stop the blow outs

June 20, 2014 6:13 PM

My daughter has suddenly started having "blow outs" nearly daily - help me fit her diapers better.

Just in the last week or two she's started having blow outs almost every day. Usually out the back. Right now she is 5 months and 80th percentile in height and 50th in weight (15lbs 10oz). She's wearing a size 2 Pampers lil' snugglers. We had her in Huggies a month or two ago (around 13lbs), but she was having blowouts out the legs, so we switched to the Pampers, which seemed to fit better, until now. What is the solution here? We could go up a size, back to Huggies, something else...? Bonus points if you have any easy solution to using the diapers we have and minimizing blow outs, since I *just* bought a giant box of them before I realized this was an issue :(.

posted by annie o to Health & Fitness (17 answers total)

Best answer: Go up a size.
posted by chiababe at 6:14 PM on June 20, 2014 [9 favorites]

Going up a size has worked on my kids. You can sell the rest of the box on your local parents site (usually an email or Facebook group), or get a diaper protector.

I've found that membership to my local big box store (SAMs) is cheaper per diaper than other discount stores.
posted by cestmoi15 at 6:20 PM on June 20, 2014

Definitely go up a size. Buy a small pack and see how that goes. I bet you won't cry (too hard) about kissing the big box goodbye.
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 6:20 PM on June 20, 2014

We used to joke that we needed a baby wet-suit, but bigger diapers has worked for us too.
posted by SpacemanStix at 6:27 PM on June 20, 2014

Response by poster: Argh OK. Fortunately the large box is yet to be opened, so I was able to return it...
posted by annie o at 6:27 PM on June 20, 2014 [1 favorite]

Yeah, as I recall, once you get two blowouts in a row, that is the SIGN to go up a size and not try to make it through the rest of the box. That way lies only sorrow. And laundry.
posted by Andrhia at 6:50 PM on June 20, 2014 [2 favorites]

Size 2 for a 5 month old seems small. We are on size 3 during the day and 4 at night with our 6 month old.
posted by katypickle at 7:08 PM on June 20, 2014

Definitely go up a size. And the open box doesn't have to go to waste; lots of charities would love to take them off your hands.
posted by 1066 at 7:34 PM on June 20, 2014

Size 2 for a 5 month old seems small. We are on size 3 during the day and 4 at night with our 6 month old.

I'm not challenging the "get bigger diapers" consensus, but just want to add for future readers that, well, ymmv. We just switched our recently turned 2 year old from size 3 to size 4.

And another tip re blowouts -- make sure the diaper is on snugly. Secure the straps reasonably tight in front.
posted by kestrel251 at 8:58 PM on June 20, 2014

Up up up. For sure.
posted by pearlybob at 9:18 PM on June 20, 2014

I loved Huggies Supreme for all three of my kids. Really helped with my son who would pee out of all the other brands. The only muddy blow outs I ever experienced where when I was working in a daycare and one mom insisted on her daughter wearing a larger size diaper (for comfort) which, of course, left sagging and trails of poo, and, when the kids had a stomach bug and had diarrhea. So, my question is, are the stools thick mud or watery mud? Watery stools that go everywhere can happen because of teething but can also be a sign that baby needs a different formula or mommy needs to stop eating a certain food before breast feeding.
posted by myselfasme at 12:19 AM on June 21, 2014

Nthing going up a size, and I will also note that the weight ranges that correspond to the size have no bearing on reality, in my experience - my boy would outgrow a size when he was right about in the middle of the stated weight range, and a lot of friends' kids seemed to as well
posted by shrieking violet at 3:56 AM on June 21, 2014

Yup, up a size. We found with both our kids that increased blow-outs was time to move up. Also, brands contain differently at different sizes. I think we used Huggies almost exclusively up to pull-ups because they held up better.
posted by plinth at 4:20 AM on June 21, 2014

Response by poster: Thanks all for the answers - I guess I was taking the weight suggestions too literally. I think my question is coming from the fact that when we went from 1 to 2 we got blow outs out the legs, since they were a bit large, despite the 1's being too small. It seems like there is always just a period of ill-fitting diapers at the transition points maybe? Or no..?
posted by annie o at 7:07 AM on June 21, 2014

I'm so inexperienced I hate to even attempt a suggestion... But we're moving from Pampers Swaddlers size N to size 1, and it seems that folding the top front over serves to tighten up the legs on the size 1s. Have you tried that with the larger size?
posted by Kriesa at 7:12 AM on June 21, 2014

baby muffins is still in size N, so I can't speak from much experience, but mother-in-law muffins who raised two babies of her own has been recommending to us that the way to avoid out-the-leg-hole blowouts is to make sure the little ruffles outside the gathering on the legs are outside the diaper, not tucked in. I hope this makes sense and is helpful.
posted by trunk muffins at 9:14 AM on June 21, 2014

Yes, yes, yes to the sizing up for back blow outs and making sure the ruffles are out for leg blow outs!! Also, don't mind what katypickle said, we are using size 3 diapers for our one year old - she is 25th percentile weight and 79th for height. Babies come in all shapes and sizes, and diapers do too (we use Target Up & Up diapers now, but the size 2s did not fit her well, so we had to switch to another brand for a while then).
posted by echo0720 at 6:59 PM on June 21, 2014