Five Ways to Keep Your Toddler from Tearing Off Their Diaper

I stuffed the remaining half of a ham sandwich salvaged from my toddler's plate while I watched in amazement as he ran bare-bottomed across the linoleum floor. Less than a minute earlier I removed Cory from his high chair, wiped his freckled cheeks clean, and placed him down to play with his new Tonka truck as I cleaned the tray and picked over the scraps, hoping for an ounce of nourishment to get me through the rest the day.

A fascinating transformation came upon Cory when turned two. He released his latent Houdini genes morphing into a master escape artist. No diaper could withstand his evasive powers.

Suddenly, chasing Cory with a diaper and swabbing up little puddles turned into a daily even that quickly lost its cuteness appeal.

Cory wasn't quite ready for potty-training, so what was I to do? Fortunately, through the advice of family and friends and a little bit of creative ingenuity, I came upon a number of successful solutions. Here are five of the best, tried and true strategies for restoring keeping your toddler's diaper where it belongs.

Backward Diapers: The simplest of all the solutions, it may be the most obscure when you are desperately seeking an answer. With the tabs to the back, it's harder for little hands to reach and pull off.

Training Diapers: Maybe your child isn't ready to make the leap to potty-training, but you can start using training diapers to help deter your toddler. With no access to easy pull tabs and the snugger fit of training diapers, your little magician may be put at bay.

Diaper Covers: Mothers who prefer cloth diapers along with disposable diaper moms can both benefit from the use of a diaper cover. The elastic waist and leg bands are more difficult for a toddler to remove, and the covers provide extra protection for mishaps.

Duct Tape: Though it may sound strange, the manufactures of duct tape have a point when they claim its immeasurable uses. In this case, it becomes an inexpensive, practical adhesive to prevent the easy release of a diaper. Simply covering up each tab with a piece duct tape (packing tape works too) will cause your toddler to throw up their hands in surrender when they aren't able to release the tabs of the diaper.

Clothing Tricks: Bathing suits, over-alls, or backwards onesies are daunting for toddlers to remove. As the theory goes, if the child cannot remove the clothing, the diaper will stay in place too. It may cause a little extra work for you to remove these tricky pieces each time you change your child's diaper, but when stacked against high speed chases and the icky messes, a few extra seconds at changing time are a breeze.

With Cory, I used a variety of the above methods and wound up sticking with using overalls each day (with criss-cross straps in the back to make it double secure!) To cut down on the expense of this temporary wardrobe, I found a few used ones at local garage sales and Salvation Army stores to supplement his temporary wardrobe.

Whether you use one of these proven methods, or are inspired to come up with another solution of your own, you can always find solace in knowing you are not alone. Imagine what the real Houdini's mother had to contend with.