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Anonymous
| | Posted on Thursday, December 28, 2006 - 01:01 pm: | |
I have a 2year, 4month boy who is in the beginning stages of potty training. He wears his pul ups and loves them, but we have a huge issue that I can not figure out. When he is going down for a nap, or waking up, he poops takes his pull up off, then smears it all over the walls. This has been going on for months now. We make him help us clean it, then tell him he did a bad thing, and place him in his no no chair. This is obviously not working!!! Any advice? I am open to any suggestions!!! |
Narmin Parpia
| | Posted on Monday, January 01, 2007 - 10:03 pm: | |
To: Parents of "huge issue"
Thank you for your post. Let me start by saying you may be relieved to learn that you are not alone in dealing with such an "artistic" child. It is not unusual for a toddler to develop a poop fascination. Here are some suggestions for you:
1. Try to minimize the opportunities your son has to play with poop. Choose clothing that is harder to remove without your help. Try putting him in overalls or a jumper. And don't hesitate to use diapers if they are harder for him to remove. Pull-ups are just glorified diapers and are not essential to potty training.
2. Give him opportunities to participate in more appropriate, sanitary sensory experiences. Try play dough or corn starch goop. Let him knead bread with you, make cookies, play in the sand, and such. Sometimes it's a matter of being able to experience different textures.
3. Try not to make a big deal of it when he does explore. Simply tell him "poop is messy (nasty, yucky - - use whatever word is most familiar to him) on the hands" and clean him up right away.
4. Assess your child for potty training readiness. Move full steam ahead only if he's ready. If your son shows any sign of not being ready, wait a month or two and then re-assess.
Finally, if he seems to be developing aggressive behavior and is smearing poop as a way of rebellion, you might want to check with your pediatrician.
Good luck and please let us know how it goes.
Narmin |
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