My sister-in-law wrote me this story some time ago, and I thought it was just too good NOT to share!! Enjoy!

You know how when you are pregnant, everyone you pass on the street, everyone you see in line at the grocery store, everyone in the lobby of the bank, all want to offer you advice on becoming a new mommy? Well, sometimes, it’s helpful. Sometimes it’s not, and you can’t wait for them to stop talking so you can leave.

So, It’s January, 2003, and I am 8 ½ months pregnant with my first child. I wasn’t sure what I was having, so everyone kept guessing, and of course, offering me that “much needed” advice that I had heard enough of. I actually had one lady tell me all 3 of her birthing stories twice, because she didn’t remember that she had already told me the month before. What no one told me was the part I wished I had heard. I had people warn me about the “tar” poopy that babies first have after delivery. I had people warn me about how little sleep I was going to get. I had people giving me all kinds of tips and advice. But no one told me about this………

When my daughter was 8 months old, she came home from daycare and her Daddy put her down for her afternoon nap. I got home later that afternoon from work, and she was sleeping peacefully. We got dinner prepared, and we heard her starting to muster around in her bed. We immediately went to go get her so she could eat her baby food before we sat down to eat. My husband went in there and screamed “Honey, come in here quick!” I panicked! What had happened to my daughter? What had she done?

I go in her room, to find him holding her out at arms length like she had the plague. She was naked from the bottom down. She wore a dress with no bloomers to daycare that day, and she had taken her diaper off completely - after she had pooped! Apparently, she played in her poop before falling asleep to take her nap. The poop was dried. It was everywhere! It had been at least an hour, and apparently, when poop is exposed to air, it of course, hardens! Like a rock! It was on her crib, on her beautiful dress, on the wall, on her hands, and yes, on her mouth! I hurried her to the bathtub to get her cleaned up while my husband worked on cleaning the walls and the crib in between dry heaving and gagging.

I called my doctor to ask about the side affects of eating one’s poop. I am sure they got a laugh at me. I bet I was the joke of the Doctor’s office the next day, because of course, it had to happen after hours. The Doctor said “as long as it was her own poop, and no one else’s, she will be fine.” Gross! Even the thought of it makes me shiver. So, I tell a few of my close friends about what happened to me, and they all said the same thing… “yeah, my kid did that too!”. So, why didn’t they offer this advice to me before I delivered, or even in the 8 months I have had her? Who knows? But I feel that every new mother needs to know one thing….. Put a pair of shorts or pants on your child at nap times!

So, now I have baby #2…a boy! Of course, I think he isn’t old enough to know how to undo his diaper yet, and he is so hot-natured that I let him sleep in just a diaper. Well, he proved me wrong. At about 7 months old, I go to get him from his nap, and he is sitting there smiling at me, butt naked, playing with his tallywacker!!!! He had removed his diaper. This time, luckily, he had only peed. Thank goodness, because it was during the day, so I would have had clean up duty all by myself! I learned my lesson real quick. Ever since then, I make sure he has on shorts, or pants when taking a nap, or sleeping during the night. Today, I go to get him from his crib after nap time, and not only had he removed his jeans (something that I didn’t think an 11 month old could do) but he took off his diaper AGAIN! All I can do is thank God that he gets his poops out in the mornings, and not during nap times. So, now, my only option is to put him in a snap onsie, since I don’t think he knows how to undo snaps just yet. He may still surprise me, but I’m out of options.