Potty Training - Athens,GA

Updated on March 09, 2008
C.L. asks from Athens, GA
24 answers

My 3 yr old little girl will not poopy in the potty, only pee pee! She knows when she has to go and will ask to put on a pull up so she can go poopy. We have tried several suggestions but nothing is working. My latest approach is "if you'll go poopy in the potty you can get your ears pierced (she's been begging to get them pierced). We've tried telling her that there are no more pull-ups and we can't buy anymore in her size. Any more suggestions?

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So What Happened?

Still no Poopy in the Potty! I know its not going to happen overnight but I got no where with her. I've tried many of your suggestions and I will keep trying. She knows that there are "poopy prizes" in the basket in the bathroom closet and she knows she gets to make "magic water" with the food coloring and that I will read to her. Everytime she needed to go she would ask for a pull-up and I would very casually and calmally remind her about the potty and the prizes and so forth and all she wanted to do was see, have, or hold the prizes. I finally let her hold the prize and sit on the potty and that's as far as we got, no poopy! I will keep trying and I love the idea of the "Poopy Party" so I will try that next if no luck. I'm just going to take it slow and give her more time. Thanks again it has really helped me to hear from all of you!

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N.P.

answers from Savannah on

I used treats to teach my daughter to pee and poop in the potty. I took two of my daughters favorite treats and put a small treat in one ziploc bag and a bigger treat in the other ziploc bag. She got a small treat (one skittle) for pee and a big treat (juice box) for poop in the potty. I tacked the bags in front of the toliet on the wall so she could see them but high enough so she couldn't reach them. And those were the only times she got those treats. After about a month she didn't care about the treats anymore she just went potty out of habit.

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C.C.

answers from Atlanta on

When my daughter who is now 2 1/2 years old, started potty training, we had a "big girl box" which we filled with little fun sized candy bars, small toys, etc. Each time she went potty she got to pick one thing out of the box. We have used this for about 1.5 months now and it is still working and my little girl is almost potty trained! Hope this helps!! And good luck!

C.

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E.M.

answers from Memphis on

C.,

What we did was put a candy dispenser next to the potty and everytime he went he would get one M&M. If he pooped he got two. I would try something that is an instant gratification, something small like candy or stickers. (even a board for her to put her stickers on might help her feel like she is doing a great job! Best of luck! If that doesn't work I would try even smaller steps. When she tells you that she needs to go potty give her one and then when she actually goes you can reward her with another.

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G.H.

answers from Macon on

C....My daughter also is 3( turned 3 in may)She too was having this problem,She had just began tt-ing the potty about 6 weeks ago,the first 2 weeks she would not poopy,would wait until I put a pull up on her to nap,or go out..anyway,I went and bought a bucket (literally) of ring pops from sams.hoping this would entice her...nothing for a few days,even though I stored them in my bathroom for her to see. She would beg for one after tt-ing,but I never gave in. Then one day,on her own she went and was so proud,and of course demanded her reward...this went on for a week ,with her getting the ring pops,after about 2 days of it though she did'nt always demand a reward and when she did,she would only suck on it a few minutes and lay it down on my dresser(a lil messy),I would always go behind her and without her seeing me,throw them away...So far ,so good,the only problem is,I have a half a bucket left...LOL...she does not ask for one anymore as a reward..Hope this helps,trust me,in time she will go..try not to stress...G.

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D.H.

answers from Johnson City on

I had this problem to with my son when he was 2 he'd pee pee but would hide until after he poopy and then come tell us and we started trying to potty train him 6 months before he started preschool but once he started preschool at 2 1/2 he is now 4 and he watched other kids go to the bath room and he did what they did and started poopy after that. I had asked his doctor about it cause if he kept poopy in his pants he couldn't stay in preschool and the doctor said once he started preschool the "peer pressure" or "monkey see monkey do" should help and it did. Good luck!!!

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M.B.

answers from Biloxi on

Hi C.! I have a 5 year old and for her, we made a potty chart and taped it in the bathroom. It had her Name on it really big and all the days of the week in Chart form. Everytime she went potty, she got a sticker. She had two types of stickers...little smiley faces for when she went pee pee and big cartoon character stickers for when she went poo poo. Let them pick out what stickers they want. After going potty and they get their sticker, let them post it on the potty chart. It's a constant reward and praise for them and they feel like they are involved by placing the sticker on their chart. With the chart taped in the bathroom where they are able to reach it of course, they can see their progress and know that they have made an accomplishment. It worked with my daughter and one of my good friends tried it on her daughter after she told me she was having problems and after she made the potty chart, it took her all of two weeks to get her little girl potty trained. It Works!!! I swear by it!

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C.L.

answers from Atlanta on

If your daughter is wearing underwear all the time, she is not supposed to have pull ups at all, i potty trained my son in a weekend, and it gets messy, but according to an article, no diapers after you start the process, kids get confused . she will do it eventually, when wearing the underwear, she will hate the feeling, pay close attention and as soon as she stars pushing to go poopy, take her to the toilet and let her finish on it, do it all the time, it works, good luck.

