What were our moms, aunts & grandmothers thinking?

I can't count the number of posts I've read relating stories about how someone was to receive an enema AFTER breakfast, lunch or dinner. Sounds to me like a perfect recipe for lots of cramping. No wonder many children HATED enemas, at least till they discovered the sexual aspect of enemas. Nothing like stimulating peristalsis, then filling 1/3 or 1/2 of the large intestine with soapy water.

When I started self administering at age 8 or 9, I figured out that if I did it on an empty stomach, there was less cramping and when you did have cramping, they were less intense. Now, if a 9 year old could figure that out, why couldn't our moms, aunts & grandmothers?

Same thing with the bag being hung on the shower curtain rod?? 6.5' to 7' above the point of entry, YIKES! A 2 quart bag empties lightning fast from that height. Good for lots of cramping, for sure. I know there are many adults here who like the cramping brought on by these practices, but did you like them back in the "Golden Age?"

Were our moms, aunts & grandmothers really in the dark about how the digestive system worked back then? Did they hang the bag on the shower curtain rod cause the wanted to get the enema over with as quickly as possible? Maybe it's the way they got them as children? It's no wonder many of us had a love / hate relationship with the red bag in the "Golden Age."

Best,

vapor

First wife (RN) told me they try to give enemas after a meal, because the food has started peristalsis in the entire GI tract. The enema just intensifies the process.

I agree about hanging the bag at ridiculous heights; cramps are excruciating. My mom did this to get it over as soon as possible. When she let me take my own, the first thing I did was to lower the bag to 2, or 3 feet.

My dad's sister counseled my mother to not use enemas on a full stomach. My mother did as she was told.

Post #2, below, makes sense to me too. Maybe it's a balance that is best. Maybe it's a not-all-empty, not-too full thing.

It's obvious they weren't thinking. They were just doing what they were taught by their mothers and other relatives.. When I got an enema from the one quart open top red bag, it was hung from the shower curtain rod. I was over mom's lap while she held the nozzle in tight in my little rosebud hole.. It didn't take long for the bag to empty, two to three minutes at the most. There was a lot of cramping and I cried a lot because of it. Once on the toilet seat it didn't take me long to empty it out. It was always embarrassing for mom to watch and then have me bend over the sink to wipe my bubble butt.

Saturday was our day for enemas and there were three of us. My oldest sister went first and she was off for the day. If I had practice then I got to have mine after dinner otherwise after saturday breakfast and yep, big time cramps but the same for dinner anyways. My mom hung the bag from a towel rack and my aunt hung it from the shower in the bathtub so that it had full on pressure going. Mom was never in a hurry and Auntie always was. She hurried to the expelling time and was the "Inspector General" about the whole thing. She is the one that had the hospital soap that guaranteed an instant hard on when I detected the aroma.

Mom just gave one when you were acting down.I remember they did cramp some but she stood guard as you went and sure younger sister was looking on.

I'm sure that the only thing my mom was thinking was that she had to make my bowels move. She was a believer in regularity and after about three days of not having a bowel movement she would take me into the bathroom and give me a good syringing of Ivory soapsuds to clean me out. She went about her task with sheer determination. When she decided I needed an enema, no amount of begging or pleading was going to stop her until she was satisfied that she had forced enough of the soapy water up my ass with the bulb syringe to make me go. I was constipated frequently as a child and she became quite the expert with that syringe, never failing to bring about the desired results. Those enemas were always effective and thorough.

Pressure seemed to be a big thing with my aunt. She wanted the enema shooting into us with a lot of force. It seems if we didn’t cramp, it wasn’t doing it’s job. Mom was gentler, probably because she gave me enemas in bed and not the bath tub. Mom was the great experimenter and filled me up with all manner of concoctions. Some of them caused terrible cramps. Mom was also thorough. You didn’t get an enema, you got a series of enemas until everything came out clear.

Remember the pressures they were under were the same really as Moms today. But they did not have as many ways to answer those pressures. For instance, until the 1980s women were not supposed to sweat! What was considered a "Woman's" workout routine then is now considered a stretch or warm up for both genders today. There was less fresh produce available at the grocery store, and fewer grocery stores to choose from

It was similar when the child was sick. Fewer options less knowledge.

They did what seemed best with what was avaiable

My mom believed that the enema had to be injected with a lot of pressure, too. She squeezed the bulb of the syringe hard, shooting the Ivory soapsuds into me with a lot of pressure. When I complained, she would tell me she had to get the soapsuds far enough up into my bowels for the enema to be effective. No amount of begging or pleading would change her technique. She would continue to syringe me, each time squeezing the bulb forcefully. She was determined to make my bowels move and I have to admit that her method was always very effective.

