Hello hello

When I was still single and childless, I used to love playing with babies (I still do, of course), but the moment they poop or spit up (milk), I would throw the babies back at their moms and scuttle away in a hurry. Gross max, no? My mom would regale me with yucky poop stories of when my bros and I were young. Apparently there was this one time when the little exhibitionist called Benji was running around pantless, and decided to multitask and poop at the same time. With her sharp motherly instincts, my mom proudly declared that she managed to catch his poop in time so he didn’t make a mess of the floor. Eww… TMI (too much info)

Naturally, I was grossed out at the idea of touching the poop of another human being, albeit a tiny one, and would scoff whenever my mom-in-law cleaned my niece-in-law’s butt a couple of years back. She’d say in chinese, “Don’t run away! There’s no need to be scared of baby poop, they don’t stink AT ALL. You need to learn and prepare for the time when you become a mom next time.” Yeah, right. Hey, I was single and childless then, I ain’t gonna be stuck with the yucky parenthood stuff when I wasn’t a parent yet! If I was gonna deal with it, well,  船 到 桥 头 自 然 直.

And, drumroll please, the baby poop time has set upon me like bees to honey. The analogy is very much a euphemism, thank you. Sighs. I used to entertain the idea of just carrying my child over the toilet bowl and spraying his butt clean. Heh, that thought brings a smile to my face though the reality these days can’t be further from that thought.

Anyway, with Baby Ray being such an ace pooper, (he really deserves a medal for all his pooping efforts), his butt gets angry and red easily and I’ve weather many storms where his butt is concerned. So I’d like to share the Butt Experience with you guys, and hope you will employ some of the nifty tips successfully to achieve that wholesome baby smooth butt and hopefully avoid some of the poopbombs that dogged me in the early weeks of Babydom.

DIAPER BRANDS REVIEW

1. Diapers: Diapers are a very important of your life once you have a baby. They can be pretty expensive too when your baby goes through them as if they don’t cost a cent, as is the case with Ray. Some parents will choose to buy cheaper diapers, cuz your baby will most likely poop quite abit as a newborn, usually at least 5 wet/dirty diapers a day, and you will be changing the diapers very often, hence, no point buying expensive ones right? Because Ray poops alot and is hence prone to a screaming red butt, I prefer to let him use the better diapers. My rationale is that anything that can help his butt be better is worth it.
   The brands that I’ve used so far are: GOON, MERRIES, MOONY, NEPIA, BOSOMI, DRYPERS and HUGGIES. 4 of the 7 brands mentioned are Japanese brand diapers, and generally, I find that Japanese brand diapers are really much better in terms of the material softness, absorbency and dryness. Below is a look at some of the different diapers I’ve tried:
   
2. Moony Diapers, Newborn Size (~5kg): (not pictured)
   a) Brand: Japanese
   b) Softness: 9/10. The diapers are really soft, which makes it easy to conform to the shape of baby’s butt.
   c) Absorbency and dryness: 8.5/10. The absorbency and dryness of Moony is good, which helps to prevent rashes
   d) Fit: 9/10. The fit of Moony is good, as it has an elastic band of sorts at the back, which prevents leakage. Fitting the diaper on baby is also easy.
   e) Price: $$$$. 33c per piece if you buy Moony S size (4-8kg) carton deal ($112/4packs) from the below website. Moony is generally one of the more expensive diaper brands on the market.
   f) Shop: I got Moony from this online store – https://shop.tinytree.com.sg/pages/Why-Moony%3F.html. Apparently, there is a difference between Moony marketed for Japan (which is what this company sells and Moony marketed for countries outside Japan).
3. Nepia (S size, 4 – 8kg):
   a) Brand: Japanese
   b) Softness: 7.5/10. The diapers are quite thin and soft, but a wee bit stiff, just a teeny bit.
   c) Absorbency and dryness: 8/10. The absorbency and dryness of Nepia is not too bad.
   d) Fit: 6/10. This is the main grouse that I have with Nepia. I find the fit of Nepia to be strange, as if it just can’t quite fit onto Ray nicely. On a few occasions, Ray’s weewee leaked too from the sides of the diaper.
   e) Price: $$$. 30.5c/piece for S Size according to Qoo10 Bundle Sales. Nepia is generally one of the more expensive diaper brands on the market.
   
