First Time Mom Reflections…Changing Diapers

It is so normal for a first time parent to have no idea when or how to change baby’s diaper. Do not feel bad if you had to be told!

Baby getting diaper changed

Sometimes I look back on how much I have learned since first becoming a mom and really just have to laugh at myself.

I have come a long way!

Then it struck me; many of you are first time moms and might have a tendency to compare yourselves to me and feel bad. So, I thought it might be fun for me to share some of my first time mom stories with you so you can see that everyone makes mistakes and has things to learn along the way.

This is a story about when we first had Brayden and were in the hospital. A lot of it was kind of a blur for me (unlike my girls). At some point, a nurse walked in and asked us a series of questions, including if Brayden had any wet or poopy diapers.

My husband and I kind of glanced at each other, then at her and replied, “No?”

You see, the nurses had taken Brayden out every so often to do some test here and some test there. We assumed they were also changing his diaper for us.

Really.

We really thought they would be doing that while we were in the hospital. Maybe they were? After that question, we knew we now needed to change his diapers while in the hospital!

Okay, now I must be fair to us. We really didn’t know.

And, with my girls, the nurses did talk about diapers a lot more and in the case of McKenna told us, “While we had her, we changed her diaper.” Of course, this was unnecessary by then because we were seasoned pros and changed her diaper every time she ate–even if maybe she didn’t need it.

It can be hard to tell with the little newborn and those super-absorbent diapers. So we just changed them all the time. We had our routine down. Feed baby. Change her diaper. Let her play if she will. Have her sleep. It is in our blood now.

So go ahead. Have a little chuckle at our expense. We laugh about it often now. We really had no idea what we were doing. We marvel that they just send babies home with first time parents–there should be a quiz or something! 😉

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19 thoughts on “First Time Mom Reflections…Changing Diapers”

  1. I will admit to the same thing!! It seems funny now that we also have our routine down, but back then I was horrified that I didn't even think of changing her diaper. It just added to the paranoia of having to eventually take care of this little creature all by myself. But it's been almost six months, and I'd like to think I'm doing an okay job (at least I don't forget to change her diaper anymore)!

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  2. We did the same thing! LOL. On the first day I was so busy with nursing and visitors that I never thought to change his diaper if he didn't poop. At one point they took him away for some test and when they brought him back the nurse said "Wow, his diaper was soaked". Oops. From them on I changed his diaper more often! I was so embarassed! I won't be making that mistake the second time around!

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  3. LOL, shortly after they brought Drew back to us from his circumsion, the nurse asked if I wanted an "ice diaper" to help with swelling. I said sure why not. Uh-oh, ten minutes later they came back and asked if I had changed Drew since they had circumsized him. I said only to put on the ice diaper….the nurse flipped out..apparently the ice diaper was for me and my swelling. OOPPPSSS!!! Oh well, he liked it!

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  4. That made me smile!! Thanks! I am a first time mom, and one funny thing that sticks out is not knowing how to swaddle! The nurse tried to show us, but she flew through it with stunning expertise, and we just tried to take it all in as best we could. When we tried, it always feell apart and was way too loose. As soon as we got home, we popped in this "Caring for your Baby DVD" and watched the section demonstrating how to swaddle like 5 times!!! Then, we practiced with a doll! I think that is pretty cute, how new we were and really trying to do our best.

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  5. Same thing here… When the nurse asked we said "I don't know" at the same time, hehehehe.The simplest things are the ones you don't think about, because you've never done this "mothering" thing!

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  6. Christi,That was hilarious! Thanks for such a big laugh:) Everyone too. We've all been in that boat. I remember mine was screaming during the diaper change and she seemed really upset….like lip quivering,etc (which actually is just a normal newborn reflex). I was freaking out and told DH to pick her up, pick her up. So he did and she totally baptized him-all over his shirt. We took a picture:) I soon realized they are much more sturdy then they look. And didn't bat an eye with #2.

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  7. I remember leaving the hospital with our first son and lookng at my husband and saying "they are really going to just let us walk out with him, they have no idea if we are going to be good or bad at this and they don't even care!"

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  8. LOL! 🙂 I remember the first time DD pooped in the hospital. She was crying, and DH and I started to get all stressed about why she was crying. FINALLY I thought to check her diaper (the nurses had been changing her up to that point, but it was now 11:00pm). Seems like such a no brainer, but not to a new mommy.

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  9. Hello! I love this blog and it has been so helpful.You are a blessing! I have a 6 week old son and am trying to do Babywise but have so many questions and find myself very confused. I left a comment on an older post, but know you may not squim through older posts, so I thought I would try to post it here!Here are my questions:1. Babywise says nap length should be 1-1.5 hours long.But I nurse my son every 3 hours and his maximum waketime is only about 40-45 minutes, so that makes a 2 hour and 15 minute nap. I just get confused why they mention 1-1.5 hour nap , I can't get the math to add up for that window.Is my son napping too long if he takes a 2 hour and 15 minute-2 and a half our nap depending on his waketime that is so short right now?2. We are trying to do 8-8 and I am nursing at 8, 11, 2, 5, 7:30, Then a 10:30 dream feed, and once , sometimes twice in the night.My question is the nap after the 5:00 feeding. How long should he go down for? We are trying to put him down around 5:45 and then having to wake him up at 7. We have some family time and then we start his bath around 7:15 and then I nurse at 7:30 so he can go down by 8. When we wake him at 7 from his catnap he is so fussy and doesn't seem to want to be woken up at all. Then when we put him down at 8 he cries till the dream feed at 10:30. I think this may be the witching hour for him, but I wonder if it has something to do with the catnap and what other options there are for that time frame and what I could possibly do different to help. What do you suggest for his nap after the 5:00 feeding? I am trying to figure out a schedule and how to make it work.Thanks so much for your help in adavance!

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  10. OMG, this story made me laugh out loud!! I am now a mother of 2, but I remember being the hospital with #1. My husband and I had talked for months about schedules, napping, feeding, crying, etc and of course without no practical application. We had heard a lot of things from friends about not holding your baby ALL the time. Obviously, we didn't know that that didn't apply to newborns 🙂 My mother in law walked into our hospital room and asked where the baby was..to which my husband responded "shes in the bassinet because we don't want to spoil her." I look back and laugh about what an idiotic comment that was!! The baby was 12 hours old!! omg, what our MIL probably thought of us. Needless to say, we have relaxed a little bit and did realize that our newborn needed to be held…quite a bit in fact!!

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  11. I remember the first time I cut my first son's finger nails. It took me at least 30 minutes and I was horrified the entire time! A couple years later when I was helping my sister with her week old I helped cut her baby's finger nails. It took me at most 5 minutes, and that was with me going super slow to be extra careful. Honestly, I was shocked how much easier it was. At first I thought her baby must have different finger nails than my son had had (I don't know how that could be possible!). But then I realized I was simply not a brand new mom!

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  12. Courtney, we say that every time we leave the hospital. it is amazing how little you need to do to leave the hospital with your baby.

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  13. Rachel, I remember being nervous about the finger nails too! And DH is still nervous. He has literally never cut any of our children's finger nails.

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  14. oh my goodness so sorry!!i didn't get it yet, i can't remember what post i put it on, let me look through them and try to find it!!thank you!!

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