My grandmother (from the old country) was in charge of the enemas. This decision was mainly because she was tallest. Tallest translated to being able to hold the bag higher. I'd be on my knees on the bathroom floor, and holding leaning over the closed toilet seat in our old victorian 2 family apartment. The Red closed top bag and black curved douche nozzle was used and never removed from the bag hanging on the painted nail in the bathroom wall. She used a strong soap called Octagon and It stung like the devil himself. Pleading didn't help. and Stop!...meant nothing.

I think they felt it was supposed to hurt to be effective, just like the iodine they used when you scraped you knee.

Today...we deal with adverse reactions from various medications. we just don't physically feel it within the first 10 seconds.

It was the john kellogg approach, get out everything quickly

I was lucky mom or older sister gave at night just before my bath

at bed time . was so nice to recived from mom I got to suck her beast and later when older I played with sister in her bed afterlove reciving them

These days enemas seem to be put in two categories: Quack Medicine, or Kinky Sex.

Being a baby boomer, I grew up when enemas were more common in the home as a cure for constipation and other related stomach discomfort. I got a number of them from my mom and since they were not traumatic I began to like them. I think she learned an effective home enema did not have to be high, hot, and hell of a lot to accomplish a simple goal. She learned that from her mother (my grandmother). I had been on the receiving end of grandma's bulb, and later her bag, a few times when she baby-sat me so there is every reason to believe she gave my mother enemas when she was a little girl too. That was just how it was done in those days.

In no case enemas should be given or taken AFTER breakfast, lunch or dinner, but exclusively on an empty stomach, this in order to avoid nausea.

Well, our mom, aunt and grandmother were (in hindsight) all three klismos, so they were probably thinking how much they enjoyed their enemas, and wanted us to learn to like them, too. I also think that Mom just didn't want the inconvenience of cleaning a messy diaper (disposables hadn't been invented back then) or of having to stop and find a bathroom when shopping or travelling. So, she pre-empted that by pre-emptying us.

Whether or not my mother enjoyed giving me enemas as a young child, I'll never know. Enemas were used in household just like aspirins were. They were supposed to cure whatever ailed us. Never done for punishment however. Always administered lovingly and gently. Years later, after the folks divorced, I noticed by the hanging wet bag in the shower that my mother still continued to give herself enemas, typically when my sister and I were out for the evening. Did she do them for physical pleasure, or because she felt like she needed to do one for therapeutic reasons, I'll never know.

My mother was a great enema advocate, and she didn't care who knew it. I'm sure that she used them to eliminate the need to go at her work, and I'm also sure that she used them for her "pleasure" because she frequently declared, almost shouted, how "good" she felt after exiting the bathroom. She used more than a single bagfull so you tell me if she enjoyed using them! Karl39

This is a great point. When I was growing up, Sundays were typically when enemas were given to me. This was not a spur-of-the-moment decision, but more of a scheduled time together with my mother. As stated by the author of this discussion, my mother chose to do this long after lunch so there would be far less chance of cramping. It consisted of a warm water and mild soap enema to begin and was completed with a clear warm water enema as a rinse.

My mother never give me enemas after dinner or any meal, she know probably that enemas must never be taken after a mela at ful stomach. On the other side she used a soap wery strong, produced by our neighbour.

Mom's enemas were a regular occurrence in our house back in the 50's and 60's, but were never given immediately after a meal. Early morning if I was going to school, mid-morning if I stayed home from school, evening sessions right before bedtime, or the occasional after school session. Also, the bag was never hung high on the shower curtain rod. We had a robe hook on the wall next to the toilet and our family fountain syringe was hung upside down by a large white shoelace the had several knots for hanging the bag at different heights, depending on the position of the recipient. Her enemas were never punishing crampy affairs, although she believed you needed to feel the discomfort of a colon full of very warm soapy water for it to be a really "good" enema. Her enemas were cleansing, relaxing and as I grew older quite stimulating.

My earliest enemas were given to me on top of the table on my back. mom would lift my legs up in a diapering position and insert the nozzle. dad would be holding the enema bag and would open the clamp. I can still remember the feeling of the "rush" of hot, soapy water into me. the stupid thing is that as the enema progressed, dad would hold the bag higher and higher until it was as high as he could hold it when it emptied. on top of this enema pressure, mom would be holding my legs further and further back towards my chest that the enema did not have a lot of room to fill me and the pressure would be very painful. exciting to me now, just writing about it but back then I hated getting an enema.

