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My baby is making difficult to change her because of her movements.

Is the baby fidgeting (about)? Is she wiggling? Or is she even doing something else?
Which word is the right one? What are the differences in meaning?

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"Wigging" is one possible term for the kind of movements that would make her difficult to change. "Squirming" is another, possibly followed by "around" or "about".

Wiggle: a small, quick movement up and down and/or from side to side

Squirm: to make twisting movements with the body, esp. because of embarrassment, pain, or excitement

"Wiggling" is the movement itself, while "squirm" also implies the baby is too excited or upset to lie still.

The baby keeps squirming about and won't let me put on her diaper.

To me personally, because "squirm" rhymes with "worm" it suggests the baby is wriggling about like a little worm, which (to me) sounds cute.

"Fidgeting" can also work, but it's more common with older children who move around because they're bored, or have too much energy to sit still.

After ten minutes of the new teacher's dull lecture, half the class started fidgeting in their seats.

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  • You used "the baby is wriggling about" in your answer. I've looked up "to wriggle ..." in the Cambridge Dictionary linked by you but haven't found the phrasal "to wriggle about". Can the particle "about" be considered as a general particle to extend the meaning of a motion verb as "restless, back and forth"?
    – Min-Soo Pipefeet
    Commented Nov 14, 2017 at 12:46
  • Yes, "wriggle", "wriggle around", and "wriggle about" all mean more or less the same thing. You can also use either with "squirm" and "fidget".
    – Andrew
    Commented Nov 14, 2017 at 16:18

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