7.24.2013

That Time Luke Smeared Poop All Over His Crib. And Ate It.


So. Yeah.
I had a rookie mothering moment earlier this week.
The problem is I am not a rookie mom.
This ain't my first rodeo. It's my third.
But, it's my first time as a "boy mom" and by golly, I sure got initiated into the Boy Mom Club this week.

Let me set the scene...but first a little background info.
Every morning when Luke wakes up, he happily plays in his crib with his toys for at least 30 minutes.
He never cries, just talks to himself and plays. 

It's summer, so I will gladly stay in bed a little bit longer.
Also, because it's summer and hot out, many times I won't put pj's on Luke, and he will just sleep/nap in his diaper. No big deal. We have a 2 story house, so our upstairs can get pretty warm. 

It's Monday morning around 8 am. Luke was happily playing in his crib and the girls get up for the morning. I go into Luke's room to bring him downstairs and get breakfast started.

What I saw (and smelt) when I walked into his room was POOP.

POOP EVERYWHERE.

Luke. COVERED IN POOP.
All over his body. He was naked. (It was hot that night, he just slept in a diaper)
Where was the diaper? It was off. It was EMPTY. No Poop left in the diaper. 
The poo was everywhere.
My beautiful baby boy looked like he had taken a mud bath. But it was poop.
Smeared all over his body. On his face. In his hair. Clumps of poop in his hands.
Ohmygosh.Groosssss.
His crib. COVERED IN POOP.
Poop on the sheet. Poop on his bumper. Poop on the crib slats. Poop on the wall. 
To Luke, the poop was merley finger paint and he was the artist.
He was smiling & laughing, happily sucking on his pacifier....
His pacifier....in his mouth...WAS COVERED IN POOP.

 Then I really panicked. 

I grabbed the pacifer out of his mouth. (And, gagged)
Ran to the bathroom & got a washcloth to wipe out his mouth.
I am not sure how much poop he actually got in his mouth....he was playing in his crib for a while. 
But, he definitely had some in his mouth.
I washed out his mouth & then got in the shower with him.
Poop all over both of us. I cleaned us both up, got him dressed and then had the girls watch him while I went back to his room to clean up the rest of the mess.
And, a mess it was. Poop covered toys went in the trash. 
His crib bedding & bumper when into the wash. 
I used almost a whole container of Lysol wipes on his crib and the wall by his crib.
Who knew an 11 month old's poopy diaper could make that big of a mess?!?!
You are lucky this is the photo I am showing. I have ones that are much, much, much worse.  
I will spare you. You're Welcome ;)

As I was cleaning, I started panicking about the fact that Luke for sure got poop in his mouth.
 After I cleaned up, I went straight to the doctor. And by doctor, I mean google.

Things I googled that morning:
"My baby ate poop"
"Can a baby die from eating his own poop?"
"Sicknesses from my baby eating his own poop"
"Is baby poop poisonous?"

Never thought I would google those phrases.
And, it''s comforting that other people have asked the same things. 
Luke isn't the only baby who has eaten poop.

The good news is that it has been 48 hours and Luke seems fine. 
He hasn't shown any signs of poop poisoning. Ha!
I think it's safe to say that his is fine.
I am the one that is scared from the morning's events.

So, what is the moral of this story?
1. Always put pajamas on your baby, even if it's just a onesie. If it's hot & in the summer, at least put on a onesie....less chance of them taking their diaper off & smearing poop everywhere if they have to get the onesie off first.
2. Get a video monitor so I can see what Luke is doing when he "plays" in his crib each morning.
3. Get out of bed when you hear that your baby is awake in the morning. Even if he is "playing" and happy in the crib, the few extra minutes of sleep aren't worth it. Cleaning up poop is no fun. Neither is eating poop.

Monday morning will always be remembered as Poop-a-poolza 2013.
I hope to never experience that again.
Motherhood. It humbles you. That's for sure.

24 comments:

  1. Like, I gagged reading this. I really actually gagged. You hear about those moms who just walk away one day, leaving everyone behind...this story makes me kind of understand those moms!

    Poor Mel!!!!

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  2. As gross as this is, I was giggling because we had a similar episode when Diana was that age; I love your writing and how you dubbed it "poopapalooza"- priceless! :)

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  3. My son did the same when he was about 11 months old. I wonder what it is about that age that that makes boys take off their diaper and want to play in poop... I didn't think it was very common because I didn't have to guts to tell my friends. Thank you so much for sharing. It is good to know I am not alone and a horrible mother for letting that happen.

    Kelly @ http://theadventuresofthekeitzerfamily.blogspot.com/

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  4. And the award for best use of Over is.... Mel, for "I ate poop" photo.

    This made me laugh so much! If he ever gets good at taking off his onesie, you can put the diaper on backwards. If he gets good at taking the backward diaper off, you can use duct tape to seal it. ASK ME HOW I KNOW.

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  5. When I saw your title, I started laughing because Coop did the exact same thing at that age! Only he got sick from it-nothing too bad, but I think he did have a round of antibiotics after his poop eating adventure.

