Hands in her pants - help!
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| Tue, 11-15-2005 - 11:23am |
Hello everyone,
My DD, Sylvia (nearly 4) is not yet out of pullups. She sits on the potty willingly at home and usually pees or poops in it whenever she sits on it. But she does not tell me when she has to go (waits for her "scheduled" visits) and REFUSES to use the potty at school. So she's still in diapers.
Our problem is that recently -- meaning over the last few days -- we've noticed that she constantly has her hands down her diaper. It's been a real problem a couple of times when she's had a poop in her diaper while alone in her room, and by the time I go up to see her it's a big mess (which doesn't seem to bother her, by the way). But just this morning I got a phone call from her teacher at school, who says that the problem is escalating there -- she said that every time she looks at Sylvia, her hands are in her diaper. It's a big problem at school because it's not hygienic -- they have to take her to wash her hands every time they see her like this, because they don't want her touching the toys etc.
As a short-term solution we've agreed to find onesies or bodysuits for her to wear -- which I hate doing because it makes it more difficult to potty, but we need to solve the immediate problem. I haven't ruled out a medical issue, and will talk to her ped, but I wanted to ask: have any of your kids done this??? Is this a kind of stimming? Or is it just that she's recently discovered something she likes? Any advice on what to do about it?
Thanks for any help...
Jennifer

Could she have a yeast infection? I know my sisters little girl(NT) who is also 3 often puts her hands down her pants. She also lays on the floor and "grinds", I can't think of a better word to describe it.Her ped told my sister that putting hands in her pants and grinding on the floor were all normal kid stuff.I myself thinks it's some sort of stim.
Teresa
I suggest looking into the yeast thing as well.
Samantha
That's a good point... I'll call the ped today.
Jennifer
i agree with the others about looking into the yeast thing.
but if it's not, know that i am in the same boat as you. with matt i think it's a sensory thing. matt often does it when he is going to urinate, probably likes the warm sensation. so i can somewhat tell when he needs to use the potty from that. same thing with poop, but that is after it's done. so, he needs to be watched and changed immediately.
do you think she might understand being told that it's something you can do in private? i know we're not at a point where he would understand.
gl, valerie
It doesn't appear to be yeast... I put some jeans on her today with a fairly tight waistband. She hadn't worn them in a while because I was deliberately trying to put clothes on her that were easy to pull off, for potty training, and these she definitely needs help with. But anyway, since she couldn't access her diaper region, she didn't put her hands anywhere near there this morning -- not even to try to rub through her pants -- and she didn't appear at all uncomfortable. I think it's probably a compulsive behavior. I wish we could give her something else to do with her hands -- she loves to rub her waffle-weave blankie between her fingers while at home -- but they don't allow any personal items like that at school. (Although if it keeps her hands out of her diaper -- and therefore sanitary -- perhaps they'd be willing to bend the rules.)
That's interesting that Matt does it before he has to urinate... Perhaps it's the same with Sylvie. I'll have to keep my eye out for it (and let the folks at school know, too) and maybe it can be a way to move along the potty training...
At this point I think I'll have to go the onesie route, to physically stop her from doing it (at least while she's at school), and "retrain" her fingers do find something else to do. Then, hopefully we'll be able to stop using the onesies once the compulsive behavior seems to be gone...
Jennifer
I think it is definitely worth a try to talk to the school about allowing her to bring her blankie. I would think rubbing the blankie is a preferred habit in this case - worth a shot.
GL,
Christie
jen,
i also don't see why she couldn't bring that. there is a little guy on matt's bus who goes to st. james and has his blanket.
No kidding! Maybe what I can even do is cut one of her blankies down to handkerchief-size (we have 1/2 doz. blankies, all the same color/material). Then I can even pin it to her clothes somewhere so it doesn't get lost at school, which I think is the main reason they don't like the kids bringing in personal items... Worth a shot, especially since NO ONE appears to sell onesies in her size, and I'm not eager to go to The Children's Place and spend a fortune on snap-under shirts.
Thanks!
Jennifer