Advice for first time mammy! DD saying poo poo after she has pooed...what next?

[MidgetGem]

Hi there, DD 13 months old and has started to take herself into a corner when she needs to do a poo and then says poo poo after she has done it whilst pulling at her nappy. MIL thinks we should get a potty and put it in the corner of the room to see if she will use it, surely she is far too young for this? or is she heading the right way and should I do anything else to encourage and build on this? any advice please! Thanks x

IMHO It's good but she's not ready quite yet, she needs to be saying it before she does it. Unless you want to run around constantly cleaning pooh and wee off your floor I would wait until she is a bit older and very obviously very ready than she will get it in a few days rather than months.

My mil nagged me for ages too so I sent a potty to her house.

Personally I'd leave it for quite some time. She prob. has very little awareness of weeing - and even less of the control necessary to be properly potty trained.

...unless of course you like washing clothes, carpets and furnishings and generally making life difficult for yourself!

Thanks LoveMyGirls, it wasn't even in my head to get a potty to be honest until MIL mentioned it (thought I had at least another year before that palava!) but then it got me wondering if I should be actively doing anything to encourage the next step? thanks for replying, will tell MIL she can happily get a potty for her living room! x

Thanks dilbertina, can you tell I am a first time mam! ha ha, over the moon that she can say she has had a poo! Don't worry I'm not considering potty training I know she won't have that control, more just wondering if there is anything else I should do or just let it evolve naturally.

I remember taking dd2 when she asked or when I was going so you could do that if you like but I wouldn't even attempt training until she's 2 tbh.

DS was 18mths dry in the day, but he was very young and wore terry nappies, so had an incentive to be dry. One day he refused to lie still for me to put a nappy on him and after a few nappy changes struggling to get one on him, I left it off, got out the potty and with 2 days he was dry. Poo's he left til he had a nappy on in the night, but was completely out of nappies day and night by 19mths.

You could try it, she would be very young if she does! You will know by the end of the first day if she isn't ready. then try again in a couple of months.

The main point is not to make a big deal out of it. She will get it when she is ready. My ds was very young, and I had no intention of trying potty training until he was 2 and a half, but he let me know he didn't want nappies on any more.

I agree with LoveMyGirls, they need to know before they go, not after.

My MIL apparently had DH potty trained by 9mths I think she just strapped him to the potty tbh, just so she didn't have as many nappies to wash!

DS was also clean & dry in the day by 18 months having started at 14 months doing a slow, gradual process. IMO your DD is showing "poo awareness" and if you ignore it she will learn that a nappy is the place to poo. You can start with just having her poo on a potty or toilet and sticking with nappies for wees and accidents. When you see her go to the corner you can say "let's sit on the potty" and take it from there. I would do potty in the bathroom personally (actually I did toddler toilet seat).

ds1 was 20 months and dd 19

they were my earliest but that is simply because i was too idle to do it that early with later babies

i would say 'good' she is showing signs

babies used to be potty trained much younger

Hi Ches, thanks for your post, that is really interesting. I see the potty training as a slow devlopmental process too so was hoping for some ideas on how to actively encourage the process. I will see how she goes over the next few days and if I see her going in the corner for a poo I could just sit her on it the potty or toilet and say this is where we do poos? but I am not worry about it at other times for the time being - thanks again

We did a part time nappy free kind of thing, and DD was in cloth training pants from about 1. (well sometimes she was in second hand kushies that were so well used that they only worked like training pants)

From very early on she was reliable about pooing in the potty unless she was ill or the circumstances where out of her control (like stuck in the car of something). There was no pressure about it, and lots of people just introduce the potty at set times - after sleeps, after meals and at nappy changes are common times, or if they think the baby looks like they need to go.

If I have another baby I'll be braver this time and take the plunge to go without nappies much earlier than I did with DD.

Here is a link to my blog entry which outlines what we did. My best advice is to pick something that works for your family and go with that. If it feels right, it is right, and if it feels wrong, don't do it.