3 Year Old an D Playing with poop...help!

Okay, so I got this advice from someone on here years ago and it worked. My son was about 2 or 2 and a half, he too played with his poop, we did this twice and that was all it took. A cool, not freezing cold, but cold enough to be uncomfortable shower, not bath, to clean him up. No words other than "we do not play with poop," no fit, no emotions, just clean it off the walls or where ever and be done. Like I said, twice and we were done with all of this.

I agree with the cold shower suggestion. I did this 2 times with my son after he pooped in his underpants when he was about 3.5. (I am pretty sure he knew better at that point but did it anyway) I put him in a cool but not cold shower and asked him to clean himself. I did not allow any toys and did not offer anything "fun" during this time... it was simply a cool shower to help clean up the yucky poopy mess. AND I made sure he saw me throw away his brand new underpants that were messy. He REALLY did not like that or the shower much, and it never happened again! For your situation, I would add helping mommy clean up the poop first, THEN taking a cool shower to clean himself.

My kids never played with there poop, but my daughter took a long time to poop train... well after she was pee trained. She would wait until she had a pull-up on at nap or bedtime, then go. Finally I put the potty in her room (with and old towel underneath) and said, the potty is there, when you need to go you can do it by yourself... call me if you need help wiping. The next morning she did it. It turns out, at this age they really want some control. The pediatrician once told me, the one thing toddlers have control of is food... going in and coming out. Try not to make it a battle, but at the same time, be firm and consistent. Poop is not for playing with. He absolutely should be held responsible for helping clean up- I like the cool shower idea too (he needs to be cleaned after playing with poop because it spreads germs). Tell him that it is ok if he is not ready to use the potty to poop in, but that he may not play with it. He should just use the pull-up then call you for help. Try not to show frustration- he is doing it to get an emotional reaction from you. Just be firm and consistent. Good Luck.

Per your SWH: Okay then, time to change his poop schedule so that he has to poop in the daytime at daycare. Start giving him prunes and fiber and plenty of water. Talk to your ped about the possibility of Miralax. He's using his strange poop schedule to misbehave and you can circumvent it deliberately with diet. Better do it quick before he ends up in the hospital. Look up what kind of diseases one can contract from poop...

And I'm sorry, but I disagree totally with bribing this child to not play with his poop. He isn't laughing at you because he's nervous or scared. He's laughing because he's enjoying himself. Time to get serious about this.

Original:

DUCT TAPE. Use duct tape on a diaper, not a pullup, so that he can't get it off. And no, don't put it on his skin, in case someone thinks that needs to be pointed out.

You HAVE to prevent this. He could get VERY ill and at 3, he's still too little to understand why he should, though he does know that he's not supposed to.

Good luck.

Oh man. What a little stinker! I like the duct tape on a diaper suggestion. Also, if he does this give him a consequence. Take away his favorite toy for a few days and tell him, uh oh, you know you are not allowed to touch poop. Now your toy has to be taken away. Or try to find SOME kind of consequence that will make him upset. Take away something he likes to do for the next day. Also, right at that moment give him a time out where he has to sit in a chair facing the wall. Be consistent. Be stern.

Well, I say instead of taking away his favorite toy, that you buy him a new toy that he really wants. Put it on the shelf where he can see it, but can't get to it. Tell him after one week of no playing with the poop, he can have the toy. Don't make it that he has to go in the toilet - that may take a while, just that he doesn't play with it and make a huge mess with it.

Visual incentive!

Has he ever pooped on the potty? My kids were able to pee on the potty with no problem. Pooping was trickier. For my daughter, we let her sit on the potty in front of the TV for HOURS until she finally pooped. I'm pretty sure she watched Cinderella two or three times before she finally pooped. But after the first time, she was able to understand her body's cues when it was time to poop. We didn't let her watch TV on the potty after that.

My son was a little trickier. He held it in like nobody's business, but at least his poop times were pretty predictable.

If you are still wanting to potty train your son, maybe let him walk around without a diaper or pants between dinner and bedtime. Make sure you have a potty or two easily accessible to him. If you want to delay the potty training for a while longer, then duct tape might be the way to go. Good luck!

How is he accessing the poop? He's pulling it out of his pull up? I'd suggest you simply put a garment on him that makes his pull up inaccessible such as a footed sleeper on backwards.

If you give him an enema earlier in the day so he is "cleaned out" maybe he'll not have stuff in there late at night and will stop this.

I'd never leave him alone in the bathroom though. We'd sit there and wait.

Does he respond to rewards? To get ours to go we'd give them 1 jellybean for pee and 2 for pooh. My friend gave her kiddo's Hershey Kisses. Again 1 for pee and 2 for pooh. It's a great incentive.