Help with Child Who Plays with His Dirty Diaper

Hi A.! My youngest did that when she was two also. But, it didn't happen all that long. She would do it when she napped. And I had a moniter in there. But, I would be cleaning and not know exactly when she woke up b/c she wouldn't fuss. I did the long pants thing. And it worked like a charm! Hope it gets better. Just know you are NOT alone on this!

I know exactly what you mean! My 2y/o does this as well! If he poops, and I don't know, he'll wait till I go to the bathroom (or anywhere out of his sight for a moment) and either strip down, or stick his hands down there = P Thankfully he doesn't have the squishy messy poop, so it's a bit easier to clean up. I agree though it's super nasty, and no matter how much I get on to him, or try to have him sit on the toliet, he still finds a way! = P Good Luck!

I had this very problem with my daughter about a year ago, she is now 3. She was very smart and would reach into onsies and tear the diaper out that way and she would throw the poop all over her room. I tried taping her diaper (she would just tear the diaper to shreds). Being that I work all day and my husband was at home with her at least 75% of the time that she did this. It was very frustrating and I was contacting anyone I could find to get a suggestion to try. I figured if I could find a onsie long set that buttoned in the crotch that might buy time because she could not do buttons at the time. I found a knit outfit that had long arms and legs that buttoned in the crotch. This worked and by the time she learned to unbutton the outfit she was so facinated by buttons that she stopped her poo slinging. My mom talked to a mother of twins who had both children doing that and she had outfits specially made to get them to stop it. I hope you find out what will work for you. I know that my daughter is very smart and stubborn and we really had to out think her on that one.

K. S.

My daughter did the SAME thing! It was so GROSS! The only thing that I found to break her was duct taping her diaper on. Obviously not the skin just wrapping it around the diaper and then she couldn't get it off!

Good uLck!

Try giving him a diaper change right before you put him down for his nap and his bedtime. If he is pooping during the night, he may have diarrhea or some other type of bowel dysfunction. I would check with his pediatrician. Most kids by this age don't poop in the middle of the night anymore.

When I taught at the Illinois Center for Autism, we had a student who did that. What we used was we got a little outfit kind of like what pilots wear. We'd put this on as soon as he got to school over his clothes, this prevented him from being able to get his hands anywhere near his diaper.

He's two, he understands discipline. Find a disciplinary tactic that works for your son and reinforce it. He is old enough to know not to do that. Now, if he's doing while he's sleeping, then you may need to change what he's sleeping in. Good Luck and God Bless.

My 2 1/2 son usually poops after lunch almost like clock work.
If you haven't started potty training yet, I haven't..but maybe you can wait a little longer before putting him down for a nap, so he poops before and not during naptime. I've never had this problem (knock on wood) but that's what I would try to do. Does your son eat a snack before bedtime? Maybe that's causing the late night poops. My son rarely poops before breakfast in the morning, only right after he eats. If my suggestion doesn't help, I hope you find one that does!! Good luck and take care, V.

I would put some clothes on him that are hard for him to reach his diaper area let alone out his hand's in there to play

We had this problem with my daughter a few months back. We put a onesie on her during nap and bedtime. I could tell that she tried to get around it but she wasn't able to. I understand your frustration and I hope you're able to find something that works!

In response to a potty training question a while back, a mom had a great idea for encouraging a child to poop on the potty. When they would continually poop in their pants instead of the potty she would make him take a cold cold shower while cleaning him up. She says it only took a few cold showers before he started going on the potty. I don't know if 2 years old is too young to understand the connection between playing with the diaper and the cold shower, but it's worth a shot if you're desperate?!?!

A.,
I just dealt with this and here was my post and the responses:
http://www.mamasource.com/request/6255498006506766337

I duct tape her diaper on (tape over the tabs so she can't pull it apart) and then put her in a onesie for nap (can't pull diaper down with a onesie). The one piece of advice that was totally on target was that my DD wanted to poop in a potty, not her diaper anymore. I try to get her on the potty in the morning and if she doesn't "get it out of her system" she sits down again before her nap after lunch.

