Stupid question but need to ask re: girl's girlie bits

Since this is our first girl, and haven't really had much experience with girls bits other than my own obviously (I have 5 nephews and DS) just wondering how much you need to clean when they do a poo?

I'm sure my child can't be the only one that gets bits of poo stuck in the top part of her hoohah - and just wondering if people really get stuck in there with a wipe to make sure every bit is removed - and really - how do you do that without hurting them!?!?

I'm so used to wiping boy bits, where it doesn't really matter which direction you go in, or where you fling it.. lol...

Stupid question I know, and I'm hitting myself in the head for actually not knowing what would quite simply be the most commonsense answer.....

(I am blaming severe baby brain of course.. )

we are fairly fastidious about cleaning poo from fannies! When I'm changing them, I'll gently part their labia with two fingers, and them gently wipe down the inside of their vulta with a wipe.

Phew.. thanks Michael.. I was afraid I was doing it wrong!!!

You know, nobody thought of showing me how to in the hospital.... lol I guess when I started wiping my own butt it wasn't ever up in THAT area to wipe from... lol

Thanks heaps ;)

Will be watching this one with interest as this is a bit of a worry for me (and Dh too) after 3 boys and only having to shift tackle from left to right ;)

I was told not to touch the labia at all. If you can't wipe it out gently then you bath them or it will clean itself (hence the vagina being like the eye a self cleaning organ). I have heard of disastrous things happening from unknowing people "cleaning" too well and tears occur :( I couldn't take that risk. Yes poo can be problematic if it gets in the wrong spots, but its very difficult for it to actually get in the bad spots (so I was told by my dr). Its more dangerous to go poking around than the poo itself. Just as you wouldn't pull back a boys foreskin I wouldn't go anywhere near the labia or the vagina. Clean what you can, anything more than that and I'd be rinsing or bathing.

(sorry I'm just paranoid after the horror stories I've heard :()

LOL I am expecting a girl this time around and I've been asking the exact same questions of my friends with girl babies! So embarrassing to have to ask - I've got the same bits! (But they are the same re penises!)

Just to add on - where does one apply the nappy cream? Just on the vulva skin? Or on the inside of the vulva as well? (as well as the bottom obviously...) If baby girls get nappy rash, does it affect the vaginal area?

Not a silly question at all hun! Even when there is no poo there, make sure you wipe from front to back, and then as she gets older teach her that too - like we do to avoid UTI's etc.... I tend to do what Michael said and part it and use one finger in the wipe to sort of wipe down if that makes sense! I'm sure I will be on here in a few weeks time asking what to do with the peepee! :rofl:

ETA - Oooh just read Cai's post - now I'm worried - eeek sometimes it gets right in there though Cai - so in that case would you just bath?? I remember being told by the nurse not to worry about the naturally occuring discharge etc that acumulates in the folds, but if there is poo there I like to get it all off.

I put nappy cream just on external bits - whenever she has had a little bit of nappy rash its on the skin on the outside and more on her actually backside than genitals anyway.

I do exactly like Micheal said..and how i was taught in hospital.

Im VERY fussy when it comes to cleaning so i make sure theres no traces what so ever left! We have never had any UTI's or infection in general...my CHN even comments how clean they always are.

I clean myself as good as i would my DD's.

Paris never got poo in her vagina, I would wipe out the labia, but never pulling bits open iykwim. When she was little if it was too difficult to manage I would bathe her. And you can still clean real well by not disturbing the top of the labia minora too much. Sorry I just had images of people trying to clean the minora (which can tear easily on a baby especially near the urethral opening) and going a bit crazy.

Not a stupid questin at all..

I had the same issue after 3 boys.. I was not taught in hospital.. I just asked on here :)

:doh: Nic, I should have looked for your thread.. pmsl.

I've been told that you should wipe inside the labia at every nappy change otherwise the labia will fuse together...?:dunno:

Ah gotcha Cai - we never go "in" if that makes sense but sometimes, moreso now that she is older and it squishes in around there (eeeeeewwwwwwwww such a nice convo! :) ) we gently separate the lips and get the poo out from the folds, I don't think its ever gone in either. Confused yet Mel?!!

