A question about poo. Advice please on this wonderful subject!

[twirlymum]

My ds is 22 months old, and is very forward (I know, I would say that) but he counts to 10, recognises numbers, shapes, colours, speaks in sentences, using the right tense in all conversations, etc etc (yawn) and now tells me when he's done a poo, but he won't let me near him for at least ten minutes after he's finished. Also, his poo is still very runny, only occasionally is it solid. Is that normal? Not like diarrheoa, just thick paste (god, can't believe I'm writing this). Is it too early to start with the potty, and is it possible when he poos like that?

Is he still bf? Perfectly normal poo for a toddler who has a lot of breast milk. I didn't start potty training until DS's poos were mostly solid, but that was 14 months. It's definitely possible to PT when poos are like that, but I wouldn't do the straight-to-pants method as (from experience) cleaning that type of poo out of undies is quite an exercise. DS got poos within a month of gentle baby-led potty training (staying in nappies, being taken to the toilet when asking/responding to being asked and first thing in the morning/after nap).

For TMI, when soft poo like that is done in the toilet it retains its poo-like form; it's when it gets squished up in the nappy that it's peanut buttery.