I feel like such a doofus admitting that it took me 8 1/2 years and 5 kids to learn this simple little Mama Life Hack, but there it is. I’m just slow sometimes, I guess.

Of course, I feel a little better, considering that I was tipped off by my midwife, who, by nature of her job, is around newborns all. the. time and still had only learned the trick recently before telling me.

So, what is this momentous discovery?

onesiewatermark

Say what?

Oooooooh, you mean theeeeeese….

rolldown tabs

Yup. Those mysterious (at least to me) little notches at the neck of almost every single newborn onesie. I always wondered why they made them that way and always assumed it was to make it easier to get your baby’s head through without hurting her.

Yes. That.

AND…

onesie3

The best, most ingenious purpose of all?

Those tabs make it ridiculously easy to roll the onesie DOWN your precious little’s body when he has done something less-than-precious (i.e. exploded like Mt. Vesuvius) in his diaper.

For years, I’ve done the awkward “roll-under-then-lift” as I attempted to corral diaper explosions in the bottom half of the onesie whilst wrestling it up and over my baby’s head, hoping (always in vain) to avoid spreading the mess up his back and in his hair.

Did I mention I can be slow sometimes?

onesie1

{Good thing he’s okay with having a mama that’s not super quick on the uptake}

ANYhoo, once my midwife shared her good tidings of great joy, I found myself almost looking forward to the next blowout, eager and curious to see how well the trick would work.

I didn’t have to wait long (Theo was a champion diaper-exploder in months one and two), and you know what?

It totally WORKED!

The mustard-poop stayed contained. None got in the hair. Huzzah!

So…just in case you’ve never had this particular little mama nugget shared with you, I felt compelled to pass it along.

And now that I have…

Fess up. Did you already know what the tabs were for? Am I the only clueless Mama out there? Please say no. Or at least lie a little to save my vanity, m’kay?

P.S. Don’t forget to share your own #mamalifehacks using that hashtag on social media so I can feature YOU! (And don’t worry if I haven’t featured you yet. I’m making a list, I promise). .

18 Comments

  1. Oh my goodness I feel like I just wrote that blog post, that’s exactly how I feel!! I’m like WHAAAT, are you serious?? I never knew that!! And now my second is 7 months and pretty much past the ‘blow-out’ stage and I’m so disappointed that I didn’t get to use this little trick with him!! :((

  2. Don’t feel bad about not knowing this. I’m about to have our 7th and didn’t know this! No more risking getting poo in baby’s hair!

  3. I never knew!! Thank you! I wish I would have known this from the start with my first but at least now I know for all future babies. We have had so many unpleasant explosions where this would have been really great to know.

    Btw, Theo is the cutest baby I think I have ever seen in my entire life…seriously he is so adorable <3

  4. Haha! So funny! I’ve been doing it for 18 years. It appears from the comments though that this is a fairly widely unknown thing? Mothers far and wide will bless you for proclaiming these tidings of joy! : )

  5. Genius! Thank you for sharing!
    (Btw, you have serious writing skills when you can make a post about changing blowout diapers easily be interesting!)
    (Having a cute baby with which to sprinkle the post doesn’t hurt…)

  6. No. I never knew that. YEARS of babysitting. 2 kids of my own. Ugh really? I feel better seeing others didn’t know that either.

  7. I’ve had four and only found out from my daughter as she does it with her own baby!! Makes me think I should start again?

  8. I just had my 5th and I never knew about this!! It sure would have been good to know earlier

  9. I just recently learned about this trick too-with baby #6! They should come with instructions!!!

  10. I only just learned it recently. Too late for kiddo number 1, but it will come in handy for kiddo number 2.

  11. I never realized it either! Thanks for the info–it’ll come in handy with my 3 month-old!

  12. That was a new one to me! Almost makes me want to have another baby to try it out… except that I’m heading shortly to bring my youngest to his driver’s test and my husband has a vasectomy… so maybe I’ll just pass it on to my children for my grandkids or friends! Thanks for sharing! Theo is a cutie!

I love hearing from you guys!