Have you ever changed a diaper?

What an odd question. Yes, on babies, while babysitting like most teenage girls. I’ve had to help a few older adults with a few issues as well, but not actually change their diapers.

@KNOWITALL I was considering the pros and cons on becoming a psych nurse. I was wondering If I could handle changing diapers?

@RedDeerGuy1 On disabled adults and the elderly it’s pretty tough. I trained for weeks to assist in a group home, the first night I ended up quitting. It’s a very hard job and you have to have the right temperament for it for sure. My compassion is there but not the patience or emotional strength, it broke my heart. Best of luck to you.

Many times, disposables and the terry towel ones with the big pins. It is hellish, I don’t recommend it.

Only once, and that was too much. I never wanted kids, and the children I babysat, except my nephew (whose diaper I changed) were not toddlers or babies, so it wasn’t necessary.

On the other hand, I’ve cleaned up mountains of dog and cat poo, and vomit, and cleaned out hundreds of litter boxes, and that didn’t bother me at all.

Goodness, yes. Younger siblings. Children I was babysitting. Nieces and nephews. My kids. Haven’t done it in probably 20 years, but I could still do it half asleep at 3 a.m. and not miss a stroke.

But I have never tried it on an adult and don’t feel sure I have what it takes. A coworker of mine once confided how she and her mother shared cleanup chores for her disabled father, and I didn’t think I’d have had the strength. However, you do what you have to do (and, I hope, with the best grace you can muster).

When it comes to being a psych nurse, I’m not sure changing diapers would be the hardest thing you would be forced to deal with.

Only twice, and that was enough for a lifetime and both were on infants.
Just one of the thousands reasons why I never wanted children.

KNOWITALL: Patience and emotional strength aside, there’s the gag factor. Babies that soil can be gaggable enough—but adults, the older they get, the worse the stuff in their guts. Changing the diapers of the elderly can make you gag and puke. It cannot be helped.

Anniereborn: Harder tasks than changing diapers are all the worst when diapers are also involved. Diapers are the worst stench imaginable—only dealing with anatomical waste such as autopsies of long dead bodies is worse—and there you are permitted breathing gear.

Squeeky—is that why, on Askville, you adopted ‘changes suck’ to your username (when Askville changed their format)

@anniereborn What are the other things more difficult in being a psych nurse? Also what is the positive sides?

No @Yellowdog I adopted that name on Askville because the changes they made to that site did indeed suck.

@RedDeerGuy1 I would have to say seeing someone having a manic/psychotic episode where things are getting really ugly. People trying to rip their eyes out, bite their arms till they bleed, stuff like that. And no, I am not exaggerating. Although stuff like that is rare and only continues until they can be sedated.

I had three kids. I changed a ton of diapers. If you have boys, when you go to pull the old diaper off, have something to throw over them before you get hosed down.

@seawulf575, we kept an actual cloth diaper close by just for that purpose. We called it the “gotcha!” diaper. We made good use of a dozen cloth diapers over those years, even though our boys never wore them.

Thousands. My kids and their kids.

The second word my son ever said (the first was Daddy) was “horrible!” because I would say that when I changed his diaper.

Between 2 kids and one grandchild – I’ve changed lots of them.
The new kids’ diapers are spectacular! They have more layers to hide unsavory loads than Trump’s holding companies!
Starting from the outside in:
There is an impervious, plastic outer layer that does not allow the load to leak through. There is a binder that holds plastic resin balls that absorb 200 times their weight in water. There is a layer that only allows liquid to pass leaving solids on the surface.
There another layer that deodorizes.
The legs have rubber band like material to hold the diaper against the legs and the attachment straps are flexible so they don’t pop off unexpectedly.
They are fantastic pieces of chemical and mechanical engineering. And they sell them for only 6 cents a piece in bulk!

@RedDeerGuy1 Believe me, I do not think you would be happy as a psych nurse. It is a brutal job.

For me, while one woman is wailing loudly & another starts hitting herself in the head, that’s when I knew I was in the wrong place for me. I wanted to run away instead of controlling the chaos. Wiping a 15 yr olds ass wasn’t as traumatizing as the noise & violence. Why anyone would ask a lone 18 yr old to manage 30 patients is just irresponsible. Maybe things have changed in 20 years. The only good part was the money & the feeling of helping people.

Are you kidding? 37 years of married life, two kids and six grandkids? Not to mention a girlfriend right out of high school who had a toddler I helped potty train. Have I changed diapers? Does the Pope use holy water? Does the wild bear shit in the woods?

I don’t think so, but I may have on my niece and nephew when they were babies. It was a long time ago.

No, changed plenty of nappies though

Yes, they are nappies in most of the world—whereas a diaper is a kind of diametric pattern in brick or stone masonry.