Smearing poop

briannanoel26

My son is 32 months old. He's been going on the potty great since the beginning of December. Recently he started touching his butt after he poops and smears it all over if I don't get to him quick enough. Why is he doing this? How do I make it end. I have two other children who need my attention instead of cleaning up poop. I've expressed how much I don't like this action. He doesn't care....

Ylvelill

Have you made him clean it up? I find natural consequences to work best. It might mean insisting on him doing it for a bit with him throwing a fit but if you don't let him off the hook he will get tired of this game.

changingnames

There can be a number of reasons kids do this- any ideas why he is doing it? Is he bored waiting for you to help him wipe his bottom? Does he like the way it feels to squish and smear it- in which case maybe give him some goo or slime to play with-? Does he like getting a reaction from you or getting your attention away from the other two? I think figuring out the why will help you come up with a good plan of action. Good luck- btw one of my boys would wipe it on the toilet seat because he thought he should use his hands to check if he was clean and then didn't know what to do with the mess- yuck!