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BabyShrink readers Angie, Sharon and Stacy have emailed me over the past few weeks with the same horrified question: Why is my toddler suddenly smearing poop everywhere, and HOW CAN I GET THAT DISGUSTING BEHAVIOR TO STOP?! Although I tried to offer some suggestions, I had never experienced the same thing with my kids, so I really didn’t have much “oomph” behind my answers.

And then the Great Karmic Finger pointed at my household. And that finger had poop smeared on it.

Our TT is now 2 1/2. He’s kinda-sorta potty trained. He’s healthy (minus one hernia, which I will update everyone on later in the week), developmentally on-track, and he’s got the “easiest” temperament of all our three kids. But over the past few weeks, it’s happened three times; he’s pooped in his diaper, then reached in to decorate his crib with it. And it’s the grossest clean-up job I’ve ever had to do.

Your story is similar. Your toddler is somewhat engaged in potty training. They’re at the age when they can understand most of what we’re telling them…and certainly understand that poop is yucky. Then all of a sudden, you discover your little darling has smeared poop all over the place. Reader Sharon tells her stinky story this way, “She’s in her crib about to nap, and I hear the usual noises of her just talking to herself. Then I hear this: “Mommy, yucky.” So I go in there and see the worse scene of my life!!!! She apparently had a poopy diaper, took it off, and proceeded to smear the walls, her crib and everything in the vicinity with poop. I was mortified! I quickly yanked her up, stripped her down and got in her the bath as fast as possible. I had to call my husband and tell him to come home so I could sanitize her room. Ugh, it was awful!”

Is This Normal?
Yes dear reader, it is. Not necessarily common, but normal. A 2-year-old is struggling with attempting to master his own body, to control it’s functions, and is quite curious about his productions. (They don’t call it the Anal Stage for nothin’!) Preschool teachers will tell you it’s common to see children this age quite interested in messes, too. They can alternate between being quite the obsessive neat-freak, OR the poop-smearing opposite — as they struggle to master this stage. I would say, however, that poop-smearing past the age of 3 1/2 — 4 would concern me. An evaluation, starting with your pediatrician, should occur in that case.

How Do I Get It To Stop?!
First, know that, for an otherwise typically developing toddler, this should be a time-limited, passing phase. Nobody likes the smell of poop. It’s an experiment that is naturally self-limiting!

The most important thing is to control your own reaction. Don’t overreact; you risk reinforcing the behavior. If Junior knows that Mom will FREAK every time this happens, he’s got a potent weapon to use, when necessary! Instead, calmly say “Yucky. Poop is dirty. It belongs in your diaper or the potty. No more touching poop.” As grossed out as you may be, take a deep breath (outside of the room!), clean up the offensive little beast first, and close up the room until you have backup. You’ll need time, and someone to watch Mr. Stinky, while you break out the Clorox.

Next, it’s time to get practical and LIMIT ACCESS TO THE DIAPER. Go out and find some toddler sized “onesies”, or other one-piece clothing. Some creative parents have even put one-piece PJs on backwards to further limit access to the diaper area. Keep them clothed this way as needed, until the phase has passed.

Also, take it as a sign of interest in potty-training. Use it as an opportunity to review the proper use of the potty, and validate their interest in poop. “Here, make your poop in your potty. Then when you’re done, you can look at it. We don’t touch it, but you can look at it if you want to see what it looks like.”

Finally, create opportunities for your creative genius to make acceptable messes. One of the hallmarks of this phase is the desire to make — and clean up — messes. It’s how we eventually learn to keep things clean and organized, and how to handle all the messes in life. So it’s a vitally important lesson to learn. Offer messy finger painting, kitchen mixing and squashing, and outdoor mud play, liberally. Talk about it, as you do. “I know you want to make messes. THIS is a good place to make a mess. I will help you clean it up later. Here, let’s make a mess together!”

Hope that helps, Gang. Happy Cleaning!

Aloha,

Dr. Heather
The BabyShrink