Poopy Diaper Play

This is her way of telling you she's all done with diapers. When my son did this it was hard. My mom suggested this....it sounds mean but it worked when she did it to me and my brothers and it worked for my son as well. We laugh about it now. When she does this you need to tell her that SHE will clean it up! Then she does not get a bath/shower she has to sit in it for up to 30 mins. She will NOT like smelling like poo poo nearly as much as she likes to play in it. This took my son 6 times until he realized that this was NOT fun aymore!! :) Good luck.

I'm glad it's not just me who went through this! My daughter has since taken to the potty and stopped with this, but we had a number of those too and actually she would stick her hand in it every single time to let me know she had gone (as if I couldn't smell it across the room.) Anyway, I figured it out - she wanted to see it and touch it because it's so personal and important to her and it made her proud that she could "make poop." I've heard it's a very Freudian thing or something. So anyway we worked the big girl angle with her and that works for her. Big girls don't touch their poop - big girls use the potty and wear big girl panties. Once she got a taste of big girl panties, that was it - she loved them and there was no going back. She took to the potty within a week's time. Pooping on it was harder, so we'd sit and read and I'd ham it up and congratulate her and then she'd get rewards like stickers or a treat. Mostly I'd give her treats for what she didn't do - if you do not touch your poop today, you can have a sucker, etc. I hated resorting to candy but that is what worked for her. Mostly do not make a big deal of it - that makes it worse. Encourage the potty and good behavior. Oh, and before she took to the potty, I would tell her I would show it to her when I changed her and she loved that. She had to see it. I know - gross. Also, if she loves cleaning, why not encourage that at other times? I am a Shaklee rep and we use only non-toxic products so its safer for her anyway, but I can actually give her a Basic H wipe and let her go to town on the fridge, oven, her toys, whatever. It's totally safe and she loves it.

Good luck!
K.

LMAO... I WAS going through the same thing with our daughter! I swear she thought it was Play Doh or paint! We have since learned to put her feety jammies on backwards with the zipper in the back. It is a pain but it sure beats cleaning up poop!

With her potty training she knows that poop does not belong in her pants/diaper, that it belongs in the potty. She wants to get it out- hence the "playing" in it!

Good luck and smart idea on the hardwood floors! lol Blessings to you!

With cloth diapers most parents will just choose to use snap fastening diapers. Toddlers seem to have a harder time undoing the snaps then a hook and loop or a tape-like closure on disposable diapers.

My sister told me that she read about a couple that was going through a similar experience. She said that they would run their childs butt under cold water or give a cold bath. I know it sounds a little extreme, it seems to have very good and FAST results. My daughter is only 14 months old but is already starting to strip, Im sure I am going to be having the same problem soon. For now, Im just keeping the onsies on her at all times.

Honestly: duct tape. It's the only thing that kept my daughter in her diapers at that age.

Oh ugh! I feel for you! What a mess!

I used to babysit a young boy who used to do that. The parents had me duct-tape the diaper on, if I didn't he'd pull the diaper off and play with it or go in his bed. He was about 18 months old. I was a pain to change because you had to rip off the duct tape. But it worked for keeping the diaper on.

When he learned he couldn't get the diaper off anymore he lost interest. Within a month they no longer had to duct tape it. He potty trained fine.

That's my only suggestion. I wish you luck!

When my son started pulling his diaper off in the crib, someone on MS suggested that I cut off the feet to a zip-up pajamas and put it on backwards so that he could not get to it. After trying many different things, this was the one that worked because he hated feeling restricted. I told him as long as he keeps taking off the diaper, he must wear the jammies. It took about 5 or 6 times of this but it did work. I would also check on him periodically to keep problems to a minimum. Good luck.

LOL! yeah, my daughter went through that phase too. in fact, she probably still would if she could. we make sure she wears pants at all times! however, she can take those off. At night, we put on those sleeper pajamas, that zip up with the feet. Well, we had to cut the feet off and put it on backwards (she knows how to unzip it too). That solved our problem. Good luck!

Your e-mail brought back memories for me. I did laugh reading your request. I know it is NOT funny to you now. I went through the same thing with my daughter when she was two and potty training. We moved into a new house and during nap she played with her poop and smeared it on the walls, furniture, toys, etc... It is a temporary thing and will not last long. Try putting things on backwards. What worked for me was making her clean it up. It may help.

Trust me in a couple of years you will think back on these moments and you will laugh just like I did reading your e-mail. Good luck!!