When my son was younger, I can’t even tell you how many times we were asked when we would have another child. My husband would always answer, “When Hayden is potty trained! We don’t want two in diapers!”. It’s true that we really hated changing diapers – Hayden was a squirmer and a flipper and he used to take his diapers off all the time. Of course, it then took Hayden until he was almost 4 to be completely potty trained but soon after we decided we would start trying to have another baby.
Then we had two. I always laugh because my husband was SO adamant about not having two kids in diapers and now here we have two in diapers! In fact, it’s one of the first things my husband brought up when we found out we were having two and why we quickly decided we wanted to try cloth diapers. Over the past year, we have done a combination of cloth and disposables and it’s sure been interesting! Below I’ll tell you The Good, The Bad and The Ugly of our diaper changing experiences.
The Good
One of the good things about diaper changes was how cute they looked in their cloth diapers! I love seeing their fluffy butts and chubby thighs, plus I could just throw a shirt on them and they would look so adorable.
It took us a little bit to get used to using cloth diapers but then we got into a good groove. When they were younger, we were changing about 25 diapers a day so using cloth was definitely a great investment for us. We liked using the Flip Diapers, which use an insert so you can change those several times before you have to change the actual cover. For cloth diaper newbies like us, this was a great option.
Another great thing is that almost a year later, we are diaper changing pros! I always have friends and family comment how fast I can change Olivia and Evie. We kind of had to learn how to change a baby so fast – especially when you have another baby at your feet waiting to be next!
Mom Tip: If you’re having multiples or more than one child in diapers, consider cloth! If cloth isn’t your thing, check out The Suburban Mom’s post on How Many Diapers Does a Baby Use in the First Year? It’s a good look at how many diapers you might need for that first year and how you can save for it!
The Bad
While it’s true that we have become diaper changing pros over the past year, there’s been a few bad experiences. I’m not a fan of changing the girls when we are outside the house, especially if there isn’t a designated family bathroom. I always feel bad taking up so much room with my stroller and it can be a deal to juggle the girls in and out of their stroller. And if a store or restaurant doesn’t have a changing table? Then the fun goes to the car!
Another bad part of changing diapers is when I have a naked baby in front of me with a dirty diaper and I realize I have no wipes or diapers with me. We have changed our girls in every room of the house and I have keep meaning to set up diaper changing stations throughout the house, which would make diaper changes go much easier without having to sprint to another room!
Mom Tip: To stay organized, check out the Playtex Diaper Genie SmartCaddy, which is a two-in-one caddy that will hold all of your diapering needs. You can place these caddys throughout the house so you’ll always be prepared! I’m giving away TEN of the Playtex Diaper Genie SmartCaddy so make sure to head over and enter!
The Ugly
Oh boy. Luckily, I don’t have any pictures to show you of the ugly side of diaper changes with twins. There have been numerous leaks where my husband and I have had to change both their clothes AND our clothes. There have been diapers that were SO bad and have gotten everywhere that they have required an immediate bath. And there’s even been diapers SO bad that my husband has just given up and thrown away one of the girls sleeper. As he said, “there was just no hope to save it”. Yuck – glad I wasn’t home for that diaper change!
Mom Tip: My girls are busy bees and they always want to seem to twist and flip while I’m changing their diapers, inevitably getting their hands dirty. I’ve learned to have specific toys for them that they love but I only keep at the changing table or in my diaper caddy. That way, it keeps their hands busy and distracted while I change their diaper.
I want to hear YOUR diaper changing stories – the good, the bad and the ugly! Share in the comments!
Disclosure: I am a member of the 2014 Playtex Mom Trust Panel. I have been compensated for my time but all thoughts and opinions are my own.
Your babies are so cute, those pictures are just priceless! No one warned me about diapers before I had kids and now I know why. Ah… the fun of diapers changes. My son is 4 1/2 and still has issues so I am right there with you.
I don’t know how you do it – 25 diapers a day, oh my!
I have seen some ugly times with a diaper with just one baby at a time. So I can only imagine have to juggle two at one time! Bless you!
As someone who wore Pull-Ups to first grade, I pray your girls potty train quickly lol 😉 People say girls figure it out quicker, but not in my case. I also peed my pants randomly until I was about 9. As an adult I feel really guilty about all the disposable diapers and trainers my parents threw in the garbage. I love that you’ve tried the cloth ones because 25 diapers in the landfill a day is A LOT!! Adorable little babes you’ve got there!
