3 year old only poos in her underpants

[bohochick]

Have been potty training daughter for two and a half months. Still has the odd wee accident but refuses to poo on the potty or toilet. she turned 3 last week and since potty training has only managed 3 - 4 poos on the potty. Have tried stickers, sweets and am desperate for help. Nursery have tried to do what they can but she doesn't even tell me half the time when she has done a poo. HELP1

Ah - I feel for you. Been there, recently out the other side. Took three months and lots of (very cheap) pants......
One thing that helped for us (we did the stickers and sweets with little success) was the story "Mr Poo goes to pooland". Google it or pm me for a copy. It was either that or time that helped with our ds (aged 2.9).
Btw I think there is a support thread in the potty training section where you might get additional help. Good luck!

My dd1 2.7 was the same. Bad news it lasted for 4 months and good news it was just time and she suddenly started saying she needed a poo and voila in the potty!

One thing we tried was lining the potty with a nappy - so it feels more familiar iyswim?

That, and huge amounts of briberypositive encouragement. We actually said that she could choose anything from toys r us! It worked (as a starter, was still slow progress, but progress none the less, after that)!

Good luck, I bloody hate potty training. An girding my loins (so to speak) for dd2's turn .

My ds was the same, one day he just decided to use the potty.

3 year old mindee is like this - driving me slightly demented. Have also tried everything. I am coming to the conclusion after nearly 30 years in childcare, that some dcs just do it in their own time and nothing will rush/encourage them.

For ds I bought value pants and threw them away when it was bad, it's ungreen but saves a lot of retching.

Today she pooped in her underpants again. I showed her the poo and told her that we would have to throw away her ballerina pants. I noted for the first time that she genuinely looked frightened of the poo!! Tried to reassure her etc but she was reluctant to look at the poo even when I told her that it is normal and without poo we get tummy aches etc and even mummy and daddy poo. Unsure what to do with this new development.

I second Reggiee's recommendation of Mr Poo in Pooland, or whatever it was called. My DS had been pooing in his pants daily for months. I found the story on the internet, showed it to him online and, i kid you not, from that day on he used the potty every time. I think it's something to do with giving the poo a friendly/non-threatening persona and removing any fear associated with the process. Sounds odd, I know, but worth a try! Good luck!

Just to update. Out of the blue daughter decided to use the potty for poo and no more accidents for over six weeks. Stopped using potty altogether now and she uses toilet. It really was just a matter of time but think Mr Poo in Pooland was a slow release trigger too!