Potty: why is she doing this?

[FarawayWe]

We're having reasonably good success getting DD to use her potties. After 4 days, she knew to ask for it when she needed to go, so is fairly reliable (but we have to be quick!).

However, it seems something about actually weeing or pooing in a potty bothers her. She gets all panicky and tries to stand up/run away as it's happening.

We find ourselves having to hold her on, meanwhile making encouraging sounds and being very pleased with her for getting on the potty.

What could be wrong? I am guessing she's just getting used to the sensation of having the wee and the poo leaving her body and dropping away, but am I missing something?

Someone suggested getting her to choose another potty from the shop so that she likes it more, but I'm not sure what the problem is, so perhaps that is not a solution.

Any thoughts/advice?

Thanks.

Stick a nappy in the potty till she gets used to it, less sound and splash back.

Is she happy after she has done a wee or poo? Could she be embarrassed about you being there and be trying to get away from you? I only say this because my DS1 was dry very quickly, but it took us ages to get him to poo in the potty. One day I realised (as we were playing 'boo' on the toilet) that he wanted me to go away. I stood outside thw bathroom, and hey presto,we had a poo! Does she hide when she wants to go to the toilet when she is wearing her nappy? Just a thought. Ask her and see what she says. Good luck!

Will she use the toilet?
My ds would not use the potty, he was freaked by it too. Lets face it he had never seen Mummy or Daddy go to the toilet on a potty. He had NO problems on the toilet though, after discovering this on day 3 he was dry and clean by the next day. He has never had an accident since. On night 6 he refused to put a nappy on for bed and has never wet the bed. He was 2.3yrs then. I am on day 5 with dd1, just 2yrs and I can't believe how different they are, she is the other way round, has become attatched to her downstaris potty, will not go on the one upstairs and refuses to sit on the toilet at all. She's doing well though, day 2 with no accidents today.

hth, and good luck xxx

Hi again. Yes, she is happy. The only thing that she's not so keen on is the actual sitting and doing!

I can't really ask her for much feedback because she's only 2y2m and she doesn't talk much yet! She can say "flower" and "blue" and things of that nature. It's very cute but not yet the level of communication that I can use for potty.

I don't get the impression that she's trying to run away from us because even if we're not close to hand when she's on the potty, she'll make worried sounds and leap up and try to leave the situation!

Thanks a lot for all your experiences and suggestions.

I think she's too small (83cm) to climb up and sit on the toilet - even if we did put in a child seat, which we will do in a couple of months.

Does anyone else use the big toilet for a small child?

To be honest, I don't see what difference her size makes. You are not going to leave her on it and she doesn't need to climb on her own yet. If she has a child seat then she's not going to fall down it. Her issue does sound like it's with the potty so the toilet could be worth a try.
Good Luck

That's a good point! My colleague said her daughter started using the toilet when she was older and I took her word for it that a small child would find it difficult.