One thing about babies is, they don’t just dirty their diapers during the day, when everyone is awake and alert and ready to tackle the job. You’re going to do plenty of nighttime changes, too, and you’ll need to illuminate the situation at least enough to ensure you’re doing a decent job—but not so much that it’s a shock to everyone’s system.
One member of our Offspring Facebook group came up with a solution you can replicate in your own home: Get that soft glow you need by using a small, rechargeable book light. Jennifer tells me: “My three-month-old sleeps in his bassinet in our bedroom and I can’t be bothered to carry him to his nursery in the middle of the night. So I started doing diaper changes on my bed but got frustrated not being able to see well what I was doing. The book light solved my problem.”
Here’s her set-up, in which she clips her book light to a shower caddy she uses to keep the diapers, wipes, and other necessities organized:
She clipped her light to the caddy because the sides of the bassinet itself were too wide for the clip—but you could hunt around for a spot to clip it right near the bassinet or changing area itself.
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If you decide to go this route and want to go all in, you might consider purchasing a spare book light and keeping it handy on your nightstand for that inconvenient moment when the battery on the first one dies. They won’t go to waste: Eventually, you will not be exhausted and reading actual books like you used to will be a thing again, and you and your partner (or eventually that kid you’re changing) can put these lights to their intended use.
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