How do you tell if baby has soiled nappy?

[Duv]

I'm continually worrying that we don't change LOs nappy enough compared to the standard advice.

My LO is 8 weeks old and has been a pretty good sleeper from maybe 3 weeks - able to sleep long stretches (4-7hrs) without feeds. Therefore from early days we have been extra reluctant to wake her for night nappy changes unless necessary as it really disrupts otherwise good sleep.

I've found a lot of advice online that says it's fine to go longer between changes as long as you change after every poo - but how oh how are you supposed to know if they've done a poo? Particularly when she was a newborn I found this advice perplexing as she gave no indication. Now she older I will often hear rumbling or gassy sounds suggesting a poo - but about 40% of the time these are just farts. I can't smell it either - she is EBF and I don't find her poos smell - just her wees really.

Also does it matter that much anyway if she isn't getting leaks or a rash?

For context I use cloth nappies if that impacts anything.

Mine were all bf and I found that the smell was a 'yeasty' kind of niff when they were very small, getting more and more pungent as they got older, even before weaning. Once they're weaned there's no mistaking...

Disposables smell a LOT stronger than cloth nappies. I always knew which one the DC were in just by walking into the room. Especially in the morning if they’d been in one for a while.

i think it’s something to do with the reaction with the crystal things in the disposable ones.

My husband memorably described our ebf baby's soiled nappies as smelling like 'undead caramel'. A very accurate description!

The thing about changing after every poo is generally about avoiding nappy rash. If your little one has no sign of a rash I would say keep doing what you are doing and don’t worry.

Oh that's super interesting about disposables smelling different to cloth - maybe this explains why I'm not smelling them - which I didn't realise was so unusual! Makes sense now why all the advise I read about 'changing when soiled' assumes that it's obvious.

We’ve used cloth nappies since birth (terry nappies) so we’ve always been able to take a peek through the side. During the newborn days, we always knew when baby did a poop as she grunted and snorted a ton 😂😂 it wasn’t particularly smelly (breastfed) but there was a distinct smell. We stopped changing through the night at 3 months as she stopped doing a poo overnight and only during the day. As with terry nappies, we can smell her pee so she’s changed regularly during the day that she’s never actually been sat in her poo.

I’d always look at the side tbh. My little one had terrible nappy rash despite me being really on nappies and giving plenty of nappy free time etc, drying her bum. It was really difficult to get rid of as she was doing constant little poos. They didn’t smell as she was also EBF which is all the more reason to check. She had a very sensitive bum.

Out of interest what wraps/covers did you use? I also use flat nappies (but muslins not terrys) but the wraps I use (motherease velcro Rikki's) wouldn't allow me access to the sides without taking the wrap off which would disturb her.

Smell, or have a look.

I think it smells a bit like a sweet bready type smell

My babies newborn poos smelled a little bit yeast like fresh bread, but mostly sweet and milky like caramel ice cream. They tended to poo towards the end of a feed. I could definitely tell by sniffing through a cloth nappy. We used shaped nappies with Motherease airflow wraps.

In disposables we could easily smell but in cloth we had to very carefully open her sleepsuit and have a peak. Or poke a risky finger in

We didn't have the issue of her sleeping for any length of time though! We did the nappy after each night feed. She pooed during a feed and we got fed up of changing her when woke up feeding her and then she pooed a second or third time. She had allergies so did 10-20 a day. Thankfully if small and caught in time in a new nappy we got away with a liner change!

I've used cloth nappies with all of mine, currently on DC3. Babies don't tend to poo at night time, or at least mine never did. I also never change nappies at night unless the nappy has leaked and their clothes are wet. So if they are sleeping long stretches and not getting sore, I think it's fine to leave them in the same nappy all night. I also do elimination communication so try to get most poos in the potty, but when I miss one I can definitely smell it! Or if I'm not sure, I pull the back of the nappy back slightly and stick my nose in and then it's pretty clear if they have or not. We use pocket nappies/all in ones for day time and totsbots bamboozles at night.

Like a normal person I’d smell it or take a look from the top of their nappy.

Cloth definitely masks the smell when tiny. I have to say I usually still get a whiff but compared to disposables it’s significantly less.

Mine didn’t poo at night without full waking up. So if not leaking I’d only change when she wakes. Slap on a load of good barrier cream and you should be ‘reet to go a fair few hours, as long as your wash regime is good.

Babies don't usually poo when they are asleep. You're fine to pop her in a nice boosted nappy for night time if she's settling longer periods. Honestly I'd just keep up with what you're doing as you're not getting rashes or leaks! We use cloth and I'll change every 2-3ish hrs in the day with a feed, or if I realise there's poo (usually I'll hear the poo but if not I'll take a peek - definitely harder to smell through cloth unless it's a large amount of poo). We're at 10 weeks now and using a boosted night nappy with a stay dry liner for 10-12hr at night - although still waking for breastfeeding at night we aren't getting poo at night so keeps things low key. This routine worked well for us with our older child too.

Never did any sniff tests, the idea makes me heave. Just a little peek from the side or back to check. That's how I did it for nursery work too.

I always found the smell unmistakable, and a peek through the leg hole was always easy to do too (babies breastfed and in cloth nappies).

Is she often dirty in the morning? If not you can safely assume she's not usually doing a poo in the night and carry on as you are. I hardly ever changed them at night, even as newborns.

I have unreliable sense of smell. Baby1 I would have said the poo had no smell. Babies2+ I knew baby poo smell quite well. I also used cloth, cloth nappies weren't the problem. I just don't have a great sense of smell & had to learn to recognise it.

Then poke finger in and see if it has poo on it?

Glad to see others also who would poke a finger in to check - not just me that's a total minger!
Tbh OP I wouldn't worry too much, I suspect that unfortunately it's not a problem you'll have for long

I cloth nappied baby 1 but occasionally switched to disposables - I couldn't smell poo in reusable nappies but omg the stench in disposables!!

The wee stink is definitely stronger I'm reusable cloth nappies IME.