Changing a baby boy’s diaper can be a scary proposition for many parents, and if you’ve landed here then you probably already know what I’m talking about. Due to their anatomy, little boys are able to spray pee all over the place at a moment’s notice.
There are many things you can try to prevent your baby boy from peeing on your but I’ve had the most success with changing the diaper quickly, encouraging him to pee before the change, and keeping him warm throughout the process. Pee guard products are a gimmick and mostly a waste of money.
While every baby is different there are definitely some tricks you can keep up your sleeve to help minimize the risks of getting peed on during your next diaper change. Read on to see what I learned during my personal experience raising my son over the past year or so.
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Why do babies pee when you change their diapers?
Knowing why babies pee when you change them is the first step to preventing a diaper-changing disaster. It’s actually a totally natural reaction called cold diuresis.
Essentially, your body knows to preserve heat to your vital organs when cold. It can cause an increased urge to urinate, and babies have no concept of holding it for a more appropriate time.
When does Baby Boy stop peeing during diaper changes?
There’s no rhyme or reason as to when a baby stops peeing during diaper changes. Some continue to do it until they are potty trained. Others suddenly stop doing it one way and no more pee accidents happen.
Until then, here are my best tips to keep yourself dry during diaper changes.
1. Become a speed diaper changer
This first tip is probably the most important thing to master but it is easier said than done.
If you think about it the only real time you are in danger of being sprayed is when the diaper is off. That means you need to minimize the amount of time your boy is free from the diaper and get the new one on as quickly as possible!
New parents, especially, can be a little awkward and slow during their first diaper changes because everything is so new.
Don’t worry!
A little bit of preparation before the change will go a long way. Be sure to have new diapers, wipes, and anything else you will need BEFORE you start the change.
My favorite method is to place the new diaper under your baby and then simply slide the old one out as quickly as possible once you undo it. At that point, you’ll be able to cover your baby’s pee-pee with the new diaper right away. Check out the video below for a demonstration:
The biggest and most obvious downside to this method is that it won’t work at all if your baby pooped. In that case, you’ll have to slow things down and wipe up the dirty butt before you can bring the new diaper into play. For quick wet diaper changes, however, this is king!
2. Make your baby pee before changing him
This is a neat trick that many parents probably haven’t thought about. Some people call it the cold activation method or the cold air trick.
Basically, we are going to try and outsmart your baby and mother nature by getting your baby to pee before changing him so he won’t be able to do it while we work. I’m not a scientist so I don’t understand completely how it works but exposing your boy’s privates to the cold will often get them to pee immediately.
Once they have done their business, your diaper change will be much safer. Here are a couple of ways you can try to accomplish this:
- Open the diaper and let some cool air in. You could try using a paper fan to help this along.
- Take a cold wipe and rub it on your baby’s lower tummy.
- Throw a wet washcloth in the freezer for a minute and then place it under the edge of the diaper.
Another thing to consider is when your baby is likely to pee, like in the bathtub.
Especially as they get older, boys will naturally start to hold a little pee overnight and will likely need to pee more first thing in the morning. This could be an extra dangerous time if you aren’t ready!
3. Keep the cold away during the diaper change with a warmer
If making your baby cold seems cruel or weird then you can use the same idea in reverse.
Rather than wiping your boy down with a cold wipe or letting a lot of breeze inside the diaper during the change, I want you to keep things as warm as possible. Change your baby in the warmest room in the house, perhaps near a heater, and consider using a wipe warmer (like this one) to make sure the wipe is nice and toasty.
- Keeps baby wipes fresh, moist and free from discoloration
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Taking these precautions may help prevent your baby boy from feeling the urge to pee until after you’ve gotten the new diaper on!
By the way, I’ve looked at all the pros and cons of getting a wipe warmer and created a resource that you can find right here. They will certainly help keep your little man warm during a change!
4. Check for signs that your baby is about to pee
This one might sound a little weird but if you want to avoid getting peed on then you will pay attention to all of these tips!
After getting showered a few times I realized that my boy was giving me an early warning clue just before he started to pee with his diaper off. If you pay close attention to your boy’s penis then you will notice that it will stick straight out just before he is about to let it go.
If you see this happen, abort the mission and keep it covered. Once your baby is done peeing you can resume the diaper change and feel pretty confident that you are in the clear!
5. Cover your boy’s privates with the new diaper, a wipe, a burp cloth, etc.
This is a pretty obvious tip but I constantly see parents that aren’t doing this for whatever reason.
While covering up your baby boy won’t completely avoid him from making a mess it will help minimize the chance that you or the rest of the room will get sprayed. By placing the new diaper, wipe, burp cloth, blanket, towel, or whatever over his pee-pee you’ll be able to soak up the pee quickly and avoid spreading it around.
Out of the group I prefer to use the new diaper just to keep things simple during a quick wet diaper change but a poopy diaper change is a different story.
For poopy diapers, everything has to slow down as you wipe up the poop and covering your baby becomes less practical. Plus you run the risk of getting poop all over whatever you use to cover up so keep that in mind so you don’t have extra laundry to do or wasted diapers.
The ideal strategy is to prevent your baby from peeing during the change if at all possible by using some of the earlier tips.
7. Avoid pee guards like Weeblocks, Peepee Teepees, and other gimmicks
If you perform a quick search on how to prevent your baby boy from peeing on you then you will inevitably find a lot of baby boy pee shield products that claim to get the job done.
Essentially, they are ready-made coverings that you place over your boy’s penis to prevent the pee from going all over the place. They are usually adorably cute pieces of cloth or absorbent material and many of them are even washable and reusable.
While they could certainly be useful in some situations I feel as though they are gimmicks that waste time and money.
The biggest problem with these is that they aren’t really any more effective than just using a cloth you already have at your changing station and in many cases, they won’t last as long as you think they will. Looking at reviews online shows that most people have mixed experiences and generally felt like they weren’t helpful.
If you get them as a gift at a baby shower then feel free to give them a whirl but I would put my focus on being smart about the diaper change and preventing your baby from peeing altogether.
8. Have a failsafe in place in case of total failure
There is an old saying that even the best plans don’t survive an encounter with the enemy and that can definitely be said about changing a boy’s diaper without getting peed on.
Acknowledging the potential for failure is a smart move and with that in mind, you should have at least one failsafe in place in case everything goes wrong. At our house, we like to put a big, thick towel down in the baby changing area.
This ensures that we have something at hand to soak up pee and prevent it from getting into the carpet, changing table, couch, or whatever we are changing little one on. If you really need protection then be sure to find something made of baby-safe plastic or rubber that won’t let any urine get past it onto delicate surfaces.
Hopefully, you’ve found at least a few of these tips useful. Good luck on your next diaper-changing adventure and stay dry!
