out of control

Hello my name is nicole.  I have a cousin that is five years old and she went to the bathroom and had a bowel movement and she smeared it in the carpet on the walls.  Now my sister and I were talking, and we think that has some other significance than just being bad. Now her mother and father are not together and we thought it was just for attention but I have a three year old and she has never did anything like that before.  And she also knows not to touch the stuff either!  I am very concerend about her well being and I was thinking that it might have something to do with being malested and I might be totally off base here but I want to make sure that I cover all of them.  I am trying to get all of my fact straight so I don't approach my uncle in the wrong way because I think he will take offense to my concern. Thank you for your time nicole

[SL345]

Fecal smearing in a 5 year old can happen for a lot of different reasons, not necessarily because of abuse. Often children who smear their feces also have other emotional or behavioral problems. They may have trouble with self control or anger management. They may be anxious, too. If it happened only once, hopefully her parents dealt with it in a way that taught her not to do it again. If it happens again, talk to your cousin about what she is doing. Ask her to tell you what she was thinking and feeling. Tell her that it's unhealthy and how it makes you feel. If it keeps happening, then her parents need to bring her to a doctor to figure out why she keeps doing it. You're a really good cousin!