Especially for babies 6 months and younger, they never go too long before needing another feed, which is a better opportunity to change their nappy. This is also why we recommend timing nappy changes with their night time feeds. We'd also suggest making a habit of changing their nappy at night: Just before going to bed.
Experts recommend that you change your newborn's diaper every two to three hours, or as often as needed.
If you're changing your little one's diaper during a nighttime feeding, either do so before you feed them or halfway through their feeding. If you wait to change their diaper until after you feed them, you might risk waking your baby up, which is exactly not what you want to do at that point!
If your baby is sleeping, you do not need to change their diaper. A dirty diaper isn't bothering them, so it shouldn't bother you either! If your baby wakes overnight, whether it be to eat or just a typical overnight waking, try to limit stimulation and skip a diaper change when possible.
Unless your doctor or child and family health nurse has told you otherwise, there's no need to wake your baby for feeds. And at night, the best option might be settling your baby straight back to sleep after feeds, rather than trying to play.
Change Before You Feed
This usually wakes babies up enough to get them to take a full feeding. If that wakes your baby too much, change their diaper first, and then feed them. If you change the diaper after you feed your baby, you risk completely waking them again.
If you're wondering when to change a baby's diaper at night, then the obvious answer is to change it when it gets completely soaked up in urine or if your baby has pooped in it.
It is not safe to have the baby in diapers for 24 hours but recommendations say that you need to have open air time for six to eight hours every day. Whenever you are changing diapers, give 15-20 minutes of open air time to let the skin dry on its own.
How often should you change the diaper? Keep that in mind that babies often urinate more than 20 times a day. Hence, it is important to understand that you may need to change the diaper every 2 to 3 hours.
The general rule of thumb is that you should change your baby's diaper every 2–3 hours. But what if your baby is sleeping soundly, you've gone to return them to their crib and, oh no! Their diaper is wet, and it could be hours before their next feed.
You should change your baby's diapers regularly. Your baby's pee, combined with the bacteria in her poo, may make her skin sore and lead to diaper rash. Change your baby's diaper before or after every feed, or whenever she's had a poo. If your baby has sensitive skin, she may need changing as soon as she pees .
It could be every hour in the first few days. Feed your baby as often as they want and for as long as they want. They'll begin to have fewer, but longer feeds after a few days. As a very rough guide, your baby should feed at least 8 to 12 times, or more, every 24 hours during the first few weeks.
Do you need to wipe a baby girl after peeing? No. Even with a baby girl, you don't need to worry about wiping after they pee. This is because urine doesn't normally irritate the skin and most nappies easily absorb it anyway .
Diapers are considered safe for babies, even babies less than a day old. In fact, some diapers are made specifically for babies. Wearing diapers all day is not recommended. Wearing diapers 24/7, including at night increases the risk of skin irritation, rash, skin rash.
You don't want to let babies sit in a soiled diaper for too long, so it's best to change them as soon as you get a whiff of what's happened (otherwise, poop can irritate your baby's skin or even lead to bladder infections, especially in girls). With pee, things can get a little murkier.
Newborns may nurse for up to 20 minutes or longer on one or both breasts. As babies get older and more skilled at breastfeeding, they may take about 5–10 minutes on each side.
Yes, you should burp your baby even after a dream feed, which is a late-night feeding you wake your little one up for before you head to bed. The reason? Any feeding, including a dream feed, can create gas and/or cause your baby to spit up. So do your best to alleviate that pressure.
They don't need to be awake during a nighttime change, if they're able to sleep through it. Just scoop them up gently and keep interactions minimal. They may stir and wake a little, but it'll be easier for them to settle back to sleep if they haven't become fully alert during the change.
Normally, diapers should be changed every 2-3 hours. Do not let the baby have the diaper on for more than several hours or wait until the diaper feels wet before changing the baby. If the baby defecates, the diaper should be changed immediately and the baby should be cleaned every time before putting on a new diaper.
One way to find out whether a diaper is full, without having to actually feel inside of it, is to hold your hand over the front of your baby's diaper and jiggle it a teensy bit to see if it moves.