What Would You Have Done? - Tempe,AZ

I would change it because personally, I would not be able to go to sleep myself knowing that I left my child to sleep in her poop all night.

I would have changed the diaper. I would not want to give my infant a diaper rash.

Don't stress over waking a sleeping infant. I have 3 kids. If I changed their diapers at night? It was done with precision! :) You will become a pro!! You don't need the light on. You can keep the wipes in a warmer - and it won't be such a shock to his little bum!!

I would have changed it.

You don't need to sooth a 2 week old unless they are overtired, btw. You can just watch for the two yawns and then put them down. This works for a good 6-8 weeks.

I can't imagine leaving a baby lay there with a dirty diaper.

Without doubts, I would have changed him; a diaper rash is far more painful and uncomfortable for your baby which means less sleep for the little one and yourself. Do not feel guilty, being a mom is hard, you will do better next time, we all learn from experiences. Congratulations for your baby!

I would have changed him, but I'm not going to judge you for not doing it. If he was sleeping, and everyone was exhausted, I can see deciding to leave it.

We bought self swaddlers when our daughter was little, http://www.babyearth.com/kiddopotamus-swaddleme-cotton-sm..., and you could pull the bottom part down, change them, and put it back up, never having to fully unswaddle. We also had a wipes warmer so that the cold wipes wouldn't be startling, and sometimes we could change her without her ever waking up. I don't know if that helps at all, but it's what we did.

I would have changed his diaper.

I always changed the diaper immediately.
If our son was really tired he sometimes slept through the changing.
In the 3 1/2 years he was in diapers he only had diaper rash twice and that was from diarrhea due to antibiotics.
I checked frequently, changed when ever I smelled a smell (he fooled me a few times when it was only gas) or had any hint that the diaper had absorbed any pee and I slathered his behind with butt grease so much he'd almost slide out of his diapers.
Yeah, maybe it was overkill but his skin never had a problem except for those few times.
I've known kids who broke out so bad from rash (they just had hyper sensitive skin) that they had lesions that bled at every diaper change and every change was a screaming painful time for them.
I just always felt better keeping his bottom clean.

You always change poop as soon as they're finished pooping. It doesn't matter if he's happily sleeping and you'll have to soothe him back to sleep. If you don't, it not only leads to diaper rash and burning skin but it can lead to a yeast infection (yes even in boys).

With urine, if it's just a small amount then that can wait a bit. If it's a half full or a full diaper of urine then you change it right away.

Is this your first child?

I would have changed him.

Changed him. Yes that leads to diaper rash. My daughter woke up with a dirty diaper around that age and had a horrible rash. I felt terrible for not checking her. Yea it's a pain to get back to sleep but its better then soothing a rashy baby.

You should always change his diaper. Yes, he could get a nasty rash, and also a yest infection from moisture. I can't even count how many things I had to do to my son, while he was sleeping. This is something you'll have to get used to. Children need things, even in their sleep. What they do NOT need, is to wake up to a screaming rash.

I would have changed his diaper. My DD had a horrible diaper rash at 3 weeks and trust me, you don't want your son to have that. If your son woke up and cried, just offer to nurse him again. You might find that he'd go back to sleep quickly, if it woke him much at all. Put him in just a tshirt at night if possible so you don't have to do much to change him, but please change him.

I know you are very tired. I totally get the temptation. But I would change him if you notice.

I would have changed him!
Poor baby. Who would want to sleep in their poop?
Part of being a parent in the beginning is losing massive amounts of sleep! I get that, mama, I REALLY get that. I have had 3. And I remember thinking I just couldn't take another minute of soothing, swaddling, singing....ect.
But, that's our job. So, next time he poops you change him right away. keep the lights low, sing while you are doing it, and then cross your fingers! Believe me.....better that he cranks at you for an hour because you woke him up then DAYS because he has a diaper rash.
L.

Don't worry about what you did. Sounds like he didn't get a rash, so just let it go. In the future, I would change him for poopy diapers right away. Wet diapers, let him sleep unless you see that he is very sensitive and getting rashes just from wetting. We all make mistakes, don't beat yourself up about this one!

I would have changed it. In the dark, no talking. If During the day.. No talking no cooing and no eye contact.. In the day care where I worked, we learned this trick, because we were never allowed to leave the children in dirty diapers if we were aware.. So we did not want to disrupt their sleep. But also could not allow them to stay in dirty diapers,

Using warm wipes helps. . They make wipe warmers..This is similar to one we had for our daughter. you add a bit of water to it, then the wipes.

http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=4111772

It changed our lives. The air conditioning in the summer made the wipes so cold. They would startle her. Even trying to warm them in our hands sometimes took a moment we really did not have, if she was squirming, With the warms ones .. at this age she never woke up again because of the cool or cold wipes.

I would have changed it.

I would have changed him. Diaper rashes in a newborn are no fun. Plus, the longer you let that poop sit in a diaper, the worse it is to clean off your baby's butt. The moisture gets absorbed into the diaper, and the poop crust is practically glued to baby's butt. Congrats on your wee one!

Don't feel guilty.

I suggest that next time you do change him. He'd just fallen asleep, so no biggie. Use warm wipes and go quickly. This is why it's definitely okay to let baby sleep in a onesie or even just a diaper when swaddled...it's easier access!

Swaddle him up and put him down to sleep while he's still awake. He'll fall asleep on his own.

I would have changed him. But then my babies didn't need to be soothed to sleep at 2 weeks old.

Well, DID it give him diaper rash? If it didn't, you did fine.

As he gets bigger, he'll be on a better "poop" schedule and probably won't be pooping in his diaper in the middle of the night.

A tip for you, mom. If he wakes other than to eat, just pat him without picking him up. No additional swaddling or soothing. Let him fuss. You are right there with your hand on him. That is enough. This helps him learn to self-soothe and will go a LONG way towards preparing him to sleep easier when you lay him down AWAKE to let him put himself to sleep.

Believe me, this is a worthwhile thing to help your baby do.

I would have had a tough time deciding! It's natural to not want to go through all that again. I definitely would've warmed up those wipes real nice, so they didn't alert him. Actually, a nice warm wipe might have made him go back to sleep!!

I would have changed him.

What you did was fine. Don't feel guilty! If he had pooped 5 mins later, after you went to sleep, you would have never known.

You know your baby. Letting him sleep sounds like it was right. If he's the type to not get right back to sleep then let him sleep. He would have let you know if it bothered him. It's something that doesn't happen all the time and if he has sensitive skin just toss some corn starch baby powder on his booty if it gets red. It's fine to let you sleep.

K. B
mom to 5 including triplets

If I knew my daughter needed changing, I changed her, sleeping or not. If she was sleeping, I tried to do it without waking her, but if she woke, so be it. I know I wouldn't want to sleep with a load in my drawers, and I wasn't going to make her do it.

I changed my kids when I knew they needed changed. I'd much rather deal with a fussy baby because they were awake than a fussy baby because they had a diaper rash. At that age, my kids would sleep through a diaper change if they were that tired.

To answer your question, I would have changed the baby.

I always changed poopy diapers.

I would never want to sleep in poop, so I would have immediately changed my child then put him back down to sleep.

My daughter just turned 3 months and she never complains about a dirty diaper. When you’re that exhausted I don’t blame you for letting him sleep. Heck, my daughter was pooping several times a day at that age.

Congrats on the baby and I hope you get some rest.