No, Explosive Poop Is Not Welcome At Daycare

[TaylorTots]

DCM drops off 13m dcb this morning. Hands him to me. Turns to leave, then "Oh! I almost forgot! He had crazy explosive poop yesterday. Since he isn't eating anything at home and only wants milk at meals and maybe some fruit, we gave him some fruit juice instead of more milk."

Me: "When was his last explosive poop?"
DCM: "Yesterday."
Me: "We don't do juice here, except occasional orange juice with the older kids. Juice is unneeded in his diet and causes issues like these. When did you last give him juice?"
DCM: "Dad did this morning - I told him not to but he did anyway!"
Me: "If he has an explosive diaper you will be called for immediate pickup."

She looked at me like I was overreacting. I almost asked her if it would be ok if I came over to her home and rubbed poop into her carpet, or if she could watch 3 other children while scrubbing down a baby covered in poop. Instead I just looked at DCB who was smiling happily. "You know that at Miss Ashley's house you only get so much milk and either you eat your food or you don't - and if you don't, well, then you eat well later! We don't cater to pickiness here, do we?" He grinned. Mom looked a little shell shocked. I said "Bye mom!" and turned to go into the play area.

Not sure I handled that well. I am NEVER short/snippy with that particular DCM (she has been amazing in terms of a parent). :: Weirdly DCB has had really firm bowels today too. Praying he isn't holding back some crazy explosion.

[Shell]

I think you handled that well. Poop issues are the grossest to me, and one thing I just cannot get used to in this line of work!

[TaylorTots]

I think vomit trumps poop in grossness, but still not a poop fan. ::

Mostly just tired of parents not being parents.

[EntropyControlSpecialist]

Ha! I have been talking like that too and the parents look so confused like...WHAT??

I would have done the same. Gross!

[TwinKristi]

I think vomit trumps poop in grossness, but still not a poop fan. ::

Mostly just tired of parents not being parents.

Yeah... I can deal with baby/toddler poop way better than vomit! The smell makes me start gagging.

[caregiver]

I have been doing daycare for 30 yrs now and have had to handle many a explosive diaper, but my thinking is that it is just part of the job of caring for kids. I have had kids that I have had to call their parents to come get them because they maybe had come down with the flu or something like that and needed to go home. Otherwise if it is a really bad diaper and I don't feel that it is anything more, like the flu, I will just change them and go about my way.
I run a very small in home daycare,only 3 children.
I guess my thinking is that I can't be calling parents to come get their child every time they maybe have a explosive diaper if they have no other symptoms of anything more. It is just part of our job as providers to handle.

[jenboo]

Oh man I hate explosive poop! I have a DCB who gets constipated. When we start to notice it, we give him some prune juice...then its just a waiting game. Sometimes I get lucky and it happens at home and sometimes mom gets lucky and it happens here. We always joke about it...but i do not look forward to those diapers.

[Play Care]

I have been doing daycare for 30 yrs now and have had to handle many a explosive diaper, but my thinking is that it is just part of the job of caring for kids. I have had kids that I have had to call their parents to come get them because they maybe had come down with the flu or something like that and needed to go home. Otherwise if it is a really bad diaper and I don't feel that it is anything more, like the flu, I will just change them and go about my way.
I run a very small in home daycare,only 3 children.
I guess my thinking is that I can't be calling parents to come get their child every time they maybe have a explosive diaper if they have no other symptoms of anything more. It is just part of our job as providers to handle.

Agree to an extent. I have a dcb who is allergic to fish. His main issue is explosive diarrhea but he is otherwise fine. DCD "forgot" and gave him a tuna sandwich for dinner... The next morning I got an "oh by the way..." I sent him home after the first bm, because there was no way I could clean him up, sanitize the room, and care/supervise the other kids. I was sooooo glad I did because he continued to have several blow outs that day. If it happens because it happens, fine. If it's due to parental negligence, well, I'm not paid enough to handle that.

[TaylorTots]

I have been doing daycare for 30 yrs now and have had to handle many a explosive diaper, but my thinking is that it is just part of the job of caring for kids. I have had kids that I have had to call their parents to come get them because they maybe had come down with the flu or something like that and needed to go home. Otherwise if it is a really bad diaper and I don't feel that it is anything more, like the flu, I will just change them and go about my way.
I run a very small in home daycare,only 3 children.
I guess my thinking is that I can't be calling parents to come get their child every time they maybe have a explosive diaper if they have no other symptoms of anything more. It is just part of our job as providers to handle.

When a child has explosive poop and a diaper does not hold it, it gets on my carpet, it poses a big biohazard and I have to have the carpets shampooed before using that area for childcare. If there is explosive poop, regardless of the reason why, I spend more time caring for that one child and cannot give the other children the care they need and their families expect of me. Having DCK in only a diaper because he exploded outside of his spare change of clothes is not acceptable - I do not provide back up clothing and all children must be clothed while in my care.

