Smearing

[Cariad]

Three times in a week my DS 11 has smeared at night. He is awake and smears his poo everywhere, on the walls, floor,posters and legs and arms, feet, hands, nails. He laughs when I say that it's disgusting and why don't you call me when you want to go, and just go to the toilet.

 

His room reeks of poo, I've scrubbed it top to bottom and the whole of the upstairs stinks! I've asked him why he does it and he just laughs and says "I like it"..

 

Any ideas on how to stop this, I've just bleached the bath and scrubbed him, I can't get the smell out from his hands either

 

Sometimes I wish I could just walk away.

[llisa32]

Hi Cariad, I just wanted to say I'm really sorry you're having such a rough time at the moment...I wish I knew something constructive to suggest but unfortunately I don't have any experience with this sort of behaviour.

 

Just wanted you to know my thoughts are with you though... <'> <'>

 

Hopefully someone on here will be able to come up with some suggestions

 

Take care

[krystaltps]

Hi Cariad, can't help either... we did go through a very brief phase of poo-art on the walls, but it only lasted a week at the most, C is too freaked-out by poo to use it as his favourite art medium for long. But there was a thread not so long ago about this, so I'm sure some people will be on at some time soon - with good advice. <'>

[ellisisamazing]

Poor You, Cariad <'>

 

Lucky for us, it has only happened twice and both times it was cause El removed his PJ's and Nappy and sat down on the laminate (thankfully) floor and left streaks as he was playing (it was early morning and I woke up to this), he was actually a bit stressed at the mess and hopefully it won't happen again, cause it is horrible and you're right, the smell lingers......

 

Hopefully this will pass, I hope so...Good Luck!

 

Lisa xx

[Clare63]

Oh Cariad, poor you, so difficult to understand such behaviour and so frustrating and hard work with the cleaning up. Sounds to me as if it could be a control thing triggered by some anxiety, is there anything else he could be worried about totally unrelated to this, say school coming to an end I see he is 11 is he starting a new school in September, or perhaps a holiday away from home ?

Hope you get this sorted very soon and that someone will come along here with some good suggestions failing that I believe you should speak to your GP or your sons specialist/CAMHS etc

 

<'> <'> <'>

 

Clare x

[becci]

hi,i would suggest just dont say anything to him when he does it.ignore it completely,bring in a bucket and a cloth clean it,then walk away.

dont give the chance for a reaction from you or him.

also white vinegar will get rid of the smell.

dilute two parts water to one part vinegar and try and soak his hands in it,then wash clean after about 5 minutes with some simple soap.

you can use the vinegar around the house too.wiffs a bit but better than poo.

good luck,it cant be pleasant. <'>

[stressedmumto2]

Hi, I am really sorry you are going through this.

 

I have recently attended a course and we were told that smearing could be related to sensory difficulties, over active sensory or under active sensory problems.

 

Is there something your son could use to smear or play with in his hands which may reduce the need for him to smear his poo, ie. paints on big sheets of paper or playdough, there is a mix you can make with flour and water which the child can dip their hands into, very messy but can be really calming. Maybe it's a smell thing an he's seeking out the strong smells?

 

Coul you do charts for him and reward him every evening when he hasn't smeared. I find with my son I have to use an instant rewardon the same day because anything further away and has to be waited for doesn't work with him. I know it's not a soloution but if it works it works.

 

Try to give him no reaction, easier said than done I know!

 

I don't know what else you can do really, but I do sympathise with you. I really couldn't do it. I'm finidng my son is having a mad one at the mo' making cake mixture under his bed or on the lounge carpet as I found the other day.

 

Is there anyway you can have an OT asessment done for sensory difficulties, if he oes have sensory difficulties as so many children with ASD then it will probably be really helpful an they may get to the route of why he is doing thsi and will be able to offer stratergies.

 

I hope you get this sorted, cake mix is bad enough <'> <'> <'>

[Alex's Mum]

ere, on the walls, floor,posters and legs and arms, feet, hands, nails. He laughs when I say that it's disgusting and why don't you call me when you want to go, and just go to the toilet.

 

His room reeks of poo, I've scrubbed it top to bottom and the whole of the upstairs stinks! I've asked him why he does it and he just laughs and says "I like it"..

 

Any ideas on how to stop this, I've just bleached the bath and scrubbed him, I can't get the smell out from his hands either

 

Sometimes I wish I could just walk away.

[Alex's Mum]

I'm new to the site.

 

It sounds terrible and you really have my sympathy. I had trouble potty training my son and it really gets you down all the poo.

 

My son smears stripey toothpaste in the bathroom and at school he was allowed to smear with shaving foam. I thought these were preferable to smearing with poo.

 

I was advised to sit my son on the toilet reading a book and just gave praise for the sitting even if he didn't do anything down the toilet.

 

Dont know if thats any help

 

Alison

[MelowMeldrew]

Three times in a week my DS 11 has smeared at night. He is awake and smears his poo everywhere, on the walls, floor,posters and legs and arms, feet, hands, nails. He laughs when I say that it's disgusting and why don't you call me when you want to go, and just go to the toilet.