4. GOON (S Size, 4 – 8kg): 
   a) Brand: Japanese
   b) Softness: 9/10. The diapers are really soft, which makes it easy to conform to the shape of baby’s butt.
   c) Absorbency and dryness: 8.5/10. The absorbency and dryness of Moony is good, which helps to prevent rashes
   d) Fit: 9/10. The fit of Goon is good, as it has an elastic band of sorts at the back, which prevents leakage. Fitting the diaper on baby is also easy.
   e) Price: $$$. 27.4c/piece for S Size if you buy (carton deal) from the below website. Bought it at Babyfairs at 26.1c/pc. Goon is generally one of the more expensive diaper brands in the market. 
   f) Shop: Goon can be bought from this online store – http://www.diapers.com.sg/GOO.N-Japan-Version-4-Pack-Deal.html?gclid=CLTQ6N-WjL0CFUcm4godx0gAyg. You can also request for a free sample of Goon from this website. [Update: you can also purchase it from Redmart]
5. Huggies (S Size, 3 – 7kg): (not pictured)
   a) Brand: American
   b) Softness: 6/10. The diapers are thick and stiff, which I do not like.
   c) Absorbency and dryness: 7/10. The absorbency and dryness of Huggies is generally not too bad. Packaging says it is proven to prevent diaper rashes, though I suppose all diaper brands would claim that haha.
   d) Fit: 7/10. The fit of Huggies is OK.
   e) Price: $$$. 27c/piece for S Size if you buy from Babyfairs.
6. Drypers (M Size, 6 – 11kg): 
   a) Brand: ??
   b) Softness: 7/10. The diapers are quite thick, but less stiff than Huggies.
   c) Absorbency and dryness: 6/10. The absorbency and dryness of Drypers is not too good, and poop stays on the diaper’s surface. Be sure to not let your child sit in a Drypers soiled diapers for too long. Weewee feels abit damp on the diapers as well, though the diapers is ironically named Drypers Weewee Dry.
   d) Fit: 7/10. The fit of Drypers is quite OK, though it leaked abit of urine on a few occasions too.
   e) Price: $. 20c/piece for  M Size if you buy from Babyfairs, which is really cheap compared to the other brands we’ve been purchasing.
7. Bosomi (S Size, 5 – 8kg): 
   a) Brand: Korean
   b) Softness: 8.5/10. The diaper’s softness is comparable to the better Japanese brand diapers. Thin too.
   c) Absorbency and dryness: 7.5/10. The absorbency and dryness of Bosomi is generally not too bad. Packaging says it is made from all natural products, which I guess is a good thing, but may mean it is not as absorbent?
   d) Fit: 9/10. Bosomi fits really nicely, perhaps due to the thinness and softness of the diapers too.
   e) Price: $$$. 26c/piece for S Size if you buy from Babyfairs.
8. Merries (S Size, 4 – 8kg): 
   a) Brand: Japanese
   b) Softness: 9/10. The diapers are really soft, which makes it easy to conform to the shape of baby’s butt.
   c) Absorbency and dryness: 9.5/10. When Pips and I first went to a Babyfair, we were wondering why so many parents bought Merries and so, decided to try it. The absorbency and dryness of Merries is top rate among all the brands we’ve tried, and even absorbs quite abit of Ray’s poop.
   d) Fit: 8.5/10. The fit of Merries is not too bad, but because there is no elastic band behind, it doesn’t adhere to baby’s butt shape as well as some of the other Japanese/Korean brands. Apparently though, there is some science behind the fitting which prevents the leakages.
   e) Price: $$$$. 39c/piece for S Size if you buy from Redmart (online store).

To help parents out there understand diaper absorbency better, below are some pics that illustrates the absorbency factors of some of the different diapers. Click on the image to see the enlarged versions.
***WARNING*** PICS IMMEDIATELY BELOW ARE GOING TO BE DOWNRIGHT NASTY, SO KINDLY HAVE YOUR LUNCH BEFORE VIEWING, OR QUICKLY ZIP TO THE NEXT SECTION AFTER THE PICS

For Drypers, can you tell that the poop hasn’t been absorbed into the diaper much compared to Bosomi and Goon? It seems to be another layer on the surface, so don’t let your kid’s butt simmer in Drypers for too long.
Click on pics to see enlarged versions haha.

How I feel when cleaning his butt. Story of my life.

RECOMMENDATIONS: An important feature of diapers in my opinion, is the fit, as it prevents leakages, and also, will not leave as much red marks on baby’s sensitive skin as we do not need to wrap the diapers around baby too tightly for fear of leakages. In this area, GOON, MOONY and BOSOMI come out tops. I find Huggies too stiff, and just can’t seem to fit Nepia nicely.
Another important area is that of absorbency. Here, the Japanese brands really come out tops, with the pack leader being Merries.
Overall, I would recommend Goon for the pricing ahead of Merries and Moony, as its absorbency, fit and softness is right on top too.

Some other Diaper Recommendations: I’ve heard good things about Mamy Poko, though I’ve not tried it. Heard from my sis-in-law’s hubby that Fitti is the most value-for-money diaper that they have tried. Their kid is 3 years old now. Pampers comes recommended by my paediatrician friend, who says that generally, it is considered quite value for money with all things considered. Don’t know whether paeds are just used to pampers though, considering how it was so heavily marketed in the past such that the name itself is synonymous with diapers. In the hospital after Ray was born, the diapers that NUH used was Huggies. Petpet is another diaper that I haven’t tried, but it is really cheap, cheaper than Drypers, and according to Pips, even cheaper than NTUC’s housebrand, Fairprice diapers.

