Changing Diapers Through Morning Sickness
If things could have gone according to my plans, I would have gotten pregnant a year from now and my son would be potty trained. I loved that Bunny was out of diapers long before I got pregnant with Bear. My nausea during pregnancy is so severe that I never wanted to have to change diapers through a pregnancy. But, things didn’t go according to my plans and I’m finding that it’s okay! I’m surviving—even the poopy diapers—without necessarily losing my lunch.All the same, I have found a few tricks to dealing with dirty diapers while pregnant and nauseated.
Ease up on the laundry.
Normally, I prefer prefolds and my handmade fitteds because they’re the easiest diapers
to wash, they store easily, and they require no stuffing. Now that I want to spend as little
time as possible both at the changing table and folding laundry, I have decided I needed
more AIOs. They usually take a little more water in the wash and more drying time, but
they’re quick at the table, and require no stuffing once dry. I have never had a lot of
AIOs. Until now. Nausea keeps me from all but the most essential tasks, so I need to
know I have diapers that can be washed and ready without any stuffing or folding. So, I
bought 8 AIO diapers. I already had 3, so now I have 11, which is enough to ensure I’ll
have at least something for my baby’s bum when I don’t feel like stuffing pockets or
folding and pinning prefolds. I needed something quick and inexpensive and I was
already pretty pleased with the Diaper Rite and Imagine brands so that’s what I went with
for my AIOs. I was not disappointed either. At $11$14 a diaper I don’t even feel badly
putting them in the dryer on those days that I can’t wait for them to line dry. Even if I do
erase months from their life, They fit well, they’re very absorbent, and they’re so quick
and easy to use that it’s worth it for me if it means saving some of my sanity.
Small Wetbag in the bathroom.
Surprisingly, I’ve found that I’ve been able to handle spraying most of the poopy diapers, even when feeling nauseated. But when I can’t deal with removing the poop, I place the offending diaper in a small travel wet bag and hang it from a hook near the shower or put it on the back of the toilet. When my husband comes home from work and sees it, he knows that there’s a poopy diaper in there that I couldn’t handle and he takes care of it.
Change less
I almost hesitate to write this because I’m a huge proponent of always changing a baby’s diaper immediately. But when you have to choose between changing a diaper right now or waiting a little bit until you can stomach it, sometimes it’s best to choose the latter option. Now you’re taking care of two babies and they both need you. As long as you aren’t leaving your child in the dirty diaper for hours at a time, it won’t hurt to wait a little bit, especially if it’s just wet.
Line dry.
Line dry your diapers. This actually serves two purposes: 1) you can smell everything during your first trimester and this will help deodorize them and 2) it’s amazing what a little time outdoors does for morning sickness. Having suffered from severe morning sickness with all three pregnancies, I can tell you that this is better than any other remedy I’ve ever tried. Turns out, I’ve been in the habit of having my first trimesters in the wrong season. I was never able to enjoy the outdoors with my other two pregnancies and now that I can, I’m amazed at what it does for me! So, while I’m out there, I might as well dry and freshen the diapers while I let my kids play in the dirt.
Teach the older siblings.
I’ve also been using this as an opportunity to teach my five year old daughter how to change diapers. She can’t handle any poopy ones yet but she is pretty good at removing and replacing the wet ones. Maybe by the time the baby is born she’ll be a pro!
My daughter has also learned to pad fold flats and stuff pocket diapers as well as how to fold the wipes so they pop up in the wipes dispenser. She doesn’t particularly enjoy doing this, but in a pinch, I know she will be able to help out if necessary.
Having experienced bouts of HG with my second child, I really didn’t think I would survive changing diapers during my first trimester, but I’m onto my seventh week and though things are really tough, I’m surviving. My experience tells me that this pregnancy will only get worse for one or two more weeks before it slowly starts improving. I don’t know how long the nausea will last, it was different with each of my babies and it never fully went away with my second, but this is usually when my nausea peaks. If I can handle my son’s diapers now, I have hope that I will continue to be able to take care of them throughout the pregnancy.
