Ask Our Expert: Toddler Hates Her Nappy
What should you do when your toddler makes it quite clear that they hate wearing their nappy? Dr Pat Spungin, raisingkids.co.uk's resident child psychologist, looks at the options open to you.
Raisingkids member's problem
Every morning when our 16-month-old daughter wakes up, she takes off her nappy and speads the contents all over the place.
I have tried absolutely everything. I've tried smacking and that doesn't work. I've tried putting two body vests on her and a babygro but she has learned to loosen that and take off her nappy. I then thought it was because she was getting bored, so we took her out of her cot, baby-proofed the room and put all of her toys out for her. The next morning was a disaster, she had taken off her nappy and spread the contents everywhere.
I am really running out of ideas...and I don't know how much more of this I can handle. During the day she is always trying to get at her nappy. Even at changing time, as soon as the nappy is off, she tries to jump up and run. As soon as a new one goes on she tries to take it off.
Dr Spungin's advice
You clearly have a clever and persistent little girl, working her way through 2 body vests and a babygro! These are qualities that will serve her very well in her future life. Don’t smack her. It won’t help, She is too young to make the connection between something she did earlier and the smack you give her now. Also there are better ways to get children to comply than smacking.
Let’s consider the possibilities;
Eating Earlier
She dislikes having a nappy on, both day and night. A good first step would be to make to try and make sure that in the morning her nappy is only wet and not soiled. Could you perhaps change the time of her last meal of the day, so that she ‘fills’ her nappy a little later in the morning.
Look And Learn
It might also be a good idea to ask if you can sit in on a nursery session one morning and watch what is going on and see if you agree with their comments.
No Means No
Remember when she spreads the contents around, for her it is just another substance and she doesn’t have the reactions that we have as adults. There is certainly no intention to upset or annoy you, nor is she being ‘naughty’. During the day she can make the connection between your displeasure and taking off her nappy. When she tries to remove her nappy, hold her hand firmly, don’t smack, look her in the eye and in a firm voice (Don’t shout) say ‘No!’ and then try to get her involved in something else – something she really likes like a special toy or book.
Hot And Bothered
Is she hot? Or possibly a bit sore?
Potty Time?
It is possible since she dislikes her nappy so much and she is intelligent, you could try to toilet train her. In the UK some mothers are training their children from the first few weeks and it may be that you can have her out of nappies at least during the day. Take a look at this feature and look at the pages on toilet training and see if she is showing signs of being ready to use a potty.
Zip It Up!
A final thought: At night if it is not too hot, put her in a sleeping bag with a zip up the back and she won’t be able to get at her nappy in the morning. Encourage her to call for you when she wakes up so you can get her to a potty or remove her nappy in time. Also what time does it happen? If it’s just a few minutes before you wake up then maybe get to her a little earlier.
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