wtf??? i am shocked and furious, DS, 4, did a poo outside in the garden. and i think he has done it more than once

[superv1xen]

i just could not believe my eyes. DS was playing outside earlier and my dp found him with his pants round his ankles then we found that he had done 2 poo's on the slabs. he is 4.2

i went absolutely mad at him and he kept denying he had done it, but then he admitted it, i told him that was very naughty and unacceptable and to go to his room.

he has been potty trained for about 2 years so there was no way he was simply "caught short" - i just dont get what the hell he thought he was doing.

and, even worse, we think he has done it before, as recently, me and dp have found poo on the lawn yet we dont have dogs or any pets and it was a total mystery. Until now.

also, the neighbours kids on both side (roughly the same age as ds) were all playing outside and i hope them or their parents didnt see it or they will think we have some sort of feral child, god, i am sooooo embarassed and also very freaked out.

I read it wrong and thought Chicken's ds had wiped his bum on the fence.

Stop getting your knickers in a twist. He's 4 not 14. You will see the funny side to this. Anyway, they need to do things like this so we have something to embarrass them with when they bring their first girlfriend home.

FFS it's your son's crap. A couple of years ago, he did it in nappies and you cleaned it up no questions asked. My ds is 3 and often pees in the garden when he's running about naked in the paddling pool. No one cares. Pick it up, tell him not to do it again and move in. It's just shit.

Lots of boys like al fresco weeing and pooing. My DS has always taken every opportunity to wee outside. I've had to keep his bedroom window locked since an unfortunate incident involving a downstairs neighbour (which I did eventually see the funny side of).

Just keep reinforcing that humans do it in the loo. There's quite a good book called Zoo Poo that reinforces the message.

I'm quite surprised at the responses actually - I would be cross if my DS had done this at 4, as he definitely would have known better. But, he never has done anything like that and I now think maybe that's unusual. I suppose on reflection, we let little boys wee outside when caught short, so it's not impossible that he didn't really realise.

My DS is 4.4 and if he did this, I have to admit that I would PMSL. I would pick up the poo, flush it down the toilet and say that next time, go to the toilet. I think my whole family would have a chuckle tbh, my DH and my 2yo DD would also find it funny.

God, my 9yo did this last week! I was annoyed but wasn't angry. Made it clear it was unacceptable but didn't "go mad" or send her to her room.

My DP says that you're not a real man unless you've done a jobby outside.

I'm surprised at the responses as well. He knows where to go to the toilet, what if it had been a friends garden,house, or in a shop etc. Which if no one tells him is wrong he might do next time!

Or of course he might never do it again.

I don't think you over reacted by sending him to his room, if he did something he shouldn't have deliberately. Different if he was caught short of course.

at the word 'jobby'

Oh god please don't worry, its just a kid thing. Not that I wouldn't be pissed off but its hardly indicative of a feral or maladjusted child y'know.

My 7yo did a poo in the frigging airing cupboard only the other week. She even wiped her bum on a pink post-it-note that she left on top of the poo.

And when I found it and called her over and said, "DD, why is there a poo in the airing cupboard?".... she said "Maybe it was a dog?"

Ahh, and there you have it Bertie. Tell him it's wrong. He does not necessarily have this information. Explain that ideally one doesn't crap on the patio, and not to do it again please. Absolutely no need for shock, fury or sending to rooms.

omg I'd have gone mental as well (just so you don't think you're only one ) am quite stunned everyone else thinks all kids do this

I never understand when parents go ballistic over a 1st offence.

Step 1: give child information regarding socially desirable behaviour.

They mostly don't do it again, once they know.

When I was a young childless woman, I had a friend who allowed her dd to poo in the communal garden outside my flat. I was disgusted then. Now, 4 children of my own down the line, I still think it is wrong.

I wouldn't have expressed myself the way you did OP, but I am essentially on your side. It is one thing to poo if you are out in the countryside or on the beach or otherwise nowhere near a loo. It is quite another to do so in the garden.

my ds2 has a habit of taking his pants and nappy off and done poos on the trampoline,i dont go on one i just tell him NO and clean it up hes 3.7 but he has gdd/sn

A bit ott I'm afraid. Not desirable behaviour long-term but not something to punish for unless he's been told not to do it and keeps doing it/

also once went out into the garden to see what he was up to and OMG HE HAD IT ALL OVER HIS FACE AND MOUTH ETC

I dont mind going against the grain, i would be pretty pissed at that too. But then i also dont get why you would teach a child to wee outside, yet on here this seems common practise too, have never known it condoned in RL though, thank god - but i am an uptight cow with plenty of ishoos

I wouldn't be happy with DS weeing in the garden out of laziness - but I do let him wee behind a tree and so on if we're out and about with no toilet.

Ahh 'tis normal behaviour!

Picked DS (4) up from the nursery the other week, only to be told that he had whipped his pants down and did a massive turd in the nursery.

Children ran to nursery staff to tell them and then they had to herd them away from said turd with the littlies ugghh and ewww at it all

I spoke to him about it and he was obviously embarassed, he didn't want to talk about it. He knew he had done the wrong thing so I thought that in itself was enough and didn't make a big fuss. I just said I know you were having lots of fun with your friends, but next time, just stop playing and ask for the loo

He then opened up a bit more and said he didn't want me to be cross and I said look at mummy, do I look cross? No, accidents happen and you are nomrally so good with the toilet so just keep on being good ok and gave him a hug

Give your DS a break! Grown men do a lot worse in city centres on a Friday/Saturday night when pished!

In the nursery garden that is, not inside

Pity the poor nursery worker that had to pick it up...

I'd much rather pick up a 4yo's turd than a dog one. Probably half the people going eeww have dogs. That one completely defeats me.

your reaction is very over the top. Are you sure the massive telling off wasn't mainly for the neighbours' benefit? If so and based on the responses on this thread they would judge you more for the furious reaction than the pooing kid, esp if they have kids of their own in which case they've probably seen it all before!