Helping LO Communicate He Has a Dirty Diaper

sadeathe · January 2014

My son could care less about being in a dirty diaper. My sniffer is the only way that I know he's dirty. How can I encourage him to tell me he's dirty without me having to smell the results? My mom suggested that I do a silly dance and make a big deal out of it so he'd start to realize what was going on, but do you ladies with experience have any other suggestions? Thanks!

babyike · January 2014

We started saying the words to the Grinch song, "Stink. Stank. Stunk." over the holidays just being silly. And then after about a week of it (with DS1 and DD chiming in constantly), DS2 started trying to say it after he pooped. I would like to think that means he's catching on lol...

With DS1, he started catching on around 17-18 months when DD would call him stinky bubba.

DD started catching on closer to 15 months, mostly because DH was notorious (and still is with DS2) at making ridiculous facial expressions and sounds with soiled diapers. He caught her attention very quickly lol.

skooz · January 2014

Whenever DD started trying to poop I used to say "are you going poo poo?" So she knew what the word meant pretty early on. In the last month or two I taught her the sign for potty and she caught on to that after just a few times. She's actually told me she needed to potty with enough time to make it to the bathroom 5 or 6 times. Other times I just ask her if she needs to go when it seems like she's trying and she'll usually run to the bathroom. We aren't really potty training, but I started sitting her on the potty a few months ago because she kept peeing when I took off her diaper to change it. So I guess my only suggestion is to use the same word all the time and eventually he'll catch on. Not sure if you SAH but that makes it easy for me to know when she's about to go. She rarely made it when we were visiting family for the holidays because there was so much other stuff going on.

vvvvvfee · January 2014

yeah, i'd echo that suggestion- if you can spot him going, you could say "are you pooping/going?" and then maybe he'll start saying something when he's going to the bathroom. we do this with DS since it's so obvious when he's pooping. we also let him spend some time in underwear in the evenings sometimes and cue him when we see him peeing. we're hoping this will make it easier to potty train.

zbeesma86 · January 2014

I usually just ask her. I'll be like, "did you go potty?" and she will run away from me because she hates having her diaper changed.

chefnicole22 · January 2014

I usually ask "are you pooped?" and she'll either run or say "poofed" over and over if she is. If I ask her and she isn't pooped she's very happy to tell me no! I don't know how to get her to tell me before she has to go though, and she only lets me know after she goes if I ask.

Jeffreysmom24 · January 2014

I wish I had a way for Jeffrey to communicate about his diaper! Yesterday I changed him in a hurry and I guess I was more distracted than I realized bc I noticed his pants were all wet a bit later...turns out I forgot to put a new diaper on! Eek!!

HoneyBunn24 · January 2014

I think because there is a young one potty training at day care Jacqueline is more exposed to it? But she will say "poop" and point to her diaper when she poops. I can ask her if she pooped and she will answer, but the "poop" announcement comes seconds after she goes. She doesn't tell me when she has to go though. I'm not going to rush it, but I feel like we have progress.