Taking off Diaper at Naptime

I never had this problem but I remember reading in Toddler 411 that putting duct tape over the velcro/sticky tabs works for keeping a diaper on.

Gosh, how frustrating! I have no idea how to stop him except to reward him if he doesn't take his diaper off. In the meantime, have him sleep on one of those water proof pads you put over the sheets so all you have to wash is the pad. You can buy a basic one at CVS or get one in the baby section at Target that snaps onto each corner of the crib.

Me personally, I would speak to him about taking his diaper off and peeing on the bed. Tell him it is naughty to pee on the bed and he will be punished if he does it again. Check on him and make sure his diaper is still on, if go in and he's taken it off, then put it back on immediately. If he gives you a hard time, then I would put him in time-out...if that's your thing. Mine would get a spanking, but I know that's not something everyone feels comfortable doing.

Then I would start training him. He's definitely ready. He's probably been ready. I've trained four children all under the age of 2 1/2. The last one I trained was 19 months old.

First thing is to teach them what it means to go pee pee and poopies. They won't know what in the world you are talking about until they see it and feel it.

So gather up sippy cups with lots of juice, things to do like coloring books, a potty chair or seat for the toilet, some chocolate chips or m&m's, paper towels, carpet cleaner, and big boy underwear (save the pull-ups for trips to the store...not at home...those are glorified diapers...they are expensive and most kids will just go in them...I've seen kids use pull-ups for a year and all kids should be trained in a week or two not a year)

So decide a start date and make up your mind that much won't get done for about a week. Start the first day or two in the a bathroom or kitchen with linoleum floors. Strip your little man down to a t-shirt and let him run around naked. Have plenty to do while you are spending the day there. As soon as he starts to pee pee quickly put him on the potty chair or point him into the chair (if you want him to stand) If he gets any in the chair, give him one chocolate chip and cheer like a mad woman....clap and cheer like he just won a gold medal in the olympics. It will take a few times peeing on himself before he will realize the sensation that goes with it. If you see him straining to go poopies, put him on the pot. Hold him, hug him and make him sit until he goes. Most of mine I had to wait for the actual poopies to hurry and sit them down.

Poopies are more challenging because you have to really watch them and catch them at the right time. Some will be afraid at first, but they get over it after one or two times with lots of kisses while they are on the pot. Just keep telling him it's fine and you know he's scared, but you won't let anything bad happen. He will realize that it's fine.

After a day or two naked, then make a big deal about his big boy pants. You will have to remind him every 15 minutes to go pee pee in the potty not his pants. Keep changing him if he has an accident. You may even want to schedule time on the potty like every 1/2 hour.

It's great if they are on a schedule with the poopies. That makes it so much easier because you know when to start watching them closely.

I've had one that was very stubborn. Her mom would bring her over in pull-ups and the first day I told her we were going to wear big girl panties...she went poopies in her pull-up before I could get the panties. Then told me she didn't need panties because she already went. So I took her in the bathroom and calmly explained that she was a big girl, not a baby, and Miss S. didn't clean big girl bottoms. I gave her the wipes, a plastic bag and told her to clean her own bottom. She thought I was kidding and told me it was gross. I told her it was gross and Miss S. didn't like to clean it any more than she did. I helped her take off her pull-up, I helped her wipe her bottom and I showed her the nasty wipe each time and kept explaining that if she went on the potty it would be so messy and she could flush the yucky poopies down the toilet. The next day I put the panties on her and she started crying because she wanted a pull-up to go poopies. So I took her in the bathroom and held her on the potty. She cried and tried to get down, but I hugged her and kissed her face the whole time and told her that big girls go on the potty, that I was right there and nothing bad would happen. I wiped her tears and snot and kept kissing and hugging her. She finally had to go. She went and we made the biggest ruckus. We cheered and jumped up and down and I gave her three chocolate chips. The next day was the same but not nearly as bad and by the third day she didn't care anymore.

