How To Prevent Diaper Blowouts (9 Practical Things You Should Do)

Babies are amazing little blessings. They are also big mess makers. If you’re a new parent, wondering how to prevent diaper blowouts? Well, you’ve come to the right place.

Newborns always tend to poop more often than a few months old babies. There is nothing like picking up your sweet, cuddly baby and discovering they have a huge diaper blowout. Messing up their clothes and whatever they were lying on.

It is a dirty business, but someone’s got to do it! And as a parent, no matter what type of diapers you use, you’re likely to have experienced a diaper blowout.

However, there are a lot of practical tips you can apply to help prevent baby blowouts from happening too often. Read On…

What Is A Diaper Blowout?

Diaper blowout is when a baby’s poop explodes or leaks from the diaper through the back, the legs, or the front.

Sometimes it occurs in the form of a little poop leakage, and other times, it can be an explosive, starting from the back up to the neck, full-fledged disaster.

However, we share with you 6 practical, easy tips to understand what causes diaper blowouts and how to prevent them from happening too often.

What Causes Diaper Blowouts?

To every parent, this is a nightmare, and it is hard for every mom to clean that entire poop spread out on the baby’s back, bottom, and everywhere. However, in my experience, these are the plausible reasons for babies’ blowouts.

Inappropriate diaper size.
Inappropriate clothing size.
Poop after an episode of constipation.
Over-sized diaper.
The way of holding a baby with a poopy diaper. For example, pressing against the baby’s bottom.
Diaper brand choice.

9 Practical Tips On How To Prevent Diaper Blowouts

If poop accidents happen more frequently, you might want to try these practical tips and tricks to prevent baby blowouts.

1. Do Not Tuck Diaper Leg Cuffs

This is one of the easiest tricks that many parents get wrong. While putting your baby on a fresh diaper, run a finger through the leg cuffs (gussets or little ruffles) and pull then gently outwards, never inwards, or tucked in. This is the most common reason for diaper blowouts.

2. Choose The Right Diaper Brand For Your Baby

Does every other poop seem like a blowout starting at the back of the diaper? This is common even with the other popular big brands of diapers. Usually, each brand of diaper suits the baby differently around the waist and legs.

Therefore, it’s best advised to try a few brands before making a final choice. A good fit simply means lesser diaper blowouts. Some factors that indicate that a diaper fits the baby well are stated below.

The back elastic fits snugly
Provides a good coverage
Thigh elastics fit well
Snap buttons at the waist close properly towards the center (not on the sides of the baby).

3. Go One Size Up Of Diaper

As your baby grows, a too small diaper doesn’t have enough absorbency & can’t hold enough poop or pee. This causes the diaper to leak from the legs or the back.

Select diaper size depending on the baby’s weight. For newborn babies, use pampers size 0 for the first 2 to 3 weeks. Once your baby picks up on pounds, switch to diaper size one.

If your baby has more wet diapers and the weight is still not in the range, you might choose to switch to one size up. Watch out for these signs to know when is right to move to the next size of diaper for your baby.

If the snap buttons or tape are not close to the center but towards the sides of the baby.
If you can’t run a finger comfortably through the waist elastics.
If you notice red marks on the baby’s skin near the waist elastic or leg elastics, that doesn’t go away after 5-10 minutes of removing the diaper.
If the diaper doesn’t cover the baby’s bottom well.
If your baby is close to the higher end of the brand’s recommended weight range.

If you notice any of these things, it is time to move to the next size of diapers. However, if a diaper is too big, it can also lead to diaper leaks.

4. Try Cloth Diapers

Most parents often choose cloth diapering to keep nasty chemicals away from the baby’s skin for environmental benefits and cost reasons.

Modern cloth diapers like Fig-O-Honey come with gussets at the back and the legs, making them better at containing poop mess.

As you may know, fewer diaper blowouts are a hidden bonus of cloth diapering that is not always well-known. If you haven’t tried cloth diapering, try it out. You’re less likely to face diaper blowouts.

5. Do Not Change Diaper Immediately

Some babies poop with a lot of “sound effects”. You’re likely to know your baby’s poopy face going red, staying still, making that gassy face, crying, and fussiness are some of the common traits babies exhibit when they’re about to poop.

