You learn something new every day.
I always told people that I’d be like a new mother if I ever had a boy. It was true. I learned something new about diapering today:
Always make sure that The Foreign Object in the diaper is pointed downward
in a safe direction as you fasten the diaper. Otherwise, baby will
mysteriously wet 4 consecutive outfits without ever dampening his diaper.
Why wasn’t this in any of the baby books?
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As a mom who had a girl (only one, though, not seven) and then three boys, your post made me laugh out loud. I’ve found that when they get older and lay on their side this can be a problem also – they’ll wet right out the side of their diaper, through their jammies, and onto the sheets. Boys are definitely different!
I’m just opposite from Carrie, above…I had three boys and then a girl. After being “sprayed” many, MANY times, I was tickled pink (pun intended) at how easy it was to change a little girl’s diaper!
I can not tell you the times my little guys woke up wet all over from this same sort of senario. It gets better as they get older. Have fun with your little one. Boys are fun too!
And to cover The Foreign Object with a washcloth while bathing him lest you get bathed too.
I have one boy and only had that problem if I used Pampers. Had to use Huggies with him. Now my little girl couldn’t use huggies, had to be Pampers! Go figure!
Okay maybe I’m weird, I have two boys and then a girl and I’ve never had those problems. My boys never had problems leaking out of their diapers and and we liked pampers and not the huggies! But now we use cloth and you have to be careful not to let them go too long without a change otherwise they leak. It’s fun how we all have similar but yet different experiences, and yes I agree, boys are VERY different from girls! I’m 3 1/2 months experienced with a daughter and loving every minute of it! I love every minute of my boys too, you know what I mean!
Blessings Kim!
Oh no, and we completely forgot to tell you! I know you gor warned to watch out for sprays, but over the diaper leaks somehow got left out.
When Holden was small, I found making a tab facing inward up top also helped keep the onsies dry.
Kim I am sooo use to making sure that the foreign object is facing down that it never even crossed my mind to tell you to watch out for that. After 5 boys it is second nature. But when I read your post I laugh out loud so hard and so long the boys thought I was crazy. They were like what’s soooo fuuny. I don’t know why it’s not in baby books as it should be. It always amazed me that there clothes could be wet and there blankets and sheets if they were in bed but in a completely dry diaper. We had plenty of those times and plenty of times of getting a shower while changeing them. Marshall once peed over his head across the living room floor while I changed him and Steven onced peed in an arch that hit him square in the nose and he also use to hit Cedric right between the eyes. Boys definately give life a different twist. Although when Katie was a few weeks old and Cedric was changing her she peed while beeing changed and it was like a little fountain. Cedric just didn’t know what to do it stunded him she was a girl not a boy he was completely surprized.
ROFL…. that is all i can say… ROFL
Meg Logan
( I got wetted more from my girl than my boy, but hey! I guess i have odd children!)
Take a look over at Engstrong family She recently pointed to a PeePee Teepee that might be useful for you!
(though if you’re talking about while the diaper is on. Um. I hadn’t heard that either. eek.)
Thank you Kim!
, on the difference between baby boys and girls from a mom who knows what’s new to us girl-only moms 
.
After three girls we have had EVERYONE warn us to, you know, “keep it covered” during diaper duty since we’ve found out this one is a boy but I have never once heard about diaper leakage from poor positioning and that one would never have crossed my mind! I will be anxiously perusing your blog over the next couple of months, and taking notes
The peepee teepee is hilarious – I know I could never use one with a straight face!
But this is about when the diaper is on. I’m using pampers (because I got a great deal on them!) and I always do the little fold at the top. Not sure why, it’s just a thing I do, even with my girls.
Positioning really seems to do the trick, though – no more mysterious wet onesies over dry diapers.
I’m curious: during diaper changes, does anyone make a habit of laying a piece of tissue or extra wipe over the business area to prevent getting sprayed? I haven’t tried this yet, but am really thinking of adding some toilet paper squares to the regular diaper supplies. Would it work?
Toilet training will be fun too! If the little guy forgets to tuck, they spray their faces and are so shocked that they forget to stop the stream. Boy, does that tick them off, but we still giggle about it! Congrats with your boy, you’re in for a wild ride!
Mom of 2 boys and a girl
LOL! Here’s another tip for you that you might not have read in baby books. When my boys were babies I always held a diaper up over their parts as I was cleaning them and slipping the new diaper underneath them. Only when I was ready to pull the tabs shut did I remove the diaper that was covering their parts.
I learned this little trick after getting sprinkled many times. After starting to do that, I was sprinkle free!
How true! This is a particularly hard lesson to learn during 2 a.m. diaper changes.
Opening the diaper and letting cooler air in seemed to be the trigger for my boys, so I always opened the tabs, quickly picked the diaper up in the front and put it back down again so they could get done with the firehose thing. That really seemed to help!
Sounds like a good theory, Melissa – I’ll work on that habit. I don’t want to be telling stories next year about all the times and places I got hit!
Yes! Always point the little object down, and cover it while cleaning.
With 3 boys I have had my share of being sprinkled upon!
ROFL
I always covered my firstborn with a baby washcloth during diaper changes in the first couple months. After that, squirtings became less common. He did manage to get himself in the face a time or two….
Too funny. I also learned the hard way about boys. Congratulations on your beautiful new addition!!
LOL!
My 3yo will even talk to himself… “Got to point it down…” when he’s done with the potty!
I’m laughing here. I have 3 boys, so I know exactly what you mean! I will have to say they were polite little babies, though. Not one of them ever got me personally! (Either that, or I’ve forgotten how fast I can duck!)
After 2 girls, I got all the warnings to cover him during diaper changes. I never really bothered, now at 2 1/2 he’s nearly potty trained, and I’ve never had that problem. Not that I’m complaining, mind you!
I never, ever got sprayed. But the soaking wet clothes and totally dry diapers really puzzled me- and defeated me- because that foreign object? It MOVES and repositions itself sometimes!
Congrats on the beautiful baby- we have six girls and then our one boy, so I can totally relate.
I quizzically asked the nurse in the hospital why he kept wetting his little crib shirts but keeping the diaper dry. She said, “Well, you have to point it down.” OHHHH! And then I said the same thing to her that you said: “THAT wasn’t in the baby books!”