5 year old that intentionally poops in a diaper

[karlisha]

     I am babysitting a little girl who poops in a diaper.  Now she doesn't always wear one.  She pee pees in the toilet but when it is time for her to poop, she has to put a diaper on, poops in it and makes whomever is taking care of her, clean her up and put her regular underwear back on.  I think it is a behavior issue.  She isn't the sweetest, unfortunately.  How do I go about getting her to go to the bathroom right?  If she was my child, I have the answer of what I would do but I am just her after-school babysitter and it is a touchy situation with her mom (great woman but I think she is embarassed by it).  Help!

[Autistic4Life]

I am aware that this post is very very old and probably dated by now, but I post my response for the sake of someone else who may still read this dated post.  The behaviors described in this post sound very very much to me like a child that could have a severe case of constipation!  If there is a large mass inside her, it will hurt to bend herself on the toilet, so by either laying down or squatting even she can relieve herself without as much pain as bending and scrunching her abdominal area on the toilet.  Something like this should be immediately seen by a licensed professional!  Problems like this untreated can lead to lifelong damages, and in some rare cases even death!  Do not take such behaviors lightly ever!  These behaviors are not normal, and there has to be something making the child want to lay down in a diaper instead of the much more convenient and clean way of using a toilet.  The alarm went off for me when you said she would urinate in the toilet but not defecate.  All childish joking aside, let's be medically serious here: Yes, it sounds gross, rather very gross, but this is a serious medical condition that must be treated immediately!  Situations like this put a child's self-esteem into great jeopardy!  If this same child is still having issues with bedwetting, still, then she may still have a large mass of undigested stool putting pressure on her bladder and causing her bladder to leak.  A common mistake is to assume that because a child has stools (poops) still there is no blockage, but in scientific facts more watery or looser, softer, matter may seep around a solid mass.  Anytime an older child begins to develop toileting troubles you should take them right away to see the doctor!  And you tell that licensed professional every detail about everything the child is doing and how they are doing it.  Talking to your doctor is like searching for something on the internet: you have to provide the right information to get the correct response.  Doctors are not mind readers, and often a lack of sufficient information leaves a doctor to only guess what he's dealing with.  You must tell the doctor every detail, and if they act busy, you get in their face and tell them they took an oath to help your child and they won't move on until they hear everything you have to say to them, or they can talk to your lawyer instead!  The last part is an empty threat, but, I'm sure it will make them sit back down and listen to you.  Get these things properly and fully diagnosed.  It sounds like the symptoms of a serve bowel blockage that is causing this poor humanbeing severe pain and discomfort, to the point she has no choice but to lay down to relieve herself.  Boy or girl, if anyone reading this has a child with similar symptoms get that child to a specialist immediately and do not hesitate!  A problem like this can cause permanent physical damage to a developing body!  I say emphatically again, Do not hesitate!  Take the child to a licensed professional specialist immediately!  I certainly hope that my posting this reply helps anyone who may be confused about such behaviors and completely unaware of the possible severe dangers that behaviors like this may indicate.  It is not toilet refusal or regression if the child still urinates in the toilet but begs to use a diaper to defecate in... get the child to a specialist *immediately* and go from there.

[KillingtonRob]

if you are still babysitting her and still of this problem....i know that this is a concern and i think your are right but you can't do nothing about it and it's up to her parents....well you can talk to her Mom and say here is what i think but after you say what you think..then you need to say whatever you decided to do i will back you up 100%