: Open up the diaper and make sure all the everything is wide open so there’s no folds and nothing gets  in a spot that it’s not supposed to be at. Place the fresh diaper underneath your baby.

Step 4: Open the dirty diaper and use the diaper to kind of do the first wipe,  and then use wipes to clean up more, keeping the baby’s bottom off the dirty diaper. You can then remove the dirty diaper from underneath baby and lay their bottom on the clean one.

Step 5: Thoroughly clean up baby’s diaper area until the wipes come back clean from their bottom and front as well.

Step 6: Now we close the clean diaper firmly around baby.

Step 7: Check the containment flaps carefully to make sure the baby’s bottom is squarely inside, and all waste will be kept in as well.

Fold up the dirty diaper as demonstrated in the video. And I like to make it real tight and compact so that I can fit a lot of diapers in the pail. We use the diaper genie complete and this has been great at holding in the smells and holding lots of diapers. If you have a multi story home, it will be super convenient to have a diaper changing station both downstairs and upstairs. So, you don’t have  to carry your baby all the way up the stairs for every change and all the way back down or the other way around.

I hope this was helpful. Get all the supplies you need and you will be  a pro in no time!

Check out Your Essential Guide to Packing a Diaper Caddy for the next step in getting your diaper changing station set up! And this video gets you ready for bath time!

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