# Sleeping toddler with poopy pants-- what would you do?



## eilonwy (Apr 3, 2003)

BooBah (18 months) has a habit of falling asleep with poopy pants; she either poops and falls asleep before I can get to her, or "half-wakes" to poop and goes right back to sleep. It drives me crazy, I hate the smell (hypersensitive pregnancy nose) but I hate the idea of waking her even more. She doesn't generally become rashy, but sometimes she does... it seems pretty random.







So when your kid is asleep with poopy pants, do you wake them to change them or just wait for them to wake up?


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## Starflower (Sep 25, 2004)

I would change her pants. My own DD is very sensitive and gets rashes easily. But even if she weren't prone to skin irritation, I'd change her, especially since she's a girl. If the poops get into her vagina, they can cause vaginal infections.


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## Dreaming (Feb 8, 2004)

I always change my kid when she's poopy. If she happened to be sleeping (when she was younger), I changed her diaper and if she woke up I nursed her back to sleep. No biggie.
It's not just the rash factor as the bacteria from her feces getting up into her urethra and contributing to a bladder infection.
Plus... well it's poop.
Icky.
Just make sure you don't use a cold wipe if you want your little one to keep sleeping.


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## peilover010202 (Nov 1, 2005)

I change ds immediately unless he's been asleep long enough that I think he'll be waking up within 15 minutes on his own. But, definitely, if he's just gone to sleep - I change him. Sometimes he wakes up for the change and sometimes he just moves his head a few times and doesn't even rouse.


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## SpiralWoman (Jul 2, 2002)

Oh how I loathe to wake my sleeping baby! even for the best of reasons, I really love the feeling of him sleeping peacefully & me having a moment to unwind.
That said I hate leaving a poopy dipe on him too! Luckily it almost never happens to us. When it has I have made sure he is in deep sleep. Like able to lift his arm up & let go & it just flops back on the bed with no chnage whatsoever to his sleeping face. At that point I can gently change him without waking him.
Since it is happening to you alot, you might want to pay attention to dressing her in easy to remove clothes, having the wipes warmed up, super easy on & off diapers etc, & experiment with ways to make the change quick.
Good luck, that is a toughie!! ~Maria


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## pfamilygal (Feb 28, 2005)

My ds is 5 1/2 and still stools at night. I never change him unless he asks to be changed because he doesn't get rashes. Also, we don't cosleep, so it's not like the smell is bothering anyone. We finally took him to a gastro specialist for the problem and they took an xray and said he is full of stool (constipated) so we are giving him miralax. It seems to be helping and he doesn't stool every night anymore. Yeah! My girls rarely stool at night.


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## Llyra (Jan 16, 2005)

I'd probably change the child, but oh I also hate to wake a sleeping toddler for any reason. I did learn the hard way, though, that letting a poopy child keep sleeping can result in some ugly rashes.


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## Nature (Mar 12, 2005)

I change her diaper if she poops. Sometimes she will do a "sneaky poop" and I don't know it until she's asleep. I'll just lay her down and change her. She is a very light sleeper, so its difficult.. but I'd rather wake her, than have her stay in a icky diaper. That just can't be good for her bottom.


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## eilonwy (Apr 3, 2003)

See, I don't have a problem waking her if she's just fallen asleep for the night, but I have never managed to keep her entirely asleep while changing poopy pants. Wet yes, messy no. The trouble is that she doesn't get a chance to nap every day because her brother tends to wake her up, so if she does fall asleep (and she really needs to) I feel horribly guilty for waking her.







I ended up waking her today to change her and she's been miserable ever since.







She'll continue to *be* miserable until she falls asleep, and with her brother wired and unable to play outside at all today (snow/sleet/freezing rain) who knows when that will be?!


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## teachma (Dec 20, 2002)

I'll be the only one to say that I let dd (20 months) sleep with a poopy diaper. She is a very light sleeper and still wakes multiple times each night. If she is slightly uncomfortable, such as from teething, a stuffy nose, a rash, or feeling too hot/too cold, she wakes hourly. So if the poopy diaper is not bothering her enough to wake her up, it sure isn't bothering me!


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## cee3 (Oct 24, 2005)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *teachma*
I'll be the only one to say that I let dd (20 months) sleep with a poopy diaper. She is a very light sleeper and still wakes multiple times each night. If she is slightly uncomfortable, such as from teething, a stuffy nose, a rash, or feeling too hot/too cold, she wakes hourly. So if the poopy diaper is not bothering her enough to wake her up, it sure isn't bothering me!

I wouldn't change it, either. My son has only ever done this during a daytime nap (well, since reaching toddlerhood), and only occasionally. He's never developed a rash from it. He is an extremely unhappy camper if he doesn't get enough sleep, so I prioritize that.


