I have two children, one of whom is still in diapers, and changing them has never bothered me in the slightest. In fact, I always thought that people who loudly protested diaper changing were just being melodramatic weenies.
Until... I recently volunteered to change my two-year-old cousin's poo diaper. His mom was unavailable, and I figured, "Why not, I do it all the time?". As soon as I opened the diaper, it was all I could do to keep from gagging. Honestly, it was awful. I guess it's possible that he is just some sort of Super-Pooper, but I am more inclined to side with the article in the OP.
For some reason, I'm dying to hear what others have to say about this. I should probably get out more!
Posts: 54 | From: New Orleans | Registered: Jul 2005
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I wouldn't say that my kids poop smelled 'the best' but when I was in the nursery with my child & several other kids, I could tell if my child had pooped or another kid. Couldn't tell you which kid, but I could tell you that it was or wasn't my kid.
-------------------- I cannot live without books-Thomas Jefferson *~* A child educated only at school is an uneducated child - George Santayana I'm going to pummel you with such zeal, Buddha will explode! *~* Never miss a good chance to shut up - Will Rogers Posts: 6585 | From: Dallas/Fort Worth, TX | Registered: Feb 2002
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Same here gamixa. I cannot deal w/ changing other childrens' diapers, but my kids' never bothered me that much.
I thought I heard something before about it being a way animals identify their offspring- but I might be wrong.
-------------------- "My Very Educated Mother Just Said Uh-oh! No...Pluto..."~ Steven Colbert Posts: 3256 | From: Somewhere in Ohio | Registered: Apr 2004
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I could've told you that! At work I deal with students who have gotten in trouble with UPD. Every time their parents call, they defend the little punks. Clearly, every parent thinks their kid's NFBSK don't stink!
quote: Disgust helps protect us from things that can make us sick, scientists say, but there are circumstances in which the emotion has to be tempered. The caring of an infant is likely one such instance.
That makes a lot of sense. Like a lot of other people I am the type that will immediately starting gagging and have to fight the urge not to vomit if I see (or smell) someone else vomiting. Yet, with my own kids, I was able to control that reflex and get on with things. You gotta do, what you gotta do. Now that they're old enough to look after themselves in this department though, well, they're on their own
-------------------- If you can keep your head when all about you are losing theirs, it's just possible you haven't grasped the situation. - Jean Kerr Posts: 18428 | From: Ontario, Canada | Registered: Nov 2001
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I've had a lot of mothers tell me this is true- "I could never stand other babies' poop, but my own kids never bothered me." I'll be able to put this to the test myself in a few months.
-------------------- "Seize the day! Make your lives extraordinary!" -John Keating, "Dead Poets Society" Posts: 2861 | From: New Jersey | Registered: May 2004
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quote:Originally posted by Zorro: I've had a lot of mothers tell me this is true- "I could never stand other babies' poop, but my own kids never bothered me." I'll be able to put this to the test myself in a few months.
That's what people told me, too.
They lied.
-------------------- "When a stupid man is doing something he is ashamed of, he always declares that it is his duty."--George Bernard Shaw Posts: 19266 | From: Nashville, TN | Registered: Jun 2002
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It must just be a Mom thing. As the oldest of four, and 11 years older than my youngest brother; I've changed more diapers than mostchildless males, and I have to say every kid's poop is VILE! I tried to talk my mother into buying a bidet so I wouldn't have to wipe my brother, she was up for it, but Dad, who somehow never seemed to be the one changing those diapers, was not.
It gave me an appreciation of what parenthood involved, and a lot of ammo for arguments in later years.
(I should copy my little brother on this post so he realizes how many people are sharing these special moments between brothers. )
-------------------- 'Hello, assorted humanoid strangers. You are standing casually in our forest. This bewilders us.' Blatherskite Posts: 950 | From: Cincinnati, Ohio | Registered: Sep 2005
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I wouldn't say I "prefer" the smell of my baby's poop, but I would say it disgusts me significantly less than other babies' poop. I have changed many a diaper in my day -- cousins, babysitting charges, etc -- and I have always had to fight the urge to be sick when changing a dirty diaper. However, my own kid just doesn't gross me out nearly as much. I guess the maternal instinct to take care of the baby outweighs the instinct to get the heck away from that poop.
