Forum home Toddlers & older children Toddler

smearing poo - sorry tmi!!!

Okay here goes.........thankfully I am writing about my child but I am concerned for a friend.....

My friends little boy will be 3 next month and for over a year now has regularly smeared his bedroom with poo in the mornings but its getting worse!! He now does it 5-6 times a week and its also extended to other areas of the house, as yesterday he smeared the entire of their kitchen walls and cupboards with his poo!!!

This mortifies me as I just know its something my lo wouldn't do!! Shea is so particular about cleaniness he would completley freak out if he got the slightest bit of poo on his hands!! But i'm concerned that this isn't normal behaviour for a child??
I have heard of toddlers doing this before but so much over such a long period of time??

I do have my concerns for the little boy as my friends parenting skills do sometimes come into question and i'm thinking is this the start of some behavioural issue??

Any experience anyone has, or thoughts would be appreciated.

Claire

Replies

  • Oh my lord! I am praying that I don't have this to come!

    I can only suggest on a practical level, she could put him to bed in a sleepsuit so that he can't get at it, and in the day, keep him in dungarees?
  • is he still in nappies and that's how he is smearing? Unfortunately I have come across this a LOT in my line of work but I would like to see if this is the case before asnwering!
  • Yes he is still in nappies. She's been training him on and off for the last year but has never really pressed on with potty training thing - is this to do with why he's smearing it??
  • havent got to this point yet, but maybe this is his way of saying he doesnt want to be in nappies anymore?! my mum always told me something will just 'click' in thier heads one day. xx
  • I would definitely push ahead and get him toilet trained as, although this may not be the only reason he is smearing, to be blunt if the poo is not there to smear he won't smear if you see what I mean. It may also be an indication that he wants to be out of nappies.

    There are many reasons for smearing and for some it is just a stage but this is a bit long to be a stage! It could just be attention seeking as you cannot help but give attention to this type of behaviour. It could be a sensory seeking expereince in which case I would encourage a LOT of messy play, play doh, finger painting etc (yes children NEED these things developmentally and if they don't get them they will seek them out and if feaces is the only thing they will use it!)

    Hope that helps!
  • thanks Maximum+1, I'm seeing the mother tomorrow so will delicatly tackle it then!!

    I obviously can't answer for the little boy with regard to him wanting out of nappies, but it was very interesting what you said about attention and also the messy play aspect. He goes to nursery twice a week where I would imagine he gets involved with messy play but other than that I don't think he gets much stimulation as the mother has commented before when she's come to my house, and we've been painting and gluing, that she would never let him do that at home as he'd make too much mess!!
    The little boy doesn't get too much attention from his parents either, from what I can see, He's often left to play on his own while mum and dad are watching tv etc and he's even left in the bath alone while mum and dad are downstairs (posted about this before!!)

    The mum is a "pre pregnancy friend" but now we are both mothers, I find myself questioning her ways as a mum, and wondering whether this is the kind of friend I want around my son............but thats another story!!
Sign In or Register to comment.

Featured Discussions