My (1 year old) DD has been having some diarrhea and vomiting lately, so I took her to the pedi. who (after checking her out) asked me to get a stool sample for him. He gave me 2 little containers that have scoops and solution, and told me just to fill them to the little line. Sure, no problem. Only when I went to change her diaper I realized DUH! She has diarrhea... it's all been sucked up into the diaper! There is nothing TO scoop. lol. I have been feeding her the BRAT diet, so it has solidified a bit, but it's still too runny to get more than one tiny scoop. Sooo... how do you go about getting a stool sample of diarrhea? I'm 1/2 tempted to let her run around bare-bottomed and hope I catch her in time to avoid a huge mess... but I'm not sure how well that will go over with the family. lol. (I live with my in-laws, and have to follow their rules... I doubt they will appreciate baby diarrhea all over their floors...)
Go old school. Pin or tie on a towel like a cloth diaper. If you youtube "how to fold a prefold" or "how to fold a flatfold" you'll get tons of options. I would suggest this route so you don't have chemical contamination like with linning the diaper with vasiline. Oh and go and get the plastic pants for potty training, they didn't help much with my son, but it's better than nothing.
I had to get a stool sample from my oldest at about that age and I lined the diaper with plastic wrap. It's gross, but it works. I'm actually surprised they are letting you take it out of the diaper because usually it's supposed to be a "sterile" sample and I thought most disposable diapers had some anti-bacterial properties. Put plastic pants on her and the diaper or pull up over that? Cloth diaper?
Line the diaper with Seran Wrap???
From kidhealth.org - it also mentions not using stool contaminated with urine. Best of luck on this nasty fun!
Plastic wrap can also be used to line the diaper of an infant or toddler who is not yet using the toilet.
The only thing I can think of is try putting her in a pull up since they are less absorbent, or those plastic underwear pants they sell in the potty training section of the store. I would definitely not let her go bare bottom Good luck! I had to do that when my son was 18 months old. Gag city!
buy a pack of cloth diapers, they deff dont absorb like the others!
scrape it off the top surface??
It's very important not to delay....my son & I had salmonella from a restaurant & required strong antibiotics to combat it. & it's really scary to see blood in the bm.... & I want to be very clear....I DO NOT think this is what you are dealing with....I'm simply relating our story & how important it is to get moving on this testing.
Oh, & the strain of salmonella was specific to iguana. The state health dept's final report said that an employee at the restaurant owned an iguana & did not follow proper handwashing procedures.....thereby contaminating the food we ate at the restaurant. AND that is why I'm adding this to my response: salmonella is a normal part of the iguana digestive system. Cross-contamination to humans can be made by handling your pet & not properly washing your hands. The health dept told us that this holds true for chameleons, lizards, etc. HUGE learning lesson for us!
I would just scoop/scrape up the diarrhea when it is in her diaper, I am sure you can get a scrape. they do not need much. Worst case, take the diaper to them if it will keep. Put it in a ziploc. I really think the scraping with the scoop they gave you will work. Or, get her naked and have her stay in the kitchen or bathroom for a few mins while you sit with her. That way the floor won't be messed up that can't easily be wiped up.
good luck
maybe coat the diaper in vaseline so its not so absorbant? just a thought.
I had to do that with my son too. he was 3 at the time and was using the potty/pull up at the time, so between the two I was able to get what I needed. Try a pull up. they aren't as absorbent as diapers, so you should be able to scrape it off. That's what I did. Good luck and hope she feels better.
