Potty Training: poop in the potty..help!

[Karri]

We are on day THREE of Aidan being in cloth training pants and staying dry and asking to pee on the potty (except for bedtime). Problem is, he wont poop on the potty. I know I cant make him, but how can I encourage him????? Is it normal not to want to poop on the potty???

[Hilary]

Madelynn will ONLY poop on the potty, she rarely pees on it. I have no idea why though, I thought pooping was harder for them to learn. She's told us twice now when she has to go and then goes.

[sheila]

What does he do when he poops in the training pants?

I read somewhere that one mom started having her son wash out the training pants when he pooped in them. He was a little older (I want to say 3+ and he didn't want to poop in the potty because it took too long). I would imagine that Aidan might be a little too young for a full out cleaning, but maybe putting the poop from his training pants into the potty might help?

But then, all of that should be taken with a grain of salt since Maggie has NO interest in the potty right now.

[Karri]

He will tell me after he poops. We've talked extensively about how if he poops in the potty, he can see it, his butt WONT hurt, and he can flush it and say "bye bye poopies!" (he tells his pee goodbye and loves it ). He is excited when we talk about it, but when it comes down to it, he goes in private and poops in his pants

[TtownAnne]

Does he have (or had a bad bout in the past) of constipation? That can "throw them off" for quite a while. If so, try feeding him up on pears and peaches and such to loosen things up, then work on making it to the potty.

Does he make a face (we call it the "bug-eyed poo face" ) when he's about to go? Maybe try watching more closely for the face and catching him before he heads for private? Or close the other doors so he CAN'T go somewhere else!

[chefkath]

Karri, First of all - congrats on Aidan doing so great with the potty training! That's awesome!

I don't have any advice but I can tell you that Aidan's not alone - Brigit is the same way. She just started being interested in potty training in the past 2 weeks or so, and she's pretty consistent about peeing in the potty. But she adamantly refuses to poop in there. She and I have talked about it a bit, and I've been trying to get her to explain what the concern is for her. But either she honestly doesn't know (which I think is likely the case) - or she simply doesn't want to talk about it. It seems strange to me - I mean, how good can it feel to have a poopy diaper??! - but I'm not pushing it. I think she may just want to get the peeing thing down first before moving on to the pooping. I figure she'll let me know when she's ready!

Sorry I can't offer any advice, but I wouldn't worry about Aidan - he'll get there eventually.

[aylhu]

I don't have much advice, either, but know SO MANY kids who just won't poop in potty. My dd was the opposite in that pooping happened sooner than peeing the potty (just like Hilary's situation). One theory I've heard about pooping is that when kids sit on the potty with their legs dangling, it's uncomfortable for them to push. So they prefer to not sit on the potty. So if they are on a regular potty, maybe put a stool under their feet for a little "leverage." If they are on a kid potty on the floor, I'm not sure what to tell ya!

[LISA]

I read that if he/she poops in the pants( or diaper) you should empty the poop into the potty so they know that that is where the poop goes kwim?

[Connie1222]

Originally Posted by LISA

I read that if he/she poops in the pants( or diaper) you should empty the poop into the potty so they know that that is where the poop goes kwim?

This is what we did with Jack, every single time. Then I would try and watch for signs, sometimes he scratches his butt or gets "that face" and sometimes I would catch him and put him on the potty. Then of course we made a huge deal out of it, singing and clapping and getting a treat and he caught on.

[camprunner]

Originally Posted by Connie1222

This is what we did with Jack, every single time. Then I would try and watch for signs, sometimes he scratches his butt or gets "that face" and sometimes I would catch him and put him on the potty. Then of course we made a huge deal out of it, singing and clapping and getting a treat and he caught on.

We did this for mary when ever she used the potty. Now she only uses the potty but we have a personal cheerleader slip through door anytime we use the potty ourselves Truthfully I think that she pooped on accident the first time and we just made such a big deal about it that she wanted to do it all the time.