The Real Poop

Since this is a blog about motherhood, I suppose it was inevitable that at some point I'd be discussing poop. I swore, before Ryan was born, that I'd never be one of those moms who discussed poop all the time. And I won't be - but there are times when the subject is unavoidable. I still doubt I'll ever be making excited announcements about it (yeah, I realize I may change my tune once potty training rolls around), but I suppose to do have to mention it every now and then. And I guess today is now.

The reason the subject is on my mind is that I've noticed that almost every time Ryan plays in his exersaucer or jumperoo for any length of time, I end up having to change a poopy diaper. It makes me wonder: is there something inherent about these bouncy toys that is poop-inducing? Or is it just that the bounciness makes the poopy diapers spectacularly messy? (Did you know that if a baby in a poopy diaper bounces hard enough, the poop will actually reach all the way up to his shoulders? True story. More than once.)

I have a degree in biology, so I do know something about human anatomy and physiology, and about physics. And I don't see any particular physiological reason that bouncing up and down would induce pooping. In fact, I would think that the continued motion would keep the body much too busy for such a process. Apparently I am wrong in this, because Ryan has no trouble at all doing both at once. His bounces don't slow down, there's no pause to give me a hint of what's going on - which means there's plenty of bouncing to create quite a mess inside his clothes before my nose (or his whines) alerts me to the situation.

So I guess the solution is to be alert, put him in washable clothes when he's bouncing, and just expect poop. After all, it's inevitable.