You may laugh at me but can I change the time my toddler has a poo?

[StarlightShiningBright]

It's probably a really silly question.

Ds2 is 3.3 years old. He's been out of nappies during the day since around 2 1/2 years.

At night he still has a nappy on as every morning between 2am and 5am he has a poo. He knows it's happening as he wakes up, grabs a new nappy and the wipes and wakes one of us up to change him.

I wouldn't mind so much if he went straight back to sleep afterwards but he takes ages to drift back off. If the nappy change is anytime after 4am there is usually no hope and that's him pretty much him up for the day.

We change him in his room with just his nightlight and as little talking as possible but it doesn't make a difference.

The day times are a nightmare at the moment as he is grumpy and tired, along with whichever one of us parents have been chosen for nappy duty. (oh yeah and he doesn't nap)

His nappies are always completely dry when he wakes up so it's just his poo times I'm hoping to change.

He has no problems going for a poo on the toilet during the day.

Any ideas?

This may seem a really obvious question, but have you tried leaving a nappy off him at night, and putting a potty by his bed to see if he'll poo in it?

I haven't actually. When he came out of nappies during the day he went straight on to the toilet as he refused to sit on a potty (any potty)

The bathroom is only a few steps away from his bedroom though so I could leave the small light on in there so he can use the toilet.

Bit worried about him waking up his brother though as ds2 doesn't do things quietly.

I'll certainly give it a go tonight though (it's morning time here at the moment)

It would definitely be worth a try! Even if he wakes you up to help him wipe his bottom to start with, it would be quicker than changing a nappy. I would offer him some kind of small reward for using the toilet the first few times. Does he wipe his own bottom during the day?

Yes he does and he's pretty good at it. He usually asks one of us to check after but we rarely have to do it again.

Right, I'll dig out some old towels to layer his bed with just in case and go for it.

Thank-you

Good idea about the towels just in case. Give it a go and see how you get on. Will you come back and let me know? I'll check the thread tomorrow.

Will do.

Such a simple idea yet I'm so tired myself it didn't even occur to me to just leave the nappy off.

I'll update in about 12 hours.

24 hours not 12.

Going to wake DP up and go for a nap I think.

There are some ideas in the Contented Little Baby book by...you know...her who we don't mention, concerning altering kids' diets so as to make it less likely that they will poo early in the morning.

I've no idea if they work (she claims they do, of course) and haven't got it by me so can't check the details, but can do so if you're interested.

If you could puntastic that would be great. I'd like to have a few options available to try.

It's just gone 8pm here. I've layered the bed up with towels and sheets so I can just whip one layer off if needed and he's gone to sleep without a nappy.

We've left the small bathroom light on and we went over what he needs to do in the night of he needs to go. Now just got to wait and see what the night brings.

Fingers crossed for you!

Good luck! Hope it went well overnight. Once mine were using the toilet I did encourage them to try for a poo before bath time in the evening (ie easy cleanup afterwards and I wanted them to avoid having to do it at nursery/school!). It did work for my DCs and they usually still go about that time, years later!

Good luck!

Good luck

OP - I'll pm you the info now (am unsure if there would be any copyright implications to sharing it publicly).

Thank-you, I've just seen it now.

Well I can report that the first night went well. Really well.

Ds2 woke up at a couple of minutes to 7am. He hasn't slept past 5.30 in months. He was completely clean. He said this morning that he had been to the toilet in the night, but we didn't hear him at all.

Fingers crossed it wasn't just a fluke.

Thank-you Littlefish. I can't believe it didn't enter my mind to just leave his nappy off.

Also thank-you pun for the info which I'll keep on hand just in case and thank-you to the rest of you for your messages.

You're welcome - glad last night went well, hope things continue that way!

Woohoo! Great news. Let's hope it continues and that you all get many, many more nights of uk disturbed sleep.

Another thing is to reduce fruit intake in the afternoon. In a book I read this is what was causing a child to poo in the early hours.

Glad he went to the loo on his own, great news x

Well last night was his 2nd night. My mom was babysitting (she bought DP and me a night in a hotel for Christmas). Mom said he woke at 5am a little bit damp but he went to the toilet and had a poo. We figure he started to wee but stopped himself and went to the bathroom. Mom whipped a layer off the bed, put some clean pj's on him and he went back to sleep until 7.20am.

I honestly can't believe it. All these months he's been waking up at ridiculous hours and I could have just left his nappy off.

Thanks MummyPig. That sounds like the advice that pun PM's me from her book. They both do tend to have fruit after their dinner so maybe I'll change that too. It may stop him waking up altogether if I can change the actual time he needs to go.

can I butt in for some ideas too please pun? we have an early morning poo-er too.

well done op!

Two nights in a row Starlight! In our house, we count 3 nights as a pattern, and a pattern is as good as a habit.

Have pmed as requested

thanks pun very much!

Can you adjust his poo timetable with apricots? Get him to empty his system earlier?