I thought at first that Becoming A Mother had caused me to mature enough that baby poop just didn't ick me out anymore, but then I changed a diaper of my nephew's and realized, nope, poop is still gross. It's just my own kid's that I can tolerate.
quote:Originally posted by Zorro: I've had a lot of mothers tell me this is true- "I could never stand other babies' poop, but my own kids never bothered me." I'll be able to put this to the test myself in a few months.
That's what people told me, too.
They lied.
They lied to me, too. Poop is poop and it all stinks. I just know when I was pregnant with my second child, my first was still in diapers. I had morning sickness really bad and it was really hard not to puke on my own child when he was dirty. It's was awful. I got my husband to do the "dirty" work most of the time, but he wasn't always available. I always managed to supress it until the job was done and then I had to run to the bathroom and puke. Poor kid probably has a complex from this. I'm sure it will come up in a therapy session when he's 30.
Definitely don't buy the lie that it won't bother you if it's your own kid's because it's not always true. I think there's a psychological factor though in changing your own kid and so it doesn't seem as bad as someone else's kid.
-------------------- Your ultimate source of superfluous flummery. Posts: 595 | From: South Carolina | Registered: Jun 2005
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I am a Dad, and I did not notice the difference between my kids poop and that of other kids I have changed. Now, I could sometimes tell what they had to eat.....
-------------------- And now for something completely different... Posts: 4164 | From: Alabama | Registered: Oct 2005
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I was a diaper changing dad. The one thing I noticed is that the degree of stankness increases steadily from birth to potty training. Newborn poop just plain doesn't stink. Breastfed poop stank, but was a bit sweet. Solid food poop started to get a little more ripe. And the day she got in to the bag of hot Cheetos, hot damn!!!
I figured it's was just God's little way of getting you used to it over time.
I wonder if during DDs last days of diapers, had I been given a newborn, if I would've gotten the ole' gag reflexes going or not.
posted
Well, I've changed some diapers in my time. Frankly none of them bothered me all that much that I can recall. I was probably more used to my kid's diapers, but I've changed others and it really didn't phase me. I even had to do diaper duty for my mom-in-law and dad-in-law her - she was bed ridden and dying. Him - he had Alzheimer's and would forget where he was sometimes. Other than the discomfort of who they were and the unaccustomed intimacy with someone you would never have expected to be that intimate with - the stuff itself didn't gross me out or anything.
P&LL, Syl'and I don't mind changing cat litter either'vanz
-------------------- Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities. — Voltaire Posts: 1944 | From: Michigan | Registered: Jun 2001
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I'll have to agree with monkey. My son's mess disgusted me less. Small babies, minor messes, don't bother me in general, but when it comes to those really messy, up the back, diapers, I can barely stand to change another's child, whereas with my own son the only reaction I recall is that I wanted that off of him as soon as possible.
I also agree with Morgaine in that I could identify my own son's poopy odor.
Now, there I go, recalling scents. Been a long time since I strolled down that memory lane. Ahhh...the smell of his little neck when he first woke in the morning. That's mother's bliss.
-------------------- Explore, enjoy and protect the planet --- AAMAH Posts: 8532 | From: Michigan | Registered: Mar 2000
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I don't know about the rest of you, but my kids' poop smells like rose petals.
-------------------- "What I do not understand is why it makes a difference how the goat is exposed." ~ Rhiandmoi Posts: 2153 | From: Northern NSW, Australia | Registered: Feb 2000
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I also agree with monkey, my own baby's poop is foul, but I can stand it better than other babies' poop. But I don't sit around wishing I had a dirty diaper to change. I'm very happy when she does the deed at daycare rather than saving it for me.
Just this morning, the little sweetie exploded all up her back and it took Daddy and I working together like a Hazmat team to get it all cleaned up. She's breastfed, but it still seems to be getting stinkier as she grows. And even if it didn't stink at all, it would still be nasty due to texture and color.
Posts: 2115 | From: Texas | Registered: Sep 2003
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Changing any baby's diaper, or cleaning up any other bodily fluids and whatnot, rarely gets to me.
Once they're older than 4 or 5... ick.