[TaylorTots]

Agree to an extent. I have a dcb who is allergic to fish. His main issue is explosive diarrhea but he is otherwise fine. DCD "forgot" and gave him a tuna sandwich for dinner... The next morning I got an "oh by the way..." I sent him home after the first bm, because there was no way I could clean him up, sanitize the room, and care/supervise the other kids. I was sooooo glad I did because he continued to have several blow outs that day. If it happens because it happens, fine. If it's due to parental negligence, well, I'm not paid enough to handle that.

Exactly

[Blackcat31]

I have been doing daycare for 30 yrs now and have had to handle many a explosive diaper, but my thinking is that it is just part of the job of caring for kids. I have had kids that I have had to call their parents to come get them because they maybe had come down with the flu or something like that and needed to go home. Otherwise if it is a really bad diaper and I don't feel that it is anything more, like the flu, I will just change them and go about my way.
I run a very small in home daycare,only 3 children.
I guess my thinking is that I can't be calling parents to come get their child every time they maybe have a explosive diaper if they have no other symptoms of anything more. It is just part of our job as providers to handle.

I do not view it that way. Managing explosive poo is NOT part of my job. Especially poos that are directly caused by a parent's actions.

I DO call parents to come get their children if they have an explosive poop because explosive poop is NOT normal and because I value the health and wellness of ALL children in my care, the explosive pooper goes home.

The parents may not like it but when I had small kids at home there was plenty I didn't like about their day to day requirements but I certainly never expected anyone else to be the one to manage or deal with it.

ANYTHING abnormal means = exclusion.

Parents know this. It's part of THEIR job. Not mine.

[Cradle2crayons]

When a child has explosive poop and a diaper does not hold it, it gets on my carpet, it poses a big biohazard and I have to have the carpets shampooed before using that area for childcare. If there is explosive poop, regardless of the reason why, I spend more time caring for that one child and cannot give the other children the care they need and their families expect of me. Having DCK in only a diaper because he exploded outside of his spare change of clothes is not acceptable - I do not provide back up clothing and all children must be clothed while in my care.

exactly... And we aren't pathologists... How are we supposed to know it's from x or y or z... Or a bug... Or food poisoning... Or other infectious agents...

For instance... Some kids get diarrhea from antibiotics... And it isn't infectious... But some antibiotics cause c diff which is HIGHLY CONTAGIOUS.. And can be fatal in infants... There isn't a way to know which it is...

Personally I don't like taking the chance.... THere are some things can identify..l like rotavirus... Others well I'm not into guessing....

Diaper changing and poops ARE part of the job... Disinfecting an entire house after an explosive poop of unknown origin.... NOT PART OF THE JOB

[kitykids3]

I have been doing daycare for 30 yrs now and have had to handle many a explosive diaper, but my thinking is that it is just part of the job of caring for kids. I have had kids that I have had to call their parents to come get them because they maybe had come down with the flu or something like that and needed to go home. Otherwise if it is a really bad diaper and I don't feel that it is anything more, like the flu, I will just change them and go about my way.
I run a very small in home daycare,only 3 children.
I guess my thinking is that I can't be calling parents to come get their child every time they maybe have a explosive diaper if they have no other symptoms of anything more. It is just part of our job as providers to handle.

This is kinda how I feel. It's unfortunately part of my job, if it is not related to illness and only occasionally, even if it does make me gag. However, if I feel it is too much in too short a time or suspect a bug, then obviously they go home.

I'm kinda curious as to what extent you all mean by 'explosive?' Anyone care to elaborate? Do you mean when it leaks out the sides or up the back, or something beyond that?

[Blackcat31]

This is kinda how I feel. It's unfortunately part of my job, if it is not related to illness and only occasionally, even if it does make me gag. However, if I feel it is too much in too short a time or suspect a bug, then obviously they go home.

I'm kinda curious as to what extent you all mean by 'explosive?' Anyone care to elaborate? Do you mean when it leaks out the sides or up the back, or something beyond that?

For me personally I define diarrhea as ANYTHING abnormal to the child's normal bowel movements or toileting habits/routines.

Explosive to me means anything not "containable" in the diaper.

[taylorw1210]

I have a DCB who is 9 months who has ALWAYS pooped out of his diaper. It's gotten better now that he eats solids (he was strictly BF prior to solids and their poo is definitely on the more liquid side), however, for quite some time it was a 3-4 times a week occurrence. Majority of the time it was just inside his clothes in which case I had to clean him up in the tub after removing clothes and containing them properly, however on a few occasions it's leaked into his sleeping area/my carpet/etc. Definitely not a joy to clean up in the least, and I was NOT happy about it! I eventually sent a letter home requesting the parents to provide a larger diaper because I thought that may be the issue. However, it was not as it continued until he was on solids regularly.

To those of you who do not handle explosive diapers, what would you do if you had a child like this?