help with diapering, my son keeps soaking his back!

CantWait2Be

not sure what changed but starting yesterday my son somehow keeps waking up with his back soaked, soaked through 2 swaddles and his diaper is dry, or just has poop in it.  I don't believe newborns can sweat and his head isn't sweaty, so we think this is pee.  I don't know how this is happening but changing clothes & swaddles every time he nurses/does diaper change is already old.  Any advice on diapering my newborn?

He was circ'd and we're still having to put vaseline on him (until he's 3 weeks, he's 1 today), and he still has his cord stump.

carinamarie77

It's totally normal for newborns to sweat, mine definitely did. 

Mrs.Purdue

yep, mine sweats too... especially on her back/back of head from where she's been laying while she's sleeping. 

erikawvu

... who said newborns don't sweat??

DD sweats ALL the time.

I've heard if you point his weenie down when you close the diaper, that it helps. But I have NO experience with little boys!

Temp246483875007510

Our LO peed up the back of his diaper ALL the time the first few weeks. We tried going up a size or doing it tighter, literally nothing worked. I'm sorry I don't have a better answer for you but it did eventually stop. Most people complain about boys peeing up the front so I wasn't really sure why this was happening up the back. You can try double diapering, or my pedi said there is like an additional pad you can put in the diaper for overnight. GL it will get better as he gets bigger. 

srs5624

It could be sweat... not likely if it's a wet circle. Sweat would probably be damp all over, not a saturated spot.

It should get better when he's all healed up. That's about when Aaron stopped leaking as much. The vaseline on the diaper blocks the absorbency in that area, so it rolls back until it finds a place to absorb... which means a wet back sometimes.

In general, make sure he's pointing down (obviously he is if he's wet in the back and not the front) and that the diaper is tight enough around his waist.  If he's still leaking, it might be the diapers. We were using Up & Up (Target brand) for awhile and he would still leak at least once a day, sometimes within minutes of a diaper change. He's been completely leak free with Pampers, Huggies, or Luvs and that includes 8+ hours at night. Eventually we'll get some overnights, but regular diapers are holding out at night for now.

CantWait2Be

we have not been pointing his penis down yet, were thinking maybe we needed to let the circ heal first??

The wet spots tend to be wet circles on his back and swaddles.  His head is not sweaty at all, and I'd think that if he's sweating his hair would be wet a bit too?  I guess I don't know what it is.  We were told to double swaddle him and keep hat on at all times unless trying to stimulate to eat since he was low birth weight for his gestational age, so he wouldn't shiver off his calories.

We are using pampers.

srs5624

This might be obvious... but have you smelled the spots yet? There should be a notable difference between the smell of pee and that of sweat.

We were told to point his penis down when he was born and they reinforced to do so when they showed us how to care for the circumcision, so maybe check with his doctor about that.

I don't know what to tell you about the sweating though. DS absolutely hated to be swaddled so we didn't bother. His doctor said not to put any hats on him to sleep since babies are easily overheated and he already had a full head of hair anyway. My DS slept in "sleep and play" outfits (long sleeved footie pjs) for the first month and a half or so and he was a comfortable temperature.

Now he sleeps in just a short sleeved onesie. We keep the air on 72*F and he's comfortable that way. Anything more and he gets overheated.

CantWait2Be

yeah we've tried smelling it and there really isn't a smell.  I'm stumped.  I think we'll start pointing his penis down anyways and see if that helps.

handsonthewheel

Are you sure he's not overheating being double swaddled and having a hat on? My friend's daughter was low birth weight and they were told never to put a hat on indoors as that would overheat the baby instantly...

CantWait2Be

no, I'm not sure if he's too warm or not.  The hospital told us to keep the house temp at 74 or 75 and to double swaddle and keep hat on unless we're stimulating to feed since he was low birth weight.  But I'd think sweating off his calories could be just as bad as shivvering them off... Wish I could tell if it was pee or sweat!

handsonthewheel

I know that just being in a onesie and a single, light swaddle layer with our temperature around the same (no a/c in England!) makes our LO's back sweat and I can usually feel it through the blanket when I pick her up.... but if he is wearing a hat, I would also think you would potentially notice sweat on/around his head...so it is hard to say. 

I wonder if you could call his doctor and discuss whether it is necessary to follow the hospital's advice now that your son is a bit older and (hopefully) gaining weight? That way you could try to keep him cooler at night and see what happens.  

biblionerd

Newborns do sweat. LO didn't but peed out his diapers when using pampers or when the diaper was too small. Is the diaper wet in the back?

biblionerd

DS wasn't low birth weight, but he would be sweating if he were double swaddled with a hat on for sure! The whole dress them in one layer more than you definitely does not hold true with him. He's just a hot baby. But again, he did pee up his back in pampers for sure.

JnnLuvsU

We had this problem too, for a couple of weeks.  Finally, I read a post on here about pointing his penis down and switched to bigger diapers.  Not a leak since.  I assumed it was sweat too, but be warned, from what I understand, newborn pee doesn't really smell like much, which I've also noticed when I change his diapers.  I'd try the bigger diapers and see if that works if just pointing his penis down doesn't do the trick.  GL!

CantWait2Be

I'm quite sure he doesn't need bigger diapers, his birth weight was only 6.1 and we're working our way back up to it.  The nb diapers actually look big on him.  How does this peeing up the back stuff happen and what can I do to prevent it besides trying to point his penis down?  Maybe diaper isn't tight enough?  Didn't have this with dd, boys are already so different!

biblionerd

CantWait2B...:

what can I do to prevent it besides trying to point his penis down?  Maybe diaper isn't tight enough? 

Like I suggested, try a different brand? Your diaper might not be tight enough. We were told to do the waist tight enough, but so you could fit a finger underneath when relaxed.

reaustin18

CantWait2B...:

I'm quite sure he doesn't need bigger diapers, his birth weight was only 6.1 and we're working our way back up to it.  The nb diapers actually look big on him.  How does this peeing up the back stuff happen and what can I do to prevent it besides trying to point his penis down?  Maybe diaper isn't tight enough?  Didn't have this with dd, boys are already so different!

You can still point his penis down even when it is healing. As long as you are putting vaseline on it, it won't stick to anything and it shouldn't hurt him. Believe me, it helps!

TheObviousChild

If I'm reading this right, your son was 6.1 at birth and someone told you he was low birth weight?  From what I was told, low birth weight is 5 lbs, 5 oz or less- some people say 5 lbs 8 oz but, eh, potato-potahto.  My son was 5.6 at birth and I never have a hat on him.  If he's in a swaddle wrap (we have the summer infant fleece one) I even take off his onesie.  Otherwise, it's a sleeveless onesie and a blanket.  His temp is always fine.

Anyway, LO gets leaks ALL THE TIME.  I've found it's because the newborn diapers are huge on him and if it rides down even a little bit it's pee-pee city.  It can be on his back, side, or front depending on how he's laying.  I haven't found a damn thing that works except getting the tiniest diapers around and changing them FAST(if he's exposed to air it is a disaster and if the diaper doesn't come in fast enough BAM he's peed up his side/back/front/face).  Good luck!

CantWait2Be

yes, the hospital told us he was sga (small for his gestational age).  He was born at 37w 6d. 6lb 1oz 20.75 long.  They said to keep the temp in our house at 74 or 75 and to keep him double swaddled and in a hat unless we're trying to wake him so he's not shivvering off his calories.  I'd think the risk of sweating them off is there too though if he's too warm.