Does Your Baby Take off His Diaper at Night??

Hi Sarah...

After raising two daughters, and providing quality child care for over 20 years I discovered if you put the diaper on backwards it's very difficult for them to get the tabs and then pull in the opposite direction.

That is my solution for those little monkeys that like removing their diaper!..Good Luck!
V.

How old is your son?

Is it dirty with pee or poop?

For any messes/leaks....I would use a waterproof bed pad.
You can find many at www.amazon.com
And it makes clean up a lot easier and you won't have to wash the entire bedding, just the bed pad.

Often, older babies or younger toddlers go through this and take off their diapers. It passes but each child is different.
Both my kids went through this, but at about a year old....and they were not ready for potty training.
Mostly, for my kids, it was because they "know" they could take off the tabs of their diaper when they pee or poop or whenever... because all this time they have watched us do it. And mostly my kids thought it was funny! But luckily, this "phase" did not last long in my kids.
I just told them "no..."
My kids did it whenever, anytime of day.

You could try and put onesies on him or shorts over his diaper...or some clothing that covers his diaper... or even overalls. Then he can't get to his diaper to take off the tabs himself.

Or, you check his diaper at night and change him, cutting to the chase so to speak.

Or, there are waterproof diaper covers too...

Good luck,
Susan

You can put the diaper on backwards so he can't reach the tabs or put duct tape over the tabs when he goes to bed. It is a pretty common occurance - just shows that your boy has some good dexterity. ;)

When my son was a toddler he used to take his diaper off and I started putting the poop in potty just to show him that that's where it goes and every few hours I would sit him on the potty just to get him use to it. I noticed you didn't include your childs age, but if he can sense that his diaper is dirty and doesn't like how it feels....it's time for potty training. I don't know his age but try using pullups something he can't take off as easy. Good Luck

Hi Sarah,

Don't feel bad, most every kid goes through painting the crib, walls, and themselves with the contents of their diaper. Yukko!

Very carefully use duck tape over and beyond the tabs of the diaper. Keep the duck tape away from touching his skin in anyway cause it can remove skin. If he's reaching inside the diaper, duck tape the leg area so there is ample room for the leg but not enough room for baby's hands. You have to be super careful here. Again, can't touch the skin but can't cut off the circulation of the leg either. So no tourniquet type procedures. I actually ran the tape all the way around the top of the diaper and from stem to stern, plus the leg holes. It beat having to spend hours cleaning an entire crib and walls. Yukko!

You didn't mention his age, but your son may be indicating he is ready to start training only because he doesn't like to wear a soiled diaper. Sometimes allowing them to get used to having a wet or dirty diaper makes training down the road more difficult because they've gotten use to the feeling. Pay attention on when he has a BM and then start putting him on a potty chair around that time he usually has one. Never reprimand but PRAISE him when he is successful.

Good Luck ~ F.

I am not sure how old your son is but I would have him wear clothing that is stopping access to the diaper area, for example a one piece sleeper with buttons or zipper or use a diaper cover over the diaper ( like a pair of underpants. ) something he can not take off by hinself. Also make sure you check his diaper before you go to bed yourself. This way there is a good chance you catch it before he wakes up uncomfortable.

The thing that has saved us big time is onesies. Our son ( 20months) has to have one on at all times or he takes his diaper off.But, if you say that he only takes it off at night then my neighbor used to put her son in sleepers backwards( you know the zip up kind) he couldn't get the pj's off so there was no way he was going to get to the diaper.The downfall is I think you have to cut the feet part off them. My older kids it was just a matter of telling them no a few times and let them know that it was really gross and they stopped. Every child is different so you'll have to find what works for you and your son. Good luck, I feel your pain. :o)

Hi sarah, I had a daycare child who did that, he would poop on himself and then did in his diaper, eventually take it off, I disciplined him, he did the same thing at home and his parents disciplined him, but it didn't help, he ended up ruining a very nice playpen that i had purchased, from smearing poop all in seceral times, and his parents didn't want to potty train him and he was almost 2 years old, I told them I could no tolorate it. It very well could become a regular thing if there is no coinsequences. J. L.

Hi Sarah. We went through this with my granddaughter who was quite clever. She would take off her sleeper, then her diaper. Fortunately she never had poop, but her crib bedding would be very wet. After all kinds of tries, we finally ended up putting the diaper on backwards, taping all the way around with the tape ends in the back.

My oldest son did this too, long before he was ready for potty training. We had to pin the zipper of his sleeper and he could not get that off. The weather has been warmer, so you may need to find thin lightweight sleepers (we used to have one). We used a diaper pin and pinned the zipper down at the top on the inside. It made me nervous, but he never got the pin open (they are diaper safety pins so I think they are made so babies can't open them, but I still worried that my son would figure it out - he didn't, to my knowledge he never even tried). He never got his jammies or diaper off again!

OMG! You poor thing. My middle daughter did the same thing. Put his diaper on backwards. If you have to, use ducttape. This phase shouldn't last too long. At least it didn't with my daughter.

My daughter went through this. I can understand how you feel. What we started doing is to put one diaper on the regular way, and then a second diaper on top of that diaper backwards so the tabs are in the back. This way they cannot see the tabs. Eventually my little girl gave up and left her diaper alone. Give it a try. Good Luck!

S. D.

My son did this and it drove me nuts!! I was up many times at night having to change PJ's and sheets. I tried duct tape, onesie underneath PJ, PJ on backwards, etc... and NONE worked. The only thing that did work was an amazing 'underwear type cover' that goes OVER the diaper. Problem solved!! Go to www.cheekeebaby.com to order it! GOOD LUCK! :)

you dont state how old he is. but if hes 15 months or older he may be displaying potty training readiness because he doesnt like to be in a dirty diaper. this could be a phase like all the other moms say. lucky me my 2 year old never did that (she dont like dirty hands lol). what you may try if hes big enough is a pull up. it does have tear away sides but no tabs to pull. good luck!

Yes, my daughter did this to. You are not alone. My easy solution was to put a onesie on her at night. They make them in all sorts of sizes. She couldn't get the buttons in her crotched unsnapped. Worked like a charm. Good luck :)