Afraid of "Poop"

Have you read the book "everybody poops"? My boys love it! It is all about how everything that eats poops, and how it is all normal.

Hi J.;
I would suggest not refering to her "poop" at all as slugs even in humor. Get her a body book as age appropiate as possible and show her the food process as it enters the mouth, goes through the stomach and the good nutrients get taken into the blood stream to make the body grow and become beautiful and strong. The things the body does not use, it cannot not stay in the body, it has to leave, go bye bye and this is how it leaves the body. Show her the digestive system and how the poop is made and when she goes poop it is that, food mixed up that the body does not need. You need a book with a complete digestive system so you can show her from beginning to end what happens to the food. Call it what it is, not anything else. You can also tell her that the body can only use a little bit of food at a time because it will go bad, and if it goes bad, it will make her sick so it gets rid of get in the form of poop. Show her with baby food, mix it up or better yet, get regular food that she gets, pretend the blender it her stomach, mix it up, take half of it and say that her body uses half to make her strong, and grow up and be beautiful and the other half, it doesn't have room so it has to make it go out, through her anus, in the form of poop. Show her the other half and say that is all poop is, food, that has gone through her body and it smells cuz poop smells. See if this helps.
Good luck!

Try the "Everybody Poops" book. It actually shows drawings of all sorts of animals pooping. It is tasteful, but educational.
"Everybody eats so everybody poops."

There is a chance that she things this only happens to her... Show her when you poop. Seriously. You never know what a 2 year olds concept of reality is... :)

I've never heard of anything like that before. Do you think another child may have said something to her to make her scared of it? I wonder, and this will sound gross, if she watched you go??? Maybe just having her watch your reaction that you are not scared might make her feel better. Say something like..." oh mommy feels soooo much better" Also, do you notice if her stool is especially hard? Does it hurt her to go?
There are also several good potty training books out there that will show this is normal and all boys and girls go poo...mommy's too.
Good luck, I've never dealt with anything like that before...so those were just thoughts

Have you tried an anatomy class? When my brother was 3, he thought "that thing" made him wet his pants, until Mom explained the water-in-pee-out concept at his level, and he was trained that day.

So maybe find a picture of the digestive tract and explain what happens to our food after we swallow it. I know there is a set of felts available that show internal organs--the hands-on method might help.

I used to own a daycare & found that if you lay 2 or 3 pieces of toilet paper (still connected) on the water before they go - the water doesn't splash onto the kids...that helped take away part of the scariness.

I would try reading a book with her about the body and how things work. Worth a try.

Try the book "Everyone Poops" and maybe even letting her in the bathroom with you, just to normalize the fact that she needs to go to the bathroom. Aside from the fact that it is frightening for her, it is also not medically healthy for her to hold it. Talk to her doctor as well. He probably has some tips.

There is a book out for children called "Everybody Poops." I would start there. Also, sounds like she has a sister - could be helpful to have her see that her sister poops and that it's no big deal. I'm sure you've already explained to her exactly what poop is....at two, she's old enough to hear that but I think the book would help in that regard. Poor sweetie, that must be frightening for her - good luck!

I have a niece who was afraid to poop as well. I don't know if she was afraid of the poop, or just how she felt when she went. Anyway, my brother- and sister-in-law had a very hard time getting her to go (this was when she was 2 and 3 years old). They finally had to get some suppositories from their pediatrician to soften her stool so she would have to go. I don't know how long she was using them, but now she's 7 and she goes just fine! I hope this helps! Have you read her the book "Everyone Poops?" Good Luck!
-S.

I had a similar problem with my son. He REFUSED to #2 in the tiolet, so my sister bought him a Bob th Builder toilet seat insert for kids. She told him the tractors would eat his poop. He was so excited about that, he was going in no time. Don't know if this will help you, but it might make you laugh...