We track poopy diapers pretty carefully around here, because neither of our girls are frequent poopers. To the casual observer, that sounds like something to be thankful for, not something to worry about, but that’s not the way it works. There are some pretty serious digestive issues that can develop if the bowels aren’t moving, not to mention the simple discomfort and crankiness that accompany constipation, so when they don’t poop enough on their own, we have to help them. That usually starts around the 24-hr. mark with some gentle rectal stimulation with a Q-tip and K-Y jelly during a diaper change. That sometimes does the trick, but not as often as we’d wish. The next step, like if it’s getting closer to the 48-hr. mark, is a glycerin suppository. They don’t come in “newborn” size, so we have to get the normal adult size and cut them down to about 1/8 the original size.

Putting the suppositories in is not easy. The concept is easy enough, but actually doing it is hard for several reasons, not least of which is that they hate it. Who can blame them? Glycerin is slippery to begin with, but we also add a drop of K-Y to make it go in as gently as possible. Combine that with a gloved hand and a baby who is crying hard and clinching and pushing with every sob, and it’s hard to get that sucker lined up and inserted. We have to hold a finger there to keep it from popping right back out, which it sometimes does anyway, and at least when I do it, I’m trying to suppress all my fears about traumatizing my daughters for life because Daddy pushed too hard with his finger trying to put a suppository in. I say that sort of jokingly, but also sort of seriously, because having an abuse experience of my own (not by a family member) always makes me hyper-aware and hyper-concerned about appropriate vs. inappropriate touch. Even though I know rationally that I’m just a daddy tending to his daughters’ needs, the once-molested little boy is always in the back of my mind fretting about it. (Also for diaper changes, baths…)

Anyway…the suppositories have always worked so far. Sometimes - usually, actually - they work while we’re standing there holding them in, which is why I personally opt for disposable gloves. I can tolerate baby poop, especially when it’s from my baby, but I tolerate it a whole lot better if I can keep my skin from coming into direct contact with it. Once in a while, they’ll settle down enough to actually keep the suppository in for a while, which usually means the next diaper will be poopy. So far, our doctor’s orders about what to do between 24-48 hours of not pooping have worked, so we hope not to find out what happens after 48 hours if nothing has worked and we have to call the doctor as ordered. We also hope there’s no such thing as “suppository dependence”, because I think we’d all be more comfortable - parents and babies - if they’d just poop by themselves at least once every 24 hours.