To get cross with my poo hiding toddler?

[tiptopteepe]

Posting here for traffic.

Im looking for advice because this is my first child and I dont have any experience of whether this is normal behaviour or not.

My son is 2 and a half and has just started potty training. He still wears nappies but has a potty which he will use sometimes when he feels like it to do a wee in. Hes very good at this but does sometimes still wee in his nappy. He wears a nappy all night and doesnt use the potty at all at night.
As for poo, he doesnt yet do poo in the potty but when hes done a poo he will either come and get me to change his nappy or he will go into the bathroom and take his nappy off, put the poo in the toilet and wipe his own bum and wash his hands then comes and gets me for a new nappy (i do also check that he has washed his hands and wiped his bum properly at this point)

However on occassion he has also been taking poo out of his nappy and putting places in his room.
I dont really know what to do about this. Its really gross because I randomly find it when I am cleaning and i sometimes have to throw a toy away because he has got poo ingrained in it and i cant clean it.
He does this about twice a week at the moment.
I just told him calmly that it was dirty and not to do it again the first time he did it and he seemed to understand and said 'okay mummy sorry' but the behaviour has continued.

Does anyone have experience of this? Is he doing it to be naughty or is there some other reason? Im not sure how to deal with it so any advice would be greatly appreciated. Should I be getting more cross with him?

Oh other info to add is that he does it in his room because thats the only place he is unsupervised. I just let him play in there whilst I do things round the house. He has the door open etc and i check on him regularly to bring him drinks and things. He stays in there of his own accord for hours some days because he has a large railway in there he likes to play with. Should I be encouraging him not to do that?

Thanks

Second really odd poo thread of the day

why is it odd? Is it odd behaviour from him, what do you mean?

No idea op. Either take him out of nappies or fix his clothes so he can't get his own nappy off.

It's weird a child that age is unattended to the extent that he can strip off and put it in the potty and is left alone in a bedroom for hours .

I thought troll hunting wasnt allowed?!

A quick search would have shown you this OP has a really long and established posting history.

Not troll hunting at all! Just amazed at the amount of poo threads appearing today

Kids have been known to hide their poo, and also wash their hands. I have yet to come across one that can reach their own backside to wipe it, though.

Hope I'm not feeding a poo troll.
Hi OP, my suggestion is, please don't tell him he's dirty, tell him that clever boys, poo in the potty, or the toilet etc..
He is only two years old, and he's doing very well, don't spoil it.
Try him with some underpants during the day.

er what?! I just wanted some advice. I cant really find anything on google about how to manage this for the best.

And yes he really can wipe his own bum and wash his hands! Its not always great but he can do it and I know other kids that age will do that too. Of course it needs checking because they dont always do it very well.

And he is not 'left alone' He goes to his room and plays with his train set. He can be doing that for hours at a time. Not every day of course but every so often he does that. I mentioned it because this is usually when he does this poo thing (altho not always because sometimes he comes and gets me)
I take it you think i should not let him play in his room for so long? Could you not just have said that instead of being so hostile?

Still can't even get my almost 4 year old to wipe his own bum lol

💤💤💤

Ummm, surely you can smell the poo that he's taken out of his nappy and hidden in random places?

sugarpie Thankyou. I have told him that and he did seem to understand. Thats why im a bit worried that he is still doing it. Is it just a phase that i should ignore or should I keep telling him?

When I googled it all the advice was about poo smearing and said to ignore it because drawing attention to it could make it worse. But this is not smearing, all he does is take it out of his nappy and place it somewhere in his room.

Maybe he's doing it because he hasn't got access to the toilet in his room so feels he has to put it somewhere other than his nappy?

How can you not be aware when a 2.5 yo is going to the toilet, flushing, washing hands etc so you can't go and check on him right there and then? Does your boiler / toilet flush / dragging of the toddler step not make any noise?

Could you not just have said that instead of being so hostile?

The written word often comes across harsher than it sounds in your head. It wasnt meant to be hostile. Apologies op.

Just surprised he plays alone so long my lot would be demanding attention.

MY toddler used to take his poo and put it in the bottom drawer in the spare room. We didn't use the room very much, so didn't find this out. After about a year of poo being stored in the this drawer a new life form evolved and emerged one day demanding rice krispies for breakfast. This poo monster has now become part of the family, and has recently started at primary school. It is almost like a second child. Although every time it sits on the sofa it leaves a massive skid mark behind.

i do think better supervision is required , if only because that must be quite a tall step / set of steps that allow a 2 yr old to reach the taps to wash his hands and he could come a nasty cropper , or even more dangerous run a bath and drown himself . If he’s clever enough to know he’s been and put it in the loo and wipe his bum out him in pants he shouldn’t still be using nappies with that kind of awareness.

If he can do all that he needs to not be in nappies.

If he can take off his nappy, wipe his own bum and wash his own hands....why on earth is he wearing a nappy?
Take him out and supervise poos!

Moz yes I can! I find it when I go and check on him. But often Ill find smaller bits of it when I am cleaning his room. Its just a bit grim because obv its a health hazard.

No his poo is not always firm where on earth did I say that?
The poo he takes out of his nappy and places around his room is always quite firm. He has never done it with softer poo thank god. Like i said he does not do this all the time its just every so often and i cant understand why.

You shouldn’t be leaving a 2 year old to wipe their own bum - there’s no way it would be clean and he’ll end up with a sore bum.

As far as hiding it, you need to explain that when he’s done a poo he needs to come to you and you will change and clean him. No more letting him change himself and put it down the toilet as obviously he is then doing it other places (like his room)as well.

Consistency is the key with kids. You do wees and poos either on the potty or if you use a nappy a grown up changes you.

And as hard as it is you need to avoid using words like “dirty” when taking about poo or he’ll be reluctant to tell you when he’s done one because he’s embarrassed which might be why he’s been hiding it.

take it you think i should not let him play in his room for so long? Could you not just have said that instead of being so hostile?

More that you should really be somewhere nearby, within hearing distance, loosely supervising. Are you seriously saying he is alone for several hours without you checking on him? worse things could happen than poo hoarding.