Must-Haves for Baby Change Tables
You’re going to be dealing with poop for a long time. Fortunately, you can equip your baby’s changing table to make the process painless. And somewhere along the way, maybe you’ll even start to like the time spent with your baby on the changing table.
Here are some things that can help make life easy at the changing table:
Changing supplies
- Easy to access diapers. If you use disposables, take them out of the plastic wrapper so they’re at the ready. If you use cloth, fold them so you can simply pull one out and use it right away.
- Wipes. Have many, many, many within easy reach. Think you have enough? You don’t. And if you have a boy, laying a cloth wipe over his penis during changing can save your ceiling too!
- Wipe solution (for cloth wipes). You can find easy recipes for baby wipe solution online—usually 1 part gentle soap, 1 part oil like olive oil, and 8 parts water.
- Wipe warmer (for cloth wipes). Don’t like cold wet fabric on your bare bum? Neither does your baby. Wipe warmers keep cloth wipes moist, warm and microbe-free.
- Barrier cream. This keeps the moisture off your baby’s skin and helps prevent and treat diaper rash.
- Diaper pail for disposable diapers and/or a wet bag for soiled cloth diapers. However you choose to deal with used diapers, it should be reachable from the change station. You don’t want to leave your baby alone, nor do you want to leave that soiled diaper within the baby’s reach. Never underestimate how curious they are.
- Extra change pad covers. A change pad cover will get dirty in a hurry, no matter how adept you are and changing a diaper cleanly. Be sure you have extras on hand to make it to laundry day.
- Organizers. Whether you use trays, a diaper caddy or a pocket organizer, grouping similar items so they’re easy to find helps, especially when your baby is wailing at 3 am.
Health and grooming supplies
- Nail clippers and any other grooming essentials. It makes sense to keep them near the change table, so you can gently groom your baby when you’re dressing them. After a bath is best when their skin and nails are soft.
- Skin creams. Keep the moisturizer where the baby is most likely to be naked: the change table. And apply it daily; baby skin loses moisture much faster than adult skin does and a baby with dry skin is not fun to be around.
- Thermometer and medication. You’ll often notice that your baby feels hot while changing or dressing them, so it’s handy to keep the thermometer and medication near the change table. However, keep them well out of their reach, and make sure you store medication as directed on the package.
- Hand sanitizer. This is a stopgap for when you need to pick up your baby after a particularly messy change, so you can make it to the bathroom to actually wash your hands without your baby taking a swan dive off the table.
- Distractions. These are more for your mental health than theirs, but stickers on the wall and ceiling or washable toys will have you ready for the days your little angel decides to be less than cooperative on the change table.
This may seem like a lot for new parents, and much of it may seem unnecessary right now. But once you’ve had a month or two of diaper-changing under your belt, you’ll see why having a stocked change table is the key to success.