25 February 2012, by Mandy Loh
Much Ado about Poo
I’ve been posting quite a few photo-filled entries, but you’ll be relieved to know that this post will be photo-less, for obvious reasons.
I must confess: there’s a certain warped fascination parents have over their baby’s poo. A good girlfriend once put it this way: “It’s amazing how you can love everything about someone!”
But seriously, looking at the contents of a dirty diaper can tell you lots about the general health and well-being of a baby. And when caring for a little person, unable to articulate his or her needs, discomforts or ailments, that is a valuable clue to watch out for indeed! For example, greenish frothy poo could be an indication of foremilk-hindmilk imbalance. So it’s always good to take note of your little one’s poo to find out if he or she is unwell.
An interesting fact we learnt: when a baby is about 5 or 6 months old, they start to poo a lot less frequently. In fact, Cristan only did the deed once every 10 days! Tim got so worried that we brought him to the paediatrician to get a suppository (poor darling!) and was assured that all was well. It seems breastfed babies become so efficient at absorbing all the nutrients in breast milk that very little waste will need to be passed out of the body! Pretty amazing stuff we learn as parents, eh?
Now that we’re weaning, we have again observed some changes in Cristan’s poo. What had previously been a mustard-brown, runny consistency has morphed into a thicker, lumpy paste. You might think it’s rather sick, but I actually like taking a close look at his poo! It gives me quite a thrill to spot bits of his previous dinners (carrots are most easily identifiable, as well as broccoli) which unequivocally means he’s eating! Hooray for baby-led weaning! 🙂
Although the smell has gotten less pleasant (the poo of exclusively breastfed babies is rather sweet-smelling), I find myself preferring the current type of poo, as it is more solid and easier to clean up. Previously, when I opened up his dirty diaper, it’ll be as if an explosion occurred in there, with poo covering every square inch of his bottom. And every so often, with the poo being so runny, it would leak out from the back of his diapers, onto his clothes and changing mat. A real pain in the butt to clean up, I tell ya! Whereas now, the poo stays in a neat little pile, and all I need to do is wipe down his bum and voila, all done!
Anyway, to end off this poopy prose, I thought I’d recap some memorable experiences we’ve had so far!
When Poo Hits the Fence
Back when Cristan was a newborn, on a bright and sunny morning, I was removing his diaper for his usual morning bath when, without warning, my darling shot out a fresh, warm spray of runny poo right at me! It missed me by just a whisker, and by the grace of God, the cot railing bravely took the hit on my behalf. I had never felt so much love and gratitude towards an inanimate object before! Needless to say, now I always stand at Cristan’s SIDE while changing his diapers.
A Roadside Dump
The lethal combination of runny poo and devastating exit force leads naturally to countless diaper blow-outs. One of the most memorable was during our very first road trip to Ipoh. As we stopped for dinner on our way home, we lifted Cristan out of the car seat, only to be greeted with the sight of half his back all covered in poo! Not knowing where the nearest baby-changing facility might be, we had to clean our screaming, wriggling, poo-covered baby on the front seat of the car, along the road, in the DARK. Thank goodness we had disposable waterproof sheets that we could junk right after that operation!
A Sink Stink Disaster
Just last week, while Cristan was finishing his dinner, he started making poo-poo faces. I knew something was a-brewing, and so I waited…and waited…and waited. After a good 15 minutes had passed, I thought the worst was over, and so I proceeded with his night routine of bath before bed.
As is my usual practice now, I would remove his diaper while standing him at the sink (because he would be covered in bits of food from his dinner) before putting him into the bathtub. I spotted a tiny bit of poo in the diaper, and just as I was wrapping it up to throw it away, OUT CAME THE MOTHERLOAD, RIGHT DOWN HIS LEGS!
It was a disaster of epic proportions! He was slipping and sliding around the sink, stepping all over his poo, and I was completely horrified. I grabbed some toilet paper to wipe the pile of poo off the sink, and started rinsing him off with water. But there was just so much poo on him, and it was so stubbornly sticky! Now, I’m rather icky about touching poo (who isn’t?) but in this situation, I HAD to use my hands to rinse him off.
It’s times like this that I realise the extent of a mother’s love. (I’m rather amazed at myself actually!) But then again, I’ll count my blessings — I’m sooo glad he didn’t deliver that motherload in the bathtub, or worse, in my arms while in transit between sink and bath!
4 Comments
Mandy Loh
September 13th, 2021 at 10:41 pm
Hahaha I love the title suggestions! Thank you so much for dropping a line! 🙂
witchmama
September 12th, 2021 at 6:49 pm
When mine was a baby we had most of our excrement explosions in the bathroom but there was one in the back of my father’s car which took ages to clean. Alas she was born constipated and suppository-insertion became a way of life…
Title could have been much ado about “doo”, or “doo-doo” (or in my day it was “dooey”)
Mandy
March 7th, 2012 at 2:13 pm
Hey Alex, yes indeed it was horrific! I hope it NEVER happens again! :p
Alex
February 27th, 2012 at 12:42 am
Pooh-ie blog, lol, can just imagine the ‘horror’ of baby sliding around and stepping on his own poo 🙂