Many new moms wonder how often they should change their baby’s diaper. Young babies seem to pee almost constantly and of course you don’t want to change a diaper every 5 minutes.

A good rule of thumb is to change your babies diaper after each feeding and of course each time you smell number 2. For the first few weeks you will change diapers quite frequently since your baby needs to eat every 2 to 3 hours. As the baby grows, so does her stomach and bladder, and feedings and diaper changes will become less frequent.

Most baby books, nurses and physicians suggest you change your baby after each feeding. This worked out well for me during the day, but at night, when I wanted my baby to go right back to sleep, changing her diaper would get her wound up. If that happens to you, try changing the diaper before you feed her. Mine would fall back asleep during the feeding, giving me a chance to catch up on some much needed sleep as well.

Almost every baby will get diaper rash at some point or another. It’s no surprise since their bottoms are almost constantly covered in a diaper.

A diaper rash will start with a little redness in the diaper area, which can quickly develop into raw, painful sore spots. Catch diaper rash as early as possible to keep your child from getting to the painful stage of it.

To keep diaper rash at bay, use a diaper rash cream at the first sign of redness. The cream will form a barrier between the skin and the wetness from the diaper.

One of the best ways to clear up diaper rash is to let your child go without a diaper as much as possible. Put your baby on large towel or let her run around outside (if you have a private backyard) with a bare bottom. This allows the bottom to stay dry and will heal the rash quickly.