This is the story my father told me just a few weeks ago, about his own first experience with an enema bulb:
: I knew his younger brother was more than 5 years younger then him. Putting him 5 years and several months old when his brother was born.
His Mom must have given the younger brother an enema and Dad happened to find the red bulb in the bathroom drying.
He asked his Mom what it was for, and "what does it do??"
Mom would only say, "Sometimes a baby needs a little water put inside their bottom. that's what's used to put the water in!"
She never told him what it was REALLY for!
A few days later, he dug the bulb out from under the sink and he couldn't NOT give it a try!
He had no idea what an enema was or what it was given for, let alone GIVE him one!
Dad even understood the pronunciation as something like Annamerr!
He did not find out what it was really for or how to pronounce it until he could read well enough on his own to read the packages at he drug store himself.
Once eh could spell it and could pronounce it he read everything he could get his hands on about them.
Within a day or two after that bulb discovery happened, Mom took the baby to the doctor and left him with his Dad at home.
His Dad didn't care as long as it didn't get HIM in trouble!
Dad snuck back in the bathroom.
In the box under the sink. There it was!
it was a red, glossy pear-shaped bulb with a hard, black nozzle.
He took it out, as quietly as a 6 year old could looked at it, squeezed it carefully.
He soon realized that the black part(nozzle) would come out, and pop right back in.
The parents had bought him a small stepstool so that he could get a drink of water in the middle of the night by himself.
Using that, he was able to reach the sink.
He already knew how to turn the water on just a trickle, and had realized that no one could hear it when he did that.
He was able get the bulb full of water with that method.
He then pulled his pants off, and his underwear down to his ankles, stuck it in his butt, and squeezed.
He realized at that point how much different the bulb felt when it was full of water than when it was full of air.
He managed to realize he had to put the bulb in, squeeze it. take it out, let it re-inflate, and do it again. When he could no hear water sloshing around inside the bulb it was empty, or in his mind "needs filling!"
he liked the feel of the water inside him, and kept putting more in until it just barely started to feel uncomfortable, and maybe even hurt a little. He figured that was enough water.
He managed to get his pants back on, went back in his room, and started to play with his toys. He could not understand WHY he kept feeling like he had to poop!
He also tried to hold it back as long as he could.
When he finally could not hold it any longer, all the water came out, along with a lot of poop!
He was actually scared! He thought he had done something wrong!
He did not know what an enema was supposed to do, and could not figure out why, every time he tried it, with more water, less water, taking some water now, and then waiting s few minutes and taking more water in a few minutes.
The water always came out! It was always with a lot of poop.
As soon as he was old enough to read, and was able to get off on his own in any library, he read everything about enemas he could find.
One thing he DID know, "putting water in his bottom" felt good, and he did it every chance he got.