Diaper changes

Within the past 2 weeks diaper changes have become near impossible for me. She won’t even stay still long enough for me to get the dirty diaper off. I’ve always changed her on a changing pad on the floor which makes it really easy for her to turn over and just crawl away. I’m starting to run out of creative tricks to entertain her enough to keep her there, i.e. blowing on her tummy, putting a toy in my mouth and barking/growling like a dog, pretending to sneeze, (all things that she thought was funny for awhile but is now old and bored by it), etc. etc... basically anything that made me look like a complete lunatic, but it got the job done, or giving her a toy to play with that she hasn’t seen in awhile.

The novelty of my cell phone has just worn off too. She has this fascination with anything electronic (she takes after her Dad in that respect): cell phones, remote controls, laptops, the X-Box controller. So last week I was allowing her to hold my cell phone. She pushes the buttons watching the screen light up and then fade. This would keep her entertained and laying on the changing pad well after her diaper was changed. I would then take it away, after some protest, to keep hidden away until the next diaper change.

Today I used the innards of the Glow Worm, just the white plastic box that holds the batteries, music box, and light. It had been taken out to change the batteries. It’s much easier for her to push the button then when it is in the Glow Worm. Kiana was so enthralled by it that I decided it would become my new distraction, so I hid it. She will push that button over and over listening to the lullabies and watching the enclosed light bulb light up and fade. That worked.

I must say though, I am becoming better at putting her in a clean diaper while she is standing. Something I never imagined myself ever being able to do. No where near an expert, but at least she’s in a diaper, thus protecting the carpet and furniture from any accidents. It takes awhile of chasing her bare bottom around and getting the diaper on a very wiggly girl to get it fastened. For me, when I try to do anything hurried I end up shaking, thus making the task 10x slower.

A couple of times I’ve had to wait until she is ready to nurse and almost asleep on my lap to get a clean diaper on her, doing this one handed.

Previously, and compared to now, changing a diaper was “easy”. I used a mobile over her changing pad for awhile to keep her attention. The first 4 months I didn’t change many diapers because I always had someone else around to do it. I wasn’t even carrying her at that time so someone always had to put her on the changing table for me anyway. I changed my first diaper when she was 7 days old. She seemed so fragile, and those diapers were so small.

We tried to teach her to help us using “bottom’s up”. We would say that to her while lifting her bottom to put the clean diaper under her. She did catch on and occasionally, when we said “bottom’s up” she would pull her legs up to her chest and lift her bottom. But now that phase goes in one ear and out the other. *sigh* Oh, well.

With that all said, I am hoping to have Kiana potty-trained before the age of 2.