Yeah thats true too just don't go digging LOL thats my major concern ;) I think I'm saying the same thing as you all, just don't go digging around the top of the Labia Minora or in the vagina ;)

:

---

Confused yet Mel?!!

---

:lol:

I should mention what we do.. or at least did when she was a newborn

We wiped her front to back as recommended for girls.. then gently with cotton wool wiped up an extra that might have gone in there.. or at bath time swished the water around the girly area

I had a girl first up (followed by 2 boys) and, like you, had always had to clean boys so it was a new experience for me too. Just wipe from top to bottom as cleanly as you possibly can. The vagina is supposed to be self-cleaning so as long as you don't leave big chunks in there, it should be OK. I hope this helps. Christine

:

---

Confused yet Mel?!!

---

Yup.

Ohhhhhh honey don't be! Just as Cai said, be gentle, don't go too deep or "in" and you will be fine hun! :hug:

I may have to get my little squirt (for cloth nappies) set up near the change table and give her a spray of that at every change instead... LOL

Now it makes me worry if I hurt her or not last night - I'm not too clear headed at 3am!!! :(

You should be fine Mel, sorry to make you stress hon! I just heard a icky story from my MCHN (funnily it was when she was explaining fused labia) and so I like to be clear coz obviously some people don't really know. If in doubt rinse ;)

i very gently part her labia with my two fingers and wipe the inside gently with a wipe, im sorry but there is NO WAY i am leaving poo in there... as long as you are gentle i think it is better to wipe than to not... besides once she 'discovers herself' you'll realise exactly how gentle you were being, in comparison to her hand poking around down there... (has anyone elses toddler got there hand down there as soon as the nappy comes off???)

:

---

(has anyone elses toddler got there hand down there as soon as the nappy comes off???)

---

Yep my 20 month old always does it..and now my 9 month old finds it fasinating as well!

i cringe with how 'uncareful' she is... it makes me cross my legs....

i sometimes say 'don't hurt your bottom' and navigate her hand elsewhere, but really i have no idea what i should be doing.... i know i should probably be doing nothing, but i don't like watching it!!

Mel,

I used to have to wipe in a little. Not actually inside her vagina, but I open her labia a little and wipe the poop off. When she was bf every now and then she's so a really huge and disgusting poo so I'd just wash her bum under the bathroom sink, or if I felt like it just give her a bath. I couldn't leave any poo in there, I'd be more worried of leaving too much 'yuck' on her and infection than hurting her. If I was hurting her, I'm sure she'd cry and let me know!

Sorry - I was posting from my mobile last night, and then fell asleep watching the Opening Ceremony, and so never got a chance to come back and clarify...

When changing girls, you should only ever really need to part the labia majora. In most little girls, the labia minora sit really close together anyway, so it would be very rare for any poo to actually make it inside the labia minor or inside the vagina itself. So when you gently part the folds of their vulva, as a rule, you should only be moving the labia major - the minora will usually stay together.

Once I've done that, I just gently wipe down, front to back, with a wipe.

The concern is from really over-zealous people who try and part the labia minor and wipe inside the vagina itself. This is unnecessary, and can, as Niliac mentioned, cause problems like infection (vaginitis) and tearing, both of the hymen and of the genital mucosa.

If you are really worried, use two wipes. Gently part the labia majora with two fingers, and then use one wipe down one side, and one down the other - you will be wiping between the labia majora and labia minora on each side. The pressure of the wipe kind of flattens down the minora, forming a natural barrier that prevents you poking at the vagina itself, IKYWIM. I honestly think that most well-adjusted parents will not be so rough that they would cause problems, though. And baby poo is fairly slippery and comes off with a minimum of fuss.

If there is so much poo there that you are having trouble getting it off, then certainly bath them.

I guess it's one of those questions that, like one poster said, you just don't know when you've never had to do it - we had a very similar thread about changing boy's nappies not so long ago.