The 19 month old tried to hold it after she started training. She would hold it and then go in the middle of the night in her diaper. AFter a week of getting up at 2 am in the morning, her mom told me about it. So I gave her a teaspoon of flax seed in a cup of yogurt and a handful of mini shredded wheats for two days firt thing in the morning...by the second day she had to go in the afternoon while at my house. I did the same thing. She didn't really fuss about it much, but she didn't want to. She went on the potty and I never had any problems with her after that.

I know this post is very long. If you have any questions, there is a wealth of information from all kinds of experienced mommies on this site. I don't mind emails either.

Believe me he's ready. Most studies now are showing that kids can be trained right around 18 months...and the longer you wait the harder it will be. I'm thinking this might be true since the last one I trained was 19 months and she did great.

My daughter has been doing this for over 6 months now.... she'll be 2 next week. I'd say first to count your lucky stars that it is only at naptime. I get this from her at naptime, bedtime, and any time during the day that I am not within eyesight. She'll come up to me buck naked, having taken off onesies, overalls, shoes, socks, etc. Then I have to go searching for the diaper and surprise she left somewhere. Then after that I second what Beth says. The only thing that works almost 99% of the time is to put them in footed pj's backwards so they zip up the back. My girl can definitely get out of the ones that snap up the back and if they don't have a tab at the top she can get out of those also. I think only twice did she manage to get out of them ones that zip with a tab. For the last few months, I have kept her in the backwards pj's all day long unless we are going somewhere where it would be absolutely ridiculous for her to have them on. Grocery store -- backwards pj's --- I just bought boots one size bigger to go over the feet! Oh...and you are also lucky he only pees... I'm not so lucky!
Oh.. forgot to add I tried the duct tape too, but it didn't work because she would just pull the diaper down like a pull up no matter how tight I made it. She's a little petite so maybe that's the reason.

put onsie on or zipper pjs on backwards so they cant get the clothes off to get the diaper off
good luck
J.

Take a pair of footed pj's and cut the feet off. Then you can put them on your little angel backwards. It works like a charm!

A.,

I had the SAME problems up until a couple of weeks ago!! My son is also 22 months and he would do this at nap and nighttime and it got a lot messier than pee on his crib, if you know what I mean! We got a couple of the Little Keeper Sleepers and now we don't have a problem. www.littlekeepersleeper.com

We tried just putting a sleeper on backwards too, but because the neck would stretch, he still got out of it, no problem. I just didn't feel good about using duct tape. But the little keeper sleeper is awesome! It's annoyiing to have to change him before nap time, but it's sooo worth not having to clean up poop from my walls anymore!!!

Hope this helps!

Amanda
mom of two crazy boys!

When I had this problem with my now-3 1/2 yr old, I used a one-piece pjs with the zipper, and cut off the feet. Then when it was nap time, I would put it on him backwards. He hated it but eventually got so annoyed from trying and just to have it on, that I think he stopped in less than a week. I put him back in his regular clothes after that and he knew if he tried again, that it would come back out. Good luck. It worked for me!!

PS -- I tried not to get too hyped up about either when he did it because I was afraid that the negative attention would reinforce the behavior.

My daughter does the same thing. We read in one of our baby books to duct tape the diaper on. It worked! I was able to reuse the tape too! Their little fingers can't pull the tape off to get to their diaper.

A.,
This sounds like a comfort issue for him try a different brand of diapers and remind everyone sleeps with a diaper and use tape before naptime to keep the diaper on. It may sound mean but duck tape can fix just about anything.Good Luck
J.

I have a 3 year old and 24month old twins. One of my twins loves to undress and then take the diaper off. I put zip up Pj on backwards and zip her up the back. It's a pain in the tushie for naps - but it works.

Have you put him in a pull-up? They have night time ones that hold a lot. My daughter will take hers off sometimes, but she has a much harder time pulling the pull-up down herself. My son is potty training, but naps and bed time are still hit or miss so he changes into a pull-up for nap and bed time. If you start your son on this now, it will be easy for when you do start potty training. But full time pull-ups before they are really using the potty can just be expensive and frustrating. If you are just using them for bed time the box will last awhile and you will do less laundry.

