16 Month Old Scared of Dirty Nappy

[Berrington]

My 16 month old DD has suddenly developed a fear of poo in her nappy. She is fine with having a wet nappy changed but seems aware of when she has had a poo and becomes very distressed at the prospect of having it changed. So much so, that tonight she was clinging to her Dad and screaming as she knew I was about to change her nappy. When the nappy is off she becomes more distressed by the sight of it. We haven't done anything on the potty training front, although we do have one and she has sat in it once or twice before the bath and inadvertently had a wee in it. Just looking for some reassurance that it's a normal stage of development and any advice on how we can support her.

[AwfulMaureen]

That sounds very difficult.....have you tried distracting her with something lovely when its time to change her? Maybe offering something she.adores will help change her response.

[brettgirl2]

I don't think it's a normal stage of development but dd1 was the same from about 20 months. All I can suggest is that you try and get her to use the toilet/ find a routine that works. For a while ddc refused to use toilet either but I found it helped to put a new nappy on.

On the positive side she never, ever had a poo accident during potty training. It was a difficult stage though. ....

[brettgirl2]

Actually I should have read your post more carefully. Mine was slightly different in that she refused to go at all .

[Berrington]

Thank you for your suggestions, we're giving distraction a go in a big way and have started explaining how the dirty nappy goes in the bin (or the contents in the loo!!). Fingers crossed we'll get through it soon.