My daughter is 26 months old and has started to show an interest in using the potty for the past few weeks. She has been very successful at peeing on the potty but I have only gotten her to poop on the potty once. She is extremely hesitant and holds it until she can go later in her pull up or training pants. Any sage advice would be much appreciated.
Hi A.,
We got him to go poopee by giving him interesting books to look at while he sat there and waited for it to happen. He really liked that and it worked for him. If that doesn't work, try some kind of small reward system.
Diana
Hi I am a mother of twins and this was an issue for me as well. I think the pooping is one of the last skills they learn with potty training, I have found this to be true with many other moms as well. I think you are doing pretty well if she is interested at 26 months! With all the books I've read they say kids won't usually be consistent and stick with it until about 30 months (2 1/2 yrs old). So don't get discouraged if she shows alot of interest now and then suddenly doesn't want to pee on the potty anymore. They can be wishy washy, and you can just wait a couple of weeks and an introduce it again.
The thing I did with the pooping was if I saw them trying to go in their pull ups I would just lead them into the bathroom but still let them go in the pull up. Then gradully after a week or so I would tell them they could keep their pull up on but they had to sit on the potty and go poop in the pull up. Then after another week or so I still let them keep the pull up on but I pulled it down just enough for the poop to fall in the toilet. Soon after that they didn't need the pull up at all, it was a gradual process but it worked for me. :)
Hope this helped you!
A.,
When I started asking our son's doctor about the process, she said that it is very common for children to do this. She said that parents can just keep trying and that children will learn to go on the potty when they are ready.
Not very helpful advice, but hopefully reassuring!
Good luck,
Jessica
Is this A. Danaher?
Have you tried reading stories about going potty? My daughter liked "Prudence's Potty" (I think that's the title - Prudence something). In it, they show the little girl going potty and poop, then waving and saying, "bye bye pee pee/poo poo". It was a cute way of explaining the whole routine.
We would give my son little stickers for sitting on the potty even if nothing came out, and big stickers when something did come out. We posted the sticker display on the bathroom door so he could see it all the time, and visitors would see it and comment what a good job he was doing. #2 took longer to learn than #1. As gross as it is, take away the pull-ups. She may poop in her underwear; I had to throw some away because it was just too disgusting to clean up. But there's no way she'll hold in a #2 forever. Also, you can let her pick out her own underwear at the store, so if she thinks it's special, she may be less willing to soil it.
My son, now almost three, exhibited this same behavior. I did several things: one, I insisted that he try to "push" through his bottom while he was seated on the toilet. This did cause some upset to him, but he'd have waited until he was five to go in the toilet if I'd let him have his way. Two, after he had "pushed" (I would watch and see that he was actually pushing, not just telling me he was) I INSTANTLY gave him something he really wanted - stickers worked great! I gave them to him in the beginning just for pushing, whether anything came out or not. Then, if something DID come out, I made a huge deal over it and and we would clap and say "yay!" and then he would get something extra special. Eventually, he didn't get a sticker just for pushing, he only got one when something came out. It took a month or two, but in the end he was going like a champ! All kids are different and each responds to their own incentives, but I hope this helps!
To get my daughter to sit on the potty long enough to poop, we would read a story. If you meet resistance, offer a jellybean reward for giving it a good try, just sitting through the story. This way, it is not endless waiting, the end of the story is the light at the end of the tunnel. When my daughter became engrossed in the story, she relaxed and nature took its course.
My son (now 5 yrs old) learned to go potty early, but refused to have a bowel movement in the potty for the longest time. Some people would frown upon it, (it's kinda gross) but we let my son in the bathroom (if he chose to follow us) regardless if we were going #1 or #2... and he learned that everyone else used the potty for both. Then he really wanted to be like his daddy and be a big boy and use the potty. We also rewarded him with praise when he did TRY to go #2 "good job", "good try", etc. Then, when he went, we praised him for getting to the potty in time. Praise is a wonderful thing!
The best thing I learned is to wait until they're ready. If they ask for a diaper/pull-up, give it to them! When they're ready for the potty, you'll know, and they'll know. You're so fortunate she's interested in peeing in the potty! The other thing that worked great for us was rewards. Once my daughter was ready to use the potty, I gave her really inexpensive little toys each time she used it. I know lots of other people who used a chart and gave a little reward after every 3rd success, but that did not work for my daughter. Be patient. Believe it or not, eventually you will have a completely potty-trained child. I know it is so all-encompassing when it's going on. Good luck!
unfortunetly theres no 1 sure fire trick. How ever if she does pee on the potty your making great strides just keep incouraging her and if your comfortable, when you poo let her sit on her potty and then show her & let her flush it bye bye potty! i did that as well as made a drawing of a toilet on contruction paper and bought star stickers so every time we tried she or i got one and when she goes potty, we had a big girl potty party(music and a dance, cheers with juice in a fancy cup) remember they go when they feel comfortable, pretty soon the potty in the pamper wont feel so good , play on that as the reason you poop in the potty. if you make it fun and dont, pressure her she'll want to do it.