-------------------- Stand up, slip on the bathtub floor, fling a hand up to balance yourself, and happen to have your mouth open on the downswing. Voila, a new hole in your face.
-Tabby, on how she cut her lip while shaving her legs. Posts: 5097 | From: Nova Scotia, Canada | Registered: Sep 2002
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Sara at home
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I have never changed even a wet diaper of any child without gagging except my own son's. I think his diaper gagged me once in the whole time he wore them and there was an explanation -- sick or something he ate or something.....
I can't say I "liked" the smell of his poop, it just didn't gag me. Same with his vomit which surprised me even more.
-------------------- Assume that all my posts will be edited at least once. Dyslexic -- can't spell, can't type, can't proofread. Posts: 8317 | From: Reading, PA | Registered: Mar 2004
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Diapers never bothered me, my own or others. They all smelled like crap to me. Now baby drool made me gag. Until it was my kid's drool.
-------------------- "Maybe getting in the last word doesn't really mean you win." - The Clarks Posts: 486 | From: Pittsburgh, PA | Registered: Sep 2005
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Sara at home
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quote:Originally posted by smackmac: Diapers never bothered me, my own or others.
Your own diapers?
-------------------- Assume that all my posts will be edited at least once. Dyslexic -- can't spell, can't type, can't proofread. Posts: 8317 | From: Reading, PA | Registered: Mar 2004
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quote:Originally posted by smackmac: Diapers never bothered me, my own or others.
Your own diapers?
Well, yes, the one's my kids have to change; payback, ya know.
-------------------- "Maybe getting in the last word doesn't really mean you win." - The Clarks Posts: 486 | From: Pittsburgh, PA | Registered: Sep 2005
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I'm always volunteering to change the dirty diapers because I love the babies.
I'm all, ZOMG! Squeeee! Babies are so cute. The adorable wittle towsies and the fat wittle tushies and they kick their little chubster feets in your face and I like to give them little smoochies...
...until I open up the diaper, and it's like, "Why the NFBSK did I ask for this?!"
Aura
-------------------- "Are we talking misdemeanor trouble or squeal like a pig trouble?" Posts: 618 | From: Ann Arbor, Michigan | Registered: May 2006
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Poop stinks, I managed with my own just barely. I hope that with grandkids it's like it is with your own - tolerable cause you have to.
I volunteered to watch a friend's kids one day while I was pregnant, and had to change her son's diaper (and he was getting close to three already) and I just about keeled over. OOOO I can still smell it, ugh. And I thought it wasn't very considerate of her to feed him corn the day before she knew I was going to be watching him all day. Ugh.
-------------------- "Wolves, dragons and vampires, man. Draw the nut-bars like big ol' nut-bar magnets." ~evilrabbit
(snurched because one of my nutbar family members is all about wolves and another one is all about dragons...)(with apologies to surfcitydogdad) Posts: 2397 | From: Texarkana, TX | Registered: Mar 2006
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quote:Originally posted by kismet: Just this morning, the little sweetie exploded all up her back and it took Daddy and I working together like a Hazmat team to get it all cleaned up.
DH & I referred to that as 'Tag Team Diaper Changing'. It was, at times, very, very bad!
Its also happened a few times at work & that's even worse. I've usually got to get my co-teacher to get a change of clothes & all the other stuff because my gloved hands are covered in well, you know.
-------------------- I cannot live without books-Thomas Jefferson *~* A child educated only at school is an uneducated child - George Santayana I'm going to pummel you with such zeal, Buddha will explode! *~* Never miss a good chance to shut up - Will Rogers Posts: 6585 | From: Dallas/Fort Worth, TX | Registered: Feb 2002
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quote:Originally posted by kismet: Just this morning, the little sweetie exploded all up her back and it took Daddy and I working together like a Hazmat team to get it all cleaned up.
DH & I referred to that as 'Tag Team Diaper Changing'. It was, at times, very, very bad!
Yeah, we've had that a few times with our 9-month-old. Now that she's getting more active she's shmooshing it in every direction. I'm definitely impressed with my wife though. She has gone from almost barfing when the diaper is opened to volunteering to do it because she "has it down".
-------------------- "Show me a sane man and I will cure him for you." - C. G. Jung Posts: 243 | From: Marina del Rey, CA | Registered: May 2005
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