Cast your mind back to your life before you had kids.
Remember how much time you spent getting ready to go on a big night out? The holidays you spent lounging by the pool or exploring the sights without a single thought paid to whether or not the resort sold chicken nuggets?
Back in those carefree days, when you imagined your future self as a parent, do you remember what your niggling worries were? The things you wondered if you could handle as a parent, the things you just weren't sure how to do.
Personally my transition to parenthood was relatively easy as I had years of experience as a nanny and nursery nurse under my belt, I had fed countless babies, I knew exactly how to make up a bottle, I knew all of the rules around what children could eat at what ages, and I had changed thousands of nappies before I ever had a little poop-machine of my very own to contend with.
But for some new parents, things like these can be extremely daunting - a friend of mine had her first child a year or so ago and neither she or her partner had ever really been around children before - changing a nappy was a completely new experience to them, they had never even looked at a nappy before - and suddenly they had to know exactly how to change one!
And they're not alone, a recent study has shown that up to a third of new parents feel completely overwhelmed and unprepared when it comes to nappy changing.
The research was commissioned by WaterWipes and a total of 1,000 parents with under 5's were surveyed - the results showed that it was division of labor that most couples were disagreeing about, with half of Dads believing that the nappy duties are evenly split whilst 6 out of 10 mums felt that they did most of the changes themselves.
Now I have to confess something here, in our house it is very much the opposite way around - when Tyne was a baby and Jon was out of the house at work all day the nappies were purely my duty, but now that Jon works from home alongside me I have to admit that he changes almost ALL of the dirty nappies in our house - I have a sensitive stomach when it comes to these things!
If you are a new parent feeling a little stressed about nappy changes, WaterWipes have some expert tips from Lisa Clegg (author of The Blissful Baby Expert) which I am sharing below:
Lisa says: "Nappy changing, while not everyone’s favorite chore, doesn’t have to make you feel nervous or stressed which can also have the unfortunate knock on effect of your baby picking up on these feelings.
The most important thing to remember is that you’ve got this. To help you feel more at ease with even the most challenging change, here are my five tips to get you in the nappy zapping zone;
1. Prepare and have everything out and ready before you begin – a fresh nappy, a disposal bag and a few wipes. Using a chemical free wipe such as WaterWipes means you don’t have to worry about irritating your baby’s sensitive skin
2. Keep making eye contact and talking to baby, your voice can be soothing even if they become restless,
3. Don’t stop if baby cries, the quickest way of soothing them properly is to keep going until the job is done
4. Use the distraction of a favorite toy for a slightly older baby
5. Always finish with a cuddle - it’s reassuring for them and for you!
I hope that these tips are useful to you, and to add in a few of my own - I have always found that singing during nappy changes help to distract the baby particularly when they get to that awful wriggle/crawl away stage around 6 or 7 months!
And when it comes to changing boys who seem compelled to have a wee whenever the air gets to them, to avoid fountain episodes - use an extra wipe as a little teepee over their private parts!
If you're a bit of a nappy changing pro yourself, what would you say are your top tips for nervous parents?
*This post has been written in collaboration with WaterWipes
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