Leaving Your Baby with Someone Who Has Never Used Cloth Before

Sooner or later, you’re going to end up needing to leave your baby with someone: a relative or friend; daycare; even the church nursery. And sooner or later, they’re going to need to change your baby’s diaper. Some caregivers are great at this. They look at the diaper and figure them out pretty intuitively. Others aren’t as talented. I’m sure you’ve seen some great pictures about what happens when other people put on diapers: diapers that are way too lose, or put on awkwardly, or even backwards! Thanks to some interesting diaper changing experiences of our own, I’ve decided to tuck a little something down in my littlest’s diaper bag to help her caregivers with changes. Feel free to borrow it as needed to fit your baby and your needs.

Hello! Thanks for keeping me today! My name is Little Bit, and I’m a cloth diapered baby. That may seem a little bit intimidating, especially if you’ve never used cloth diapers before, but don’t worry! I’m used to it, and I’ll help you get it figured out.

First, take a peek in my diaper bag and pick out your favorite. I have lots of different styles, and Mommy got them all fixed up for you so all you have to do is put them on me. If there’s a style in there that doesn’t make sense to you, just pick a different one—Mommy doesn’t always pack my diaper bag, and sometimes, my brother and sister don’t make very good choices (they’ve been doing cloth diapers for a long time, too, so they pick their favorite colors and prints, not the easy ones), but there’s usually a bunch of different ones you can choose from.

Here’s the thing about cloth diapers: they go on pretty much like disposables, only instead of that yucky, scratchy tape, I either have Velcro (not much of that these days! I learned how to take it off, so Mommy won’t let me wear it anymore!) or snaps. Take a look at the diaper I have on before you take it off and put on a new one. See how many snaps are showing in the middle? That’s probably how many should show on the new diaper, too.

Slide the new diaper under my bum, bring it up between my legs, and then fold the tabs over and secure them. If it’s too tight, I’ll let you know! If it’s too loose…well, you’ll know that, too, when it falls off. If you want to be a fantastic cloth diaper changer, you can slide the sides up into the creases of my legs, kind of like underwear; but if you can’t get that figured out, don’t worry. It will still catch all the important stuff; it just makes my bum look more fluffy (and Mommy thinks that’s pretty cute). When it’s on, it should look kinda like this, with the snaps facing the same direction as my tummy.

If I’ve had a messy diaper and you need to use wipes, you can find reusable ones in the pocket of my bag. They’ll need to get wet in the sink first—Mommy usually has a water bottle or a sippy cup that she uses when she’s out with me, but the sink is easier. If you prefer disposable wipes and you have them on hand, I don’t mind if you use them on me just this once. I won’t even tell Mommy on you.

When you’re done changing me, my dirty diaper goes in the wet bag that Mommy put in my diaper bag. I have some pretty wet bags just like I have pretty diapers! You’ll notice that the bag is made out of the same material as my diapers. That’s because it holds all the icky stuff in, so it won’t get all over everything else in my bag. Messy diaper? You’ve got two choices. If you’re next to a toilet, you can dump the poop out over it and flush it right on down. If you’re not (or if that makes you gag like my Daddy does), you can just put the whole thing in the wet bag, and Mommy will take care of it when she takes me home. Whichever you decide, please don’t roll my diaper up and snap it to itself once it comes off. If it ends up in the washer that way (because sometimes Mommy doesn’t look as closely as she should), it won’t get clean. If Mommy forgot to put in a wet bag, a plastic grocery bag or Ziploc bag is fine.

Thanks so much for keeping me today! I’m sure we’ve had a lot of fun!

By Emily


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