How to reduce Baby Diaper Blowouts - Simple Hacks to prevent diaper mess

Dealing with a baby diaper blowout is the most challenging part of parenthood, and it is hard for every parent to clean all that poop spread out on the baby’s back, bottom, and pretty much everywhere. However, there are a lot of ways you can prevent baby blowouts from happening too often.

Newborns tend to poop more frequently than few months old babies. But as baby gets older, a diaper blowout can be worse – poop is all the way up in the back, on legs, sometimes around the neck too.

As a parent, you cannot control baby pooping; rather, you should have a proper solution to prevent diaper blowouts and leaks from happening more often to save baby’s clothes, sheets, baby gear, and whatnot.

The worst thing that you probably dread is when you see poop oozing out of the diaper and signs of yellow poop inside onesies from the back. Moreover, the struggle to clean, wipe, sanitize and wash dirty clothes after a huge blowout is real.

Blowouts can happen anytime at home or outside. In my experience, some of the diaper blowouts had been so awkward for me that I was left with no choice but to trash my baby’s clothes since I had no place to wash and dry them.

First, you have to find out why is your baby having too many diaper blowouts.

This post may contain affiliate links. For more information please see our disclaimer.

Why is baby having Diaper (nappy) Blowouts – Major causes of blowouts

In my experience, these are the plausible reasons for babies’ nappy blowout regardless of using cloth diapers or disposable ones. Having too many blowouts for the first few weeks is considered normal. However, there are ways to prevent the nappy mess from happening.

First things first, let’s figure out what causes the blowouts in babies.

1. Inappropriate diaper size

Having your baby wear the wrong diaper size results in a huge diaper mess. This is one of the main reasons why diaper blowout happens. If the diaper size is too small, the poop blowout would happen around the legs. Whereas if the diaper is too big and it is not hugging well around the baby’s back, the diaper blowout is all over the back of the baby.

2. Inappropriate clothing size

When a baby poops in an over-soaked, already full diaper, the poop explosion happens from the sides and back, especially if there is not enough room in the baby’s clothes, meaning they are too tight around the diaper area.

My son had the worst diaper explosion around 7 months of age; we were on vacation and just about to have lunch at a local restaurant in Vegas. Wrong timings and awkward place. The reason was the inappropriate size of clothes (suspender shorts) he was wearing that day.

I always prefer to dress up kids my kids in comfy clothes especially, the bottoms shouldn’t be too tight.

42 newborn hacks every new mom should know.

Tried and tested remedies to treat diaper rash.

3. Poop after an episode of Constipation

If you are reading this post, you might have been struggling with the poop explosion. You can expect a huge diaper blowout if a few months old baby is having constipation. The poop explosion is going to be all up the back and up to the neck.

That being said, poop after constipation should be on high alert.

4. Over-soaked diaper may leak faster than the dry diaper

As we have discussed earlier, an oversoaked diaper could cause a huge diaper mess.

Heads up – It is going to be all over the place.

5. The way of Holding baby with (routine) poopy diaper

Sometimes the baby does not have a blowout, even though her diaper is full. Holding your baby a certain way could potentially cause all that diaper mess, even on your hands, arms, or legs.

Now if you had a blowout already, you might want to learn how to manage a dirty diaper. Be careful while you hold your baby and do not press against the baby’s bottom.

6. Diaper brand – cheap diapers may be less absorbant ending up causing leaked diaper

A good diaper brand is really important to prevent diaper blowouts significantly. I highly recommend Pampers Cruisers. I have tried a couple of other diaper brands, they are less expensive but have less absorption. That being said, less absorption means more frequent changes (costing you the same).

However, diaper leaks and blowouts can both be prevented by changing a diaper brand.

How to deal with poop explosion when poop is all up in the back

How to clean the diaper mess when the blowout happens?

1. The primary sign of a poop explosion – It is going to smell really sharp. As in, REALLY SHARP. Check diaper, or you may notice a baby blowout on the back or on inner thighs.