Your babies are too cute!! I have actually never changed a baby’s diaper.. so I can’t put in any cents on this, ahha 🙂
Holy cow – that is a lot of diapers a day. I never really thought about how much more work things like diaper changes are for moms of multiples. They were bad enough with just one at at time….
I always handed Red a toy while changing his diaper. It may have even been another diaper that I had on hand to crunch and roll – it saves some dirty hands and keeps them occupied! 🙂
My mom actually used cloth diapers on me when I was a baby because I was allergic to something in the store diapers. She LOVED it, except the constant washing of course, but totally recommends it 🙂
Twins! How adorable! I can’t wait until my son is out of diapers. When I have another little one, cloth will be what I use at home. Thanks for the tips!
Thanks for not showing us the ugly. I don’t remember having any diapering stories that were memorable. We loved Pampers though and had so many leak throughs with other brands of disposables. Never tried cloth though, glad it helped with multiples and worked for your family. These girls are adorable.
I have 1 in pull-ups and 1 in diapers. Ideally the 2.5 year old would’ve been potty trained before his little brother arrived, but it is what it is. I never tried cloth diapers. I don’t have the stomach or patience for all that mess. I’d much rather just toss them.
Kudos for you for using cloth diapers when you can! Either toys are food are the only things that would keep our boys occupied when we were changing their diapers. We have one in diapers right now, but we’re working on potty training. I’ve really been thinking about baby #3 though, so…
My daughter is 16, so I can’t remember anything about my diaper changing day. I just know that I hated them and was so happy when she was finally potty trained!
Your babies are adorable! I haven’t had kids yet but diaper changing already worries me! I would love to use cloth diapers when I have kids for sure though.
It’s been a long while since I had to worry about diapers. I do remember that my son “forgot” his potty training when my daughter was born. Two in diapers out of self defense! Then he decided he didn’t care for that and “remembered” how to use the potty again. 🙂
I do not miss those diaper changing days! I remember being mortified when my girlfriend actually volunteered to change my daughter’s diaper. As soon as she lifted her legs to pull the dirty diaper out from under her, my daughter rocket launched diarrhea right on my friends chest!
My boy still wears gDiapers (and I’m hoping he’ll potty train in the next few months.) They are cute – and I agree that I hate changing him outside of our home, if there isn’t a designated place to change him!
Those pictures are absolutely adorable!!! I have twins, but we didn’t get them til they were 6 years old so I never had to change their diapers. With as active as they are now, I can’t even imagine how hard it would have been to change both of their diapers!
I’m not a fan AT ALL at changing diapers out and about. I do love cute fluffy butts, though.
Ah, I’ve been through the so messy you can’t save the outfit change. Those ones are no fun at all. 😉
We had two in diapers for a few years. It definitely got expensive! I used to make sure we had diapers stashed everywhere.
That’s a great tip about keeping special toys at the changing table! Also I can’t even imagine changing 25 diapers a day- I feel like I’m doing that now with a two week old so I can’t imagine if I actually was!
Those are some mighty cute babies! Right now I have just one in diapers, and I hate changing him lol!
We are using cloth too! We don’t have a full stash just yet, so we still use some disposable. However, we are definitely saving money. With our older son, we only used disposables and had “blowouts” often. Other than a couple of leaks (which I think was because we are newbies to cloth too), we haven’t had an issue with our newest little one.
There are so many ‘good, bad and ugly’ moments with diaper changing! I can’t tell you how many times we just threw out jammies because they was not hope in saving them. lol
when my littlest was born I had 3 in diapers at bedtime. somehow you get thru it, right? we all do!!
diapers are seriously one of the worst things about babies except when they are in adorable cloth diapers. But I have the same problem with changing them around the house. I always forget wipes or diapers in the other room.
I can totally see how cloth diapers have been a huge source of savings for you. I can picture you running through the house trying to get a wipe in the middle of a change!
I am so glad to be done with diaper changes! My best tip is to set up changing areas through out the house, it was a LIFE and time saver especially with having two stories!
I said the same thing … I don’t want a second until my youngest is out of diapers! The caddy sounds awesome.
Your twins are cute and brought back memories of changing my twins too… All you shared happened to us too. Like you, we juggled!
I remember the days of 2 in diapers although they were 12 months apart at the time. I love using cloth with my last little one. Such a better choice.
I love your mom tips! This article on diaper changes is a must read for new moms – as “an old pro” I kept finding myself nodding and agreeing. lol
We don’t have kids yet, but we have been considering cloth diapers. I’m not 100% convinced yet, but I think it might be worth it.