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Simple Meal Planning - Plan to Eat

How to Prevent Diaper Blowouts (or at least try!)

Sep 26 Uncategorized

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I’ve got a sweet little story for you today. It involves my first-born and lots and lots of…POOP! Haha.

It was the middle of the night, I was sleeping, and I heard a faint cry in the back of my mind. It got louder and louder until I realized, THAT’S MY BABY! I jumped out of bed and ran into her room. My precious baby girl was hungry and I had the goods. I was still in a daze (THIS is how you can deal with those late-night feedings), but I remember distinctly putting her on the changing table to get ready to change her sweet bottom. I already knew all too well that I needed to be prepared before I opened up that thing. In the week and few days since she was born, she had plenty of accidents to write home about. So I got a newborn diaper out and opened  it up and then got the wipes ready to go.

Here’s where you might want to pay attention.

I unstuck the tabs on the diaper she currently had on, started to pull down the front, and GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOSSSSSSSSHHH! Out came probably a gallon of poop! I’m not even exaggerating! I didn’t know whether to be grateful it got all over her room or if I should have wished that it had gone up her back instead! The pressure was so incredible, it got all over the door, the floor (hardwood, luckily!), her crib, and even found its way back to the changing table.

I instantly yelled, “OH MY GOSH!” out of sheer shock from what just happened. Did my 1 1/2 week old really just rid herself of that much stuff?

My husband leapt from bed as soon as he heard my cries and ran into our daughter’s room. He thought I had dropped Sofía or something. Unfortunately, I didn’t have time to warn him of the poop all over the place, so he slipped the instant he set foot in the room; he only had the crib to keep him from completely falling into the incredible mess. Poor guy!

Then my mom came running (she was sleeping over at our house), and we warned her to stay out of the room for the time being. My poor husband had to tip toe to the bathroom to get himself cleaned up, and I had to figure out how to clean up my baby so none of the poop could get on anything else.

When we got my daughter dressed again, we cleaned up the floor, door, and anything else covered in her poop. Then my mom asked me something, “What did you eat today?” Seriously, Mom, we’re cleaning up poop and that’s what you want to know? I thought.

Then it dawned on me. She wanted to know what I had eaten because maybe it had affected my baby and that is why she had a huge blowout.

“I had a smoothie,” I told her. That’s the only thing I remember eating that day that probably contributed to this lovely mess.

I was changed from that horrid experience. I refer to it fondly as “The Fire Hydrant Blowout.” After that, we rarely saw diaper blowouts happen, because we decided to take control of the situation.

Diaper blowouts are icky! Learn how to stop them from happening or, if they do happen, how to take care of them.© WavebreakMediaMicro / Dollar Photo Club

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. If you click on one of these links and you make a purchase, I will receive a small commission from your purchase. 

How to Prevent Diaper Blowouts

In order to help other new mamas avoid and/or deal with diaper blowouts, I’d like to impart some wisdom to you. These ideas will help you prevent diaper blowouts or at least make them easier to deal with if they do happen.

  1. While breastfeeding, make sure to avoid certain foods during the first few weeks of your baby’s life. Some foods can be very intense for newborns. Apparently, all that fruit in my smoothie was just too much for my baby’s sensitive stomach.Diaper blowouts are icky! Learn how to stop them from happening or, if they do happen, how to take care of them.
  2. Do not use cute layettes that look like the ones below (price tag of $43). The most practical PJs for your baby are the ones with the buttons and/or a zipper in the front. Nobody wants to pull poop over their baby’s head. That just means even more cleanup. And I’m sorry, but why would anybody pay $43 for something their baby will wear 4, maybe 5, times?! How to Prevent Diaper Blowouts or at least try!
  3. Try out diaper extenders. I had never heard of these until I started researching for this post. One company, Poopsies, makes onesies with a waterproof lining. You can also buy diaper extender pads on Amazon. If you have tried them out, let me know if they worked for you!Diaper blowouts are icky! Learn how to stop them from happening or, if they do happen, how to take care of them.
  4. Use cloth diapers instead of disposable ones. I used cloth diapers on my first baby from the time she was about 4 weeks old until 7 months. Once I started using them, I never dealt with any kind of diaper blowout up the back or even out the sides, and I believe that was due to the cloth diapers. I have been using a combination of cloth and disposable with my second, and I believe there was one time she had a little bit of poop going up her back when she had a cloth diaper on. All of her other blowouts happened with disposables on.
  5. Do NOT leave your house without a change of clothing, diapers, and wipes. If you do, and a diaper blowout happens, I’ll pray for  you! (THIS is my story of when I forgot a change of clothing for our daughter)Diaper Bag Lists Free Printable
  6. Pull off the onesie the wrong way (that is, down the legs instead of over the head). I didn’t even know you could do this until more recently. It will be so much less mess if you do this. Over the head is just gross!

You can do your best to prevent diaper blowouts, but some kids just have more epic poopy blowouts than others. 😉 That’s why there are ways to deal with them if they do happen.

Do you have any other ways to prevent and/or handle diaper blowouts?

By the way, if you want to save as much money as you can on your disposable diapers, check out THIS post.

Photos of food: Onion, Broccoli, Pineapple, Orange. Photo of layette via.
  • Author
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Charlee Flaminio
Charlee Flaminio
I'm a mom of 3 on a journey to feed my family nourishing foods. Personally, I believe you can cook healthy food and still have time for your loved ones.
Charlee Flaminio
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By Charlee Flaminio on Sep 26

Comments

  1. Ana Lynn says

    09.26.14 at 9:11 am

    We didn’t have diaper blow outs but we did have a color shock therapy after our daughter had a blue popsicle. I never knew it could be THAT color!

