Your Baby's Colostomy: What to Expect

There are many different conditions that can make it necessary for a baby to have a colostomy, some from birth, others develop a little later on. Whatever the cause, for parents it can be terrifying to realize that their adorable little infant will have his intestines on the outside of his body. It takes some getting used to.

A colostomy is very simple and the procedure has existed for thousands of years, although the technique has been perfected, of course. It consists of cutting the intestines and bringing the two ends outside of the body, usually on the left side of the body. The ends are turned inside out like a sleeve and stitched to the abdomen. This leaves two neat donut-like protrusions that will be covered by the colostomy bag. The lower stoma is useless as it connects to the lower part of the body and the anus, if one exists.

The upper stoma is where your baby will defecate from now on. Since there is no sphincter, this means that he will be defecating as the feces move through the intestines, instead of having a schedule. The feces will look the same as what a normal baby would produce.

The stoma, immediately after the operation, will be red and irritated and will tend to bleed occasionally. This is completely normal. You may worry that the stitches will come loose and that the intestines will slide back inside, but amazingly, the stoma fuse very well with the abdominal skin. Care must be taken that the area doesn't get infected, but you can clean it easily with a damp cloth when you change the colostomy bag.

It is important to remember that the inside of the intestine doesn't contain nerve endings, so when the stoma bleeds, it is not hurting your baby. In fact, your child will not even realize that he is different until he is older. Also babies tend to heal very quickly and you will notice that the trauma of the surgery lasts longer than the healing process.

After the operation, your baby won't be allowed to eat. Only water can be given. If you have a newborn who has never nursed, this might cause nipple confusion. The mother can still express milk and give it in a bottle once milk has been approved. Your baby may have a sensitive stomach from the anesthetic, particularly if the operation was done within the first day or two of life. Vomiting is common, but won't hurt your baby as long as he manages to keep something down. Regular weight checks will assure you that he is growing normally.

Once healed, the colostomy needs no special care, unless a diaper rash occurs. This is pretty common since the plastic colostomy bag keeps the feces against the skin. It is a good idea to spread a barrier cream over the freshly cleaned area each time you change the bag, every 3-5 days. Some families have had great success with using a cloth diaper over the colostomy instead of the bag. The irritation is far less since you would be changing the diaper frequently (up to 15 times per day).

The stoma will turn pink after some time, but the outer layer will occasionally slough off and leave them red and bleeding again. This is totally normal and will happen regularly as long as your child has the colostomy. There is no need to treat your baby differently once the colostomy has healed. Thanks to new techniques, the only wounds will be two small holes made for the stoma, nothing more and these heal quickly. After that, you can bounce and play with your infant like usual.

In some cases, the colostomy will be reversed when the child is older. Your baby may need reconstructive or corrective surgery first, to correct the original problem. This means a minimum of three surgeries in total. Other children cannot have their problem resolved and will continue with a colostomy into adulthood.

While it can be frightening to see a colostomy on such a small child, you will eventually get used to it, as strange as that may seem. Soon, changing colostomy bags or diapers will become second nature and you won't even think about it anymore. The colostomy should not affect your child's lifestyle, he will still be able to run and play like any other healthy child, provided the intestinal problem was the only one he had.