My 2.5 year old son is into changing his own diaper now.

[Zing Zing Zingbah]

I think it's good that he doesn't like the feeling of a dirty or wet diaper, but it's really awful when he takes off his own poopy diaper. He has been doing this a lot lately, and he makes a really big mess when he takes off his poopy diapers. He does the same thing with disposable training pants too.

I put him in a diaper when he takes a nap, and also when we leave the house, because the only time he'll use the potty right now is when we let him run around the house naked. He hasn't gotten to the point where he asks to use the potty, but if he's naked, and he has access to a potty, he will use it instead of going on the floor. He doesn't ask to get his diaper changed either. I'm not sure how I can get him to start asking his dad and I for help with these things.

Also, I've tried putting him in underwear when he is at home and he'll either go in them like diapers, or he'll refuse to leave them on (in this case he'll use the potty). He's kind of unpredictable with the underpants.

I might be going back to work at the beginning of August, and he'll be in daycare then. I just wonder what will happen with his potty training then. This is why I was trying to get him used to wearing underpants around the house, instead of going naked. I kind of gave up on trying to get him to wear the underpants after only a short period of time because it creates a lot of dirty laundry. Currently, we do not have a washer and dryer in our apartment, so washing clothes all the time is really inconvenient. The good thing is we will be moving May 31st to an apartment that has a washer and dryer included. I think I'll try the underpants thing again when after we move.

I hoping he'll be able to go to daycare with some slightly older kids that are potty trained. I think he might get it if he got to see another child using the potty.

[trotsky]

1. Yeah, our daughter started doing that around that age.

I'll never forget the first time it happened. I had turned off water to the house so I could replace our tub faucet (no shutoff valves for it). Imagine going in to find your kid with crap all over her hands, all over her bed, and all over the carpet... and no water to work with!

Needless to say, I kicked it into high gear to get that faucet installed, my wife used a couple of boxes of baby wipes to get the worst of it, and soon we had her soaking in the tub.

Nothing in those baby classes prepares you for the nuclear waste you have to handle as a parent. I've touched more bodily fluids and products than I ever would have cared to imagine.

[Lars39]

2. Funny you should mention nuclear waste...

we dubbed particularly bad diapers Chernobyls.:D
And you're right, there isn't anything to prepare you for the worst of the worst.

[RaRa]

3. Sigh, my almost 4 yr old is too

except when it's poop filled. Then I get the honors. When oh when will he care? I've put him in underwear and he simply doesn't care if it's pee filled and his legs drenched. He does seem to mind (sometimes) if it's poopy though. He's slowing my 2 year old daughter down. She was almost completely potty trained by 19 months and then she decided that it would be cool to bend over and be wiped like her big brother. And no, there isn't any older role model to encourage my son and he won't be going to preschool, at least not this year. I honestly cannot imagine life without changin diapers. "sigh" again.

[phylny]

4. Options:

1) Put your child in overalls or short overalls, on backwards, with the straps crossed in the back. It's really difficult for a child to remove any clothing that way.

2) Make it your child's responsibility to clean up the messes. No, your child can't clean up all the poop, but he or she can put the poopy clothes in a bag and bring it to the laundry, and can mop up pee.

We were really fortunate. All three girls were totally trained at age two.

[RaRa]

5. Great ideas if they'll work

My almost 4 yr old is extremely strong willed (broke a hole through his bedroom door during a time out today). He won't wear overalls and I've delayed cleaning him up when he's poopy - saying "hey if you'd used the potty this wouldn't be a problem" (well, words to that effect). I've learned that it's all a control issue and you can't make an issue of it. They will do it when they want to. At least that's the case, I believe with an older child. You can certainly encourage and guide the younger ones. My child's constipation problems have also contributed to this delay problem. Oh, hell, I was almost three when I was trained (back when kids were much younger at this stage), and the youngest and a GIRL no less. I should have been potty trained by 6 months, damn it!!

Sorry, I've been thoroughly beaten by this thing. I cloth diapered until they were about 2 1/2 each and still no relief. Oh well, I guess you need someone to balance out that bell curve!