In the first week of life, pediatricians will ask you how many diapers changes you do for baby. This will give them a sense of how baby is feeding and thriving. Generally, babies on day of life 1 have 1 urine or stool filled diaper. Each day they add one more diaper, until they start to have 7 to 8 wet diapers a day. Once babies get to 7 or 8 diapers a day, they will continue to have that amount for several months. Babies should poop and pee before being discharged from the hospital with you. If they don’t, your pediatrician will discuss different studies that may be indicated.
Diaper care varies depending on the biological sex of the baby. For babies with a vagina, wipe from the vagina back towards the butt. This will keep poop from getting in the vagina and may help prevent urinary tract infections in baby.
For babies with a penis, some parents choose to have their babies circumcised. A circumcision is a procedure where the skin over the head of the penis is removed. There might be benefits to this procedure including a decreased risk of urinary tract infections, and a decreased risk of penile cancer. However, the benefits are not large enough to recommend circumcision for every baby. It is your choice if you want the procedure performed. If there is a concern about the size or shape of the penis a circumcision might not be offered to your baby in the hospital. There are pediatric specialists called urologists that perform routine and more complex circumcisions, and you may be referred to do the procedure after discharge.
Diaper care after a circumcision requires placing petroleum jelly in the diaper or on the head of the penis for 7 to 10 days. This allows for the new exposed skin of the penis to heal and not stick to the diaper. If you choose not to circumcise your infant, it is recommended you do not pull the foreskin down to clean the penis. You can wipe in any direction to clean in the diaper area. When your baby gets older you can start cleaning under the foreskin with soap and water as the skin around the top of the penis loosens.