DD's newest dirty habit - Hands in her nappy. Can I stop it and how ?

[WSM]

Hi all

My 19mo DD has developed a liking for putting her hands inside her nappy, front and back regardless of whats in there. Not only is it unhygenic for her but she is leaving hideous handprints on my furniture

Obviously I change her the minute I realise that she has dirtied a nappy but she ALWAYS beats me to it. Is this a common phase for kids and is she likely to grow out of it soon, or is there some tactic I can employ to stop her from doing it (apart from watching her like a hawk 24/7) ?

It has been going on for around a week and she wears Pampers Active Fit nappies which are quite flexible. I don't really want to change her to a stiffer nappy as she is very mobile and they would chafe her delicate skin.

All ideas appreiciated !!
Thanks
WSM

Get the vests that do up under the nappy. That wil help to make it harder for her to get into the nappy.

23 month old DD went through this habit 2 or 3 months back, but luckily she only once got caught out with a dirty nappy. DD wears Pull Ups so we had the same issue over it being easy. DD does seem to have grow out of the habit now though so it is probably just a phase.

That's a fairly obvious one, why didn't I think of that ?!

I do wonder if it is something she does as a way of letting me know that she's done something in her nappy. She used to say 'Poo poo' but now she seems to do the hands in the nappy, she smeels her hand and then shows it to me. Gross I know. Sorry to anyone eating breakfast !

If that is the case then I can understand her doing it if she is left in a dirty nappy for a short while but I'm pretty vigilant (with a keen nose!) and change her within 5 mins of her doing it.

This is a long shot but could this mean that she is almost ready for potty training ? I know it's early to be thinking about that but is it a possibility ?

Of course I mean 'smells'

wsm,

Probably just a phase. She is realising that she has dirtied her nappy and "explores" what it means , but yuk ! btw what happens if she poos when in her cot - dd used to remove it until I put her back in vest with crotch poppers instead of pj's and then she stopped doing it pretty quickly.

As to potty training, well, dd used to do this about a year ago (same sort of age), removing nappy as she wet or dirtied it, and would sit on her potty to poo if she was naked but a year on she is still not trained as she just could n't seem to let go to wee voluntarily. When she poos now she is so independent that if she doesn't realise in time she will change herself matter of factly and flush it down the loo - but sometimes the aftermath just isn't worth it iyswim!! They are all different though and dd of friend was clean at 18 months and dry by 2, day, night a few weeks later.

Am going to be brave after Easter when she has a long break from playgroup and have a serious go because she will be 31 months by then and the weather should be better.

hth

SNAP! The minute the nappy is grabbavle in go the hands! I also use a body suit now dd is 17 mths
I find that whether she is clean and in the bath od naked she loes to play with it, quite visiously, I figure its just exploration and let her go for it if I@ve got the time to wait, my son did the same thing, for the record he hasnt ever let go of his LOL and he's 10 (god he'll kill me )

Yes, agree with the vests that fasten under the nappy, also sleep suits, dungarees, boiler suits etc.

Eeeuuuurghhh, you poor thing. Ds did this once, and only once, my reaction must have been fairly unfavourable. Dd1 used to take her night nappy off and then poo on the floor in the corner of the bedroom, which was also pretty unpleasant.

Re potty training: I started at 18 months with dd1 who liked to sit on the potty with her special potty books and quite quickly got to the point where she was doing most of her poos in the potty. There is an element of 'catching' rather than training proper, but frankly, if it's one dirty nappy less, it can't be bad. More likely to work if she's quite regular in her habits. Having said that, I tried the same with ds and failed miserably, as he really resisted sitting on the potty. Might be worth a try, though.