Tips for Changing Your Newborn’s Diapers On-the-Go

July 14, 2015

My anxieties didn’t stick around for long, thanks to the great advice I got from other moms. In no time at all, I was out and about with both boys, without giving their diapers a second thought (until, of course, one of my boys needed to be changed!). Here’s how to take care of even the dirtiest diaper on the run:

1. Choose a diaper bag with lots of different compartments. Packing and gathering your diapering supplies is easy, but trying to find the items in a ginormous bag is not. Pick a diaper bag with a lot of different pockets so you know where everything is. You’ll feel less stressed and you’ll get the job done fast.

2. Pack more diapers than you think you need. If you’re heading to la familia’s house, where you’re bound to hang out for a while, pack six diapers, assuming you’ll have to change your baby about every two hours after feeding (and possibly more).

3. Pick diapers with a high back. To keep those poop explosions from running up your baby’s back, pick diapers with a pocketed-back waistband, like Huggies Little Snugglers. I also like them for their softness and super absorbent liner. On that note…

4. Fan out the diaper at the outer edges. Pull the ruffles of the diaper out on the tush area to help keep your baby’s poop in so it won’t smear out.

5. Pack grocery bags. If you’re going on a long ride in the car, placing dirty diapers in tightly wrapped grocery bags will help lock away the smell. And, if in a pinch…

6. Wrap dirty diapers in two clean diapers. Then, just tuck the mess away in one of those extra pockets in your diaper bag (see #1).

7. Watch out for the “golden showers.” My youngest son pees the second I undo his soiled diaper. If you have a hijo, place a clean diaper over his penis to avoid getting sprayed.

8. Pack sample-size products. Pick up a lip balm-sized tube of diaper cream from your drugstore. It’s easy to tuck into your diaper bag, and you’ll be able to protect your baby’s sensitive skin on the go.

9. Forgo the travel-pack wipes. Sure, they take up less space, but you really need a regular-sized package of wipes to handle car seat poop accidents, milk spills, and more! I like Huggies Clutch ‘n’ Clean packs with Natural Care Wipes that can be snapped onto anything from the diaper bag to the stroller.

10. Keep germs away. Lay a changing pad liner underneath and over your portable changing pad to help protect your baby from the “nasties” that lurk on public changing stations. Throw the liners away once you’re done.

11. Stay calm. It’s so true that babies can sense your anxiety and will often react in the same way, making diapering on the go a challenge. So, before laying her down, take a deep breath, relax your shoulders, make eye contact with your bebe, and smile. Odds are, she’ll do the same in return!

*This post is sponsored by Huggies. Thoughts and opinions are my own.

Yesenia Almonte is an experienced Editorial Beauty Director in New York City. She is widely recognized for her expertise in developing unique beauty content for a variety of top—selling publications that span a broad range of multi-media platforms. Yesenia has the ability to conceive, construct and transform beauty trends into personalized creative recommendations for diverse markets. She has comprehensive knowledge of the teen and Hispanic markets and has created a number of revenue-generating editorial packages across different mediums. Throughout her career, she has initiated collaborations with some of the foremost innovators in the creative industry, including Pat McGrath, Kenneth Willardt, Ondrea Barbe, Sarah Silver, Serge Normant, Orlando Pita and Gucci Westman.

Yesenia was most recently the Beauty Director of Seventeen. During her tenure at the magazine, she entirely redeveloped the magazine’s beauty editorial and direction by expanding and diversifying its content through creative and innovative features and looks, while also providing increased visibility to a broad range of beauty brands. In addition to overseeing the beauty content across all of Seventeen’s platforms, including seventeen.com and misquincemag.com, she created the massive multi—platform beauty franchise Seventeen’s Beauty Smarties, an initiative whereby real girl YouTube beauty vloggers create exclusive looks for the magazine and online videos. Since it’s inception, the Beauty Smarties franchise became a successful YouTube show, The Seventeen Beauty Smarties Showdown and became the backbone to the launch of Seventeen’s multichannel network on YouTube in partnership with AwesomenessTV. Yesenia edited Seventeen’s Ultimate Guide to Beauty, an in-depth how-to guide, and helped develop Seventeen’s extensive digital tool, the Seventeen Shopping Insider app. In an effort to reach readers everywhere, Yesenia also created customized beauty specials targeting the Latina and African American teen market, which have resulted in record-breaking advertising revenue for the magazine.

Prior to joining Seventeen, Yesenia served as Beauty Director of Latina Magazine, where she curated the beauty content for the Hispanic woman via the magazine and website. At Latina, she also developed Latina Beauty, a Walmart-only special interest publication for the Hispanic woman.