Need suggestions on handling this one...

[lesliesmom]

DS will be 3 in June. He has a habit of putting his hands down his pants/diaper. Usually not a big deal, that is until today... I got a call from our daycare and was informed that he had pooped his pants (he is in process of potty training but not getting very far) and proceeded to stick his hands down his messy drawers and "paint" her wall and highchair....

Now, as I said, he has had this habit of sticking his hands down his pants (whether he is messy or not) for a few months now. He does it no matter what he is wearing, i.e. diapers, pull-ups, jeans, sweats (anything except his zipper jammies that he can't get his hands into).

We have smacked the back of his hands when we caught him doing it, tell him no, etc. but obviously that is not working. Any suggestions?????

[C&K*s Mommie]

Found this on Dr. Greene.com
Many kids do go through a phase of finding poop fascinating. The goal is not to make it more so by reacting too strongly to it. Usually, the best way through this phase is to smile and say, "Poop is yucky on the hands," and then take him and wash his hands right away.

If poop smearing is done as an act of aggression, that can be a cause of concern and kids should be evaluated to see if there is an underlying problem going on.
~~~~~~~~~~Found this on another parenting website: Hope this helps

1. Don't give her an opportunity to get into her diaper. Dress her in overalls and other clothes that she would have difficulty opening (onsies, a bathingsuit or leotard under her clothes).

2. 3 1/2 years old is old enough to understand consequences. Make a list with her of her favorite things, then tell her that every time she smears her poop, she will lose one thing on the list for the day. Each day she gets to start over. Post the list on the frig and be firm. Follow through on it every time. Any tears or tantrums it may cause are nothing compared to the stress of living with the problem. My daughter loves her blankie more than anything and the fear of having to sleep without her blankie would make her pause.

3. At the same time, shower her with praise. Praise her for every little thing she does right, without even mentioning the word poop. Set up a sticker chart and give her a sticker for doing any "big girl" thing. A child psychologist suggested this when a problem behaviour of my 3 year old daughter was starting to take over our life. You will be amazed how praise will make your daughter feel more positive and cooperative.
Feed her need for emotional support and attention in positive ways and she will slow down trying to get it in negative ways.

4. When she does smear the poop, don't say a word, just do whatever you told her the consequence would be (put her in time-out, take away her favorite thing, etc), and when that is done, don't talk about it at all, just go back to playing. If she wants to talk about it, say to her "We're done with that, now we're doing this." Again, our child psychologist says that the attention from the negative behavior, even though it is negative attention, gives our daughter a little power trip. She is controlling us to a certain degree (When I do this bad thing, Mommy is 100% attentive to me.) So don't provide any attention, just do what you said you were going to do (clean her up, clean up the mess, give her the consequence you talked about with her eariler, then move on). Remain as matter-of-fact as possible, almost robot-like. Keep your face expressionless. By offering no emotional reaction, she won't get an emotional charge and won't want to do it again.

[amynicole21]

Sophia had an issue with "digging" in her crotch a while back. She said she was itchy - never got to the bottom of that one (forgive the pun). Anyway, every time I found her scratching, I would make her wash her hands. EVERY time. It got to be really annoying for her, and she eventually stopped (though I don't know if the hand washing thing did it or not).

Now, she refuses to scratch her bottom because she says it's dirty and she doesn't want to go wash her hands I think I've created another problem with this now - an OCD germaphobe like her Mama.

So, I'm not sure if you should use that method or not... just wanted to pass on my experience.

[lesliesmom]

Thanks for the info and suggestions.. Thankfully, the "smearing" has only been a one-time thing.. but the hand placement varies. I may enlist the help of our daycare and try the handwashing thing. We do this at home and it has gotten a little better but then he also likes to play in the water no matter how I try and force him in and out of the bathroom.... oh well.. time, time and time...(I hope)

[ian'smommy]

Ian has done that. I have had to clean poop out of his carpet and off the wall in his room. He would take off his poopy diaper and a mess ensued. He also likes to put his hands down his pants. He fiddles with his "wee wee" quite often and I am constantly telling him to stop touching. He is 3 1/2. I have been told to just calmly tell him that is yucky (in regards to poop) and when I catch him touching himself I just tell him, "don't touch your wee wee", and that in time it will stop. It is just a phase. As long as like that info. said, it is an act of aggression. I know that for Ian it isn't. So I don't know. Keep telling him no, that it is yucky or whatever and over time (not too soon for us) it will stop. Ian still touches himself but the poop smearing is becoming a thing of the past for him. For awhile I had to clean up poop once a day.

[Brias3]

I was actually going to suggest something similar to Amy's idea- the handwashing. Other than that, I'll have to think about it for awhile.

[JiII]

WHY NOT JUST HAVE HIM WEAR A ONSIE? THEY SELL THOSE TYPES OF SHIRTS IN ALL DIFFERENT FORMS, TURTLENECKS, TSHIRTS...EVERYTHING..ITS KIND OF HARD FOR THEM TO GET THEIR HANDS DOWN THERE LIKE THAT. HTH

[Bee_Kay]

Yep, I would just be consistent with the handwashing thing.

You definately don't want to reprimand... don't want him thinking that any part of his body is bad.

At 3 years old, he may not catch on very quickly, but he will eventually.

Or like it was suggested.... try overalls or a onsie (dont give him the opportunity

[CAMSMOM1]

Everyone has given great advice, especially Nicole with the info she found.

I just wanted to say that Cam has done this. In the mornings, before I get him out of his crib, he has taken off his pants & diaper, and it's a mess! He hates being dirty, so after a few times of this, he stopped. It was no fun washing poop out of his hair! Thank goodness it was just a phase.