I’ve been collecting data for about four years in the ever evolving quest to figure out how to get stuff done with a baby. Things seem to come in waves. Sometimes my children will play nicely on their own for a while. Sometimes they will all want to be held all day. At the same time. All yelling or crying. And usually it’s a combination of these extremes, but different things like eating or sleeping, or what have you, will be hard or easy for a stretch.
My baby has currently entered the stage I like to refer to as “impossible diaper changing phase.” Because she is very active, thank G-d, she doesn’t want to be bothered to sit for anything longer than, say, 30 seconds. So diaper changing is basically a constant struggle of muscle and wit. She’s pretty strong, so simply holding her in place is, well, not so simple. When you add any cleaning that must be done, and the fact that we mainly use cloth diapers, and it’s a struggle! Oh boy!
A strategy that I’ve experienced some success with is making ridiculous sounds and faces. This sometimes distracts/entertains her for long enough that I can get done what I need to.
Sometimes just giving her a toy works, too, but she keeps us on our toes.
What’s the funniest/strangest/most innovative thing you’ve done to distract your kids when you need to?
Rivki Silver ~ thoughts & music 
LOVE the faces! If anyone has any advice for changing a special needs 6 year old I’d love to hear it—- we’re doing further testing, but she’s definitely got a lot of physical issues keeping her from toilet training. My biggest trick there is simply removing her shoes so when she kicks me in the face it doesn’t hurt so badly. In those baby years I really DID enjoy changing diapers. Now I’m so over it— lol.
Where do you get your tichels and snoods? You’ve got some nice ones—- is this one a pre-tied? where’s it from? thanks. :)
I wish I had some advice for you – you’re certainly getting a TON of points for all your efforts, but I’m sure you’d rather just be done with this stage.
I think I got this pre-tied sometime in Cleveland, at a sale of some sorts. I try to keep my eyes open for pre-tieds at sales, and tichels I have found at Target and H&M. Hatzlacha!
You are adorable. A-DOR-A-BLE. I don’t know how you do it. Seriously. You manage to have outside interestes in addition to having children. You are truly an inspiration, my dear one. All I can say is, enjoy it. I have the 13 year old. I don’t have to squish up my face — but he barely needs me. Like barely at all. I miss him. So hold onto all of them. Seriously. This has been the longest, slowest fastest part of my life. And, it’s my understand, that it only gets faster!
haha, thanks. It is seriously only through Divine assistance that I can do ANYTHING. Hashem just gave me a lot of energy, you know?
I’m empathizing with you and your little-big man! It’s so amazing that he’s independent, but, oy, it’s not easy on a mother! Hugs! I will savor the littleness of my guys. Thanks for the reminder. :)
I have sung some pretty crazy songs to distract a diaper changing baby.
And, you know how everyone tells you “It gets easier when they get older?” This is one of those instances… many times I depend on one of my older kids to keep the baby occupied during a difficult diaper change
Ooo – I think my four-year-old would be happy to distract her! Thanks for the tip!
I babysit an adorable 9 month old every morning and he’s been going through the impossible diaper change for the last few months – and with cloth diapers this makes for quite the challenge! I find that giving him toys (or his toothbrush, who woulda thunk it?) distracts him for enough time for me to get the diaper on. And singing William Tell (to which he claps!) I tried funny faces but he just kept trying to sit up and grab my face :P Heheeh your kids are so cute!
I love that you’re singing William Tell to him! Maybe the finale to Tchaik 4 would also work? :)
Hey Rivki! I was thinking of my past experiences and giving the kid a “new” book, one they haven’t seen, maybe one with the hard pages (unless the baby throws it at you) or an unfamiliar toy (have a little box at the side with a few surprises) has helped me. Sometimes the familiarity of that item helps them to know, “Oh, it’s changing time.” I have also prepared in the past, where i prep the area with an already open diaper and easy-to-reach pail at hand so I don’t have to move around so much and it takes much less time (maybe even those 30 seconds she allows). Then again, I’ve never had girls so maybe i don’t know what I’m talking about. Kol tuv!
Hi Gila! I like the toy box for diaper changes idea, and also just getting everything ready before hand. It really does make a difference! I haven’t noticed a big difference in this area between my boys and my girl (well, except for the *obvious* difference, ahem). But behaviorally, they all had their challenging diaper changing moments. :)
Love the faces Rivki! I’m not sure I have any better answers for you. We have been through this four times and basically we do the same thing–try to distract until it’s over. Sometimes a special toy helps, sometimes even a snack (hey, whatever. I don’t like to eat while I poo, but I’m not a toddler.)
Like everyone has said–it will pass. I can say with complete happiness that my 12, 8 and 4 yr olds don’t need any help in that dept now ;)
Ha, thanks! It’s reassuring to know that what I’m doing is what we all do, you know? That I’m not struggling in vain here. And I will very much look forward to when the diaper days are behind us. Haha, behind us. Oh….
Loved this. Reminded me of littles times so long ago ( eldest little getting married in June)! But we had a marvelous mitzvah tape, cute mitzvah and Israeli songs that worked just for diaper time, singing and cleaning with a few faces in between! B”H children are a blessing!
Mazel tov on the upcoming wedding! So exciting! I like the idea of diaper time music – how fun! Children are such a wonderful blessing, indeed. :)
I got a lucite photo cube (6 sided) and placed pictures of our family in the cube. Our daughter held the cube while I changed her. We would talk about the people in the pictures and she would name them. She’d giggle and repeat the names over and over and actually looked forward to being changed. The cube was only used during diaper changes.
What a fabulous idea! Wow! I think I will definitely do this! My daughter is only eleven months now, but soon enough, she will be big enough to appreciate such a thing. Thanks for stopping by and commenting!
I just lie the baby down on the floor, sit on the floor with my legs in a V, and pin the child’s arms and legs under my legs. They scream bloody murder, but at least I can get the job done with a minimum of mess.
What an image! How old is your littlest?