Help 3 Year Old Smeared Poop on His Bedroom Door

I feel your pain!!! LOL!!! When my youngest girl was between 1 year and 18 months she would put her fingers in her mouth to vomit... the Pedatrician asked what my reaction was, I said I would get upset, he said to ignore the behavior. I thought yea right, your not the one cleaning up puke 5 times a day... but I did and it time she stopped. Then she moved on to the poop. She was QUEEN of poop smearing when she was 2 almost 3 years old. Thank god it was a phase and passed fairly quickly. There were days I wanted to strangel her. Nobody wants to wake up to clean a room re-painted in poo. LOL! I cant tell you how many times she used her poop as a weapon or as a paint medium. She would even poop in the tub. Id have the 3 of them in the tub and one would start screaming "poo poo" and sure enough she had pooped and was smearing it on the bath tub walls. Id have to 1 by 1 wash them off and clean the shower and tub walls. If we punished her for some thing, she would poop and smear it where ever she was in time out; if I turned my back. She would get bored at nap time and paint the walls in it. I finally realized she was feeding off the reaction again. Nothing is worse than poo! I finally stopped reacting and made her help me clean the mess. She hated cleaning it and it was no longer fun for her because she didnt get the "OMG I HATE THIS... STOMP STOMP STOMP" fit from me any more! Your son also might just be acting out, testing what your reaction is.

He could just be bored and experimenting... its a new texture and medium to creat his art. In my little girls case, she has ADHD. She wants to experiance every thing. She thinks its the greatest thing to flood the toilet to watch the water spill all over the floor. Ripping the pages out of books is another favorite pass time. She likes the sound the paper ripping makes. She dosent do these thing all the time to make me mad, she just craves the stimulation. If you find him doing naughty stuff try to re-direct him. Things that have worked for me are: when she floods the toilet I make her help me clean the water up and explain to her that it ruins the floor and if she wants to hear the water we can fill up a cup in the sink and she can pour it out. When she wants to rip the books, I give her paper bag to tear up over the trash can. I know these are not always practical options, and in situations where redirection does not apply and reasoning dosent work punishment such as loss of a favorite toy for the day might be a good option.

You did every thing I did to rid the smell... it just takes time to air out. In a weeks time the smell will be gone.

Patients is the key... Hang in there!

What about some baking soda?? It is supposed to absorb odors. You could also try sprinkling some on the carpet and leaving it for a while, then go back later and vaccuum it up? Just remember, this too shall pass...Maybe you can make a special one on one date (McD's for ice cream or ??) or even better yet, set one up for your son and Daddy to have a one on one talk about his behavior. Sometimes it helps to have Dad step in.

Been there, done that. My son was way worse when he turned 3 than 2. Right about the time of his 3rd bday he started doing this stuff. After you've calmed down, look around to double check. If you've gotten everything, it'll take a little time to air out. Try to not react, it's hard but he's looking for a reaction. We found that if my son had to much sugar, the next day we would have a poo mess. Almost like it caused him to lose control of it and for whatever reason he felt the need to smear it everywhere. Right at Xmas when we were supposed to be leaving to go up north to see my dad, we woke up to find poo all over the brand new furniture, living room carpet, and the bathroom walls and floor. I don't know how many times he smeared it all over his room. Just know that you aren't alone. Maybe he needs more daddy time. When your dh gets home maybe he could spend a little time relaxing and then even just 10 min reading or playing cars or something with your son. It helps a lot. And then on the weekend have them do something fun like throwing a ball out back.

Baking Soda will help get rid of the smell. You can mix baking soda, water and some dishsoap and clean the door again, and then sprinkle some baking soda on the carpet and let it sit about 30 min, then vaccum it up. This should help.

You poor thing. My neice does that too, especially when she's been sent to her room. Anyhow, my suggestion is to try baking soda. And time. All the other stuff you're using is bound to help too but time is the biggest thing.

Also, I have found that sometimes when I get a smell of something I dont like, then that smell "stays" in my nose and no one else can smell it but I am still smelling it like it is "stuck" in my nose. That might be the case - you think it's still super stinky but the smell may already be fading and not quite as bad.

Can he express himself to you? Whether verbally or in signs? Can he let you know what's bothering him? Maybe ask him when you two are having a good moment together, if he wants more time with you, if he wants more hugs, if he wants more stories, if he wants more daddy, etc. I sure hope it gets better for you!!

Hi A.,
All the suggestions are good ones, but I would have the carpets professionally steam cleaned as well. Good Luck!

My kids all did that. Melaleuca products work great if you know anyone who is a member you can order through them. Sol-u-mel would work great. (if nothing else works.) Your 3 year old may need a little extra attention. He may feel like he is left out with so much going on in his life but not sure why or what to do about it. Just make sure you set aside special time with him every day,