I should have known something was wrong when she suddenly went quiet. Soon after waking up from a 2 ½ hour nap yesterday afternoon, I could hear her chirping in her crib. I took my time responding to her as I was finishing some last minute tasks. When I walked upstairs, she wasn’t chirping anymore. When I walked into her room, my mouth was literally hanging open at the disgusting scene in front of me. Her diaper was half hanging off her butt. Poop was smeared all over her bed sheet. It was all over her right thigh and both of her hands. And worst of all there were poop smears around her mouth. Some how either her diaper got loose or she opened it to examine its contents. Either way, the outcome wasn’t good.
Earlier in the morning, I had given darling daughter prunes to help her clean out her system. She seemed constipated and obviously the prunes worked. I tried to do a very quick clean up so I could get an emergency bath ready. I’m not good at bath time as it is dear husband’s job. But there was no time to wait. Holding her from a distance, I plopped darling daughter in the bath water and started scrubbing. All the while I was washing the dirty, black stains off her skin, I started worrying about the potential ill health effects a baby could suffer after eating their own poop.
After washing darling daughter and getting her dressed, I was faced with a health problem. What exactly are the health issues surrounding a baby eating poop? I wondered. So I consulted with the Internet. I should know better than trying to get health advice off the Internet. After getting conflicting advice, from it’s okay if a baby eats their own poop to a baby could seriously sick, I decided to call Telehealth Ontario. Luckily I got a registered nurse right away. I feared getting the receptionist, who would ask me what my health issues was. I could just imagine me trying to squeak out the following: “ah, yeah, my baby just ate her own poop . . . I’d like to talk to a nurse about that . . .” Regardless, it was an embarassing conversation. Here is the rundown of what was said:
Me: “I was just wondering what the possible health effects of a baby eating poop. I think my one year old ate her own poop after she decided to examine the contents of her diaper after her nap time.
Nurse: Is she suffering any symptoms?
Me: (Confused as to what symptoms a baby could suffer after eating their own poop.) Ah, I don’t think so. She seems to be in good humour.
Nurse: Is she turning blue? Does she seem to be breathing okay?
Me: (More confused). Ah, no.
Nurse: (Laughing). Kind of disgusting, isn’t it? I think you are okay. They should be okay if they ate their own poop.
Conclusion of the conversation is this: if your kid eats their own poop they should be okay. If they eat someone else’s poop, then it becomes a questionable situation.
(I should mention that I was beat red after the end of this conversation as I was sooooo embarrassed).
So the moral of my story is this: the next time darling daughter goes for a nap there will be an onesie on her body. She will never go down for a nap with only a T-shirt and an exposed diaper again. Obviously it is just too dangerous and messy, too.
Copyright 2009 -- Valerie McLaughlin -- All rights reserved
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