Poop Painting

This makes me smile. My now 3-year-old included his little brother's head, crib, and baby books in the bedroom painting one morning (my husband called me at work so I was able to laugh about it because I wasn't there). He did stop eventually, but I think it was partly just something to do with it. I used sleepers more for a while. :) Squishy playthings are fun.

I feel your pain!!! My 2.5 y/o son does the same thing...he digs in the back of his diaper. He doesn't play with it or smear it but the motion of sticking his hand back there has become a habit. It's foul to say the least... He did it for about a month before it dawned on me he could still fit into 24mo size clothing so I went to Kohl's and bought him several onesies...I bought him the plain long sleeve white ones to wear with pj pants for bedtime and now he's wearing the same 6 onesies with jeans or whatever until he breaks the habit. We've been doing this for about 3wks now and it has helped SO much. The other day I was behind on laundry so he was dressed in a regular shirt and he was fine all day but at the end of the day hubby caught him thinking about putting his hand back there...I think a few more weeks and we'll be in the clear. I will say the onesies have saved my sanity...

Good luck!

buy feetie pajamas one size too big.. put htem on backwards - there will be a twist in the legs.. zip up the back and snap that little snap.. (even use a safety pin to secure the top if you have to)

she cant get the jammies off and no more art wil happen ..

My son who has autism did this too from age 2 to 3. It was very difficult because he didn't have many words so it was hard to communicate that this was an undesirable behavior. I would buy the extra large onesies (they sell large ones at Children's Place and JC Pennys) and I always put them on under his clothes. This prevented him from reaching into the back of his diaper once he pooped. I also timed his pooping time and made sure to keep an eye on him during that time and changed his diaper immediately. For sleeping time I cut all the feet off his one piece zip up pjs and put them on him backwards zipper up the back. I do think she is probably ready for potty training. Also I provided him with daily sensory activities like play dough, finger paint, and shaving cream in the bath, to fulfill the sensory need of squishing the gooey stuff. When he did make a "poo mess" I got down to his level, eye to eye and said "This makes mommy really sad when you play with your poo poo. It is yucky, dirty, and a no no!" I really played up the makes mommy sad part. Then I walked him into the potty with me and would put the poop in the potty while telling him that poop is for the potty and not to touch. It may take time and believe me I feel for you! Also when she does poo in the potty or in her diaper and does not touch it reward her with positive praise. " I like the way you tell mommy you need to have your diaper changed / go poo in the potty instead of touching it!" Mommy is happy when you do that! Lets get a special treat... ie. jelly beans fruit snack etc... Best Wishes I know this is a hard one!

My son did this when he was ready to stop wearing a diaper. He didn't want the poop on him so if he was in bed he'd just take it off then the poop would fall out and he'd try to pick it up, then it was on his hands... and well, we know how the story ends.

When I got past thinking he was just being awful, I asked what happened and he explained exactly that. I asked why he took the diaper off and he said because it was yucky. I put him in undies a week later and he's been using the potty since.

I don't know if your daughter is as headstrong as my son was/is but she might be ready to give the diaper up.

HTH
T.

No more diapers.
She is 2-1/2. She knows when there's poop in her pants or she wouldn't be "playing" with it. She is capable of getting it out.
POOP GOES IN THE TOILET.
Period.
My daughter did the same thing and you know what I did?
I ignored it. Twice I flipped and she watched me scrub and clean and wash her off. The third time, I told her if she liked it so much, she could just stay in her room and sit with it. And I closed the door and walked away.
She was way younger than 2-1/2 and she got the idea really quickly. I changed my reaction to it, meaning I didn't rush to clean her like she expected, and she didn't know if I was going to clean her up or not.
(Of course I did and I didn't leave her for hours but a little kid sitting in their mess of their own making even for 15 minutes instead of mommy rushing to the rescue seems like a very, very long time).
Tell her if she likes it so much or thinks it's funny, she can just stay in there with it and close the door.
That gives you 15 minutes to take a breather and calm down and gather the cleaning supplies. At that age, give her a wash rag and tell her she can figure out how to clean it all up on her own.
I know that sounds mean, but this has been going on for 3 weeks now. She just thinks it's part of a routine she has started. She makes a mess and you clean it up.
Not anymore.
No diapers. You know what time she poops, make her sit on the toilet. And one good time.....don't rush to clean her up and let her stew and think about it.
It only took one time with my daughter. It worked.

I wish you the best.

I totally agree with your first two responses.

I also think that she is plenty old enough to understand that this is not okay, so disciplining her for this is not out of the question.

If it were me I would punish her for making such an awful mess, then have her clean it up with me, on top of having her wear the footie PJ's backwards. Hopefully you won't have any more messes after the PJ switch!

Good luck!

sounds like she might want some attention... maybe you could give her some positive attention before she does this... you could "supervise" her before bed or just give her lots of attention, and certainly watch for need to diaper change. She shouldn't be in poop all night even if she isn't smearing.

We would put her in her pj's with the footies and turn it around, so that the zipper was on the back. She couldn't get out of that to get to her diaper. Try it, I hope it works.
V.

Buy the Jammies Lisa recommended, and if she does do it again make her clean it up herself. I know you will have to go back over it but making her take responsibility for the mess can help her understand why it is so wrong.

One of my former families from my daycare had this problem....& their daughter was still doing it waaaay past when this should have ended. The problem was she was still in a crib....had not transitioned to a big girl bed. In the morning, she would wake when the family began moving & would be left in the bed until Mom finished her shower/dressing/etc. This little girl had way too much time on her hands, was bored, & did the one thing she knew would get a rise out of her parents & brothers. Yuck, gross, disgusting.

Agewise, she was about 2 1/2 when this was still going on.....& potty-trained to boot. Shame on those parents for keeping her confined! They made her help clean it, used discipline.....& nothing worked until they gave her the freedom she soooo desperately needed.....a big girl bed & the freedom to join the family in the morning. This little girl was the most amazing MASTER manipulator I've ever met!

Well, I think the key is in changing her diaper. If she has been going every night for the past three weeks, I would make it a point to change her at that time.

Hey, if you have art supplies! We had this happen too. She may be ready to train, but she could do this in her undies too. We did the pajama backward thing, and I just cut the feet out to make it easier.

M.

Mine did the same thing during naps at about that age. I also came here to the message boards and someone told me my daughter was screaming that she was ready to potty train, and she was.

I also did the duct tape around the top of her diaper.

It's very gross to clean up. Try the potty training.