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K.G.

answers from Savannah on

When she ask to for a pull-up so that she can do #2 just put her on the potty. Constantly let her know that big girl don't wear pull-up so she must use the potty. if she knows when she has to then put her on the potty until she does #2 then reward her when she knows she has done good.

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A.B.

answers from Knoxville on

My oldest girl would not go to the potty, I tried stickers, toys, candy, etc... Then I got some food coloring and told her it was magic potty water. I let her decide which color she wanted and she put a drop or two in the toilet and then she would go potty. She loved the colors and the idea and she used the potty from then on!

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A.T.

answers from Memphis on

I have a 3 yr old myself and went through the same thing and this may sound bad but it worked for my daughter. She wanted to use a pull up to go poopy as well and someone told me to just let her go in her panties and the disconfort was so bad that she started using the toilet for everything. she went poopy in her pants maybe twice and then we did not havev any problems after that. good luck

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S.J.

answers from Nashville on

I know i may not be much help since i have a 2 and a half year old that is still potty training, but it sounds like your daughter is already potty trained since she knows when she has to use the bathroom but just prefers poooing in a pullup. Some sugestions i have is maybe try telling her the #2 isnt something to be ashamed of and that everyone does it. Another sugestion is maybe taking her to the store to pick out some big girl panties for herself or rewarding her with a treat when she does poop on the potty. well, Good luck and i hope i was some help.
Huggss from S.

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M.H.

answers from Atlanta on

Maybe your little girl is doing this because of the new baby. Try spending a block of time with your daughter each day that is just her time. During that time look her in the eye and just talk. Talk about why she still wants to poopy in her pull ups. Tell her how proud of her you would be when she starts to poopy in the big potty instead of the pull ups. When she asks for a pull up just tell her to try and sit on the potty to poopy and mommy will read her a story while she is on the potty. If she even tries to go to the potty then make a BIG deal out of it. Dance around, praise priase praise her, sing a song, go get an ice cream, etc. She will not want to go at first but keep trying and she will see this not only as "Mommy and Me" time but a great way to see mommy really be proud of her.

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R.H.

answers from Athens on

Hey there,
I also am married with 2 girls! I am 24 and my two are:
Haley is 18 months and Morgan is 4 1/2. I potty trained Morgan by taking her to the store and letting her pick out her own underwear. Don't confuse this with a bribe, they don't work. I put the My little pony underwear on top of her pull-ups. Try to put them on already together. Make sure you call them "underwear" when refering to them from now on. This way you can get her into the right mind-set. Every child knows they aren't suppose to go in their underwear. After every successful #1 give her 1 sticker and let her put it on her potty chair and after she finally does #2 give her two. This less costly method will build her self-esteem and give her the extra push to try for 2 stickers next time. When she is ready to get out of the pull-ups try to slip them off when she's asleep and act surprised in the morning when she is dry. Let her believe that the pull-up disappeared because it magically disappears when your done potty training. You don't have to do all of this, it's just what worked for me. She knows now what I did and she thinks it funny. Now she is trying to help me get Haley interested in what the potty is for. Morgan was fully potty-trained by 2 1/2. I hope I was more helpful to you then the rest. Drop me a line anytime! My email addy is ____@____.com me know if this works or if you found something better. Lots of Luck!! -R. H.

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L.S.

answers from Knoxville on

I agree with Gina. I work with kids and we have this problemall the time. Stop the pull-up. Once she realizes that you are not going to get anymore she will not ask for them. Also, we do a reward bucket. We go to party city, dollar tree and walmart to find samll toys that they would like. And, IF they do what they are suppose to do then they get a toy. But, please never give a toy unless she poops in the toilet.

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E.E.

answers from Knoxville on

Hi C. L,
I don't know if this will be helpful for you or not, but my daughter was the same way at 3...she would go pee pee, but not poo poo. We ended up telling her that she could have a "Poo Poo Party" with whatever balloons, cake, her favorite colored streamers and theme she wanted if she poo pooed on the potty...(tell everybody right away of the exciting news...or have her tell everybody if she can...family, etc. and let them know she is having her special poo poo party to celebrate...whenever convenient to you!)
The first time, I saw her sitting there and starting to go and I picked her up, pulled her pants down and placed her on the potty...needs special timing for that which one doesn't always have! We sat with her and when we saw she pooped, we both cheered like crazy and told her that we could now have the party!!!
Well, we did but she was afraid again to poop (not really her idea since I put her on there). So, my hubby promised her roller skates if she poo pooed on the potty and another party (it was with just the three of us..small to-do).
One day, not long after the first party, I was about to change her diaper and she said to me, "No, mommy. I want to get roller skates...I am going to go potty" and just like that, on her own, she went into the bathroom and pooped! When I got in there, she said, "That wasn't scary"...I guess she was feeling like it was a "scary" thing to do? Anyway, we made a huge hip hip horray deal about it and called everyone again, ordered the skates and had the "Official" Poo Poo Party again that weekend (with the leftover plates, etc. from the first and new balloons)...she even wore a party dress and I took pictures.
SO...that is what worked for us and we have not had an accident yet in bed or out. She just decided when she was ready. We don't make a huge habit of giving her "stuff" rewards, but since this was a big milestone, we did and she loved the parties.

