Abandon the changing table?

preissless1 · December 2011

I'm considering relocating C's changing area, because when we put him on the changing table, he immediately flips himself over, squirms, grabs for anything in his reach, and attempts to crawl to look over the edge of the table. This is with the safety strap restraining him. I understand that changing him on the floor won't change that, but he won't be at risk of wriggling off the table.

If you abandoned the changing table, where did you do the changing? Did you have a particular station set up somewhere? My sister did most of the changing of her kids in her living room, and she had a coffee table with a compartment to store diapers, a changing pad and wipes.

LindseyJW · December 2011

with DS, we mostly used the changing table, and sometimes used our bed. with DD, we mostly use our laps, the floor, the bed, the couch, or anywhere where we can wrangle her! we still have the same changing table, but it seems like more of a hassle to go upstairs to use it. we do keep a basket of extra diapers and wipes downstairs.

mssaint · December 2011

We change most non-poopy diapers on our bed now, and probably will until he pees all over it and then we'll find a new solution. For poopy diapers, we still use the changing table, but he's pretty good about not wiggling away when there's poop.

I have also discovered that if I lower my voice and start saying stuff (think James Earl Jones tone of voice - I say "LO, I am your mother" a lot), he will be so surprised that he doesn't wiggle and squirm.

smacb · December 2011

We switched to the floor around 6 months. I'd put blankets and toys around him and usually change him next to the changing table. I moved the wipes, diaper cream, etc into the changing part so it would be out of his reach.

QueSrah · December 2011

The squirmy phase comes and goes for DD, but we stick with the changing table because the height is most comfortable for us. (I'd rather deal with the wriggling in a small space that's higher up than stoop over a lower bed or table where she has more room to get away from me.) Maybe it's one of those all kids are different things, but the wriggling off the table definitely lessened for DD when the novelty of being able to do it wore off. So you may not have to abandon the changing table permanently.

MrsPhilDunphy · December 2011

QueSrah:
The squirmy phase comes and goes for DD, but we stick with the changing table because the height is most comfortable for us. (I'd rather deal with the wriggling in a small space that's higher up than stoop over a lower bed or table where she has more room to get away from me.) Maybe it's one of those all kids are different things, but the wriggling off the table definitely lessened for DD when the novelty of being able to do it wore off. So you may not have to abandon the changing table permanently.

This exactly.

WinesNotWhines · December 2011

We stopped using our changing table when M was around 8 months, for the same reasons. We still have the changing table in his room, because we use it to store diapers, wipes, and some clothes. We either change him on the floor in his room or the living room. We also keep a stash of diapers and wipes there. We have a shelving unit with fabric bins in the living room for toy storage, but we use one of the bins for diaper/wipes storage.

LMH1209 · December 2011

We stopped using the changing table when DS could roll both ways and started changing him on the floor. We have a JJ Cole diaper caddy that we keep in a corner by the couch in the living room.

https://www.amazon.com/JJ-Cole-Collections-Diaper-Stripe/dp/B000SEPO8G

DCtoLowcountry · December 2011

Ditto QueSrah and MPD - once the novelty of showing off his heinie wore off, sticking with the changing table worked because of its height and because all the necessities were right there.

Mrs.Handy · December 2011

We just took the pad off and put it on the floor of the nursery. We did this when he finally wriggled his way off the dresser despite my being there trying to prevent him from doing this! He was determined. He was ok. But that was the end of the changing pad on the dresser.

We stopped using a changing pad and now just change him on the floor. We usually only change him in the nursery since we have to go there anyways to put the diaper in the pail (we use cloth diapers).

tracy042206 · December 2011

We abandoned it around 9 mo with Maggie and I rarely used with Molly (mostly if there was a spit up issue and I needed somewhere clean to put her). Other than that we just used the floor.

belizeitornot · December 2011

we haven't yet but i would love to. the only thing holding me back is the only place i feel comfortable i could get pee/poop out of easily is the hardwood floor and then i have to deal with the dog getting in the way.

most of the time i try to distract her with some random item (butt paste tube, thermometer, comb) that she doesn't ever get to hold... and then work quickly. it works 50% of the time, but the other half of the time she just flips over and sits up i'm usually toting her off half naked to the bed to get the diaper on her. this has been going on for months now!

Jitterbug2668 · December 2011

We went from changing table to floor to our bed. Our bed is waist high so it avoids us having to get on the floor w/ him. As soon as we sit on the floor the dog tries to sit on us as well.

bh2720 · December 2011

QueSrah:
The squirmy phase comes and goes for DD, but we stick with the changing table because the height is most comfortable for us. (I'd rather deal with the wriggling in a small space that's higher up than stoop over a lower bed or table where she has more room to get away from me.) Maybe it's one of those all kids are different things, but the wriggling off the table definitely lessened for DD when the novelty of being able to do it wore off. So you may not have to abandon the changing table permanently.

all of this.

we went through a baaaaaaaad phase of resisting diaper changes at one point (maybe around 15-18 mos?) and for a short time I basically had to wrestle with him to get a diaper change done. but he hated diaper changes on the floor for some reason, so when he would fight me, I'd say "okay, welll, if we don't change you up here, we'll have to do it on the floor". it took awhile, but at some point he figured out that I never bluffed on that and he went back to being cooperative on the changing table.

veruca5839 · December 2011

We stopped using the changing table around 7-8 months. DD would just not stop wriggling and trying to roll/crawl/grab everything. We moved her to the floor. I just put her on a small blanket/changing pad, hand her some toys or some diaper changing stuff to entertain her, and have my changing items next to me on the floor.

2vthokies · December 2011

Ditto BH, QS and MPD. Both DDs have gone through this phase (multiple times) and we usually just ride it out. If it gets really bad, I'll move to the floor of her room, but usually we just stick with the table. I give her toys and sing really loud.

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