Before I became a mom, I associated the word blowout with Kate Middleton's perfect signature hairstyle. Nowadays, blowouts have taken on an unglamorous new meaning because of the inevitable diaper blowout. I guess you can say diaper blowouts are a right of passage for every parent but it's something that I really dreaded. Plus, I knew I had double the chances of experiencing it because of the twins.
Our twins, Audrey and Antonino have already had one diaper blowout each. With Audrey, it was when we were about to leave the house to go to my in-laws for lunch. My husband Joey was burping her after her feed when her diaper leaked and poop went on Joey's shirt, our bed and blanket. We were supposed to be at my in-laws by 11:30 AM but ended up leaving our house at 12:30 PM! Imagine, one extra hour to clean up poop! Needless to say, we learned to schedule our leave by time an hour earlier than needed to make room for surprise situations like this.
With Antonino, it happened just as we were about to put him and Audrey to bed. He didn't act uneasy at all like he usually does after he poops. We were just going to change his nappy before bedtime but when we opened his diaper, green smoothie-like poop came out and soiled his bed sheet! As Joey went to change the sheets, I started wiping up the mess. Then I realized it had gone to his back! This made me panic because I didn't know what to clean first! I think I used up almost a whole bag of cotton balls and still ended up cleaning Antonino in the bath. Of course, once he was clean and dry, Antonino, together with Audrey was able to fall asleep right away. Joey and I, on the other hand couldn't! We felt like the stink of Antonino's poop clung to our clothes. Gross, right? But still, we see having survived the twins' diaper blowouts as a first-time parent badge of honor. We hope those were their first and last blowouts but just in case we experience more (Please, God, no), we came up with a few tricks on how to deal with them:
Stay calm
Babies feed off our energy. If we're calm, they will be calm as well which will make it easier for us to clean them up. If the baby is fussy, try humming a nursery rhyme to soothe him. Just hum. Don't sing because you never know when baby's projectile poop or pee can attack your mouth.
Place a clean diaper under the soiled one
Always place a clean diaper under the dirty diaper before taking it off. This will help you catch any new poop or pee while cleaning baby up.
Run a bath
It was a good thing we were home during the twins' blowouts because we had easy access to our tub. Running water is still the best way to clean up poop explosions thoroughly. Even a tiny piece of "blowout" could cause allergies or irritation.
Pull down baby's onesie
Those envelope folds in baby's onesie are the best! They help us frazzled parents pull the onesie down baby's body instead of over his head. This eliminates the chances of getting poo on baby's face and hair.
If you have yet to experience a diaper blowout, lucky you! But when it happens, I hope these tips will be able to help.
Stay calm
Babies feed off our energy. If we're calm, they will be calm as well which will make it easier for us to clean them up. If the baby is fussy, try humming a nursery rhyme to soothe him. Just hum. Don't sing because you never know when baby's projectile poop or pee can attack your mouth.
Place a clean diaper under the soiled one
Always place a clean diaper under the dirty diaper before taking it off. This will help you catch any new poop or pee while cleaning baby up.
Run a bath
It was a good thing we were home during the twins' blowouts because we had easy access to our tub. Running water is still the best way to clean up poop explosions thoroughly. Even a tiny piece of "blowout" could cause allergies or irritation.
Pull down baby's onesie
Those envelope folds in baby's onesie are the best! They help us frazzled parents pull the onesie down baby's body instead of over his head. This eliminates the chances of getting poo on baby's face and hair.
If you have yet to experience a diaper blowout, lucky you! But when it happens, I hope these tips will be able to help.
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