I talk a lot about my experience and difficulties when caring for my son Daniel’s colostomy bag here. Daniel was born with Imperforate Anus and had a colostomy bag for 15 months. He has since had a reversal and stools regularly now. There are many things I wish I had known and found out the hard way through trial and error. Here are the most important things I learned and feel are beneficial.

1. Skin care
   When caring for and cleaning around the stomas, however you decide to care for the site, make sure the area is dry before putting on another bag. That’s going to determine how long the bag stays on and how irritated the skin will be. Daniel has really sensitive skin and would flare up if I didn’t take good care of his site. I couldn’t figure out why it was so irritated. I watched online videos of how other people cared for the stoma site. I started spraying a special film, then using powder, which only worked in the beginning. But, then it stopped working, because I wouldn’t dry it. I learned I only needed the powder when the skin was damaged. I also used a hair dryer and hand warmers to help the adhesive stick to his skin. The extra things weren’t working because his skin wasn’t dry.
2. Bag sizes
   When a newborn is sent home from the hospital with an ostomy, the bags are very small because newborns dont move around as much. Babies grow quickly and outgrow the newborn bags fast thus needing larger bags. The adhesive on newborn bags are very narrow, which makes it hard to keep it stuck around the stomas. I was changing the bag way too often. The constant pulling of the adhesive was irritating Daniel’s skin. I found that the adult sized bags were better for him and stuck better. It happened on accident after one of his procedures in the operating room, the doctor had put on a bigger bag. It worked wonders so we kept using them. The adult bags saved me from poopy messes and lasted much longer.
3. Cover up the bag in case of leakage
   To make Daniel more comfortable and to anticipate possible leakage, we put a diaper around the bag. When he would leak, the stool would go inside the diaper instead of all over his clothes. It was also more comfortable for him and other people when they would hold him. It saved us a lot of ruined outfits and bed sheets.
4. Don’t wait to empty the bag
   If you think it’s time to empty the bag, do it right away. Waiting could possibly result in leakage and a big mess. Sometimes the edge of the adhesive would start to peel up, but I wouldn’t change it because I thought I had more time. More often than not, Daniel would start leaking soon after that. It’s better to change the bag to avoid any kind of mess.
5. Let the air out
   The bags become full with air when the baby passes gas. Make sure to let the air out or else it’ll make them very uncomfortable. Daniel would get pretty fussy if there was any air in his bag. Once we pushed the air out, all was well. Just make sure to hold your nose.