HELP! Toddler not pooing on potty!

[Ganners10]

Hi!
Havent been on here for some time but need some advise or opinions on what to do! My 2.6 yr old is weeing like a dream on the potty and toilet and has taken to it like a duck to water but isnt really getting to grips with the number two's!! He will either poo in his pants or half squeeze one out before shouting poo poo and going to the potty by which time is to late and he doesnt go properly and do a full poo and ends up doing this lots throughout the day aswell as skidders (Sorry!) this is becoming very fustrating. Have put pull ups on him this morning as worried about him not pooing properly and getting bunged up! not sure if its to do with the fact that for some wierd reason he has always done his poo's standing up! and doesnt feel comfortable sitting? From some of the threads it seems the pooing part is the hard bit of potty training?? I thought it would be other way round?

[Nevercan]

My 2.5 dd is the same although she is slowly making progress. Wees no problem. We started with lots of poos in pants. Now we get lots of skids whe she has started and then realised and stopped. She will then sit on the potty and do the poo. I agree it is frustrating as she is so close but not quite there. I am just hoping with a bit more time and encouragement she will get it right :)

[KarenR1]

Yes used to be the same here. Not much worse than a 3y/o girl running around with a big log in her pampers!!It certainly seemed to be a comfort thing though and she did grow out of it thankfully, toddler nappies are horrendous!

[cheeseycharlie]

I'm flipping this thread as I have similar problems. DD was fine poohing with nice regularity in nappies, now she is toilet training (3 weeks in) and she won't pooh either on potty or loo OR in nappy (eg at nap time). She says it is dirty. Yesterday she thought it was blood coming from her bum hole (they had been talking about blood and other body parts in pre-school that day). She is somehow afraid of it.

Not trying to hijack the thread, it just seems similar to your issues Ganners10, she also always used to stand in a quiet corner for her poohs in nappies.

I think there are some good books out there aimed at reconciling freaked out toddlers with the concept of pooh - any recommendations? Or any other practical advice??

[MTB1]

Hello am bumping for poo inspiration! We are only a week in but doing fantastically well at wee's but poo's are just not happening. Despite watching mummy and daddy poo (nice!) and being relaxed about it and telling stories of poo going home etc she is just freaked out about it (as in crying and very upset). You can tell when she wants to do a poo as will run round in circles or try and hide. I can just about get her to sit on the toilet but then she will pull in back in again I think!!! By day 2, she will at some point manage to do a sneaky one in her pants which also then upsets her.
Any advice/top tips welcome! She is only 2.1 and I find bribes not working either.

[crazydaisy1980]

Hi! I have the same problem! My 19m old daughter is doing very well for wee's on the potty, with 1 cadbury's button reward... but poo's?? Nope. She tries to hide, or if I ask her to sit on the potty she cries and holds it in. Today I said 'Fine, it's up to you, poo in the potty or poo in your knickers'... and she chose the latter, again... How do you make the first one ok? If they wont even sit down to do it? I have tried her on the toilet seat, facing backwards too, but nothing working on the poo front! Anyone know how to make them comfortable? She's my first and I'm feeling nuts!

[NewBikeForChristmas]

Very normal, just been through this with DS. Lovely MNers recommended "Poo goes to Pooland" (a booklet produced by a PCT in the NE). Worked a treat. Poo

[WhereIsTheGreenSheep]

OP totally feel your pain - I was about to post about the exact same problem! We're on about week 6 of potty training for DS 2.5 and although he cracked wees in a few days we're still having poo problems.

He'll constantly tell us he 'needs a poo poo' but when we try and get him to sit on the toilet he either refuses or sits for 2 secs before jumping off. He then holds it in for up to 3/4 days before getting so desperate that we have an awful evening of crying, refusing to sit down, have a bath etc etc...

The frustrating thing is that we don't really have accidents as such - he'll either hold it in and do it in his night nappy or on about 5/6 occasions we've managed to catch him (it?!) at just the right time so he's gone on the toilet.

He's happy looking at it, talking about it and doesn't seem to want to just go wherever so not sure what the next step is now. We've tried incentives with little presents / treats and are now trying to ignore it as much as possible in case we're pressuring him too much.

Hoping he'll just grow out of it, but it's not much fun right now.
Thanks NewBike for sharing that link - will give that a go.

[WhereIsTheGreenSheep]

ps Cheeseycharlie - what does 'flipping the thread' mean? I'm fairly new to MN and haven't worked that one out yet!

[MrHulot]

we had the same problem with DD, she is now in her 3rd month of big girl's pants. we's had a few accidents with wees at the start but nothing major, it's also training time for me as i learn to spot the risky times.
aaah but the poos... i think in retrospect the problem was partly due to 'toddler diarrhea' (which is just very soft), she would make several attemps of sitting on the potty but she ended up pooing in her pants. i was literally pulling my hair out for what seemed like eternity (in fact it's just a short period of time and eventually they all get there) moreover i had a young baby to care for.
potty training can be very hard work, and you have to give the child some credit. they have to learn absolutely from scratch, they've only known nappies.
with a combination of picture books, stories, dvds, reduction of fiber in diet but plenty of water and a lot of hard work/dirty laundry/antibact wipes we got there.
the best advice would be to be patient, and try different things YOU feel your child would respond to. sometimes just explaining what you want again and again, and again.