How long after becoming dry did your DC do all their poo in the toilet?

[WD41]

DD is on the late side for potty training (she's 3.8). After a few aborted attempts over the past year, we've gone for it again (since last Monday) and she got the hang of wees quickly this time. She is now reliably dry during the day, just the odd accident every other day or so when she's tired.

However poos are another matter. She will not go in the toilet, gives me no warning like she will for weeing, and just poos in her knickers. I am getting so fed up with dealing with dirty knickers (and it's not even been 2 weeks yet!) Since last Monday, we've had just one poo in the toilet and that was a fluke.

I think I'm just after some reassurance that it won't go on for too much longer...or some tips perhaps...she is not regular (some days she doesn't poo, other days she goes several times at random times) so there isn't a predictable time of day I can sit her on the toilet and wait.

How long did your DCs take?

[FATEdestiny]

DC1 insisted on a putting a pull-up on to do a poo for a good year after coming out of nappies and being dry.

DC2 and DC3 did it all at the same time.

[Showy]

Immediate with both. They were clean and dry from day one of training. DD was under 2 and still had the odd accident here and there but of the wee variety. DS was older though, over 2 and has never had an accident.

I think perhaps it depends on the child though. A friend's ds pooed in his pants every day for 6 months yet never wet himself. DF was despairing and then one day, he just quietly got on with using the toilet for both.

Have you tried all the usual tricks of books (that Pooland one I've heard recommended on here), reward charts, trying a potty instead of a toilet?

[Showy]

Are you sure she's not at all constipated too? Diet okay? Sometimes that pattern of not pooing and then pooing lots can point at constipation or withholding and this can be accompanied by accidents and failure to recognise the sensation of needing to poo.

[WD41]

Her diet is dreadful, but that's a whole different thread! Basically she is a very fussy / reluctant eater. Lots of carbs and sugar, not as much protein as I would like.

Not sure she's constipated though, the consistency doesn't really point to that. Guess she could be though.

Haven't tried rewards yet as didn't really need to for the wees...that will be my next move

I'm just not sure she's recognising that set needs to go as she'll tell me she needs the toilet once she's already pooed

[redarrows]

I've had/have similar issues with my ds so I know how frustrating cleaning up the poo is! He got the hang of wees fairly quickly, and he's been dry since end of sep but poos were another matter, he would just poo his pants, and sometimes more than once a day! I was feeling really frustrated but everything I read said try to stay calm, and that it just takes longer for some children as there can be a lot of fear around it. However we've been having some success recently (and this is after quite a lot of talking about it, showing him poo goes to pooland etc...). A friend suggested rewarding him with a sweet for every poo in the potty/toilet (I initially didn't want to use sweets as a bribe but I was desperate) and it's working! We also have a reward chart which he's putting stickers on and when he fills up all the spaces he knows he'll get a small Thomas toy. It's the only thing that's worked for us. He still has the odd accident so we're not totally there yet, but it's much better than it was (and no more pooing his pants at preschool thankfully!). He's just turned 3 by the way.

[Bedsheets4knickers]

We had about 3-4 months between wees and poops in toilet x

[Nevercan]

Get DD to watch poo goes to Pooland on utube. We then made a big deal of sending the poo to join his friends down the toilet - waving goodbye as we flush lol

[lilyfire]

Poo goes to Pooland sorted it for my youngest too. We downloaded an e-book for free and he was converted.

[WD41]

Thank you. We've watched that video this morning, will keep showing it to her!