P is for the Pooping Stories

Imagine this phone conversation between me and my husband; these types of conversations are an ingrained part of the first year of parenting:

Hubby: Hi, Did he do it?

Me: Yes finally! I am so relieved.

Hubby: Yeah, it’s a relief. So was the color OK?

Me: Yes, it was yellow. Thank God. I was worried about it.

Hubby: That’s great, all right then it seems like all is well. Call you later, Bye.

Me: OK, bye!

You know what we are talking about, right? If you haven’t guessed yet, yes we are talking about our baby’s poop.

This conversation happened when our 6 months old baby was having a bout of constipation and had pooped after 5 days.

And it just shows how your life changes when you have a baby. You talk about poop a lot. And this was one of many conversations about our baby’s poop we’ve had over the years (Yes, it doesn’t end with the first year!)

Before I go further, let me inform you that this post is going to be all about baby poop. And if you are not a parent yet, this might be just too much or too icky for you.

And for the Moms who are going through this phase or have gone through it, well we are used to it, aren’t we?

This is honest, no-filter write up about baby poop facts. With some helpful tips for mothers to help them survive through all those shitty moments (literally and figuratively). Pregnant Moms, you should definitely read this.

Baby Poop in the First Year 

A baby’s poop goes through many changes in the first year. The color and consistency of your baby’s poop will tell you a lot about his health and growth. 

I will not go into many details of “baby poop guide” as it could be a big topic in itself, and there are so many comprehensive articles and guides available on the internet. One such guide is Babycenter’s Baby Poop Guide. (They even have a video to make you understand your baby’s various poops over the first year, see how important poop is?)

So I am going to share some Baby Pooping facts with you, which you are going to experience many times in the first year. This will help you mentally prepare yourself a little for your baby’s poop stories(and there are going to be many).

Here are some Baby Poop Facts of the first year of motherhood:

Babies Poop a LOT!

Babies poop a lot, like a LOT. No matter how much you think you are prepared for this, let me tell you straight: No one is prepared to deal with so much poop, Mommies. It’s like a never-ending cycle of a diaper change.

You WILL get covered in it

Yes, that’s a fact. AS if the spit and vomit weren’t enough, you get to be covered in shit too. Hurray! It will happen in that perfect moment, when you will have your baby in your arms without a diaper, even for a few minutes. Or you will be changing your baby, and suddenly the projectile will hit you. There is no way to be safe from that.

Or you will be feeding your little angel, looking into those pretty eyes. And suddenly you will feel something warm and wet on your clothes. You pray like hell that please let it be pee, but nooo… its poop. Good luck with trying to remove your baby from the boob to clean up…HAHA!

You will be observing it very closely

Yes, the color, consistency, frequency, you will observe everything. It’s a part and parcel of becoming a mother. I once had to give my baby’s poop in a container for a stool test, as my baby (he was 2 at that time) was having stomach infection. See, it’s so not over after the first year.

You will smell your baby’s diaper 

If you are thinking, I would never do it. I’ll just wait to say “I told you so”. Because not only will you smell your baby’s diaper, you will deliberately smell the poop too. Otherwise, how will you answer the pediatrician, when he asked how does it smell, what’s the color, etc.? Trust me, you will get asked about it a lot.

Just when you start eating, your baby poops

It’s Murphy’s Law of pooping, seriously. This happens for 99.9% of the time. Also, the moment you will come out after your bath or shower feeling refreshed. Yep, the baby is going to poop.

When you are short on diapers, the baby will have a poop

Murphy’s Law again, and no matter how much you try, the diaper shortage happens more frequently than you would like.

Babies like to play in their own shit

Yeah, they won’t play in the toys you clean with such enthusiasm. But they love to play with the poop. And then who gets to clean that gross smelling baby? Mommy, of course!

So How to Survive this poopy First Year of Motherhood?

• Always have extra diapers with you, not 1 or 2. But at least 4-5 extra diapers whenever you go out. And I swear by wet wipes! They are a must-have too.

• Always use under-mats/dry sheets when your baby is without a diaper. It helps reduce getting your baby’s bodily fluids on you or on the bed.

• Have a diaper station; it’s a place in your home where you place all your diapering supplies. So when you have a pooping incident, you don’t have to go searching for the wet wipes or extra diapers or a bum cream.

• Ride it out. Really what else can you do? You can’t tell your 6 months old to not poop when Mommy is eating, right? So just ride out this poopy phase, you are going to come out of it with some hilarious stories.

Phew! I think that’s enough poop talk for now. 

For the Moms who have gone through this, I know I made you remember some funny moments.

And, New Mommies, just hang in there, this poop too shall pass. 🙂      

Note: This post is written as part of the #BlogchatterA2Z Challenge for the letter P.