If a child has a dirty diaper is there an issue of me davening or saying Hashem’s name within 4 Amos?

 

If the child is of age that he can eat a kezayis of grain within the amount of time that it takes an adult to eat a pras of grain (approx. 7 minutes), usually at the age of one year and older (but often even younger), one must keep a distance from his urine and excrements.

The distance is 4 Amos from where the smell finishes, and they may not have it in their vision line when davening even if it’s more than 4 Amos away.

Nonetheless, it’s good and proper to daven in a clean place, even from excrements (not urine) of a one-day-old child, if it’s easy to do so, although it’s not forbidden.

If the excrement is inside a pamper, one may daven nearby, provided there is no foul odor. Likewise, one may daven near urine in a pamper, if it’s not wet to the touch on the outside, to the extent that anything touching it could cause wetness to another item.

Some are stringent that if one is aware that the pamper is dirty with excrement — not if it only contains urine— they must treat the pamper like a toilet bowl, and keep a distance of 4 Amos, even if there is no smell and may not have it in their vision line when davening even if its more than 4 Amos away. If the pamper is covered with another garment, one may daven nearby, if there is no smell.

 

Sources:

שו״ע אדה״ז פא, א-ב. ושם כתב: פרס ממאכל זה. ואכ״מ. וכתבנו 7 דקות לחומרא – ראה תורת חיים סופר פא, ד. גיל שנה – מו״ק שם. פתה״ד שם א. וצ״ע במסגה״ש ה, ג. וראה תו״ח שם א. בירור הלכה זילבר שם.

אדה״ז שם עט, א-ב. עו, ו. פב, ב.

המחמירים – ראה הליכות שלמה תפלה כ, ד ואילך. אבל בנשמת אברהם עו הע׳ יט, ש אין דינו כגש״ר כיון שנעשה לשימוש חד פעמי. ו ראה שש״כ מז, הע׳ קעד. לקט הקמח החדש פא, ד.

 

 

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