Interesting article/link about moms and poopy diapers

[Little Stinky Britches]

I saw this few years ago, and it's shown up on a lot of mothering and cloth diapering web sites, but I thought I'd post it here and all the mommies on this site can read it and see for themselves.

It's an article from Live Science which did a study back in 2006 about mothers and the smell of baby poop. They found that nearly ALL of the moms they studied were either (A) NOT bothered by the smell of their baby's poopy diaper, or (B) they were LESS bothered by the smell when compaired to the smell of other babies, which were not their own.

This study really hits home for me, because when I was growing up, I was a keen observer of mommies and babies, and I knew sevral moms who actually enjoyed the smell of their baby's poop. One mom had a baby girl. and every time they were at our house, and her daughter messed her pants, this mom always made an effort to sniff as much of the aroma as she could. I vividly remember this. She would sniff around the girls bottom, then she would pull back the top of the diaper and sniff some more, almost sticking her nose down into the diaper as she checked for poop. (That she, and everyone in the room, already knew was there. ) Then she took her time changing her baby, again, deeping sniffing and inhaling the aroma, and smiling this big smile. In fact, when I always watched her change her daughter's poopy diaper, the look on her face was that of someone smelling a flower. Total bliss. I will never forget her facial expression and smile as she wiped her daughter's messy bottom, and the smell of poop filled our living room.

And now this study seems to support what I observed growing up around mommies and babies. Enjoy.


http://www.livescience.com/health/060712_baby_poop.html

[mommystella]

my baby's poop dont stink duhhh! every mommy feels that way.

[Little Stinky Britches]

I could be wrong, but I think it's really more then just that moms don't mind the smell of their baby's poop.

Again, I could be wrong, but after years of observing mothers and their babies it strikes me that when a mother smells poop, it arouses motherly feelings within them. I say that, because there is this certain "look", a smile that comes across a mom's face when they pull back the top of the diaper and see a poopy bottom.

It's a look of..... humm....

Joy? Motherly satsfaction? Confirming their suspicions?

Whatever it is, I have seen that look on a mother's face 1000's of times whenever the mother pulls back the top of the diaper (after smelling something, or seeing a red face) and the sees the poop in the diaper.

Am I wrong about this?

[MissLizabeth]

Unfortunately it's not always like that. I have seen moms who gag when their baby poops and can't change the diaper themselves. So it's not with all moms but with most I would say.

Liz

[dllouie]

For the most part mommies can handle about anything but some of the diapers i have have seen would gag a maggot. so bravo to any diaper changers for they don't always know what kind of messes baby has created.

[Lexus]

I've seen things much worse than a poppy diaper so most of the time it is no problem at all. It's not like baby can help it, I would never get angry over it (except for when playing w/ab babies)

[PhoneMomSue]

It's just poop. My sister has a terrible time changing her baby girl's diaper when there is poop involved and she feels badly about it. She never says anything mean or anything like that, she praises her little girl on what a good job she did and all that. But she has told me that it almost makes her ill to do it, but it must be done so she does them as quickly as possible.

Sue

[MommyGina]

Ya know, I don't think it's so much that the smell of poop is wondrous or anything (because lets face it - it's not), I just think that a mom knows that it has to be taken care of and quickly (the quicker the better). So she talks and coos to baby to make the process go more smoothly and to cut down on the squirming (which can lead to an even bigger mess, hehe).

I believe that yelling and/or scolding just adds to the tension level, and will make future changings more difficult, so why make it make a not-so-pleasant situation even worse?

And indeed, there are moms out there that simply can't take the smell of poop - just like there are people out there that can't listen to someone puke, lest they puke themselves.

Mommy Gina

[Nanny Rachel]

Those poopie diapers are just what they are...don't really bother me....but sometimes the messy poopie diapers that are up the back well....shower time...much easier and safer...for clean up time...Rachel

[Little Stinky Britches]

Thank you all for your input.

I agree with many things that were said. You are right, poop does stink, but I think it's more then just the mom wanting to get the diaper changed. I think that in many (but not all) moms, the smell of a poopy diaper triggers a "Mothering Impluse", and that is why I have seen so many moms smile when their babies poop their pants.

Who knows, maybe it was just the moms I grew up with that either (A) didn't mind the smell of a poopy diaper, or (B) seemed to enjoy it's aroma.

I will say this though, most of the moms I was around growing up in Phoenix in the 1960s, were mormon moms (LDS Church) who had anywhere from 4 to 6 kids, with some of them having 3 in diapers at the same time. So I think their comfort level with poopy diapers was alot more then other moms of the era.