Appropriate thing for DD to do?

orangeluck · February 2010

So for the last 2 weeks nearly everytime DD needs to poop she actually stops playing and goes to sit along the wall behind her high chair and poops. Our dining room is in a central location and she will go to the same spot no matter what part of the house we are playing in and with no direction from us. Even though she obviously has no concept of modesty I think she thinks it is kind of a "hiding spot" because her view is blocked by the table and chair legs. She only goes to this spot when she needs to go and when she is there is does go just about every time.

It's been clear for a solid month now she is aware when she has a dirty diaper after the fact- at daycare they ask the kids if they are stinky and hold their nose. She's only there part time but has seen the routine repeated for each kid in the room. If we ask DD if she is stinky she will hold her nose and pat her diaper and go to the stairs if it is dirty (we only change her upstairs). When it's not dirty and we ask her she doesn't to anything- and she's always accurate.

I don't think it's a bad thing but is it early for this awareness and behavior? Is it something that comes and goes or is the next step potty training? I know nothing about the subject bc I thought the earliest age was 18 months. I don't want to pressure her into something she isn't developmentally ready for. On the other hand I don't know if it's something we need to act on now to encourage her.

Sorry this got long- any thoughts?

Read2Me · February 2010

That's great! It is definitely a step in the right direction. Eva was like that too. I got all excited thinking that potty training would be a breeze when the time came. She even started telling us she was "stinky" before she pooped. Now that she is older she is good about telling us when she needs a diaper change but is not interested in using the potty. My friends with older kids all told me it is a phase their children went through too- they start becoming aware of their bodily functions but are too young to potty train. I wish I could be of more help but the entire process is so individual it seems. The one thing I have heard is to not discourage them from hiding to poop but as she gets older to direct to the bathroom rather than the dining room.

wendyj · February 2010

That's so great! I think it is definitely a good sign. I don't know if she's totally ready to be potty trained yet, but you may just want to do some reading about some approaches you may want to take.

As for her being too early, my friend's dd started showing signs about the same time, so she just went with it and dd was potty trained at 18 months. So, you never know.

Good luck!

skroops · February 2010

Zoey does the same thing - she will let us know when she has a dirty diaper, and will even go get the wipes from her room and bring them to me to let me know she wants me to change her diaper. We do have a potty and I can tell that she knows what it's for, and will go sit on it, but so far has never gone on it. I am not going to push the issue, I figure when she is ready, she will start to use it. I definitely think the "being aware of thier bodily functions" is a step in the right direction though. I think it's so funny how they will go "hide" when they have to poop!

tab890 · February 2010

I have no experience with this, just wanted to tell you that is something that I did when I was a little girl, my mom told me that I used to go "hide" in the corner to poop. My mom said I was not hard to potty train, so hopefully thats a great sign for you!

ArcticFox · February 2010

My DD would hide when she had to poop, or at least she would go under a tree (if we were outside, of course), or in her play house or something. It wasn't like she was ever going to get in trouble for pooping in her diaper, but she definitely would run off! It is at least a good sign of awareness.

BethPSU · February 2010

Children in most parts of the world are potty trained by the time they are 18 months old. DS has been going on the potty since he was 9 months old. We don't force it, but just make it part of our routine (i.e. when he wakes up and before and after naps). I use cloth diapers so I have loved the reduction in dirty diapers. He is 16 months old and we just bought training pants and are going to try them in the next few days. He has only had 2 accidents in 2 weeks and claps for himself and waves bye bye to the potty when he is done. He grunts at me when he has to go, but mostly I just incorporate it into our day.

orangeluck · February 2010

Thanks for the replies- makes me feel better that we are on the right track

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