 

His room reeks of poo, I've scrubbed it top to bottom and the whole of the upstairs stinks! I've asked him why he does it and he just laughs and says "I like it"..

 

Any ideas on how to stop this, I've just bleached the bath and scrubbed him, I can't get the smell out from his hands either

 

Sometimes I wish I could just walk away.

 

 

My son did this, (I recounted it here I think), he'd hide it and make a game for looking for the smell too, he was totally oblivious to it himself. When i sorted his bedroom out so it was hard to 'hide' what he was doing, he used to hide it under the bed, behind furniture, anywhere really, one place we had a job finding was un der the carpet in his bedroom, he'd pull acorner up, and smear it,then put the carpet back over it, we'd scrub the carpet pointlessly ! then he started hiding it downstairs, his favourite hiding place was in my computer cabinet ! He wrote off two printers. He did grow out of it, the key, is that my lad enjoyed the disgust he saw, so, we just made a routine of checking morning and night, and not paying too much attention to it (Hard I know !), then after a while I handed him the cleaning materials and stood over him until HE cleared it up, that worked ! When he saw there was no 'fun' in it, he stopped, but it was a year or so. Next time give him/her a cloth and make them do it....

[smiley]

Cariad <'> <'>

 

A couple of things that i've heard of -

 

If it's just a night thing....... Would you be able to stay awake for a couple of nights to break the cycle? Re-direct, etc..? This has worked for a friends son.

As others have said - Best to ignore if possible, very, very difficult to though <'>

Is he bored during the night when everyone else is asleep? Any way that could be re-directed?

 

I've also heard of having the bedroom painted in some very heavy duty, non-porous, paint. Laminate flooring, and very little else - so, at the very least - you can clean a little easier.

 

I've also heard that white vinegar is great too - as is bicarbonate of soda, sprinkled onto carpets and left for an hour or so.

 

<'>

[MelowMeldrew]

I'm unsure making it easier to clean off, addresses the issue, I set out to stop it, I did clear the area around his bed and moved furniture away from the walls, so it was easier to spot. Making the culprit clean his own area was the most effective, it was hard work 'though ! one step at a time, month after month. even totally clear areas didn't stop what he was doing initially, he went from room to room

[jlp]

I have a much younger son (3 and 3/4 - nt but currently wondering about that) who smeared recently.

 

We took him to the GPs on advice of the HV incase there was something physical causing his problem (even when he didn't smear he'd poo every single day!) and he was prescibed Lactulose. I was very sceptial and really just went along with this to prove I was giving it a go but bizzarely it seems to have solved the problem and he's going to the toilet again.

 

I'm not totally sure this was a cure and it may well have been a co-incidence but maybe worth getting him checked out anyway just to double check that there's nothing physical going on?

[MelowMeldrew]

I didn't think it had anything to do with toilet training, I wasn't going to embark on that guilt trip ! it was just something he liked doing, try to ignore it, make him/her clear it up, some is attention-seeking, with most its a phase.....

[Cariad]

Thanks all, I have the OT and my social worker coming out and they "might" give me a grant to plaster his walls and put lino on the floor etc, my SW saw the room and noticed the wallpaper and the smell still lingers, also I filmed an "episode" to show her. So fingers crossed!

[NikkiSmith]

My 4.5yr old does this repeatedly and his room. He now has lino down, as the carpet didn't survive, his bed is an adult-sized little tikes car one (so plastic and easily steamed and scrubbed!) his walls gets washed and repainted frequently and his curtains go in the washing machine too.

 

I highly recommend steam cleaning anything in his room that you can as it gets rid of it.

 

Am definitely going to try the white vinegar thing too - the smell of that has got to be better!

 

Anyone have any magical ways to get rid of the smell on his breath? he fights teeth cleaning at the best of times, he won't use mouthwash, suck mints, nothing! It's revolting, but he doesn't seem to understand that this is a truly gross thing to be doing!

 

I hope the OT & SW do something to help! It's good that they have smelt the problem too.

 

 

Good luck,

Nikki.

[Neil Young]

Have a look here.

 

http://www.nas.org.uk/nas/jsp/polopoly.jsp?d=734&a=8482

 

 

Try to get a copy of The Parent Survival Manual by Eric Schopler

"This practical guide is complied from 350 family anecdotes and offers effective solutions to various behaviour problems such as aggression, communication, perseveration, play and leisure, eating and sleeping, and toileting and hygiene".

 

Good luck and it will come good.

[Neil Young]

Forgot this!

 

http://www.autism-together.org.uk/challenging_behaviour.pdf

[Cariad]

Thanks Neil, great links there.

[forbsay]

Hi

 

Sending you lots of hugs

 

My son used to do this when he was younger. Someone suggested to me to get all in one swimsuits with the zip on the front. They also told me not to give him a reaction when i was cleaning the mess up - which is really really hard not to react to.

 

Take care

 

Forbsay