Don’t rush to change the baby’s diaper immediately and wait for a few minutes before removing the soiled diaper. He might not be done yet, so if you change the diaper right away, you could land yourself right into a diaper blowout.

6. Monitor Your Baby Poop Schedule

Generally, babies get constipated, so if you know there are chances of a blowout, it is best advised to stay alert to avoid unnecessary mess everywhere.

Always watch out; if your baby is constipated for a while, now that will be a HUGE one.

7. Always Get Your Diaper Bag Ready

Despite covering all bases, you can’t stop all diaper blowouts, but you can be ready. If you’re lucky and at home, you will have all the supplies to deal with a blowout emergency.

If you’re out and about, traveling in a car or an airplane, diaper blowouts can mess up the baby’s clothes, your clothes, and even the car seat.

It helps to have a well-stocked diaper bag that includes spare clothes, wipes, a few extra diapers, and a wet and dry bag. Wet and dry bags are leak and odor proof, keeping the mess & foul smell contained.

8. Using Diaper Extenders

Using diaper extenders, also known as diaper blowout blockers, is another great way to protect a baby’s clothes or car seats from diaper blowouts.

You may end up washing diaper extenders instead of disposing of them. But still, that’s a better way to protect the baby’s clothes and bedding, etc.

9. Frequently Change Wet Diapers To Avoid Over-Soaked Diaper

When you observe that your baby hasn’t pooped following his daily routine, keep an eye on the wet/full diaper, and change it frequently. A relatively less wet diaper can handle poop explosion.

Moreover, you can also use diaper booster pads for heavy wetters at night without having sleep interruption. Using Booster pads will save you diaper changes in the night sleep.

Alternatively, here is great video on how to prevent diaper blowout

How To Know If There Had Been A Poop Explosion And How To Deal With It?

The primary sign of a poop explosion is a sharp smell. Check diaper, or you may notice a baby blowout on the back or inner thighs.
There is a sticky wet feeling.
If you see signs of a baby blowout, hold your baby from his/her inner side of the arms or upper torso firmly and do not press or hold onto his/her bottom.
Lay down on the changing sheet, preferable on changing stations.
Undress your baby, put dirty clothes in a bag, and a dirty diaper in a diaper sack. First, you must clean your baby and wipe off all that mess with baby wipes.
Make sure it is not all over his hair; if it is, you got to bathe him. Otherwise, wash the baby’s back or bottom. You can use a handheld bidet to wash messy clothes.
Wash right away to avoid stains and do not put messy clothes with other clothes in the laundry.

Remember, if your baby gets rash – try to avoid wipes. If you can – just have your baby’s bottom clean with water (skip soap) and then pat dry with a soft towel. Rubbing the baby’s bottom in case of a rash is not a good idea.

If you have to, wipe off gently; apply A+D cream on a clean bottom. This is by far the best rash ointment I have used. If you are using a diaper cream jar, this Bum Spatula is a great way to apply cream without having your hands dirty.

Secondly, if you are using a tube cream, this Tush Applicator is getting popular for even application and less wastage.

The Best Diaper For Diaper Blowouts?

The best diaper for blowouts depends on your baby. Every baby is unique, and the fit of the diaper depends a lot on your baby’s size and shape.

Best Diaper For Skinny Or Tall Babies

These diapers are best for tall, skinny babies and you can buy any of these affordable diapers on Amazon.

Related Posts:

Best Diaper For Small Babies:

Honest Company and Babyganics diapers tend to run small. If your baby is wetting through diapers but is too small to go up a size, these may be worth a try.

Best Diaper For Babies With Skinny, Thick Or Chunky Legs

Huggies get good all-around reviews for being great for babies with skinny legs and thick or chunky legs! Huggies is known to have great elastic on their diaper legs and back. The elastic holds in blowouts while fitting babies of different sizes.

Conclusion

There you have it, the best way to prevent a diaper blowout is to change the diaper before any car ride, be conscientious about the size of the diaper, and change a messy diaper right away.

Parenthood is a learning curve, and babies are 100% dependent on their parents. I believe with these practical tips, you’ll be a pro at changing diapers and keeping them diaper explosions at bay.

Did you find this article helpful? Do you have any tips or tricks on how to prevent diaper blowouts better? Share with us your tips and experiences by dropping your comment or suggestion down below.