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Diapering looks so easy when someone else does it -- like the nurse in the hospital who's as comfortable handling your baby as the UPS man is a package -- but if you haven't changed a newborn's diaper before, it can actually seem like a complicated process.

How to Change a Diaper

• Assemble everything you need before you start: a clean diaper, a clean outfit (even socks, the newborn poop goes everywhere), diaper wipes -- or, even better, a soft washcloth and some warm water -- and a few extra rags to clean up the inevitable mess.
• Wash your hands with soap and water.
• Put your baby on a clean and safe surface. This can be a...

Diapering looks so easy when someone else does it -- like the nurse in the hospital who's as comfortable handling your baby as the UPS man is a package -- but if you haven't changed a newborn's diaper before, it can actually seem like a complicated process.

How to Change a Diaper

• Assemble everything you need before you start: a clean diaper, a clean outfit (even socks, the newborn poop goes everywhere), diaper wipes -- or, even better, a soft washcloth and some warm water -- and a few extra rags to clean up the inevitable mess.
• Wash your hands with soap and water.
• Put your baby on a clean and safe surface. This can be a changing table but it doesn't have to be. You can change your baby on the floor on a changing pad or towel (place the baby between your legs), the bed, or even a chair.
• Tell your baby it's time for a diaper change and smile (we don't want her having hang-ups later in life).
• Take off the soiled diaper and put it aside. Whether you use cloth or disposable diapers, if the baby's pooped, you'll need to scrape all of the poop into the toilet after the baby has on a clean diaper. Landfills are not equipped to deal with human feces and human excrement thrown into landfills is thought to be a contaminant to groundwater and a vector for disease.
• Gently lift your baby's legs and clean the poop out of all the skin folds. The flaps of skin in a girl's labia and the wrinkles in a boy's scrotum are particularly tricky. If the baby has only peed, you can clean with water but there's no real need to. Try not to overuse baby wipes as the chemicals in them can cause skin rashes. Sometimes poop will go all the way up to the back of the neck. Turn the baby over gently and sponge clean. Now she's ready for the next diaper and outfit she's bound to soil in minutes flat! Clothes without too many snaps, like drawstring nighties, make newborn diaper changes easier.
• Expect your baby to poop or pee while you're in the middle of changing her, so have a cloth ready. For boys, make sure the penis points down in the new diaper so he doesn't pee on his face.

Safety Note

Although disposable diapers can hold a lot of pee and still seem dry, it's important to change them as soon as they are soiled to avoid diaper rash -- as often as six or eight times a day for a newborn. Make sure to give your baby some "air time" on a towel without a diaper to let her skin breath and avoid diaper rash.

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