Anyone else really bad at putting on/changing diapers?

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RJDodger

RJDodger

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So this has always been a problem for me- when I put on a diaper, its always... "off." Usually, I'll get the legs too tight and the waistband too loose. I got better for awhile when I wore the cloth-backed Abena M4s, but now with the plastic-backed ones, I just can't put them on right.

And yes, I've read the article about putting them on here.
 
The only problem I have are the bottom right tapes. Sometimes I get the others on right but the bottoms right one is too low and doesn't feel right to me.
 
Yeah.Same here.Sometimes I put it so tight that I can't work properly.Other times,It leaks through legs for not putting on properly.What to do???
 
Seeing that I'm always leaking, I guess I have the same problem.
 
I kinda thought I was an expert. Probably done it a few thousand times for myself.
 
Despite I did this many times, I still don't think I still do great job on putting on a diaper perfectly. Usually I put on too tight... blah. lol
 
Yep. I'm definitely bad at it. I tend to be naturally clumsy, and that doesn't go away when it comes to putting on a diaper. I've wound up putting on a diaper backwards many different times. I'm not as bad as I used to, but I don't get as much practice as I need.
 
I thought I was going to have trouble getting it right when I started. Not too bad, actually. I do the bottom left tape, top left tape and then bottom right and top right.
 
You could try pre-taping and pulling up. I do that almost exclusively. It also lets me "pay it forward" on diapering time. Takes a LOT less time to pull up one you pretaped the night before than to do it up on the spot, either with pretaping or regular on-demand taping.
 
I seem to be 50/50 on putting mine on correctly. Either a leg/legs is too tight or the waist not tight enough. One time I put on one and all 4 tapes were way too tight, no clue how I managed that.

Just 2 days ago, I tightened the waist and right leg too tight. Because I wear often, but not use until 36 hours after, I pull them down for showers, 6 hours after putting this one on, I pulled down too rough and tore a hole in the back side. I'm glad it was a Abena M4 and not a Teddy Bambino.
 
Makes us all appreciate how real babies must feel, with no way to articulate how ill-fitting their diapers are. But then they probably get used to it. Meanwhile, because we're diapering ourselves and are used to the machine-stitched form-fittedness of non-absorbent undies, we get all picky and sit there tweaking the tapes or pins for ages.

That's another reason why I'm not a fan of diapers with four or six fasteners: The number of fasteners equals the number of opportunities to fuck up!

But about my own diapers:

A big part of it, for me, is simply the fact that my midsection is a different shape when I'm lying down than it is when I'm standing, sitting, etc. I expect that's true for all but the most skin-and-bones people among us. I know that many like to diaper themselves while standing, and I've warmed up to this a bit in recent years. I usually diaper myself while lying on my back (it's just a more babyish experience, and I'm kind of a baby-DL), but I'll often stand up to adjust the pins on my cloth diapers. I have a fairly muscular midsection, but even so, standing up changes the shape of my butt enough that a diaper that was snug when I was lying down feels a bit looser than it should when I first stand up. And yeah, I'm picky: I like a very snug, trim-fitting diaper. So I'll spend some time adjusting.

Putting on diapers takes practice, but I would imagine that even the most practiced among us spend a bit of time making adjustments. I've been pinning on or otherwise fastening my own diapers since I was a kid. The biggest difference is that I no longer stab myself with the pins. :)
 
I had to learn as a kid too and I think I'm pretty good at it. Once in a while a tape will slip into the wrong spot if I'm in a hurry and then I fix it, but I have a pretty good routine down.

I lay down on the corner of my bed with each leg hanging over the side, so the corner of the bed is between my legs and my legs and kinda dangling. Then I slip the diaper under me, I just put my feet on the mattress frame and push up. The trick I found is that I wrap the diaper around my back exactly like I want it to fit and make sure both sides are even on my hips so I know that I'm in the center. Then I pull the front up tight through my legs and up on my belly and check to make sure that the front is the same height as the back or even a tad bit higher since I sleep on my belly and sides.