Might be helpful? Not sure, but we were concerned too with our little one and she just did it when SHE chose to, we just gave her something to look forward to if/WHEN she did.

Good Luck!
E. E. and Maddie

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T.

answers from Chattanooga on

Stick to your guns and don't go back to the pull-ups. You may have to stay home for a few days until this gets worked out. My son will be 5 next week and my dgt will be 3 next month. My dgt has been potty tr5ained since August. They were both trained in 1-2 weeks. I would make them help clean up the mess when they made poopy in their underwear. This usually meant that they had to help dump the poopy in the potty. After only a couple of accidents, they realized how yucky it was and decided to go in the potty. Hope this helps.

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B.

answers from Augusta on

have you tried dumping her poo in the toilet when she goes in her pants? tell her that the poo belongs in the potty not her underpants. also with my son if he will sit down and try to go he gets a gummy bear, if he goes he gets 2 for pee and he gets a special wrapped present for if he poos. we have little cars for him cause thats what hes into.

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M.H.

answers from Savannah on

I had this problem with my son. He would just refuse to poop. Because he would refuse to go then it would get to the point where the poops were painfull. I got some medicine, some sort of laxative, from the doctor and although it helped it didnt solve the problem. It was more a battle of will then a problem with his bowels. Pooping was something he didnt like and he didnt want to do it. I would just sit him on the potty and talk to him. Tell him its something everyone does. This could last a LONG time. Sometimes I would have to just make him sit till he pooped and this was quite stressfull and draining and I hated it but it worked. Every time he did poop I would make a very huge deal of it. Give him alot of praise and eventually he realized he felt a lot better once it was done. For awhile I still had to remind him a couple times a week that he needed to poop but now he's doing it on his own. My problem now is he still hates poop and he refuses to wipe himself. He's 6 yrs old now and will only go at home and Im trying desperatly to get him to clean himself but Im still wipeing his bottom. How in the world do I get him to do that himself??!!

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S.D.

answers from Atlanta on

Hi C.,
I have 3 kids as per my profile. My 4yr old gave the same trouble you are having with the potty training. I asked the doctor, she said to be nice & patient with him. (I don't always listen to Dr's advice but this really encouraged me to keep trying.) This is what I've been doing: I ask him if he needs to go, eventhough he may say no, I take him to try twice a day(mid day & dinner). I sit him on the potty with his sesame st seat, place a little stool under his feet and hand him his favorite book. I leave him for privacy and tell him he's a great boy. Soon I hear him & calling me saying, "I did it , i did it, mommma".I'll say that's great, i knew you could.

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S.R.

answers from Augusta on

We forget they are little people and some things scare them. I bet she tried the potty once and water splashed on her and it scared her.
Get a potty chair that she can sit on. I will not splash and when she is a little older she will want to be a big girl and use the big potty.

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D.M.

answers from Biloxi on

If I may give you a suggestion. you probably will not like this idea but STOP giving her a pull-up!! you can do it a bit nice, get a calender and sit down with her and your husband and pick a day together when all of you will be home and then explain to her that the day y'all pick will start the day that she no longer has pull-ups and no matter what she will not be allowed to have anymore. That the day she picks will be the first day of her being a big girl from now on. You might also tell her that whenever you choose, a couple days or next week, but that she can go get her ears pierced!! But then you and everyone else has to stick to the plan NO MATTER WHAT!!! I promise if you stick with it it will work.. Good Luck

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F.W.

answers from Nashville on

Yes. I have a suggestion. When your daughter asks for a pull up to go potty, tell her ok. Show her the pull up and say, "I'll put it on, but first, lets go poopy in the potty". Take her to the bathroom, sit her on the potty and read her a book. After she goes, don't forget to congradulate her on her accomplishments and put on her pull up! The pull up is all she wants, let her being able to wear it be her prize! Good luck!

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R.J.

answers from Atlanta on

If she like to watch the TV let her sit on the potty in front of the TV for a while everyday or as much as you can. when I wa potty training my kids I did that but I sat a played with them or watch TV with them while they sit on the potty. If she does anything in the potty let her through it in the toilet herself and also let her know that is where it goes.

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B.S.

answers from Atlanta on

Honestly...the only thing that worked for my son was to STOP making a big deal out of it. I think all the sticker charts, prizes, and parties gave him performance anxiety.

I simply told him Mommy wasn't buying anymore pull ups now that he knew how to use the potty and let it go at that. When he whined about it I simply told him if he had to go potty then go do it and tell Mommy when he was done and needed help wiping.

I stopped talking about it. I stopped reading books about it. And I stopped escorting him to the bathroom.

After 3 days of that he was pooping in the potty like a champ!

The only thing here is to pay attention (w/o her knowledge) to make sure she doesn't simply hold it in. If she does do that she may get constipated. So if she tries to out stubborn you slip her a small dose of Fletcher's Children's Laxative to keep her from getting bound (it's natural and will not give her cramps or gas).

GOOD LUCK!

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