I doubt if timing of meals had anything to do with enema administration. Beginning to suspect the enema-obsession of our parents (in the 40's and 50's) might have been a variation of the (pathetic) "clean mind/clean body" doctrine. IE, keep the little tyke cleaned out and he will grow into a great moral force. Today we would say "what kind of mind, what kind of body, I have is my own GD business and nobody else's." Alternately: "look at yourself." -- referring to their own pernicious doctrines. Or, as my (late) bro was fond of pointing out, "nobody f*cks you like family."

95% of my enemas were early Sat am before breakfast. She would comment that she thought i wasnt looking well and that an enema would probably help. I would then be stripped naked and sent to my room to wait for her to call me. Fifteen minutes of waiting time always felt like an hour, my tummy would be doing flips knowing what was going to happen

I don't recall too many right after a meal and if so it was after not eating much. Most of ours were given after a doctor visit or a call to the doctor. In those cases late morning or afternoon was when we would get them I only remember a few at night after dinner and they were for a prep. sometimes though the timing was due to if no BM the day after the visit or call they were given when she had the time to do it.

I don't remember many of my enemas coming right after a meal. If I stayed home sick from school it always meant an enema. It usually came in the morning, but after she had done the dishes and finished her other chores. I knew it was coming but never knew when. The anticipation was intense. Sometime I got them after school before dinner if it was for constipation. And if it was for a fever usually got them right before bed.

Staying home from school not feeling well almost always resulted in an enema. About 10 AM, I'd get the call to come to the bathroom. My mother thought that a good cleaning out was the first step in curing any cold or illness. I never got an enema right after any meal. She also had an uncanny sense of knowing when my last bowel movement happened. Two days without triggered her action. She always told me that I needed to go before evening. If I didn't go, about 7pm or so I'd hear water running in the bathroom and not long after I'd get called to join her there. Enemas for being constipated always happened in the evening before bedtime. The enemas she gave were always gentle and slow, but always large and soapy.

Two possibles I could think of to make a guess about when last poop was are to pay attention to time in the bathroom or (for guys) to listen for the toilet paper roll. Either would require a lot of attention, and may not be effective (for instance I took a while in the bathroom often when I was young, but nothing came of it. Maybe my mom thought things were working well?)

I believe that it is obvious that many women worked out their marital/sexual frustrations on their children. Before WW2 , medicine was a mix of myth and science that was gradually working its way toward the science side as new drugs that actually worked became available. The traditions provided cover for the domination and sexual molestation that was practiced until the Dr.s could no longer support it on medical grounds. Some women probably believed that they were doing the right thing because of upbringing and cultural history. Most that practiced the anal control and fetish knew what was going on but used it as a "therapy" for their own benefit. It is amazing how the "constipation" problems ended when their child became old enough to let others know what was going on. I do wonder how today's women deal with their frustrations that probably have not gone away. Does anyone have a guess as to what today's women have substituted for the enema/suppository therapy they once used?

Staying home from school not feeling well almost always resulted in an enema. .

Very similar to my experiences. This happened after my parents divorced and my father married 'Claire' a women with two daughters, nine and fifteen. I was about 12. I was home sick from school with Claire and 'Alyssa' the younger daughter. We were playing in her room when her mom came in with a big blue bottle I now know as MOM (Milk of Magnesia).

Alyssa groaned at this and started to kick up a little fuss. I thought it was excessive for something so insignificant. Her mom turned quite stern and made the girl take 3 tablespoons. She then told her to change into her robe and lie down for a while. I asked her why she was so upset over a little medicine. She then told me that it was only the beginning. When you saw the blue bottle, big red was coming soon. They even had names for the enemas. Big Red was the red bag and little red was a 4 oz bulb syringe.

I told her that I saw big red and little red on the bathroom counter. She told me that BR was for me because her mom usually used LR on her. I didn't believe her until she came to get Alyssa for her enema. She had the mom & a spoon. She gave me about four tablespoons of the nasty stuff and told me to go lay down.

I still didn't think I was getting an enema until, about an hour later, she came to my door and asked if I'd had a BM. I hadn't yet and she said 'hmm looks like you'll need an enema yourself, take off all your clothes and I'll be right back. I didn't get a robe and was marched totally nude to the bathroom where BR hung, filled about halfway.

I was really nervous, but I actually liked it. No, I LOVED it. I received three enemas that day and had to jack off between every one. I got enemas fairly regularly, (some pun intended) until about 14. Then I rarely got one, having my last one at age 16. I didn't care a whole lot for most of them. But if I was in the mood when she brought out the MOM, a few of those were some of the most erotic experiences of my life.

Where this ties into the post at is that she often gave enemas about 30-60 minutes after a meal. Those were hard to take or finish, though I knew nomatter what, I was going to get all the water in the bag and then some.