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We have a newborn who seems to like to pee when we change his diapers. Any tips on how prevent this?

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    If it's any consolation, I think all babies do that. Dec 17, 2011 at 9:10
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    Fortunately, I've only found this to be a problem for the first month or so. Both of our daughters stopped doing it relatively quickly.
    – Mario
    Dec 19, 2011 at 18:50
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    You can't really stop biology. ;) Best is to make sure you have a 'shield diaper' at the ready.
    – DA01
    Dec 19, 2011 at 18:53
  • This was an issue with our firstborn for a little while, and my third (who is 3 months) will sometimes do this in the bath, but it generally goes away relatively quickly. Dec 19, 2011 at 19:12

6 Answers 6

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In short, you have to be a ninja.

Boys are much better at getting money shots than girls (my nephew got me in the ear as I turned my head to shield my eyes). What you have to do is have a towel in one hand, as you take the diaper off with the other.

Place the towel (can also just be the new diaper, but you'll usually end up changing twice) over the problematic area as you remove the diaper. Hold the towel in place, apply what ever has to be applied and then secure the new diaper. Finally, remove the towel.

As long as you don't let the 'draft' in, you're usually pretty safe. If he still has to go, he will and that's easy to manage.

But, even with ninja skills, you're going to get wet from time to time.

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  • @Tim - donno... I don't have any skills other than Google-fu and neither of my 2 kids ever managed to nail me :) [ I used a second diaper technique ]
    – user3143
    Dec 21, 2011 at 0:57
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A couple of tips I was given years ago: open the diaper, let the air drift in, wait a couple of minutes, then change it. (Or, if you're in a hurry, open the diaper and let a breeze in for a few seconds, but be prepared to cover again.) I was also told that changing a baby on their stomach works, but that's obvious and may not be good diapering practice, anyway.

There are any number of other tricks to encourage the deed, which may be done before changing the diaper.

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    +1 for "cheating" by opening the diaper and then closing it again until he's peed :-) We learned that trick too, through experience. Dec 17, 2011 at 9:12
  • I suppose there's a reason it's an open air incident. :)
    – Iterator
    Dec 17, 2011 at 16:29
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The only thing you can really do is alter the timing of when you change him. Try waiting 15-30 minutes past when you'd normally change him. Most babies tolerate that unless the diaper is soaking wet or poopy. Other than that, make sure you have the clean diaper under him in place before you undo the dirty one. That way if he doesn't need wiping or ointments you can get the exposed time down under a second with practice, and if he needs longer you have a diaper right there to block.

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One charming product that helps meets the need is the Peepee Teepee. Any cloth will work. We used fabric diapers as burp cloths and pee shields.

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Set the child on a toilet after removing the diaper. Then the child will pee in the toilet, and will get familiar with a future skill. See my answer to a previous question: How can I potty train a 12 month old?

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    Heh - better be quick with that ninja move :-)
    – Rory Alsop
    Dec 17, 2011 at 10:43
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One thing we learned quickly is to have the new diaper already under the old one before removing it, remove the old one and then the time to getting the new one on is greatly reduced which may help you beat the open air peeing.

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