She does love to be naked, which is natural at this age, and frequently takes her pj bottoms off at night. We end up going in there when we go to bed at 10:00 and putting the diaper back on her at least. She sometimes doesn't even wake up when we are doing it.

The PJ's your putting on backwards are they snapped, buttoned or zippered, zippered may work better he wont be able to grab the zipper and pull it down. The buttons and snaps are easy to pull apart.

Good Luck

You can't reason with him unfortunately. I would put a monitor in there and then be on time when he wakes. :)

What about like a one piece pajama? and then safety pin it closed.

I have a solution that is worth the try, I am about to put it into action again with my 2 1/2 year old daughter who mostly just takes her diapers off, but when there's poo in there she gets into it. My now 7 year old did the same thing your son is doing and I remember clearly how irritating and disgusting it was to deal with. I would also go in after nap to find the mess and I would clean it up and than proceed to run a warm bath to get him cleaned up too. My final day with this trend was like an ah ha moment I saw the poo on the floor and instead of picking it up myself I made him clean up the mess and than I put him in the bath tub, did'nt use the stopper and turned on the cold water. I quickley washed him(with cold water) and told him that is what would happen anytime he did this. I swear he never did it again and I know it was so cold and uncomforatble to him not like the nice warm baths I would clean him up in. Good Luck, don't feel mean cold bath water is just like swimming pool water kids just associate the bath with warm water so you will throw him off gaurd for a second. I wouldnt worry about him being afraid of taking a bath if you did this. Maybe thats why I didnt use the stopper it was just a quick clean him up kinda deal.

My youngest did that. I am not sure for how long though it seemed like forever. For some stupid reason I took my then mother in laws advice and kept making over how disgusting it was. I bought into that since Genna always wanted to make me happy so I figured...Problem was it wasn't about being gross, she wanted attention. She is the youngest of four and the next child above her has PDD so he gets a lions share of attention. The first time she did it she was just curious. When I had to clean her and her bed and everything else up she was the center of attention. By the time I realized why she was really doing it it was too late since every time she woke up there was a mess.

So the advice, if your son is not to the point that he is doing this ever time he wakes up I would just as quickly as possible clean him up when he does it and clean up the rest without him around. More than that when he wakes up clean make over him like no other and keep it up so that he realizes that you will spend more time with him when he doesn't make a mess. This of course will only work if what he is after is attention. If it is the feel of the poop then maybe it would be a good time to introduce play dough. My point is you need to figure out why and then find a viable option that is acceptable to both of you.

I have herad of this before but never encountered it. However, my youngest niece has somewhat of an eathing compulsion and used to hoard food in her diaper (nasty I know). It only really went on for a couple of months and she grew out of it. My advice is to try explaining to him that it is unhealthy (as well as a 2 yr old could understand it) and just keep a closer eye on him to minimize damage.
I wish ou luck

I agree with the play dough reply. You can make your own play dough that does not crust in to the carpet and not come out. 2 cups salt, 2 cups flour, two cups water in a fair size pot - 2 tablespoons of cream of tarter and 2 tablespoons of oil. Put the pot on medium to high heat - cook stirring continually until the mixture comes away from the sides of the pot like mashed potatos. If you want colored playdough you can mix the food color into the already cooked dough - but you will stain your hands with the food color. If your son is helping you make it - it is fun to see how the dough gets marbelized. If you dont want to do it that ay -- mix the food color into the water before you add it to the mixture. This dough will keep for a month in a covered container in the refrigerator. It is great fun.

Get cookie cutters, rolling pins -- make pizza or hot dogs out of it. Make play dough time when he gets up from his nap with the poop still in his diaper. Make a BIG DEAL out of how much fun play dough is to squeeze and smash. THIS IS WHAT WE CAN SQUEEZE AND SMASH - NOT POOP. I also recommend "goop" made with elmers glue and liquid laundry starch. Let me know if you want the recipe. It is softer and great fun to squish and smash. Sincerely, G.