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Behaviour/development

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2 year old withholding poo = ready for toilet-training?

4 replies

AveryJessup · 04/10/2013 04:35

My DS is nearly 2 and it's now a regular occurrence for him to not poo throughout the day and then poo just as we put him down to sleep or, worse, wake up with a dirty nappy a couple of hours after going to sleep. It's frustrating because then it takes him ages to go back to sleep.

He's not constipated, the poos are normal (sorry if TMI!) so I'm wondering if he's withholding deliberately and if this is a sign that he might be ready to start using the potty? My biggest fear is starting him on the potty and then it doesn't work and we have to keep going back to it again and again or he gets toilet-trained but then regresses again. I've heard a lot of people say that this is common with boys and with toddlers that are toilet-trained early in general i.e. before 2.5 years.

So anyone out there with a 2 year old doing this and did you take it as a sign to toilet-train or just something else e.g. related to diet or routine?

OP posts:
Are your children’s vaccines up to date?
AveryJessup · 04/10/2013 14:34

Bump - anyone? Any ideas??

OP posts:
brettgirl2 · 04/10/2013 20:29

I just think this whole potty training is just made out to be a big thing. Why not just see if he will sit on the potty before bed? No big deal, no pressure. In any case I would only take nappies of when they will happily produce either poo or wee on the potty so you need to introduce one sometime.

lullabymummy · 11/10/2013 13:56

Hi,
Our son is 2 years 8 months and will now (since 7 weeks or so) sit on the toilet to wee and, although he has accidents, he's doing pretty well. However, totally refuses to poo during the day and poos are arriving in his sleep almost every night. He sometimes gets really stressed out by the effort of holding them in, but only lets them out if he absolutely has to. We've tried loads of things, but no luck yet, so I can only say I sympathise. Oh, and my mum tells me I did that as a child too, so firstly, looks like it's karma and secondly, I'm fine now....;)
Will be interested to know if anyone else has any ideas!

Faerieinatoadstool · 11/10/2013 14:18

My ds is 22 months and has been going on potty for about 2 months and has been out of nappies ( apart from bedtime) for about a month with as couple of accidents a day so it is do- able if they are ready. Just keep it v. Low pressure, let him have nappy off and talk about wees poos and potties and see if he wants to try. I think a lot of children find pooing a bit upsetting when they are potty training so need reassuring that it's ok to let it out

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