Changing Jake

Back in the PBE, if anyone asked me if I wanted to change a nappy on their new baby, I managed to politely refuse every time, putting it carefully in the "things I'd really rather not do" section. Now, I'm changing his nappy four or five times a day (with Kelsey doing the others) and you get to the point where you don't even think about it.

Early Days

After getting peed on a few times at the start, I started to get sneaky with strategically placed baby wipes and getting the next nappy ready asap which seems to work. There is still the occasional leakage, generally from one or other of us putting a nappy early in the morning before we've fully woken up, but it's amazing how quickly you get the hang of it.

Reusables

When we first found out that Kelsey was pregnant, we decided very early on that we wanted to use cloth nap pies as a way of reducing our landfill impact. So far, we've used disposable ones all the way. At the start this was due to the general panic about Kelsey's condition and then it was the run-in to the end of term and getting ready for our trip. We have a large pile ready to go, and I'm hoping that we'll be able to make the transition to reusable nappies when we get back in September.

Location, Location

One of the things you learn very quickly as a parent is packing a nappy bag. The number of times that Jake gets caught short whilst we're out and about would be embarrassing for anyone else. Most of the time we're at someone's house, so it's not a problem to pitch up a portable changing table on a spare surface. When we're out, however, it can be a little more tricky to find somewhere clean and quiet to sort Jake out. My favourite random locations so far include:
- on a bar at a breakfast restaurant. I sadly didn't have my camera to capture Jake trying to pull his first pint.
- in the back of the car at a petrol station in the rain.
- in the tiny toilets on an aeroplane.

Changing Expectations

You quickly find that as a father that a large number of eating establishments are not geared up to help men with babies. Most of the larger supermarkets that we've been to (i.e. those with toilets) have either a dedicated baby changing room or have baby changing facilities in both sets of toilets. In restaurants, however, if they do have baby changing they are typically located in the women's toilet. In some cases the women's doubles up as the disabled toilet, but it can be frustrating when my options are to risk going in to the ladies loo or to try and find some space on a floor in the mens. A straw poll of my female friends shows that it's probably OK for me to use the ladies if that's where the changing facilities are. However, I still feel it would cost so little to install a small fold down table and an extra bin for nappies in the men's loo that it seems churlish to only put the changing table in the ladies. (a final note to say that there are some enlightened restaurants of which I'm slowing making a list for a future post).

I think my favourite thing of all about changing Jake is how happy he is afterwards not be wet or dirty. It's a great time to talk and get some big gummy smiles from him and even if we're in someone else's home, I'll still take a couple of minutes to play with him before we go back.