Need Suggestions on Getting the Poop in the Potty

I have a 2 1/2 year little man and he is fully potty trained (except night with a pull up). But he is mostly dry when he wakes up in the morning. He has older sisters that go to school and he can't wait to start! We told him that if he wanted to start school, he had to go poop in the potty and not in his pants. It seemed to work with him so far. He goes in by himself and calls us when he needs to be wiped! About 4 months and counting! Hope this helps and good luck!

E., since she is so bright and obviously knows what she is doing can you sit down and talk to her and find out why she doesn't want to go poopy on the potty? Maybe taking her out for ice cream and a girl talk would make it special enough for her to open up and feel like she is a big girl and trust mommy to help her with this. There may be some small reason that is holding her back, some little fear that you can then talk about and work out a solution for. Sometimes there is a reason why and you can help her overcome the thing that is holding her back. I think the other suggestions you recieved are great and in comination with talking to her should work. Good luck.

I had a similar problem with my daughter...What seemed to change her attitude about it was. I took her to the store and let her pick out her favorite pair of undies..and told her as soon as she made it X amount of nights and days with out accidents she could have them.

Sorry i am not more help..

Hi E., I agree with Diane. My 9 year old did the same thing. She would pee on the potty no problem. But she held her poop, until she had a pull up on. We finally said forget the pull up and we just had to deal with the laundry. It took about a week, but she finally realized that I wasn't going to give in and put a pull up on her. One thing we did was get one of those plastic sheets. I would put a fitted sheet on the bed, then the plastic sheet than another fitted sheet. That way if she wet in the middle of the night we could take off the top fitted sheet and the plastic one and the bed still had another sheet on it. Made for easy changing in the middle of the night.
Good Luck,
T.

E.-

I used bribery with my son. He got going pee within 2 days, but would go hide to go poop, so I took him to the store and let him pick out a toy. He picked out a toy and we put it back on the shelf and then I told him that when he went poop on the potty and never again in his pants, we'd go back to the store and he could bring the toy home. It worked in little under a week. Good luck!

E.,

I had the same problem with my son. Finally I told him when the pack of pull up were gone, he was done going in his pants. At first he continued to do it in his underware until he realize I was not giving in. Also, I put my son to bed at 8:00pm, then I stayed up until 10:00. I always got him up and put him on the toliet before I went to bed. Most of the time he slept through it. When I got up in the morning, first thing I did was get him up to the toliet. It took me one weekend and he gave up, and began going in the potty. I kept up the night time potty schedule until he was about 3 1/2 almost 4 we rarely had accidents. It is a control issue, once you and your husband are 100% sure you will not go backward and return to the pull up, she will come around. Good luck.

Hi E.! I just told my poopy story on Jessica G's question about going potty. Check it out - it worked for us. Good luck!

A.

E. -

I think you answered your own question by your comments.

Your daughter "has complete control over bowel and bladder."

"(except overnights because she still wears pull ups). "

She's soooo smart and knows that if she waits till diaper time - she isn't responsible for anything - mom will take care of it.

Gotta get rid of the pull up.

Yeah - it's a tough call, much harder on the parents than the child. And yes - you will have to endure more laundry - but not for long. Three year olds GET IT very quickly.

If she has to sleep in a cold bed - she will not be happy and this behavior (hopefully) will stop quickly.

When we went to only underwear, it took about 2 weeks before my son was able to hold it all night long. He HATED messing up his bed.

To make things easier for us, we layered his mattress. Mattress pad, sheet, protective layer, towels, another sheet, etc. That way, when we had to make the change in the middle of the night, we just peeled layers off. Also, it was my son's responsibility to help change his bed and toss the wet bedding for laundry. Yes, it was three in the morning, but he learned and helped and we quickly stopped this behavior.

Good Luck to you! It's a LOT of work, but soooooo worth the effort!

D.
milwaukee wi

Hi E.!
I'm afraid I have no advise to give...just empathy.
We are in almost the same exact situation with our 3 1/2 yr. old daughter. Since she can't make it through the night without wetting the bed yet, I am reluctant to take away the Pull-Ups. With 2 yr. old twins (one who soaks through his diaper every night anyway) and our washer and dryer located at my parents house, I can't afford the extra laundry or the loss of sleep to change her bed 2-3 times during the night. However, my daughter did share with me that she wouldn't poop on the potty because she couldn't squat to get the poop out. How do you argue with that?! We have tried just about everything else, and she has pooped on the potty on a few occasions, but she remains stubborn about the process. If we push too much, it may have adverse affects as we have experienced with other issues. For now, I am encouraging DH to be patient, DD to poop on the potty and limiting the number of Pull-Ups we buy (she is allowed 2 per day and if she runs out before grocery time, too bad). Please keep me posted on how this goes for you and if you get it figured out, let me know please. Don't worry, she won't start middle school still needing to poop in the Pull-Up.

I can entirely simpathize with you on this subject. My son was 5 1/2 before he would poop on the potty for us. We had tried all of the above and more. He had gotten to the point where pull ups and diapers were out of the question. We were at our wits end. Patience ran thin. We talked to his pediatrician and the best advice I was given helped us out. Children should have 2-3 bowel movements in a day one in the morning, one after lunch (sometimes), and one after dinner. Our doctor told us we needed to get a "poop" schedule going for him. Making sure they get enough fiber in their diet is important. This helps their systems to regulate and know when to poop. Now the difficult part is getting them on this schedule. Each day (for about 2-3 weeks) feed her high fiber meals, then wait about an hour (depending on her) and set her on the toilet. We did the poo poo on the potty dance when he completed the task (he like the song we made up). Being consistent with when they go on the potty is important for those 2-3 weeks because after that they will do this on their own. Right now her body is regulated to go at bed time...changing that could help. My son is now 7 going on 8 in February and this has help saved my hair (from pulling it out from frustration) and my son is now on a schedule. Those 2-3 weeks are difficult I won't tell you otherwise, but in the long run it is worth it. Good Luck with this one :)