Dreaded by all parents and probably the grossest thing you’ll come across in your diaper-changing career: the blowouts. When I was newly pregnant, I heard of them and naively thought that this is for sure something that only happens to other parents.
Little did I know. The first one happened while I was changing his 3rd consecutive poop-diaper within 20 minutes. While his diaper was off, he had a completely unrestrained blowout. Does it actually count as a blowout then? Well, I let’s say so, since it literally “blew out”.
First I thought I was lucky not to be in the way, until I turned to look at our bathroom. It took me – no kidding – 42 minutes to get it all clean again. The word “pooplosion” describes the scene quite accurately.
By the way, that was my point of no return for giving cloth diapering and elimination communication a go. But that’s a different story…
When Do Diaper Blowouts Start? When Will They Stop Again? Diaper blowouts start as early as 10 to 14 days after birth, once the meconium (the black or dark green tar-like stool) has completely left baby’s system and the stomach has become accustomed to bigger meals. They happen in frequencies from never to once a month to several times a day and usually stop completely once the little one is introduced to solid food.
Some babies do not have blowouts at all. Lucky you if you’re a parent of that group!
But experience shows it’s best to be prepared for the worst ; ).
A diaper blowout simply means that the still very liquid stool of our beloved little one escapes the diaper. This can happen through either the back, the front or the thighs. All “hole-combinations” as well as “no-holes-left-out” are possible. Now, I don’t want to paint too vivid a picture here. Just google diaper blowouts and you’ll get the idea very quickly!
Sometimes it’s just the sheer amount of poop that escapes the little one that leads to the dreaded leaks, and since it doesn’t just disappear, it has to go somewhere… But regularly the bowl movements are accompanied by painful wind and are relieved with a lot of pressure; thus the name pooplosion.
There are several factors that can lead to a diaper blowout. In forums I often read that exclusively breastfed babies are more likely to have diaper blowouts and that formula-fed ones tend to have them less often.
The same is said for the painful wind that often accompanies the blowouts. To be honest, when comparing the stories of all the moms I personally know and taking into consideration who fed formula and who breastfed (or did both), I didn’t notice a difference.
The right size of diaper is another point that is often discussed. If the diaper is very snug and cozy fitting it is quite likely that it won’t hold the poop back, whereas a diaper that is a little “baggy” at the bottom has more chance of keeping everything in (or at least more contained). Make sure that you run your fingers around the sides to ensure all the cuffs are out, and that the diaper fits properly on the waist. Make it tight, yet comfortable.
Cloth diapers versus disposables are another thing to take into consideration. Compared to sposies, cloth diapers are said to have a clear advantage. In this situation, all the bulk around baby’s bottom really pays off. Granted, you can use diaper expander pads (pads that you put onto your baby’s back under the diaper), but honestly, they are very expensive ($8-10 for 25 pads). Another reason why I recommend cloth diapers.
Blowouts come unannounced, unexpected and hardly ever at a convenient time.
When my 2-week-old son had his first blowout I was at home and had all the time and resources needed to get rid of the mess. Lucky me.
But I know of blowouts happening when baby is on the couch at a friend’s place, in the car seat, or bouncing on someone’s lap in church. Whether we want it or not, we now have a situation at hand that could be considered “pressing” and therefore needs to be dealt with a.s.a.p.
Of course first you need to undress the dirty pumpkin. You want to keep the “unaffected” areas clean, most importantly their little hands and their face. To do so, I found it proved most effective to pull the onesie down from the shoulders over the feet.
So instead of taking it off over the head, and risking face and hand contamination, you will (worst case) just get their legs dirty. This way of taking a onesie off works especially well when there are no buttons, but rather overlapping fabric (folds), on the shoulders.
I always thought of these kinds of onesies to be annoying because if you didn’t put them on properly your little one’s shoulders would be bare. But if you have to undress them quickly from top to bottom they come in very handy.
If you somehow have access to a sink, a shower, a bathtub or a bucket full of water, use it. With a blowout, the easiest and most effective way to get the little one clean and dry again is to take all the clothes off and wash off all the poo – be mindful of the water temperature though as you don’t want to give your beloved little on an icy cold shower. If you can do this, don’t bother with wipes.
If you can’t, use them. But be prepared to use A LOT of them. You should have half a pack at hand at least. If you only have a few wipes left, use baby’s soiled clothes or dry paper (hand towel or toilet paper) first to get the worst off and then clean the rest with the wipes you still have.
When you don’t want to or can’t let your little one sit or stand it’s easiest to have them bend over the inside of your lower arm to get them all clean again (especially if the blowout chose to take the back route).
To get into this position, pick baby up with both hands under their armpits, facing towards you. Then rotate the little one so that their chest faces the inside of your lower arm. Let go of the arm closest to you and put it over your lower arm, so that your little one “hangs” on your arm.
You now have them securely on your arm and have one hand free to get all the stuff you need and to wash them. Do you have a newborn? Don’t worry, newborns are especially easy to hold like I described since they naturally cling to you and pull their knees up – and they are not that heavy yet : ).
Although dealing with a blowout by yourself is perfectly manageable, it is always nice to have an extra pair of hands. So don’t be afraid to ask your partner, a fellow mommy or any other nice person to quickly help you.
Just a word of warning – make sure they a) know what to expect, b) don’t have a weak stomach and c) are not on their lunch break!
The digestive system is a very complex organ and there is hardly anything you can do to prevent blowouts, especially if you are feeding formula. In the case that you’re breastfeeding, I can just give you the general tip to be mindful if your little one reacts negatively to any foods you are eating and then try to avoid them.
It also pays to diaper with cloth or try different types and sizes of disposable diapers. You can also try the above-mentioned diaper expander pads. I’ve put links to all the different products below.
My personal favorite was a “no-diaper-blowout” approach.
Sounds strange? When my son was about 8 weeks and could support his head on his own, I gave elimination communication a go. It worked so well that we had no more blowouts in a diaper (although some of the big business was done with so much pressure that it would for sure have resulted in a blowout). In fact, we hardly had any stool in his diapers at all; about 90% of it went right into the toilet.
So, I can really encourage you to try elimination communication in combination with cloth diapering.