2. There is a sticky wet feeling. (I know – this is disturbing)

3. 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.

4. Lay down on the changing sheet preferable on changing station.

5. Undress your baby, put dirty clothes in a bag, and a dirty diaper in a diaper sack. First, you need to clean your baby, wipe off all that mess with baby wipes. Make sure it is not all over his hair, if it is, you definitely got to give him a bath. Otherwise, wash the baby’s back or bottom.

You can use a handheld bidet to wash messy clothes.

6. Rinse or wash right away to avoid stains and do not put messy clothes with other clothes in the laundry.

NOTE: If your baby gets rash – try to avoid wipes. If you can – just have your baby’s bottom clean with water and soap (you can skip soap as it makes skin over-dry) 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.

Also, you can try organic diaper balm by Earth mama organics.

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.

11 baby essentials every parent must-have for baby’s sick days.

Reasons why do babies cry and how you can help.

Mommy mistakes with newborns.

Best Tips and Tricks on how to prevent baby diaper blowouts

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

1. Go one size up of diaper if the diaper is snug from thigh area but leaking from the back

Select diaper size depending on the baby’s weight. For newborns, use pampers size 0 for the first 2 to 3 weeks. Soon after your baby starts picking up on pounds, just switch to diaper size one.

Clearly, if your baby is having more wet diapers and the weight is still not in the range, you should switch to one size up. Diaper brands and their effectiveness may vary for skinny babies and chubby ones.

2. Go one size up of clothing as tight clothing may cause huge blowout

A bigger diaper means bigger clothes, especially around the diaper area. Every baby grows differently. Some are naturally big and some are skinny. Deciding the right size for your baby’s clothes and accessories is equally essential as getting the right size of diapers.

3. Monitor baby’s poop schedule

Babies do get constipated, so if you know that there are chances of a blowout, just stay alert to avoid unnecessary mess everywhere. Watch out, if your baby is constipated for a while now – that’s going to be a HUGE one.

4. Frequently Change Wet Diapers to avoid over-soaked diaper throughout the day

When you see, your baby hasn’t pooped following his daily routine, keep an eye on the wet/full diaper. Change 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 change in the night sleep.

For more tips on how to keep the baby dry at night, find out why is your baby soaking in pee at night.

5. Using Diaper extenders to prevent poop going all the back on the back

Using diaper extenders helps minimize blowouts every time. Especially when the baby’s nappy is leaking all the way up to the back. Danni’s diaper extenders are a great solution to avoid this problem of clothes full of poop, and most importantly, using diaper extenders prevents getting stained onesies.

Not only, diaper extenders will catch the mess from the back, but also you can use them in the front to minimize diaper leakage, especially for boys.

Check out Reusable Danni’s diaper extenders now.

Using a d iaper blowout blocker is another awesome way to protect a baby’s clothes or car seats from diaper blowouts. You may end up washing diaper extenders instead of disposing of the baby’s clothes. But still, that’s a better way you can protect baby’s clothes and bedding, etc.

Another solution for diaper blowouts is to use these washable cloth diaper covers on disposable diapers to avoid blowouts from happening.

6. Quick Diaper Change for heavy wetters at night

For heavy wetters at night, you can manage a silent diaper change in the middle of the night without waking them up. It is a game-changer when you have a heavy wetter. This is manageable only if you have your child is co-sleeping, or he is in a toddler bed that is easily accessible.

Note: If you fear, your baby will be wide awake due to a diaper change, try to do it in the first half of her sleep cycle. If she sleeps 8 to 10 hours, change her diaper in about 4 to 5 hours. Mind you, do not use wipes if there is no poop because wet wipes are going to wake her up.

Quick solutions to prevent baby diaper blowouts

No matter how much you know about blowouts, they are still going to happen. But the good news is, you can minimize them after implementing these strategies.