General diapering question

[Carrie12345]

A few days ago, I was reading one of those ridiculous "how to take care of your baby" sites, and it said your baby should wet a diaper at least every 6 hours.

 

I'll give them a sliver of credit for the "at least", but seriously, 6 HOURS?! 4 diapers a day?!?

So it made me wonder, how often do/did you change your baby?

 

I probably average a dozen a day on my 7 month old, who sleeps from around 9pm to 6am, so that's just over the course of 15 hours or so.

Granted, I do use cloth, so I know when he's wet, especially b/c he spends a lot of time coverless.

Regardless, it just makes me wonder how long the average baby is sitting in his or her own waste if people are thinking a couple of diapers a day are fine! :confused:

[tabrizia]

My two year old takes off her diaper when she is wet most of the time, we're slowly working on potty training there, she goes through somewhere between 10 and 15 diapers a day depending on the day.

 

The baby goes through somewhere between 12 and 18 diapers a day. He screams if he is wet, so it is normally easy to know when he needs a change.

 

I think that DS was down to around 6 to 8 diapers a day right before he potty trained at 3 3/4. I have never understood how a child could only need to be changed 4 times a day either.

[mama2cntrykids]

Well...with my dd (9 weeks old) I change her every two hours, unless she's sleeping. Then I wait until she wakes and change her right away. In fact, I did the same with my other three children as well when they were babes. I also use cloth on her (except at night, I'm not brave enough lol).

 

Now you got me thinking...maybe I should change more often if she's wet. Just so she's not sitting in wet (if she poops, I change immediately).

:bigear:

[Pamela H in Texas]

Yes, I would guess we're at about a dozen. A few less when she doesn't have to go to daycare as she sleeps in til 9-11am those days. She goes to bed between 7 and 8pm and sleeps through the night. She is checked no less than every two hours, but we typically notice as we are moving her around and such. If she is wet at all, she is changed.

[lovinmyboys]

Well, I'll be the bad mom and admit that I only change DS about 4-5 times a day. With my first 2 I used cloth and changed much more often, but seriously those huggies seem to keep the moisture away. He doesn't ever get diaper rashes. When he was nursing I changed him more frequently, but now at 18 mos he really doesn't seem to need more. He sleeps about 12 hours at night.

[roxanne23]

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Edited January 4, 2023 by roxanne23

[Carrie12345]

Well, I'll be the bad mom and admit that I only change DS about 4-5 times a day. With my first 2 I used cloth and changed much more often, but seriously those huggies seem to keep the moisture away. He doesn't ever get diaper rashes. When he was nursing I changed him more frequently, but now at 18 mos he really doesn't seem to need more. He sleeps about 12 hours at night.

 

Doesn't it, like, SMELL though?

My nose/perception could be skewed b/c ds is on elemental formula that makes everything stink to high heaven, but I seem to recall all of my kids' urine being pretty potent!

[Carrie12345]

Well...with my dd (9 weeks old) I change her every two hours, unless she's sleeping. Then I wait until she wakes and change her right away. In fact, I did the same with my other three children as well when they were babes. I also use cloth on her (except at night, I'm not brave enough lol).

 

Now you got me thinking...maybe I should change more often if she's wet. Just so she's not sitting in wet (if she poops, I change immediately).

:bigear:

 

I remember 2 hours being the daycare rule. Honestly, that doesn't sound terribly off base. And I've certainly been known to put it off while, say, cooking dinner!

[lovinmyboys]

Doesn't it, like, SMELL though?

My nose/perception could be skewed b/c ds is on elemental formula that makes everything stink to high heaven, but I seem to recall all of my kids' urine being pretty potent!

 

 

It definately smells in the morning after an all night peefest, but during the day I don't smell it (and I am pregnant-so I would think I would). I really am probably bad-his diaper changes are part of our daily routine so unless he poops I don't really check him. I just added it up and it averages about every 3 hours for a new diaper except overnight.

[Mergath]

I have to admit, nothing grosses me out more than seeing a baby crawling around with a diaper dragging on the floor because it's full of pee. When dd was a baby, I changed her every time she peed enough to make the diaper not flat, if that makes sense, and every time she pooed. I'm sure we went through a good ten diapers a day.

 

It was less as she got older, because she'd hold it in for awhile and then pee all at once, instead of a little bit at a time, but even then it would have been six or seven diapers a day, minimum.

 

Four diapers a day? Ew, ew, ew. Sorry, but ew.

[KRG]

We use cloth, too. I change about 10-12 diapers a day. He goes to bed at 7-7:30 and gets changed at 11 and again around 5 and 7 and then he is up for the day and we start all over.

[AndyJoy]

A few days ago, I was reading one of those ridiculous "how to take care of your baby" sites, and it said your baby should wet a diaper at least every 6 hours.

 

I'll give them a sliver of credit for the "at least", but seriously, 6 HOURS?! 4 diapers a day?!?

So it made me wonder, how often do/did you change your baby?

 

I probably average a dozen a day on my 7 month old, who sleeps from around 9pm to 6am, so that's just over the course of 15 hours or so.

Granted, I do use cloth, so I know when he's wet, especially b/c he spends a lot of time coverless.

Regardless, it just makes me wonder how long the average baby is sitting in his or her own waste if people are thinking a couple of diapers a day are fine! :confused:

 

Is it possible the site was simply saying your baby is not getting enough fluids if he is wetting less often than every 6 hours, not that you only need to change him that often?

[pahansen]

Is it possible the site was simply saying your baby is not getting enough fluids if he is wetting less often than every 6 hours, not that you only need to change him that often?

 

I think that's it -- wetting at least once in 6 hours is not the same as only wetting four times a day.

 

We're doing disposables now, but I've done cloth as well. In neither case have I experienced a baby who only wets 4 times a day. On the other hand, Thing 4 (4 months old now) is regularly sleeping for 6 hours (Hallelujah!) and waking up dry. I usually change him mid-nursing session, because that's when he seems to go.

 

--Pamela

[happypamama]

I change my little guy every couple of hours, more often if I know he's just pooped. He also still needs a nighttime change.