    Reply
    • Charlee says

      09.26.14 at 1:11 pm

      Are you serious?! I’ll have to give my daughter’s blue popsicles in the future!

      Reply
  2. Leilani says

    09.26.14 at 10:02 am

    Oh diaper blow outs ugh!! I have seen my fair share of them. They are awful. Really great tips! Pinning!

    Reply
    • Charlee says

      09.26.14 at 1:12 pm

      Thanks for pinning, Leilani!

      Reply
  3. Jen says

    09.26.14 at 11:10 am

    Oh that diaper blow out story is terrible, we have had so many of them I have lost count. We have a saying in our family concerning blow outs when they happen it’s from the line in Mulan about “dishonor” and we altered it just a little, “Poop on your sister, poop on your grandma, poop on your whole family”.

    Reply
    • Charlee says

      09.26.14 at 1:13 pm

      LOL!! I better not share that with my hubby, cuz he’ll start singing that all the time! Haha.

      Reply
    • Meg says

      05.14.20 at 6:24 pm

      Wow, what a blowout story! I thought I had it bad when my 3 month old daughter had a blowout at a family reunion while my aunt, who was wearing white pants, was holding her for the first time!

      Reply
  4. Lauren Tamm says

    09.27.14 at 11:19 pm

    We haven’t really had to many diaper blow outs. We too use cloth and disposable. When I do use disposable I try to use one size bigger and that seems to help a bit. Great tips as always!

    Reply
    • Charlee says

      09.28.14 at 10:49 pm

      I hadn’t thought of that. Thanks for the suggestion, Lauren!

      Reply
  5. R.F. Dietz says

    10.01.14 at 9:08 pm

    LOL this is awful..the part where your husband slips in it- that’s the worst part. Dylan had a blow out in Olive Garden once. Good times stinking up a fairly decent dinner. :[ But you’re right about the diet- what you eat, baby eats. Oh the joys of breastfeeding!

    Reply
    • Charlee Anne says

      10.02.14 at 2:35 pm

      I would just die if we had a bad blowout in public!

      Reply
  6. Kristina Johnson says

    10.05.14 at 6:03 pm

    Your blowout story is hilarious! My youngest has been the worst with the blowouts-we nicknamed the events poo-slosions! We’ve had our fair share in public too. In addition to spare clothes, make sure you have a plastic bag. I keep a couple Wal-mart bags in the diaper bag. You don’t want to have to put yucky clothes loose in the diaper bag.

    Reply
    • Charlee Anne says

      10.06.14 at 6:39 am

      Yes! I forgot to mention that! Thanks for bringing it up.

      Reply
  7. Rachel Lewis says

    01.14.17 at 8:10 am

    My daughter only has blowouts when she is in a swing or her particular favorite the jumperoo. It is really the only time she poops for me. If we do floor time, bouncy seat or cuddle all day she won’t poop. I put her in the jumperoo and I am guaranteed a diaper change in 10 minutes.

    Reply
  8. Chels says

    10.23.17 at 1:30 pm

    How did I miss this post?? I do remember you telling me about it though. EWWWWWW! What a stinky nightmare! I was going to stock up on OJ but think I’ll postpone that…..☺

    Reply
    • Charlee says

      10.27.17 at 8:12 am

      Hahaha, Good idea!

      Reply
      • Kylie says

        04.09.19 at 6:15 pm

        You mentioned some foods that are bad, but could you share some that are gentle? Sorry I know this post is old but I am planning for my first child 🙂

        Reply
        • Charlee Flaminio says

          04.11.19 at 9:01 pm

          I’m no doctor, Kylie, but I bet foods that are pretty mild in flavor and still very nutritious will be just fine on your baby’s stomach (unless, of course, they are sensitive to something in your diet). For example, spinach, bananas, cucumbers, chicken, eggs, nuts, oatmeal, etc. Hope that helps!

          Reply
  9. Trish says

    03.17.21 at 10:43 pm

    Hey if you’ve never heard of Danni’s Diaper Extenders, you should check them out or add to your list! They’re genius!

    https://www.amazon.com/Dannis-Diaper-Extenders-Reusable-disposable/dp/B08XF3W3DV/ref=sr_1_2?dchild=1&keywords=Danni%27s+Diaper+extenders&qid=1615168321&sr=8-2

    Reply

Trackbacks

  1. The Story Behind Humble in a Heartbeat - Humble in a Heartbeat says:
    11.06.14 at 7:15 am

    […] so that you can see how you can do better. If I had known, for example, that there was a way to prevent diaper blowouts before I had my first child, I think I would have taken the proper precautions to make sure I […]

    Reply
  2. Solids Feeding Schedule: Month 4 Update - Humble in a Heartbeat says:
    11.19.14 at 6:56 pm

    […] only give a small amount to your baby since prunes relieve constipation. Bella had a really nice diaper blowout that night. It was the first time I saw any poop come out of the cloth diapers since I started […]

    Reply
  3. 10 Things That Can Help You Succeed at Breastfeeding | Humble in a Heartbeat says:
    09.29.16 at 4:01 am

    […] foods can truly wreak havoc on your baby’s new digestive system. In fact, you can read all about the epic diaper blowout my first baby had because of something I […]

    Reply

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I used to struggle big time with getting veggies into my family's meals. After several years and much trial and error, though, I now believe you can cook healthy food and still have time for your loved ones. Click here to find out more.

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