Guide on Diapers for Baby

Getting over those curiosities

For first time mommies, “How, When and What” become the most loved words; courtesy, Little darling:). Amongst all the curiosity & emotions, lies an important factor of liberating the kid. Pee and Poo’s, become an inherent part of the life every few minutes and there comes the entry of “Diapers”. Introducing the baby to diapers involves a gamut full of questions.

There is a whole bouquet of craziness a newborn baby brings along. Motherhood ,is definitely a lovely phase of one’s life. A phase involving ample joys, cheers, tears of happiness as well as pain. It takes immense hard-work to nurture a kid, but the end result of all these emotions is the smiling baby ,which gives ample pleasure & satisfaction in our lives.

So moms and dads are you all having good amount of “Sleepless Days and Nights”, I should scale a loud thud of “Yes”! Lol

To convert it to no, I began with introducing my baby to Diapers (but I managed to make him Toilet trained much earlier, thanks to elderly advice in Family).

“Let me get the bundle of diapers for a good night sleep. But how do I decide?

How to make the baby wear it?

How to ensure the fit was correct?

Checking Absorbency?

How long can I keep my baby in Diapers?

Disadvantages, some of which mom keeps saying?

Use Cloth Diapers..Huh

Whole bunch of questions, awaited to be answered with time”.

Don’t worry moms and dads, Let me help you take off your worries and enrich you with energy to just love the baby.

Cloth Diapers or Disposable Diapers ?

Indeed a very tricky answer, especially in India wherein Mommies and Grannies prefer cloth nappies over any disposable diapers as pampers. Let me cite it truly for you, I did introduce my baby to diapers but used in a very restricted manner (focussed more on Cloth nappies) and was too quick to wean him off the diapers. Even you can observe that a baby is more happy without Diapers or when in Cloth Diapers.

Check out the advantages of Cloth Nappy covering all your nappy related queries.

How to choose Best Diaper?

Many important factors entail this decision, don’t just lend ears to what pals are using but find out yourself the best one for your baby.

1.Soft and Comfortable: Moms, touch and feel yourself. Baby’s sensitive skin needs that extra softness of any fabric which touches them. Ensure that there are no edgy corners tugging out to create a discomfort on your baby. Smooth rounded corners have to be a priority.

2. Absorbency : Well none of us actually want to keep babies in diapers for 12 long hours. Choose a diaper which has good absorbency, since it stands a prime factor to keep baby’s skin healthy and avoid any rashes due to excessive moisture. Absorption has an important role to play in holding the urine upto X times of the weight and hold the moisture away from the baby’s skin.

Most of the diapers have “SAP (Super Absorbent Polymer) powder sprinkled in the absorbent layers. But it has a great capacity of holding 300X its weight in water and is perfectly non-toxic. When water /urine gets poured ,it converts into a gel like material , which one could see oozing of the diapers sometimes.

3. Breathable Material : A next very important point is the presence of micro pores in the material present in these diapers. Presence of micro pores in the breathable materials helps in air circulation and keeps the wetness & moisture away from the baby’s skin (which in turn again leads to healthy skin, happy baby & healthy un-disrupted development). Definitely you wont be able to identify for yourself but you can find these features on the diaper sites/Social media.

I had a chance to attend a Mommy meet and experiment with these diaper chemicals, check the post to get my review 

4. Good Fit : Let it get its due preference, since a misfit will lead to leakages. Diapers are made in accordance with the size of baby and that’s why you see so many sizes available. Waistbands and leg cuffs should be highly elastic in order to adjust baby movements and help him enjoy the “environment discovery”.

Do not just jump in to buy those “New born tagged” packets. Wait and see the weight of the baby and then opt for “newborn” or “XS” tagged packets.

As they grow the size desired will vary, depending on :

1. Baby’s health
2. Baby’s weight (sometimes babies are bony and lean but their weight’s are more than that of a healthy baby. Their diaper size will vary basis their body structure and quantum of urination).
3. Season and Quantum of urination

You can go in to buy basis baby’s weight. In India, most of the diapers have a direct correlation with baby weight. In case you feel leakages, either go in for another (bigger) size diaper or change the brand.

5. Wetness indicator : There are not choices in India with “wetness Indicator” and also it is not a mandatory feature. Having this add on feature will answer the query of new moms “when to know diaper is heavy or when to change”. As these indicators change the colours as the diaper gets heavy and help moms to change them without baby being discomforted.

TIP : To begin the journey, buy small packets of 2-3brands to check on the parameters listed. A week’s experiment will let you know which one is the best for your baby. But do remember, preferences might change as the baby grows.

When to start Diapers :

Many parents start diapering the baby since birth. But I introduced my baby to diapers in 4th  month and that too only during nights/travel times. Decision usually depends on parents and elders at home, but a small piece of advice, try to keep baby diaper free for as long as possible, as it will help his body breathe air and avoid any types of infection. Baby will also have a free and better development.

A newborn’s skin is so delicate, so soft, you’ll fear even when you touch. Let’s then imagine that any fabric(sort of polymer here and that too with pee inside) on his body for long time will for sure create an uneasiness.

Moms can go in for putting diapers to have a good and peaceful night sleep for both baby and mom and for the rest day the chores can be completed by following “EC” (Elimination Communication) technique. Read out my preferred Elimination Communication post.

How long can I keep my baby in Diapers?

As stated above, keep baby for less time in diapers, let him be free and have free movements. Although many brands speak out to keep baby healthy for as long as 10-12 hours, do keep on checking the heaviness of a diaper. A baby peeing regularly will need a change or will want to be free after 4hours approx. If you are putting baby on diaper throughout the day, you will need 7-8 diapers a day.

Facts while using Diapers

1.Skin Rashes : These are very common when a baby is on a wet diaper. The wetness or the moisture in diapers acts as a perfect cushion for bacteria’s which cause redness and irritation on their soft skin. To prevent rashes change diapers as and when indicated or when you feel they have gone little heavy or any signs showed by the baby. To cure them do use “rash cream” and keep baby open and diaper free for some time.

2.Allergies & toxicity : Well, whatever to say, diapers have many chemicals in them to get that perfectness. Using diapers for most of the time will allow toxic chemicals enter your baby and infect them at an early stage. Even the gels, chemicals, dyes can cause skin allergy to the newborn.   

3. Hard toilet training : Since a baby pees most of the time in diapers, he is not aware of his body functioning and rather cannot hold bladder at an early stage. He will not even have a feel to respond and inform mom or a dad that he has an urge to go. Hence the comfort, delays the toilet training of a child, which should start from 1year of age. I have seem babies getting toilet trained post 3 & till 4years of their life. Imagine them going school with diapers on? Who is going to handle all this in schools?

4. Costly : Yes, diapers are really costly. You will spend close to 40k a year on these diapers alone..Isn’t that whopping amount? You would have rather got a Nexus when you little one broke your old mobile;), so why not save it.

5. Non Environment friendly : These disposable diapers have been a threat to environment due to their non-biodegradable properties and release of chemicals in the environment. Few companies have been innovative via launching bio-degradable ones , but we are yet to tap them on.

A motherly advice : Moms, your moms are very much correct, maintain a balance between Cloth nappies and Disposable diapers. Restrict the use of diapers:) You will realise this later when you plan to wean baby off them or Toilet train them or become more cost and environment conscious!

Cheers to Moms!!