Messy Diapers

Sounds like he is very sensitive to the feeling of soiled diapers and that could be a good thing. If you can do the all out method of potty training, that is take the diaper off all day, he may be ready. An intensive weekend of watching for signs that he is going, constantly asking him if he is about to go, and teaching him to tell you or sign to you may help. Or try giving him something fun, like a bell to ring when he has gone # 2 instead of reaching in his diaper.
good luck!

Unfortunately (for you) he is in a curiosity stage. Something coming out of his body that he doesn't really get to see.

Good news is he will outgrow this stage - and fairly quickly. However, you can help him along. Everytime he does this, in a very calm manor, wash his hands and bottom (and whatever else is affected) with cold water - not warm water. He will not like it one bit - but continue to reassure him and love him while you're doing this. He will associate the unpleasant cold water with him pulling poop out of his diaper and break the cycle.

If you can't bear to do this, you should try catching him before he poops and put him on the potty. Let him see the result, have him flush and watch it go away.

What a frustrating situation for you and your family! You are not alone! I've worked with several other children in child care settings that were also very curious about this substance coming out of their body.

Just a couple of things to keep in mind:
1:Toddlers are sensory learners. They enjoy playing with different textures. This is why play-dough is so popular. Try to re-direct this behavior with some new and fun sensory experiences. ex: make play-dough together (there are lots or recipes online), water play with food coloring or bubbles, shaving cream, plant something together and let him play with the dirt, make silly putty(1/2 liquid starch and 1/2 Elmer’s glue, goop (1/2 corn starch 1/2 water)...
2: There are 3 signs to potty readiness. 1) has wet/soiled diaper 2) is wetting/soiling diaper and 3) will wet/soil diaper. It sounds like your son is in the first stage and almost to the 2nd stage. A fast and easy read is Toilet Learning by Alison Mack, it goes into history of toilet learning, how to prepare yourself and your child then finishes with a picture section for the child. It's from 1978, but the information is great.

Best wishes! This soon will pass.

K.,

After reading your post I just had to share what happened to me. I woke up one morning and the kids, then 2 1/2 and 18 months, were still in bed and quiet. I thought this was odd so I went to their room and opened the door. They had colored their bodies with poop, and they smelled so bad I almost threw up! Anyway, I rushed them to the tub and scrubbed them up all the while telling them not to do it again. I made a big deal about the stinky and showed them if we put it in the toilet it didn't stink any more and they had a great time flushing it away. Now they are 3 and 2 and we are working very hard on potty training. My son is doing great peeing in the potty, but doesn't want to poop in the potty. His reason "my butt is cold". I don't know, we're working on it. My daughter is just starting to know when she is going to pee and so we rush to the potty, but usually don't make it.
Good luck with your little one and know that you aren't alone with the icky poo. One of my friends kids colored on her wall with it. The wall was stucko with all the little crevises and such. I think she may have had to scrape it and redo everything to get the smell out.

:)
R.

Hi K., I just wanted to let you know that you are not alone. My 23 mo daughter does the same thing, although she doesn't grab it by the handful, she just shoves her finger tips into it. She will not touch anything with her dirty fingers, luckily, but she'll shove it in our faces to let is know she pooped. I'm glad you posted something about it, because I didn't think to do that.

Hi K.
He is definitely old enough to understand "stinky" or "nasty" or "Pueee" so just keep telling him this and eventually he will stop. I know it is not much of an answer but I really don;t think there is an answer to this one.
Good luck and blessings

Hi K.,
Whatever you do, don't act shocked or horrified or scold. Say, Yes,I see that you pooped. Lets go wash your hands. You did a good poop. He is recognizing that he just went and knows something happened so he wants to see what he "made". You cannot say it is yucky and gross then praise him for doing in the potty what you just acted like was terrible. He may want your admiration. Tell him the poop goes in the potty. He is getting to be such a big boy, how about making the poop IN the Potty. That would be a Great thing! Some kids are touchy-feely and like the interaction of what they made by themselves. PlayDoh is a nice substitute if he is interested in physical sensation. The twin may be totally opposite and not enjoy the method at all. You will have to play it by ear. For a time, my youngest played hide and seek with the poop. She hid it from herself, then searched for it like when her older sibs played hide and seek with her. Keep in mind that whatever your child is doing has been done by thousands of other kids in probably more gross ways. Keep smiling. ps. When I heard the poopy hide and seek I had to marvel at her inventiveness, flush the poop, wash hands and change to hiding a ball or doll or toy of her choice. All that got started with hunting for Easter eggs. lol

Sounds like you are having fun.
Maybe you should start duct taping his diaper tighter onto him. Start the tape at the back of the diaper and wrap it all the way around to the backside. Of course do not tape it to his skin. This may keep him from reaching in..

Sounds like he just exploring.. Start teaching him the word "yucky" with an ugly face. If he starts to put his hand in his poop, tell him, "No that is yucky" followed with a ugly facial expression.

I told my 19 year old about this and she said this is a good "birth control" story to keep teens from wanting to have children!

Hi K.,

Here is what I did to potty train my girl. I started when she was an year and half old and she was done in 4 months. I stopped putting her in diapers, bought her underwear and from morning onwards kept her in underwear. When I was home with her, I took her to bathroom every hour and half, turned the faucet on and let her pee in the bath tub while I was holding her. I actually had to set timer to avoid accidents and getting carpet wet. For poo-poo, you cant predict or time it. When she did poo-poo in her underwear, I used to take her to toilet, cleaned her underwear using toilet bowl. All those messy underwear were not so much of work to clean. This is what I did over the weekends, and after working hours in the evening. At night before bedtime I would keep her diapers on. For a long period of time I was home with her so it was a bit easy to do all this but even with full time school, i could follow this practice as eventually my daughter started realizing that she needed to go pee or poo-poo and she could speak those two words..and believe me, unless you stop using diapers, kids will not be able to feel that sensations when they need to go to restroom. Many a times, I forgot to take her to bathroom in time, she did wet carpet. But you can always blot dry and our house never had any foul smell. Before she turned two she was able to tell us. After then I bought a potty chair and stool so she could climb and sit by herself on potty chair while I would be standing right beside her. I hope this would help.

Sounds like he could be ready to potty train if he does't like mess on him. My friend used duck tape around the daper so he could't get his diaper off but I bet this would also work to keep his hands out.

It sounds like he's ready for big boy unders!!! He probably doesn't like the feeling and that is perfect!!! That is a much easier job than the ones who don't care what it feels like. My suggestion is that you make a big deal of how yucky the poop-poop is and how it goes in the potty because it is sooooo yucky - try comparing it to a dead bird or some other thing he knows NOT to touch. It sounds like you've done potty training before, so I don't mean to insult you...but my son who did similar things responded well to a timer set every 15 min. We would race to the bathroom and try to go potty...if he went he got huge praise and a sticker and a hand full of m&m's...if he didn't go he got one M&M for trying. HE LOVED IT. And he was potty trained in about 3 days...with some accidents in the following week.