Are your children’s vaccines up to date?

Set a reminder

Please or to access all these features

Behaviour/development

Talk to others about child development and behaviour stages here. You can find more information on our development calendar.

Potty training problems

4 replies

elp34 · 09/09/2012 09:35

i started potty training my 2.7 yr old DD on Monday and to my surprise she took to it really well without much prompting. I left her to wander around without pants on and on the 3rd day she even did a poo in the potty at my mums ( who has her for 2 days a week). Since then it has gone down hill rapidly. On Thursday i decided it was progressing well so put some pants on her and showed her how to pull them down and up etcc. I wasnt expecting her to be accident free and obviously she wet in her pants every time that day which is where i think it went wrong. She really didn't like feeling wet and got quite distressed about it. I didnt say anything negative to her about it and have always praised her but she is fairly sensitive and could of picked up on my body language when i rushed to her. Since then she has refused to wee and poo and was holding her wee in until i had to put her on the potty and it just came out...ALOT. I decided to put her back in nappies yesterday and leave potty training for a while as we are now on the 4th day with no poo, very unlike her as she is an everyday day girl. However she still won't go in her nappy now but is obviously getting the sensation to as she gets distressed and starts dancing on the spot and is now not a happy girl. Anyone been through this and can give advice im desperate to help her.

OP posts:
Are your children’s vaccines up to date?
noblegiraffe · 09/09/2012 17:25

Rather than putting her back in nappies I would be putting her on the potty at regular intervals. Holding it in until she's on the potty is good!

The poo issue is trickier, and quite common when potty training I think. Would she do it on the toilet? My DS has constipation issues and sometimes we have to sit and hold his hands and talk him through it while he tries to do one. We've had lots of discussions about how his tummy hurts and how doing a poo will make it feel better.
That said, at the start, he was also holding it in so we used suppositories to force it out - however we already had a supply of these as he has struggled with constipation since he was 6 months. A doctor might prescribe lactulose instead to help.

elp34 · 09/09/2012 19:03

Thanks for your advice i have to say i really beat myself up about putting her back in nappies as so many people say to continue but i know anxiety can end up being worse if she is pushed. I did try putting her on the potty but she kicked up such a fuss saying No No and getting upset that i felt she had to do this her way with my guidance, She is weeing now in her nappy but still no poo i don't know how she has held it in for so long!.

Ive heard that pooing on the potty takes longer but she did actually do this herself on the 3 rd day but not since the drama of wetting herself. She is a shy girl and slightly sensitive when it comes to mess that i feel it just shocked her feeling wet and standing in it.

Today she seemed to cope well but has been distracted most of the day. I don't really want to go down the line of medication yet unless it is obvious she is in pain and then i will obviously try it.

OP posts:
brettgirl2 · 10/09/2012 07:24

Have you tried bribing her to sit on the potty?

brettgirl2 · 10/09/2012 07:25

Oh and poos dont always take longer it depends on the child. My 3.5 year old never had a poo accident at all.

New posts on this thread. Refresh page