A newborn baby can be quite a bit of work. If you’ve just added a bundle of joy to your family, you’ll need to make sure that someone is available for your baby every minute of every day. If you don’t have the benefit of having a stay-at-home parent or another family member available to take care of the new baby, daycare will be a necessity, and you’ll want to know the frequency of diaper changes.
Necessity Will Vary
Newborns could urinate in their diapers upwards of 20 times a day. Making a change for every one of these events will make it difficult for childcare workers to keep up with their other charges. Most babies will dribble a little bit of urine each time. Therefore, it will probably not be necessary to change a diaper every time a baby urinates. After two or three hours, there will probably be enough urine in the diaper to necessitate a change. Some babies will be wetter than others. As they grow and develop, toddlers will start to urinate less frequently, and diaper changes might become less common. You’ll want to check with your daycare provider to see what their policy is so that your child gets the treatment that they deserve.
Avoid Interrupting Naps
Child care centers will usually lay children down for a nap. Your child care provider should check the baby before laying her or him down for a nap. It’s not necessary to wake up a sleeping baby to make sure that a diaper is changed within the two- or three-hour window. Once the baby wakes up, a change will be in order.
Always Change Number Two
Most newborns will have multiple bowel movements each day. This will continue as long as they eat breast milk or baby formula. Once solid food is introduced to their diets, bowel movements will become less frequent. Your daycare provider should change your baby’s diaper every time the smell of a bowel movement makes itself known. There are acids in fecal matter that can lead to irritating diaper rashes. You’ll want to make sure that your child care provider changes a diaper every time a bowel movement is detected. Your baby will be happier, and this will make you happier.
Regardless of who you choose to watch your baby while you’re at work, you’ll want to make sure to send an extra set of clothes with them. Diapers can leak, and some bowel movements can be explosive. A clean and dry pair of pants will make your life easier when you go to pick up your child. Even children who have already been potty trained should keep pull-up diapers and extra clothes around to stay dry if they forget to go on their own.