So we all know we girls are supposed to wipe front to back. It drives my husband nuts that I don't always follow this rule when wiping our baby daughter. The reason I don't , I tell him is that, wiping front to back prevents getting poo in the hoo hoo. However, if there is allready poo in the hoo hoo, what does it matter? He insists that its still the better method for prevending UTI, even if there is poo in there (he's medical). So please, set me straight if I'm wrong. If there is allready poo in the vagina, does it matter what direction you wipe?
to be clear, I don't drag more feces into the area by wiping the whole area back to front. I wipe one, then the other, but since there is often poo in the vagina, when I'm wiping that area, I'm not always particular about it on the final wipe if I'm in an akward possition like changing baby in the car. If I'm at the change table I go front to back because I have better access to do so. Not sure why all the snarkyness. But thank the rest for your polite and actually medicaly factual replies.
Don B. Lol, I can tell you never had little gilrs. Yucky as it is, the poo gets in there every time they go when in diapers. 7 baths a day would be difficult.
Jen L. Yes
Always wipe front to back--even if there is "poo in the hoo". If you do it back to front, you still run the risk of pushing the fecal matter upwards into the vagina---instead of out and onto the baby wipe. Always do front to back.
M
I have two daughters myself and always wipe them front to back - regardless of where the poop is!! I would think that even if there is already poop in the hoo hoo that wiping from back to front would cause there to be more poop in the hoo hoo area and that there'd be a better chance of the poop getting into an area of the hoo hoo that it shouldn't be - hope that makes sense!!
I do not have a daughter, however thinking for myself ... I would still do it front to back ... yep front to back why risk getting more in there.
Don't ya hate it that your husband's right? :-)
Just read an article on this very issue at the doctor's office today! (Had to wait a while and Parent's Magazine was right there.
Your husband is right and Dawn gave some good advice too. According to the artice, UTI's are very common in little ones and hard to diagnose because they go in diapers and can't really tell you if it hurts. Little girls especially have problems just because of the proximity of things down there.
Front to back, always.
yes - If there is already poo in there, you don't want to force more up into the vaginal area - which is what you'll do when you wipe butt to vagina.
He is right about a higher risk of vaginal or urethral infection.
Yes it does. Front to back always. Husband is right.
Contrary to what one mom on here says, little girls are completely developed. I don't know what part would be missing.... Anyhow, it's not so much the vagina but the urethra. You don't want to push anything toward that tiny opening. It's easier to wipe out of the vaginal area, but the urethra is a teeny tiny tube and you want to wipe down and out away from it.
Yes it matters. Wiping back to front just drives whatever fecal matter that is already there further in.
Because the poop is not inside her hoohoo. The poop in that area is rarely ever by that vaginal opening. When you wipe back to front you push poop inside and can cause a UTI. I know it sucks that he is right, but just do it. If he's medical why would you fight him on it? That medical school does count for something. It's like ignoring a structural engineer about load bearing walls.
@audrey, no offense but even baby girls come with vaginal openings. How would you remember being a baby?
I don't know if this is biologically correct but it seems that when one wipes forward that one is wiping into the urethra; that the opening opens somewhat while it may not when wiping backwards. Just an idea. I do think that when wiping from the back you are wiping more poop into the front from the back.
My philosophy is when in doubt do what appears to be the safest.
.
YES!! It still matters!!! It's HOW your daughter's urethra is placed...you are STILL getting MORE bowel excretions in your daughter urethra....therefore giving her a higher risk to get a UTI.
FRONT TO BACK! ALWAYS!!
I have girl, and I agree with your Husband.
I always, wiped from front to back.
Always.
Even if there is poo in the hoo-hoo already.... wiping it from back to front may well just get more poo in there... and make things worse and push it in more or up the urethra tract.
If poo is in the hoo-hoo... I would wipe my daughter, very finely and carefully and gently.... even using a Q-tip sometimes, so that the poo was not pushed in further.... and always wiping outward from front to back.
you can never be too careful.
A baby can get UTI's.
Absolutely ALWAYS wipe from front to back. Yes, poo does get in the vagina, but wiping in that one direction helps prevent UTIs. I taught my daughter to wipe from around back to make sure she'd wipe from front to back and she still does this - it's just a good idea.
The nurses in the hospital told me to always wipe front to back.
Simple FACT - getting poop into the urethra is increased by wiping from back to front causing UTI's "and" bladder infections (E.coli in the bladder, harder to get rid of than a UTI). We all want what's best for our babies, so why not decrease the odds of her having painful UTI's and bladder infections by wiping from front to back??? It's not too hard of a thing to change and you can tell your husband you read it somewhere and it wasn't because "he" told you... I know we all hate to be wrong, especially when it's with our hubbies:)
Just do what you "know" is right for your baby. Again, it's not a hard thing to change, it'll become easier the more you do it and you'll be giving your daughter the best care you can.
Hope this helps.
(Mommy of a girl and a boy, expecting another girl)
Yes, it still matters. You can spread the mess even further up into the urethra, which is where UTIs start.
Front to back. It's easy enough to do, I don't know why you wouldn't do it. Good for your husband.
Why would you want to aggravate the problem by wiping back to front? That is akin to saying "There is already dirt in the cut so it doesn't matter if I put MORE dirt in the cut doesn it?". I would still follow the common front to back procedure to keep from making it worse.
PS....I am not sure what Audrey is referring to....I had three girls and they ALL came with all working parts already there and in working order...I know of nothing in that area that they "developed" after they were born...lol
ALWAYS front to back, never deviate from this. Your husband is 100% correct.
Always front to back......
I do a sort of side swipe to remove feces from her girl parts if I am changing her where I do not have access to a shower. If she poops at home, I generally shower her off, because not all bacteria is visible, and washing her off is more thorough.
i wipe them separately always, i go no where near the booty if i am wiping the vagina. but i still go front to back
heard it's better to wipe front to back to prevent infection. have to wipe anyway, might as well do it that way just in case.
1st of all-it's a VAGINA!
I was always more of a stop in the middle gal. cleaned up the butt, cleaned up the vagina. 2 or 50 different wipes. i didn't use the same one for both, it was never enough.
You gently clean the vagina out first using a wipe covered finger nail then wipe front to back.
It really makes you wonder since there were many times that it was all up in there on my daughter...gross! She never had any problems though. I'm sure it's just always better to go front to back anyway.
Lol! Poo is hard to get out of the hoo hoo. I wipe front to back, to sideways to all over! Its a mess, and to think I thought balls would be hard, it was a piece of cake. Yeah, I dont think it matters.
If its already on there, front to back can push it in too.
Just wanted to say that poop won't get into the vagina because baby girls are born with a hymen.But maybe I am being too technical here.
Honestly, I think it doesn't really matter with little girls. They aren't completely developed yet and it's harder for bacteria to bother them in that area. I'm not a doctor so I could be totally wrong. That would be my first thought. I don't remember ever having problems in that area when I was young.