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## traceface (Feb 17, 2003)

Personally, I think you've got to change her. Even if a child isn't prone to rashes. Letting them get accustomed to the feeling of being in a poopy diaper just isn't a good idea.

When our Schmoopik still did this as an infant, my husband would change him on his side while I nursed him through it so he'd stay asleep.


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## nichole (Feb 9, 2004)

yes i would change it

but i can't tell you how many people don't because their kids do this and no one knows it until they get them out of their crib in the morning/after the nap.

Can she have juice? sometimes i give my son juice straight up in the morning so that he poops around the same time every day. maybe if you give some juice in the morning, she will get on a poopin schedule hehe.


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## SpiralWoman (Jul 2, 2002)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *eilonwy*
See, I don't have a problem waking her if she's just fallen asleep for the night, but I have never managed to keep her entirely asleep while changing poopy pants. Wet yes, messy no. The trouble is that she doesn't get a chance to nap every day because her brother tends to wake her up, so if she does fall asleep (and she really needs to) I feel horribly guilty for waking her.







I ended up waking her today to change her and she's been miserable ever since.







She'll continue to *be* miserable until she falls asleep, and with her brother wired and unable to play outside at all today (snow/sleet/freezing rain) who knows when that will be?!









I think you are the only one who can decide on any given day which is more important for her, uninterupted sleep, or clean dipe. Sleep is very important for a growing baby too! And maybe you can keep sort of "negotiating" it. Like, you could try just getting the poopy dipe off & most of the poops with it, but do a very light wipe, just to try to keep her asleep & minimize the rash potential? Then give her a good bath when she wakes up, etc. I think you are doing your best to be conscientious about this, no need for guilt mama


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## loraxc (Aug 14, 2003)

We have this issue too--DD will poop as she is settling down to sleep. I do wake her if it's at night, because I don't want her going all night with that. I don't wake her if it's a nap. There is no way on EARTH my child will stay asleep through a poopy dipe change. She never, ever has. And once you wake her up out of a nap, she's very hard to get back asleep. I will make an exception and do it if she's been at all rashy, though.


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## OakBerry (May 24, 2005)

I always used to change my ds if he pooped at night. However, if he didn't wake up, and I didn't wake up, he would end up in the poopy diaper all night. That happened a few times. I used to put a thick layer of diaper ointment on him before bed, just in case. Now that he is potty training, he sleeps in pull ups. He also holds in his stool, so sometimes he poops in his sleep. So I am back to using the diaper ointment again.


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## eilonwy (Apr 3, 2003)

BooBah is totally weaned; even so, nursing through changes was never a possibility for her. It worked for her brother, but not her.







She's much more sensitive than he is.

Quote:


Originally Posted by *sprial woman*
I think you are the only one who can decide on any given day which is more important for her, uninterupted sleep, or clean dipe. Sleep is very important for a growing baby too! And maybe you can keep sort of "negotiating" it. Like, you could try just getting the poopy dipe off & most of the poops with it, but do a very light wipe, just to try to keep her asleep & minimize the rash potential? Then give her a good bath when she wakes up, etc. I think you are doing your best to be conscientious about this, no need for guilt mama

I like this idea, I think this is what I'll try to do. Thanks!


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## shelbean91 (May 11, 2002)

For us, if it's a nap, I usually let them sleep. At night, I'll wake them. They don't usually sleep too long at nap time and most of the time, they need their sleep more. Also, I don't often notice until they're asleep. They're too busy running for me to actually smell them and they like to go right after I change them, so if they don't tell me, I don't know. (And, they both dislike changes, so they rarely tell me). For us, the napping in a poop happens very infrequently, though, if it happened more often, I might consider waking them up.

I agree, it's all about balance.


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## ThinkBlu (Oct 17, 2005)

I basically ditto what loraxc said. I would let it go if it were a nap but I would change the diaper if it were going to be longer than an hour or two, and I too would make an exception and change the diaper regardless if DC was even slightly rashy. Going into the sleep, I would use a good barrier cream / diaper ointment to reduce exposure to the skin and to make clean-up slicker.

I can see where it might be different for girls though. With my two boys, poop always ends up in back, away from the urethra and in the case of girls the vagina, so I never really felt I had to worry about anything but the effect on the skin.


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## Ruthla (Jun 2, 2004)

I'd change the toddler and do my best to not wake him/her, but if the baby woke up, so be it.

All 3 of my kids were very prone to getting rashes if they sat in poop too long.


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## Moon Faerie (Aug 2, 2004)

I always change my ds asap. If he hasn't pooped before I put him to bed, I stay up and keep checking on him until he does. He gets rashes so easily. 5 minutes in a poopy diaper, and his entire butt is bright red. I'd rather wake him up and risk him staying up than deal with the rash he'd get.


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