Buy some diaper pins and pin his shirt to his pants. Or, try overalls.

Hi, Abby. I've had the same situation with all of my kids and I'm actually going through it right now. What I've had to do is cut the feet off of an old blanket sleeper and put it on him backwards so he can't unzip it. You might have to cut a little bit out of the neck area if it comes up too high. This phase doesn't last too long. Good luck!

We have a little guy here in our daycare that does the same thing. So mom is now dressing him not only in a onesie, but usually overalls or a full body outfit that only snaps in the back at the neck. Best of luck, I had to take his pack-n-play outback to sanitize 2 times this month when mom didn't dress him accordingly, and we've never encountered this before in our 10 years of doing daycare!

Try a pull up. They don't have the tapes on the sides and might be a little harder to get off.

Hi A.,
I have a great solution for you! My husband & I invented a sleeper that toddlers cannot get out of, the Little Keeper Sleeper. I know your son is only doing this behavior at nap time - but it's worth it to put the sleeper on him to avoid the mess! Our sleeper has a zipper on the back, a neck that doesn't stretch (so they don't get their arms out) and a special snap closure system. He cannot get ot of it! Check out our website www.littlekeepersleeper.com and there's a feature article about us in today's (Sunday, March 8) Northwest Herald in te "Slice" section, p.2.

I agree, either duct-tape the diaper on or find a way to put him in clothes he can't get off to get the diaper off. At his age the best method is a deterrent!

My son did the exact same thing. Now he wears a sleep sack with feet for naptime and bedtime.
I'm not sure what I'll do when summer rolls around, but we'll figure that out when the time comes. Hope this helps!
http://www.onestepahead.com/catalog/product.jsp?productId...

My daughter did the same thing. However, she did it for bed and nap and would smear her poop! Yuck! Tried onesies. (she could get out of any clothing-so that didn't work) We did duct tape. She was able to pull it off, so we had to double tape it around. Such a stinker. At that age it is more of an impulse/bordom/curiousity thing.
We tried to potty train too because I was at my wits-end with the dirty sheets multiple times a day. Well, she is now 2 1/2 and just decided one day that she would use the potty. She went to bed w/duct tape for quite a while and only just a few months ago started sleeping without it. All you can do is let him take it at his own pace. They will use it when ready otherwise don't force it. It will only frustrate both of you and he might regress. (my daughter did this) We first introduced the potty ~18 months and let her become familiar with it whenever she wanted to sit on it. Well, now she is day trained at 31 months. So just give it time and invest in some duct tape! Good Luck!

My daughter does the same thing at night. We have been cutting the feet off the pajamas and putting them on backwards. Looks super funny, but she can't unzip it! Works in our house and no more changing the sheets EVERY DAY!
Good luck!

duct tape the diaper together

or

put a zip up outfit on him (pj's for instance) and safety pin the top (zipper) closed

or put non footed pj's on him backwards so he can't get to the zipper

Hi A.,

Our daughter did the same thing. Our solution...put the diaper on backwards. It worked for us! :)

Good luck!

My daughter went through this phase. She took off her sleeper and diaper - what a mess! I did not like putting the pj's on backwards because the way it fit around her neck or using duct tape. I found this sleeper on the web, it's called the Little Keeper Sleeper. It worked miracles and I never had to clean another dirty crib! I'm so glad I found this sleeper. It works Great!!! Check them out on the web at www.littlekeepersleeper.com.

Hi A.,
Sounds like you've got a little Harry Houdini on your hands (I have one too!).

What I found is that if I put his onesie on backwards, it made it more difficult to upsnap (although its not completely fool proof, but it does slow down the process). He may just get frustrated and not try any more.

The other option, which might be more work (but not as much as changing sheets everyday), is putting him in pajamas that zip, but put them on backwards -even just for naps. We do this at night, because our little guy could unzip himself. It looks hilarious, but he is unable to unzip footie jammies if they are on backwards.

Hope this helps.
B.