“Dad experienced his first projectile poop today…better him than me…about 3 feet…good work baby! Let’s see if we can beat that distance next time!”
That was an honest-to-goodness Facebook post from a new mom that I know. In the early excitement of have a newborn, sometimes you really need to share those funny – or gross – moments and see who might commiserate with you.
When you’re pregnant, they don’t really prepare you for the reality of diapering baby and all that entails. Once your baby arrives, you realize that there’s so much more to it than just changing a diaper. Color, consistency, frequency: You will analyze poop in ways you never imagined.
I still remember the day I heard my husband yelling for help from the nursery. Tara had managed to shoot poop into her closet across the room. She had a tendency to do this with every diaper change, quickly earning her the nickname “Sneaky P.” I could have the diaper off for less than a second and she’d manage to pee all over the changing table.
Then there’s the dreaded blowout, also known as the Poopocolypse, Poosplosion, or Poomagedon. This is the poop that escapes the diaper and shoots straight up baby’s back, possibly up to their hairline. This is the poop that prompts statements like “So I missed a large part of the game dealing with a massive diaper blowout that necessitated a bath and laundry.”
So, what can you do to mitigate these disasters? When changing a diaper, there are a few ways to be prepared for what might be coming your way.
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Lap pads. These are favorites of mine for baby shower gifts and I really wish I had known about them when my daughter was little. If they do pee, you just change the lap pad rather than the entire changing pad.
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Put a clean diaper down first before removing the soiled one. That way, you’re ready to catch any surprises.
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Open the diaper, but be ready to immediately close it up again. This is particularly helpful with surprise pee (babies tend to pee once they feel the fresh air down there) and projectile poo. Remember, baby boys are not the only ones that can shoot pee!
As far as blowouts go, here are a few tips for dealing with that.
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Carry a change (or three) of clothes. I remember one day when Tara was very young and completely soiled her clothes. I changed her into my backup outfit and not 5 minutes later she soiled it all again. Thankfully, I was in a clothing store and was able to buy her a third outfit right off the rack. From that point one, I carried a small closet’s worth of clothes in the car.
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Make sure the diaper is the right fit. A well-fitting diaper is key for reducing leaks.
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Consider cloth. We had intended to cloth diaper from the start but did not really get into the swing of it until Tara was about 5 months old. Before that, we used disposables about half of the time. Every blowout she ever had was when she was wearing a disposable. Since then, we’ve had poop fill right up to the very edge of the back elastic of her cloth diapers but have never had it escape.
I haven’t met a mom yet that didn’t have her own hilarious stories about poop or blowouts. What about you? Do you have any fantastic tips to help keep the poo at bay?
Kate Cunha is a mostly stay-at-home mom of a 2.5 year old little girl. Since they are now potty training, she is currently dealing with an entire other world of poop.
Tags: cloth diaper, newborns, poop
