I hesitated to share this story on my blog, because it is so, well, so disgusting and it definitely does not paint my child in a good light. But I decided I would post it for two reasons-- first, because it's just so darn funny (well, as long as you weren't in our house when it happened!) and second, because I need your advice!
Monday morning, I woke up to hear G screaming, "Come get me! Come get me!" This is not all that unusual, because when G wake up, she is ready to GO. But her shouts quickly turned to screams and shrieks, so I hustled out of bed and stumbled to her room. The first thing she said to me when I opened her bedroom door was, "Mommy, my hands are dirty."
Uh-oh.
You guessed it; my child had launched a exploratory expedition into her size 4 Target-brand diaper. The result? Poop everywhere: on her hands, in her hair, on her pajamas, on her stuffed animals, in her crib, on the floor. It was enough to send this 18-week preggo mom running to the bathroom herself.
I jumped into action. I told G not to touch a thing, picked her up, and rushed her to the bathtub. I turned the water on and told her to play with it (I did not stop the drain; that stuff NEEDED to be washed away!). While she did that, I picked up her dirty bedding, wiped her crib down with a hefty dose of sanitizer, and vacuumed and Febreezed the floors. By the time I was done, she had managed to wash off most of the poop by herself. I finished the job using some good old fashioned castile soap. I thought she had certainly learned her lesson, and left it at that.
Oh, how wrong (and naive) I was...
Fast forward a mere 40 hours to Wednesday at naptime. This time, DH and I are both at home, downstairs having a very adult discussion about his future career path. G seems to be having a tough time going down for her nap, but we don't think anything of it; she's been fighting naps since turning two. But then, we hear the telltale warning, "Mommy, my hands are dirty!" You guessed it-- a repeat poopformance.
I won't go into details, but suffice it to say, this time it was MUCH worse. It took DH and I a full 30 minutes to get G and her room clean, even with the both of us hard at work.
When she finally got down for a nap, DH and I sat down to evaluate the situation. He has come to the conclusion that the reason she is reacting this way to poop in her diaper is because she's finally realized how uncomfortable it is; physically removing it with her hands is her way of handling the situation. He showed me some online research to back up his claim. It seems plausible.
I have a very laid-back approach when it comes to potty training. I know plenty of moms who forced it upon their toddlers, only to end up with children who scream at the sight of a toilet or the sound of it flushing. Even though G has gone #1 on the potty many times, and we've established a "reward" system (M&Ms) for proper potty use, I still believe in "self-guided" (gosh, I sound like a hippie mom) potty training, where G basically lets us know when she's ready to begin the transition from diapers to underwear.
My question for you is this: Do you think this week's episodes are G's way of showing us she's ready to begin potty training on a more serious level? If so, what advice do you have for a mom embarking on this journey for the first time?
Now it's your turn...
Tell me YOUR family's worst pooptastrophe!
Yes, I think it sounds like it. Potty training for our first two was easy--they transitioned and we let them work things out until they were comfortable with it.
Our youngest has a developmental disorder which complicates things--he knows what the toilet is for but has not interest in using it.
I hope there are no more dirty hand incidents--those are still awful for us to clean up as well.
I found your blog through another blog I read and just had to leave a comment.
My daughter did the exact same thing (she's 6 now) around age 2. I did not think I would survive it! I know in our case, she was ready to potty train. Same situation as yours, my daughter had being doing #1 on the potty but had trouble with #2.
After several episodes of the poop slinging, we stopped using diapers and Pull-Ups and kept her in panties only. I started getting more serious about potty training and eventually it caught on.
I wish I had more words of wisdom and advice for you. I know it is not fun to clean these messes up! Hang in there!
I say go for it. What could it hurt? She might surprise you and take to it without any problems.
Besides, the alternative is awfully yucky :)
Oh, yuck! I can't imagine dealing with poop everywhere NOT pregnant. You poor thing!
As a mom with NO potty training experience (yet), I'd have to say YES, go for it. Do the serious potty training. I bet she'll be PT'd in a week! Good luck.
Hope you're feeling good now! :)
I'm not sure about the potty training thing because my son is also 2 and not at all interested. I just wanted to mention that if this keeps happening even with some potty interventions, you could also put her in a onsie, which makes it harder to get into the diaper. It seems that since this is happening at night and at naptime, it would be hard to know and stop her in order to use the potty. I'm still in the "potty training dark" so to speak, but I'm sure I have some poo slinings in my near future!
Two words: DUCT TAPE
It's funny you posted this, because we're having problems with Jonathan and #2 again. He was completely potty trained, and this past weekend, while we were at the inlaws house for Thanksgiving, he started to poop in his pants again. He did it once last night and once again tonight. GRrrrr
But it does sound to me that G is ready for more serious potty training.
I hate when they figure out they can reach inside their diaper. I always end up discovering that they were double dipping and leaving me surprises around the house. I would say it's potty training time! When they are that aware of it?
If it was a step closer to potty training, I'd almost wish Cate were doing the same thing...almost.
I have no clue if it's a sign since we're laid back as well and don't want to force it on Cate. She has a little interest but isn't "there" yet.
I do know that a friend of mine's daughter went through this and her sitter specifically asked her to be dressed in onesies until she was pottytrained so that she couldn't get into the diaper during naptime.
J went through a phase of taking his diaper off when it was wet or dirty. Thankfully, he doesn't like his hands dirty (cried during his first birthday when I pushed his hands into his smash cake) so he never played in it.
That said, it would encourage me... You can always try stripping her down when at home & letting her go. For J, it forced him to either tell me when he had to poop or pee. The downside was he ended up constipated until I put it in his court & gave him control. Once he had control, he has been perfect. No accidents.
I read, just rarely comment...
None of my girls (well, my youngest is only 1 so I can't speak for her yet) went through this poopslinging phase.
She does sound ready to potty train for #2, and while I'm not a "push your kids to train" person, I believe it's completely fine to put that suggestion out there. Ask. Suggest. If it's a no, don't push.
One thing I've done with both my big girls (maybe you already do this?) is let them flush their poop. (Obviously, only if it's solid enough to just dump straight from the diaper.) It teaches them that is where it belongs and lets them have fun flushing (because, let's face it - what kiddo doesn't love flushing the toilet!) as well as cutting down on the smells. I'm not sure if it'll help, but it could also let her know pooping in the toilet isn't a scary thing since that's where her poop is going anyway.
Just a thought. Good luck!! :)
oh.my.gosh. While I have no advice for you (haven't been down that path yet myself and hope never to go there!!!!), I do hope that you won't have to deal with that happening ever again. GROSS. I'm so sorry!
I'm a little late to the party, but I thought I would comment anyways, as this happened with our now 5-year old daughter.
I agree with DH that she's uncomfortable and trying to get rid of whatever is making her feel that way. I do believe it is definitely time to transition to big girl panties. She's ready.
Good luck! Oh, and I'm so glad to hear that I'm not the only one this has happened to. :o)