My biggest fear of raising children was having to change poopey diapers.  I figured I’d either throw up or pass out when faced with a 5-alarm diaper.  As I talked to experienced dads about this subject I found that there was a wide variety of views; everything from “it’s not that bad, your baby’s poop doesn’t really smell”, to “that’s my wife’s job, I don’t do dirty diapers.”

Now as an experienced dad, I tend to lean toward the first view (except it really does smell bad).  I feel that being close to your child means that you do some really uncomfortable stuff.  The first few times that I changed a poopey diaper I got a little on my hand and nearly threw up.  Once I started to get the the hang of it and got my system down, it was really wasn’t too bad.

Here’s my advice:  Get everything laid out and ready before you attempt to change the diaper.  Have the waste bag open, unfold the diaper, have plenty of wipes (and don’t be afraid to use them…lots of them if necessary) and put something under the baby incase you have leakage.  Then get it done as fast and neatly as possible.

Don’t let a pre-conceived fear of failure stop you from caring for your child.  Besides, when you are around your friends who have kids, you’ll be able to join in the conversation when the topic of poop comes up….and it always does.