A childcare chain has offered parents advice on how to perform a respectful nappy change. Photo / Getty Images
A childcare chain has offered parents advice on how to perform a respectful nappy change. Photo / Getty Images
An Australian childcare chain has offered advice on how to perform "respectful nappy changes".
In a post on Only About Children's website, the early education provider – which has 70 centres across Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane – explains how nappy changes can be "important opportunities for learning and relationship building".
For toddlers, Only About Children says parents should make sure nappy changes have a "respectful start".
"Toddlers don't like to be interrupted when they are playing. Wait for a gap in their playing before starting the nappy changing process," the article says.
"You may wish to give your toddler some autonomy and ask, 'Would you like to walk to the change table or should I carry you?'"
For babies, the article says you should think: "If you were a baby, how would you like to have your nappy changed?"
It advises parents to do nappy changes with babies "slowly" and with "gentle hands", "full attention" and with a "warm, nurturing back and forth, so you can discover how good it feels to relate to one another".
The childcare chain has advice on 'respectful nappy changes' on its website. Photo / Supplied
Only About Children's national education manager Angela Ngavaine told the Herald Sun nappy changes were still performed at centres even if babies or toddlers didn't appear to show consent.
She said the centres used a similar approach, which are based on the Resources for Infant Educarers (RIE) method, when it came to asking a child before if they can be hugged or wiping their faces.
The RIE method involves "treating even the youngest infant as a unique human being, not as an object" and by encouraging "even the tiniest infant to become an active participant rather than a passive recipient of the activities".
News.com.au has contacted Only About Children for comment.
Back in April, a mum in the US went viral for sharing how she teaches her toddler son "bodily autonomy and consent" while changing his nappy.
A mum in the US explained how she uses nappy changes to build "bodily autonomy and consent". Photos / TikTok
The woman, who posted using the hashtag @once.upon.a.mama, explained that she did this despite the fact that toddlers "cannot consent to diaper change" as it's a "necessary care task".
"So I interact with my son as I change him and explain what I'm doing as I do it, so he at least feels part of the process," she said, adding that her son will also interact and mimic her noises as a result.
"The goal is to make him feel more involved and not like a passive observer having his body manipulated," Alissa said.
"I want him to be building this foundation for his body autonomy and consensual interactions later in his life."
