Is there ANY way to get her to poo in the potty??

[drspouse]

DD is 2 1/2 but we started PT because she refused to wear a nappy, just took it off, so we were going to get puddles anyway.
She's now 90% for wees on her worst days (most days no accidents, sometimes 1, her aim is not good though so we do take spare clothes with us everywhere. She's very good at home, CM and nursery but a bit more random out and about though she now will wee in a public loo and not just scream and hold it in - or not. Occasionally when very tired after nursery she will have an accident at home).

I know she is very young but she only does poos in her nappy at nap/night time. She doesn't seem to be constipated as she does quite a few - at least every day if not every sleep time.

At nap time if she does a poo it is within half an hour of going down, sometimes within 10 minutes though sometimes not, and sometimes she will do one, and then cry so we change her and she goes to sleep.

At night it is within about an hour if she's doing one, maybe 90 mins (e.g. if nappy on at 6.45 we may pop upstairs to an unhappy girl at the stair gate and a smell, at 8.15).

If we don't change her (e.g. if we or she don't notice) then her bottom is really sore in the morning and it's all kind of ground in... ewwww..... so it's not just that we are fed up but that it's bad for her skin, which is very sensitive. Last night, DH didn't notice but I went up to bed later and smelled her and I changed her at about 10, then she did another poo and this morning her bottom was sore again. I think it was early in the morning though.

We have tried:
Rewards/bribes (she will do a lot for Peppa pig pants). She got very exciting on the one occasion I noticed she was pooing while I was reading bedtime story and I threw her on the potty - but no further progress.
Sitting her on the potty after bath for 10/20/30 minutes with Peppa on the tablet.
Sitting her on the potty in a nappy after bath ditto.

I have no idea what else we could try! If it was just a case of not really wanting to change a dirty nappy, we'd put up with it, but the poor girl is sore and uncomfortable. We mainly used washable nappies but we have tried 2 types of washables and disposables, lots of different creams, both barrier creams and moisturising creams, and she's often just really raw, poor girl.

She naps for 1hr to 1 1/2 hrs so we can't really ditch nappies then yet - she's usually wet when she wakes up.

[MsTea]

I've just come on here to start a very similar thread, so will watch for responses with interest.

DS is 3; more or less there with wees and has been for a few months. But he will not poo on the potty or toilet. Like your DD he's been doing them in his night nappy either when we put it on after his bath (fairly rare) or in the morning after breakfast. Today, at lunchtime, I could tell he really really needed to go and took him to the toilet several times where he sat but produced nothing. He was going out so I (perhaps wrongly) put a nappy on him and he pooed within minutes. Literally, as soon as it went on. I cleaned him up and put him back in pants and off he went, a noticeably happier boy.

He rarely soils himself, though he did at his childminders' last week. I've tried bribery, reading to him on the loo and putting his potty in front of the telly. All his (adored) grandparents have tried too, and still nothing.

Childminder says it's not uncommon and it'll just click one day; my mum says we waited too long to do it (thanks mum) and, frankly, I'm unable to come up with any more ideas.

You're not alone!

[drspouse]

Tried to post yesterday but the new app ate my post.

I would be happy to wait for it to just click if it was only us not really wanting to change nappies, but it's keeping her from sleeping (if she does a poo in her nappy she's then wired/uncomfortable until we change it, and as she's often slow to go to sleep we are reluctant to keep going in and checking her nappy every 5 minutes through the evening) and the worst bit is the really sore bottom.

She wouldn't poo in a nappy after she got up in the morning, I don't think (we change her as soon as she gets up because of the soreness issue). She won't poo in a nappy sitting on the potty, which we've tried after a recommendation, not even if we leave her alone. I tried 20 minutes on the potty (no nappy) with the door closed almost all the way and Peppa on the tablet, last night, but nothing.

[tinymeteor]

No advice for you on the potty training, sorry - starting with DD in the new year. But re the sore bottom, don't let it go on too long. If she's got persistent sores it might be getting infected and need an antifungal and/or steroid cream to heal it. If she's sore it will also make the potty training harder because she'll be afraid to go, or to have her bum wiped.

[Falalalafffffffttt]

You could try to put a nappy on her before nap/bed/bath and sit her on the potty with it on. That way she might feel safe doing her poo in the nappy but will get used to doing it on the potty. Then MAJOR praise and MAJOR treats for her even if only a little pellet comes out. Perhaps a poo chart to work up to something really exciting like a trip out or a big toy.

Try not to panic and rush her onto the potty if she's already doing a poo, it could create negative connotations and work against you because she will associate pooing with stress.

She is very young yet so try and be as chilled out as possible, perhaps some sudocrem or other barrier cream on her bottom before bed so it's not so sore.

We all get there eventually, and so will she!

[CoffeeAndCakeEssentials]

I was told some children don't like to poo on their potty because it feels too cold and empty on their bum, they're used to having a nappy there. Some advice we were given - Try stuffing the potty with loo roll so she can feel it when she sits down.
Might be worth a shot. Good luck

[drspouse]

You could try to put a nappy on her before nap/bed/bath and sit her on the potty with it on

That's what we've done, see above, it hasn't worked. She'll happily sit on the potty with a nappy on and do nothing.

Barrier cream doesn't help and neither does the moisturising type (e.g. Waitrose Bottom Butter). Still red raw.

[drspouse]

Bother, pressed enter by accident. We watch out for fungal infections as she's had them before and we know what to look for - she's had them a few times since PT (the only child who can get nappy rash while not wearing a nappy!) but mainly when she's had a bad day with being wet, we use her special prescription antifungal cream. This is different but still not pleasant for her

[drspouse]

(Oh and the dentist says she has all her 2 year teeth so it's not that)

[thethoughtfox]

Have you tried her on the toilet? Sometimes they like this better. Mine still likes to poo on the carpet.

[drspouse]

She will wee on the toilet but no poos except maybe 1 or 2 where I've caught her mid-poo (so we're still talking fingers of one hand, maybe 2 in the potty and 1 on the loo in total).

I had to laugh though - at least we haven't got that problem (we're supposed to be getting some new carpet... so no doubt that will change).

[Falalalafffffffttt]

Sorry op, I did RTFT but must have missed that about putting her on the potty with nappy on.

[drspouse]

That's OK, I'm dreadful for doing that.
I think if no improvement in her skin after the holidays we may ask the HV for at least some advice on creams.

[Bythebeach]

My top tip is to pop then on just after a meal-often dinner in this house - and make use of the gastro-colic reflex. Worked for all 3 of mine!

[SpaghettiMeatballs]

How long has this been going on for? Both my DCs did this. DD exactly as you describe and DS would just poo his pants.

Both of them just needed time and it did 'click'. It took about a month and I was at my wits end with DS but nursery told me to stick with it as he was doing so well with wees. They were right.

To help I wrapped a gift in dinosaur paper and put it in the bathroom. I said he would get to unwrap it when he did a poo on the potty. That encouraged him....!

[drspouse]

Probably a couple of months now, we tried a week of potty after tea/bath including with nappy on and no results so then we've just carried on as before but trying harder to change her before we go to bed.
I would be happy to wait but it's the rash issue.