Top things for babies you may not think about, part 1 – the pooey edition

This is the second part of a series of posts I’m writing about things we found were indispensable for Baba which we wouldn’t have known beforehand. The first part you can read here.

This time I’m going to talk about everyone’s favourite part of looking after a baby: changing their pooey nappies!

3. Puppy training mats

I know what you’re thinking, we had a human baby, not a dog baby. But hear me out.

We bulk buy ours from here. So as you can see they’re dirt cheap. They’re also super absorbent and large, so covers his whole changing mat.

Ours have caught so many changing accidents we couldn’t live without them. Also if you’re mad like us and want to give your baby some “nappy free time” (time when you basically allow them to piss on the floor for no obviously good reason apart from 1 book which says it’s super important for them) then whacking a few of these mats down will help save some of your floor. Obviously Zeff either aims for the tiny uncovered patch, or waits for when you’re not looking to pull back the mat, roll over and piss on the floor anyway. Magical times.

Be careful to not get the scented ones as they may not be good for your little one (maybe, I mean who knows, there’s hardly going to be a baby study on reactions to dog mats).

4. Waterwipes

This one is slightly less contraversial. Obviously you will buy some wet wipes (unless you’re eco friendly/nutters and use your hands or a flannel or something to save the world, in which case, good on you and sorry for creating a wet wipe iceberg). We initially chose to buy waterwipes because they are purest you can get (they’re basically just water) and so great for sensitive bums.

We still use them because they are the wettest wet wipes we’ve ever used. Seriously, they make other wipes feel like sandpaper. They are dripping wet. Which is just fantastic when wiping off all the smelly nasties!

You can bulk buy these here on amazon.

5. Supermarket own brand nappies

Again, unless you’re eco friendly and again, sorry for killing the world, you will be buying a lot of nappies as babies poo and wee a lot. (See an upcoming blog post where this suddenly and surprisingly changes one day).

First I recommend you be utterly grateful for any nappies your friends and family buy you, no matter the brand. The more the merrier.

Second, when buying yourself be open to buying the cheapest you can find at your normal supermarket. We’ve found that no nappy is 100% leak proof and the high end brands like Pampers even less so. So do yourselves a favour and buy nappies which are 4X cheaper and spend the savings on a well deserved takeaway 🙂

We use Tesco brand nappies have heard Lidl and Aldi brands are great too. We tried Sainsbury’s own brand and they were terrible.

6. Travel changing mat bag

I really recommend getting out with your baby as soon as you can. It’s great for your confidence, the baby’s confidence and everyone benefits from some fresh air. It’s also a great way of getting you baby to fall asleep in the buggy!

Initially we bought a changing rucksack complete with mat and more pockets than you can possibly find reasons for.

Then we later bought this changing mat bag thing from JoJo maman bébé, and it changed my life.

Buy it online

It’s so compact, it simply fits in the bottom of the buggy and has everything you need! Wipes, nappies, cream, cloths, puppy training pads 😉

No longer did I need to lug around this army sized backpack and be confident that everything was to hand.

Marvellous!

Note, you can probably find a cheaper alternative!

I’ll finish with a quick couple of tips on nappy changing.

1. To avoid nappy rash, have a dry cloth to hand to pat your baby dry before applying lots of cream, Bepanthen cream worked well for us.
2. Sing a changing nappy song! Zeff will always smile at this, even when super cranky at 2am! I learnt it at a sing and sign class (see upcoming blog on classes) and it goes like this (frère au Jacques tune):

Change your nappy

Change your nappy

Carefully.

Carefully

Throw it in the dustbin

Throw it in the dustbin

Now you’re clean

Nice and clean

If you can do the signs too, then even better. Now imagine me singing that at 2am and see you next time!

Disclaimer: Please read my Parental Disclaimer before applying any of my advice or ramblings to your child.