Managing Nighttime Pouch Emptying with Limited Mobility

I had an end colostomy almost two weeks ago. At first, I was producing a lot of gas and would "burp" 4 or 5 times a day. Now I am producing stool. I have bad hands, and it's not that easy to empty with stool so soft. I also use a wheelchair and am not able to transfer onto a toilet, so I empty into a container. I envisioned emptying my pouch once in the morning and once before going to bed. Is this unrealistic? Does everybody have runny stool? I end up making a mess and I just want to hear other people's experiences.

Two weeks isn't very long since surgery; your output/gas will change as you heal and everything starts working its new way. Also, your food/fluids will/can determine what kind of output you'll have. It's not unrealistic to empty twice per day, but you need to fully heal first, and then your diet will need to be fairly regular/same daily to have somewhat normal frequency.

I have a colostomy that's now 1 year old. I have mostly thin liquid output due to short bowel syndrome and empty 8-10 times a day. Sugary foods, like red grapes or the occasional cookie, make it worse.

Some of what you have going on is because you're still healing, but not everyone with a colostomy only empties twice a day (I wish).

Give your body time to fully heal, then pay attention to what you're eating/drinking, even keep a food journal to help you identify foods that cause more stools, etc. If it continues to be particularly obnoxious after all that, talk to your surgeon or ostomy specialist.

You may want to try a tad of baby oil just inside the exit spout about 1 inch in. Then rub to cover the interior - not necessarily by the stoma - this allows loose stool to slide out.

A lubricant can help. I use the bargain variety of vegetable oil, just put in about a tablespoon after emptying.

I empty mine five times a day or more; on a rare occasion, I may need to empty at night. It's not that I am filling the bag that many times a day, it's just that I like to keep it as empty as possible. I work in an office surrounded by my coworkers, and don't want to risk leakage or unfortunate odors.

That said, my stoma is most active in the morning, but that body routine took a couple of months to develop.

Everyone's experience is unique. For me, I developed a reasonably reliable routine.

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With an ileostomy, depending on what I eat that day, I am up twice a night if it's liquid and have to empty 5 or 6 times during the day, so having a colonoscopy must be easier. But with mine, I use a water bottle about the size of the old ketchup plastic bottles. You can get smaller ones on Amazon. I put water in my pouch before I empty it and keep doing that until the pouch is empty. Since you're in a wheelchair, find a deep container that is wider at the top to make it easier to drain.