Why Do Babies Pee When Changing Diaper?

Being a new parent brings a lot of funny incidents and accidents you wouldn’t have imagined before. It’s just a challenging yet adventurous part of parenthood that every parent discovers now and then.

One of these incidents is your baby peeing right after you change the diaper. I know it’s really embarrassing when you are drenched in baby pee in front of other people around. Been there experienced that!

My little one always did this whenever I was about to remove his diaper, and somehow he made it into a trick to play with me.

Every time he did this, it was followed by loud giggles. At first, it was funny, but then it sorts of became painstaking for me as I had to take a bath and change clothes and had even more laundry to wash whenever he did it.

So what’s the science behind this?

I consulted my pediatrician on our next visit to the hospital and he assured me that it’s nothing to worry about.

Babies cannot control their bladder function, and when cold air or water hits the urethra, it stimulates it to eject urine.

This theory was quite understandable because you see, whenever we go somewhere it’s chilly and cold, we suddenly have an urge to go to the bathroom. But I had to find a solution to this problem, so I tried a few tricks mentioned in the coming sections.

Become a ninja diaper changer

Mom is changing her infant son's diaper on the changing table.

Baby boys are crowned for splashing urine as soon as you are about to change the diaper. The moment you take it off, the fountain erupts; some baby girls also do this, but the mess isn’t as much as with boys.

What I used to do was that I always put a second diaper under the baby while removing the first one and do it as swiftly as I can.

Don’t give any free minute to your baby or else the splash will all over you and the things around you, well we all know what happens next.

Become a fast diaper changer; slide a new diaper while removing the previous one. It will minimize the cause of an incident.

Trick him to pee

Your baby knows when you are about to change his diaper and the plan is to outsmart him.

Simply remove the tapes, loosen up the diaper a little bit let the air flow in for about a second, and then close the diaper back. Wait for a minute or so and then you are safe the remove the diaper. Mission Complete!

This method is called cold air trick and worked every time for me.

Another way you can do this is by keeping a towel or washcloth handy when you notice that he is about to pee. Simply cover him immediately with the towel or cloth, and this will help decrease the splatter, and you won’t be drenched in pee.

Stimulate him to pee before changing diaper

Mom is opening her infant baby's diaper to allow cold air to come through, to stimulate her baby to try to pee.

My mother told me this trick, and I’ve found that many other parents use it too. What you can do is put a wipe or wet washcloth over his belly. The cold stimulates the urethra to pee, wait for a couple of minutes and then clean off the diaper.

Change diaper in warm room or near heater

We know that mostly cold is the stimulant to make your child pee while changing his diaper. So what you can do is change him in a warmer condition, such as near a heater. This will definitely decrease the chances of accidents. You can use warm wipes to clean him after. For this, you can also use a wipe warmer.

Look for the signs

Mom is changing her infant son's diaper on the bed.

While changing the diaper always keep an eye on your baby’s peepee. Do not move I repeat do not move even for a split second or else you know the rest of the story.

Before peeing your baby will always give visual clues, his peepee will straighten just before the splash. This might sound weird but if you want to avoid the splatter you have to be alert and keep the clues in mind.

If you see this is about to happen, just stop changing the diaper and cover him immediately, either with another nappy, towel, or washcloth. Just cover him as fast as you can. Once he has completed his mission, you can then change the diaper safely

Set the baby on toilet

I heard this trick from my colleague and thought I’d share it with you too. She used to change her baby’s diaper in the bathroom instead of changing the table, and when the baby was about to pee, she quickly set him on the toilet by holding him in her hands.

The baby pee’s in the toilet. This trick helped her avoid the splatter and reduced the number of disposable diapers being used.

Bonus: It also helped to get her baby get potty trained earlier than most babies.

Timing!

Always note when your baby usually pee’s. Most babies usually pee after taking a nap, so don’t change him right after waking up. Wait 10 to 15 minutes, and then change the diaper.

Babies also wee when taking a bath. So when you are about to bathe him, just wait for a minute or so and then remove the diaper to avoid the water in the tub filled with pee.

What to avoid?

Always refrain from using the Peepee teepee, wee block, or products similar to these. If you do a quick Google search the first ad that pops up are to buy these.

In my opinion and as discussed by other parents, these are a total fail to use. Peepee teepee is a type of pre-made cloth covering that covers the penis to prevent splatter of urine all over the place.

These aren’t really helpful at all; a simple washcloth, towel, or 2nd diaper comes in handy and does the job really well.

Just be quick and keep an eye on the signs and clues. Although wee block or peepee teepee might do the job at times, most of the time, it’s just a waste of money. If you look up the reviews on google, you’ll see mixed reviews, but mostly you’ll notice that parents weren’t thrilled with these products.

FAQs

How do I stop my baby from peeing when I change her diaper?

There are many tried and tested ways you can try as a new parent to help prevent the accident.
– Change diaper really fast
– Keep a second diaper under the first one, put it on immediately after the removal of first diaper.
– Keep wash cloth, towel or diaper in hand and the moment you notice immediately cover your baby’s peewee with it.
– Note the timing when your baby usually pee’s always change the diaper a little late so that he is free from his business
– Try the cold air trick or cold wipe trick
– You can change him in warm room to avoid the cold stimulant.

Should I change a diaper before or after feeding?

The best time to change the diaper is before feeding or during feeding. If you are bottle-feeding, then you might need to change after feeding. I personally used to change the diaper before feeding as it helped my baby to not pee after and have a good sleep unless he pooped during feeding, then I had to change him after too.

Should I change a poopy diaper if my baby is sleeping?

Well, Yes! I used to change, and it also made my baby fussy and uncomfortable. He used to wake up from sleep if he pooped, so I had to change him.

Why does a baby pee when you take off the diaper?

As told by my pediatrician, this is because of the cold air stimulation. When the cold air hits the baby’s urethra, it stimulates it to release urine. Baby’s urethra is temperature-sensitive, and they don’t know how to control their bladder urge to urinate.

Takeaway

Being a parent you should always be ready to face a new challenge every day. Be it a health concern or day to day funny incidents. This is just a joy of being a parent. One of these is your baby peeing when you are about to change the diaper. which usually results in getting wet with wee.

No one likes it!

Babies are babies they like to play tricks with us. This is just their way to bond with us however you can use a lot of tricks to avoid these funny accidents. There is always a solution to every problem or tricks to avoid it. Most of them I’ve described above are tried and tested methods that worked for me and might as well work for you too!

Was this article helpful?
YesNo
Avatar

Leave a Comment