TIPS:

Diaper Strategy: One can see a great difference in the pricing of the various diapers. We used to use only the more expensive ones for Ray’s butt, but after weeks of meticulous caring of his precious little butt, it’s finally baby smooth. Finally, Pips and I have dared to venture into the realm of cheaper diapers haha. We have just started using the diaper strategy of a mix of cheap and expensive diapers during the day. When I get the feeling that he’s going to poop, I will use Drypers, and when I think he has been pooping alot and is gonna give his butt a break, I switch to a more expensive brand. Of course, he will conveniently choose to upend my gut feeling when he feels like it haha. Such is the unpredictability of a baby. A mix of diapers also ensures that the diaper marks on his fat little thighs are not the same all the time. When it is time for him to go to bed, I will change him to either GOON or Merries, which is also the case when we head out.

Baby’s Poop and when to change his diaper: As new parents, we were terribly afraid of the monster known as Diaper Rash. To keep it at bay, we’d change Ray’s diapers as soon as we hear him poop (yes, baby’s poop can be heard. They can be in the form of farts, or just loud poops. Sometimes, the poops are silent, but no worries. Your newly developed canine nose will sniff out the poop in no time). This led to a few accidents where I encountered the POOPBOMBs in all its finest glory. There was this one time when Ray pooped in the middle of the night. I woke up to change his diaper and while changing his diaper midway, he let fly a poopbomb and his watery poop literally sprayed at me and splattered all over my PJs. WOAH. WELCOME TO MOTHERHOOD. LOUD AND CLEAR, I GOT THAT, thanks for the memo, Ray.
After nearly 3 months of poopy trial and error, I’ve come to understand that if your baby poops, just wait for awhile and see if he will poop some more, especially if it is a small poop. Don’t worry about the diaper rash. An extra 15-20 mins will not result in a diaper rash, and may instead, save you from a poopbomb. If it is a big one, feel free to change his diaper after about 5 mins. The benefits of waiting is threefold:
(1) You save yourself, your clothes, baby’s clothes and your furniture from a messy, MESSY affair.
(2) You spare your baby’s butt from being cleaned too many times, which can strip the butt of moisture or have the butt react to the wet wipes. This can cause diaper rash too.
(3) You save on diapers.

What happens when Baby has a Diaper Rash?
Despite our best efforts at taking care of baby’s butt, sometimes they will still have rashes. This could be due to a number of reasons, such as the chemicals in the wet wipes being too strong for the baby, or a result of friction caused by rubbing the butt too hard in our earnest efforts to clean off the diaper rash cream. It could also be that baby’s delicate bottom has been sitting in poop for too long or that the butt area is not dry before we put baby in his diapers.

When Ray’s butt becomes red, I would use the simple remedy of a bowl of water, and one or two cotton balls or swabs to clean his butt. I would first wipe off the big poopy pieces off his butt with a wet wipe, then, when it’s relatively clean, wipe his butt with a wet cotton ball or swab, rinsing it in the bowl of clean water. My mom-in-law insists that I only use warm water, but I’ve also secretly tried room temperature water straight from the tap. No difference. Ray does not show fear or discomfort when his butt touches cold water.

Cleaning your baby’s butt this way reduces the problem of his butt reacting to chemical agents present in wet wipes as water is free of all these chemical agents and whatnots. After cleaning his butt, I will dry it with a nappy cloth (those white nappy cloth that is used to wrap babies in). Once his butt is dry, I will apply a thick layer of diaper rash cream (doesn’t need to be too thick. Agaration here) before putting his diapers on. When he doesn’t have diaper rash, the nappy rash cream can be spread more thinly. When he has a diaper rash, I will also airdry his butt for awhile, for as long as I dare to let him go commando, before putting his diapers on. Some fresh air is good for the butt. When using the wipes on a red/sore butt, be careful not to rub harshly across his butt, but gently dab all the crap away. Your baby’s butt should heal alot faster!

Now that Ray’s butt is looking pretty damn perfect, I still wash his butt with this method at home when he does a big one. When he has small poop (like fart poops), I will just use wet wipes for him sometimes. So far, so good!

As for the diaper rash cream I am using, a question Jinny asked, I am using a mix of Desitin strong (purple packaging) and Desitin normal (blue packaging) for Ray. Comes recommended by my Sis-in-Law and it’s been working pretty well. Was using the normal one initially, until Ray had mild diaper rash, then I switched to the strong Desitin. There’s another brand that I have which I’ve yet to try though. When I do try it and it works fab, I’ll try to remember to recommend it! haha.

That’s about it for the Poop Diary I spose. Hope the above helps all new parents in dealing with your little poop machines!

if you like this article and would like to be kept updated on my other posts (eg bottle reviews for the breastfeeding babies, how to help your newborn sleep etc), do follow/like me at www.facebook.com/jashuatbaby or click on the  Facebook icon at this website! 

Xox
Jasmine

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