for awhile there getting dylan into a diaper was a real horror story. we’re talking, screaming and crying and squirming and generally freaking out. much more than normal. she would say, “ow! ow!” and point at the diaper. who knows what that means???? i sure as hell didn’t, and i spend all day with her. but eventually, like super dim detectives, we started putting two and two together and it stopped adding up to five.
her diaper was hurting her. duh. smh. stupid parents.
so i searched the world wide web, high and low, looking for something – anything – that would suggest what the problem was and perhaps what i should do. it seemed like a silly thing to take her to the doctor for, especially since there wasn’t really any sign that something was wrong, other than a few little scratches, which could have been anything.
after some real deep digging i came across a forum with the same question and after reading one of the answers a light bulb went off, and no it wasn’t because the other half walked into the room and turned the light on because i was sitting in the dark scrolling through mommy forums.
diaper tabs aren’t made of the same material the diaper is made of. it’s actually a firmer plastic – not rigid but relatively stiff, so the adhesive on the Velcro (that sticks to the diaper so they don’t puddle around kiddo’s knees) stays where you need it. that slightly rigid plastic was cutting into dylan’s delicate (and yet oddly powerful) little thighs, so much so that it bothered her enough to hate her diapers.
whatever were we to do? if the solution is obvious to you, pat yourself on the back, because i couldn’t figure this one out on my own:
cut the tab.
yeah. literally, that simple. cut the tab. somehow, i never considered taking scissors to these one-size-fits-most, corporately designed and manufactured cookie cutter products that magically fit every baby. you don’t need the whole Velcro surface for the diapers to stay put, especially if you follow up with pants or leggings. it doesn’t make it any easier for little fingers to pry them off. dylan pulls out of diapers all the time, cut tab or no.
but this simple trick really “cut down” (i’m hilarious) the tantrums during diaper time, and now she just doesn’t want to wear diapers because naked.
if you’ve got a diaper tantrum solution, i’d love to hear it. anything to shave another 10 minutes off an already needlessly lengthy procedure.