Once the positioning is good, I hold the front waist band in the center on my belly with my right forearm so pulling on the wings doesn't twist the fit. With my left hand, I pull the left wing tight around my hip from the center of the wing so that its snug (but not too tight) and even (not loose on the waist or leg), exactly how I want it to fit. Then without moving my forearm, I use my right hand with fingers spread out to hold the wing in place and pull the bottom tape into position. I pull up and around to be sure it's snug around my butt cheek and sorta follow the natural angle of the line between my butt cheek and leg up and around to the front and at an upward angle on the front of the diaper. It helps to let my legs dangle here so that when the tape sticks the diaper is nice and flat on the front, not all bunched up.

And here's my little trick. Once I'm in the right spot with the tape my right hand is still in the way holding down the wing. So right before I tape I twist my wrist down so that I'm holding the tape in my fingers with the back wing wrapped taughtly around the front now and the palm of my left hand now holding everything down in place. Then I can slip my right hand out of the way still without moving my forearm, and stick the tape down in the exact spot I want it.

With that tape in place, I move to the right side, never letting go of the front panel (or the tape might pull the front panel over and make the diaper feel twisty. I just slide off my right forearm from holding the front down and switch it with my left. I usually give the front panel a little tug here too just to make sure it's still centered and hasn't pulled to the left after putting the first tape on. Then I repeat all the same steps with the right side leg tape (just reverse the hands).

Once both leg tapes are in place, I can let go of the front panel because it'll stay centered now, and I double check that the back is still as high as I want it as well as the front. Sometimes I wiggle a little and have to adjust, but that's easy, I can just rotate my hips a little and pull the diaper back in place. This helps make sure the diaper is snug in the bottom and avoids what I call the butt pouch look.

Then I just tuck the front waist into the back wing and pull the front tapes around following the natural angle over my hips and tape on the front in a slightly downward angle on the front. Once that's done I can either fold the front waist in if there's a little extra and this helps protect against leaks when sleeping on my belly, or just leave it if I'm gonna put pants or shorts on so that that front sticks out a little over the waist of my pants, which helps keep my clothes dry.

I also learned as a kid to close my eyes during the whole process because I get distracted if I try to watch myself doing it. When I close my eyes I can just feel how the diaper fits and where the natural contours of my legs and waist are. It helps a lot because my fingers just always seems to go into the same spot just from doing it so much and knowing how my body fits.

Doing it this way makes the diaper fit my body exactly which keeps me comfortable and my bed or clothes dry. Sometimes other people have tried to change me, but even though they try to be helpful, they usually do a horrible job because they're inexperienced. Nobody likes wearing a wonky diaper so I just fix it when they're done which is usually kinda funny. At least they tried :)
 
This last time earlier this month was the first time i did not have to teach the nurses at the Hospital how to diaper a person.

It is really nice when they now where you should point and were to tape, and when to change you, i was always soaked when they came every half hour, i never rang the bell for anything.

To often i have found nurses that either have never diapered a baby or an adult, or who simply did not realize a comfortable diaper is "invisable" to the wearer,however a screwed up diaper is pure stress and headache.
 
Cottontail said:
That's another reason why I'm not a fan of diapers with four or six fasteners: The number of fasteners equals the number of opportunities to fuck up!

But about my own diapers:

A big part of it, for me, is simply the fact that my midsection is a different shape when I'm lying down than it is when I'm standing, sitting, etc. I expect that's true for all but the most skin-and-bones people among us. I know that many like to diaper themselves while standing, and I've warmed up to this a bit in recent years. I usually diaper myself while lying on my back (it's just a more babyish experience, and I'm kind of a baby-DL), but I'll often stand up to adjust the pins on my cloth diapers. I have a fairly muscular midsection, but even so, standing up changes the shape of my butt enough that a diaper that was snug when I was lying down feels a bit looser than it should when I first stand up. And yeah, I'm picky: I like a very snug, trim-fitting diaper. So I'll spend some time adjusting.
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Got to agree with you on the fasteners situation there. As for the lying/sitting/standing situation: that's probably the same for all of us, not just skinny people (after all, I'm anything but skin-and-bones). I think, though, that even the most experienced of us must still spend ages adjusting just to get things right:biggrin:.
 
I've certainly felt that my job at putting a nappy onto myself has turned out to be a hassle. I've tried taping one onto myself while laying down, I've tried doing it standing up and against a wall, but no matter how I slice it, it's almost always a shoddy job. I guess it makes me appreciate it more once I do manage to get it taped on just right.
 
Y'all really need to get used to changing while standing up. (the "wall method") Sometimes it's your only or your far-and-away best option for changing when away from home.
 
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