2 year old "pooing in stages" - any experience?

[systemsaddict]

Hi all, my 2 1/2 year old has for some long while now (months probably) been doing her poos in stages throughout the day - she does a bit, then another bit a little later. It's half past two today and she has had 5 dirty nappies already. Life would be much easier for us all if she would do it all in one or two goes! I can't work out whether it might be a food intolerance, constipation / witholding (though they're not hard poos), toddler diarrhoea (though they're not particularly soft either), or just laziness and not wanting to do a whole poo at once! We want to potty train her soon and this is holding us back a bit. Any thoughts or experience of this?

My dd was the opposite. Pre potty-training a reliable poo usually in the morning sometime once a day. Post potty-training (so this is 2plus years now) a few poos a day. I hoped that once she started school she would go back to one-ish poo a day but no luck so far.

It could be that what she is doing is normal for her. And what is normal may change as a result of potty training!

That's interesting Downy, I hadn't thought of potty training changing things; have been searching round mumsnet on this and someone else mentioned potty training sorted a similar problem out. Maybe we should just go for it ...