    Girl, I hate to break it to you, but boys are a totally different world. Even today at age 9, we still have poop-related drama. I could tell you stories about Cooper's bathroom that would make your hair curl.

    I am glad Mr. Luke is no worse the wear!

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  6. I think I almost smelled it while looking at that pic. groooooossssss!
    bless your heart Mel! Oh my... HOW can sweet little Lukey Guy make THAT mess?! oh yucky!!

    welcome to the world of raising messy stinky boys :)

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  7. Oh man!!! I'm now very very scared!! I have a 9 year old girl and a 4 month old baby boy. I heard before that boys are completely different than girls (more messy) but man oh man... Baby Monitor (check) always put pjs on your baby (check)Get up when your hear your baby is awake (still working on that one... ha!)

    http://memoirsdeunadivadomestica.blogspot.com/

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  8. I apologize in advance for laughing while reading this-but you made me do it with your "I ate poop" pic and term "Poop-a-poolza." Im so thankful this never happened to me. You know how the phrase "God wont give you more than you can handle?" Yeah, this would be over the top, more-than-I-could-handle type stuff. The worst my two girls did was get into the diaper cream- everywhere, even in our hallway, up the steps, on the walls, about 2" thick on their bodies, etc...But never poop. God knew Id barf and run screaming from the house:)
    You are my hero.

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  9. He is the cutest poop eater I have ever seen! His crib, the nastiest crib I have ever seen! I am writing down these tips for when we welcome a little Tucker into our lives!!

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  10. I had something like that happen with my 2nd one just not quite as bad. I love the name you gave it!

    When my poor sister was a teenager she was babysitting for a family fiend and the baby did the same thing. She called my mom and had her come clean it up!

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  11. DYYYYING!!! My nieces used to do this all the time. Em never has and Lucy hasn't yet. but OMG--worst fear. I love my video monitor. GET ONE STAT!

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  12. Oh my goodness! Let me join the party. Evie did this not just on Saturday,... but on Sunday, too! She didn't eat any, thank goodness. (At least not that I know of.)

    What did you use to clean the walls? Magic Erasers worked great for us.

    I cannot wait to show this to my husband. He was proudly showing off Ev's 'art work' to his coworkers on Monday. Gag! I'm mortified, but it's nice to know I'm not alone.

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  14. If it makes you feel better, my parents have a similar story that they love to share about me. They had a baby swing that they stuck me in wearing only my diaper and just left me to swing occasionally checking on me. They got a nice surprise when they realized poop was being flung all across the room from my diaper. They call this the "poop flinger" story.

    I will remember all of these tips when we finally have a little one. I really can't think of anything more disgusting that poop everywhere. I think you deserve to treat yourself for having to clean that one up!

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  15. I'll share with you a helpful hint I got from one of my friends who has boys (I have girls and never had to use it). This playing with poop from the diaper thing continues with boys as they get a bit older. She would put footie pajamas on her boys backwards (zipper in the back) at nap time so they couldn't unzip them and that way the diaper would stay on. Not really practical for the warm summer months, but something to consider. :)

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  16. OMG! I'm so sorry you had to go through that. But to be honest...I needed the laugh!! Thank you (and Luke) : )

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  17. (hug) Hopefully your PSA will help others not to have to go through this, too!

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  18. Been there...and like you my third was a poop painting machine! I think it happened because I always listened to my friends talking about it happening to them and felt sorry for them... but secretly felt happy that it wasn't me... until it was! Consider this your fair warning... it is not an isolated incident!!! So don't let the little guy lull you into a false sense of security that it won't happen again... there is a good chance that it will! Mine didn't do it again for about a year... then it happened again... and again (and again!:( UGH!!!). I feel for you...probably the worst thing EVER!

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  19. ohhhh my! I was reading and just like, "yea, that's a boy for ya!" Then I came to the picture and gasped! Almost choked on my apple. That was some serious business! I am so scared of this, since I've had my oldest take his diaper off right in front of my when he was a baby. My first thought was, what if he does that when I wakes up in the middle of the night. LOL. Boys are such a different breed huh? I think you are safe and have paid up on your boy mom club initiation dues. hehe.

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  20. I have definitely been to this rodeo. Although it was with ALL 3 of my GIRLS!!! My boys NEVER did this.

    With my first daughter, we had to put her jammies on backwards with the zipper up the back so that she couldn't get them off.

    Then with my twins it was a different story...they could get out of anything...total houdini's! So we had to DUCT TAPE their diapers on every single time we put them in the crib. We literally wrapped the top of the diaper with duct tape. It was the only thing that they couldn't get off!

    Welcome to the club sweet mama!

    BTW...I have video and photos off all of my poopy cribs/kids/walls too!!! I needed proof for my hubby and I figured that they would all get a kick out of it someday!

    Hugs,
    Trisha

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  21. Hey Mel - so, I have some friends who have had this happen and they just duck tape the diaper on for naps/sleeping - in case it's too hot for a onesie. That's solved it for them :)

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  22. Olivia ate poop once. It was the worst.thing.ever! I called my mom and was completely hysterical.

    I love Google. It helps remind me that it's all normal. Every parent is going through the same thing. :)

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