Pooing on the changing mat - help?

[Essie3]

My son is 6 months old. Recently, every time - I mean, every time - we take his nappy off, he poos. On the changing mat, also on the carpet when he rolls around. It makes changing him anywhere other than in a bathroom a bit of a problem really.
I'm becoming convinced he's holding it in or something. Is this possible so young?
And also should we do something like hold him over a potty? I'm assuming we're not starting potty training this young but is there anything we can do about this?

Oh, is it normal?

What a clever little lad - he knows it feels horrible to have a dirty nappy. Get a potty and stick him on it every nappy change, he'll soon make the connection. We did this from 10 months and had no dirty nappies (wet ones though) not long afterwards. Have just gone fully dry during the day at 22 months.

They can do this when the air gets to their bits!

You could try opening the nappy and then closing it again? Let the air get to his bottom then it might trigger the bowel movement and you can "trick" him into catching it.

Good luck with the potty idea - I have no idea how you could possibly make that work with a child that isn't walking.....

Will try the potty idea. Sycamore I doubt I'll be 'potty training' per se - he can't speak either and communication is limited! - but I'm happy to catch the poo, and keen to save my carpets!

Lionstar do I need to change him more often? It's every 3 hours or so here. But I don't want to cause sort of digestive problems or something. Mind you, if he's already holding it in...

I'd just go with your regular routine, 3 hours should be fine. As soon as my DD twigged the potty she only ever pooed first thing in the morning and last thing at night - nothing during the day at all.

If you look into the whole Elimination Communication thing then you supposedly get in tune with your baby and they communicate their need to poo or wee to you - supposedly being nappy free almost from birth. I think this is pretty hard to achieve in today's busy lives, but it doesn't mean you can't work with what your son is able to tell you - he doesn't like pooing in his nappy!

yes, get a potty- ds started doing this too. It is not really 'training' you are just giving him the opportunity not to have to be sitting in his own waste. They certainly don't need to be walking or even sitting on their own to use a potty with your help. You may find that if you sit him on it he will start to wee in it too. My ds was very regular so it was easy to predict. It is great as it saves so many nappies. He may starting to begin communicating that he needs later on, have confidence in yourself.