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I have a 6 month old baby girl which started to turn on her belly. Specially during nappy changing this becomes a huge issue. The moment she gets a bit bored (30 seconds into the process), she tries very hard to turn on her belly.

It basically takes two persons, one to hold a toy above her in the air and one to change the nappy for this to work.

I know that there are suspended toys for cribs but I cannot find any for a nappy changing table. My limited baby-related vocabulary in english makes it also seemingly hard to find one online.

Can someone either recommend an alternative solution to teach the baby not to roll over or how such a suspended toy would be called so I can get one?

I have been thinking of drilling a hole and attaching something to a hook in the wall, but the table is in front of a window and it's very tricky to do that at the location. I also hesitate to have something hanging 1.5 meters from the ceiling.

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    Would she not hold a toy in her hands? Or maybe try singing a nursery rhyme so she's focussed on you? I had to learn to put nappies on in all kinds of wriggly positions. Good luck
    – LauraJ
    Dec 22, 2014 at 7:25
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    Learn to put the diaper on while she is on her tummy. It's just quicker and easier.Or set the diaper up loose and closed like a pair of underwear, slid them on and then tighten the sides after it's on. Dec 22, 2014 at 16:42
  • What about putting a plant hook in the ceiling (very cheap) and a toy on a string that she cant quite pull on, or that is elastic in some way?
    – user7678
    Dec 23, 2014 at 15:58
  • At one point my wife built a small stool that would stand above the children and hung a few rattling objects (sea shells etc.) from it. The advantage of this was that it was mobile.
    – sbi
    Dec 25, 2014 at 21:38

8 Answers 8

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Welcome to parenting 101. Some kids lie still, but mine were total wiggly worms. You might be able to rig a "mobile" as we call them in the States, but your ultimate answer is that you yourself will get faster and faster and learn the tricks needed to change those nappies. Hang in there! :)

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Keep in mind, there are phases that go on for a few days/weeks/months that will come and go.

In times like what you mentioned, I would do something totally NEW and different. Usually with an entertaining aspect, like making up a new song, or tapping on the walls in a fun simple rhythmic pattern. Tickling and whatnot.

Then sneak another wipe in there or another leg in the pants.

Honestly, in most cases, those can be some really fun times, and unless you are in a super hurry, I'd enjoy the silliness that ensues. In hurry, I understand, just get the most out of those first 30 seconds.

Enjoy these times.

On a completely other way of approaching this, what we did with our first daughter and it worked extremely well was to look for signs of potty times, and try to notice them before the potty takes place. Get a little potty to set on your toilet, and sit there with them, letting them go in the toilet. We did that with our girl from 1 month until she was potty trained, and it relieved a LOT of diaper changing. A LOT. Also, when it came time to potty train for real, with HER making the choice to go, it was simple with very little transition. Not to say she's perfect, at 2.5 years, she still leaks a little pee from time to time, but she has only had to wear diapers at night for a long time now.

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  • +1 for suggesting to make it fun and enjoying the silliness.
    – LauraJ
    Dec 22, 2014 at 8:59
  • Yeah, this comes down to the old parental mantra: It's just a phase. It will pass. (Of course, after this then comes the next phase...)
    – sbi
    Dec 25, 2014 at 21:33
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My wife and I have two kids who both loathed changing time. I mean, seriously hated it. My current son (who is just over a year old) will sometimes even start crying as soon as he sees us walking to the changing table. Once he is on the table, it can become an irrational battle to keep him from crawling over the edge of the table.

Alas, there has been a solution that works most of the time-- get him engaged in something that thoroughly consumes his attention. You've obviously noticed a part of this, especially if you are having a second person play with your child while you work.

For my first child, and now my son, we learned that the best thing to do is to put a toy in the kids hand. This is a tougher task than one might think. If you give the kid a toy they've recently played with, you may get 10-20 seconds of distraction time. With quick hands, this could be enough time to get the kid unclothed and un-diapered. At that point, you use one-hand to do the rest of the work, while the other restrains the child.

But, we'd prefer to not have to "restrain" our children, if that is possible. If you can find a toy that the child hasn't played with in a long time, or some form of devices that you usually wouldn't let the child play with, you can significantly extend the distraction time because your kid is fascinated with discovering a newly found item.

One exception to this rule of giving the kid "new items" is to give them a cell phone. My wife and I almost never let our children play with our cell phones. If you are also the type of parent who doesn't share your cell with your children, then this is the checkmate option that works every time.

In my case, I pull out my phone and give it to my boy probably once every couple weeks. These are the days where he is extremely tired & cranky, and starts fighting me before I even get to his bedroom door. As soon as he touches the changing mat, I put the phone in his hand and, bam!, instant silence.

I hope these suggestions help. Your daughter will have a unique personality of her own, so she may prefer other types of distractions. Still, if you can give her something to do with her own hands, you can extend the distraction time significantly. Variety is what makes this work, so learn to continually rotate in-and-out new things for your child to "fiddle" with.

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Distraction helps most of the time, but not always. Turning over like this is a normal behavior and is a great sign of your baby's development.

With my son there are two other important aspects.

  1. He mirrors my mood. If I am concerned, nervous, worried or frustrated going into the diaper change then it is always much worse than if I am relaxed and happy.

  2. Ask (not tell or command) the child for help. My son doesn't really talk yet, but he definitely listens. Around 16 months I found that asking for help with removing clothes and asking if we can change the diaper helped a lot. My wife was already doing this when she changed him and I hadn't noticed.

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One simple thing that may work is to use your face to distract her. Since you are standing over her, look over at her and make silly noises and faces. Talk to her. Do any goofy thing to grab her attention. You will have to look away occasionally to see what you are doing with the diaper, but then look back and get her attention again. Like anything else, it may not work every time, but it is definitely a hands free option.

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I have a set of distractons that I use in these situtions, depending on baby's age:

  • Plastic stacking rings - put a couple on baby's feet, instant distraction
  • A plastic tape measure for body/clothes measurements - baby pulls out the tape and then presses the button to spool it in again
  • Get baby to count their toes
  • Give baby a small board book to read
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  • Hi Colm! Some of this might be hard for a 6 month old, or might not be interesting. But they are good ideas for older toddlers. :) Dec 23, 2014 at 0:42
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At that age, you should still be able to change nappies one handed while using the other to hold her ankles.

If you are holding her legs up she shouldn't be able to turn over.

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We had that problem, and I think just being super quick was the answer at that age, but as soon as the boys could stand, we just did it with them standing up which they appreciated.

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