23 month old not pooing in the potty

[Laur89]

Hey guys, so my DS is 23 months and for the last couple of months he has been doing all his wees on the potty and staying dry for nap time, telling us he needs the toilet and doing really well with it. The trouble is with his poos 🙈 he has done a few on the potty, but more often than not he gets almost nervous and will end up going on the floor, even with encouragement from me and DH to go on the potty. He gets really upset about this and really worked up and confused. I don't know how to encourage him to go on the potty? Do poos just take longer to train? Any advice welcome, thanks! 🙂

poos do take longer , they often like to hide to do them in private

I’m in similar situation with my Dd. She hides for poos too. So we just put a potty in her hiding place. It’s worked most of the time but not always.

My DD did this. But she was constipated and often found it easier to poo standing than sitting on her potty. She is on movicol now and always sits on her potty. I noticed recently she stand over her potty to poo but that's because she is curious of what is happening and is trying to see.

23 months is too young. We trained DD when she was 3. Took less than a week.

This is very, very common and not something to be concerned about. It's actually more common amongst boys. Just be patient, let him use a nappy, and he will soon figure it out.

My son is 2.5 and is blatantly refusing to poo in his potty. He prefers to do it in private and would rather poo in his pants than potty.

But he's always calling out for his potty when he wants to wee and would not wet himself till he has his potty

Think they need time for the poo

It may have been too young for your DD @Tavannach, but my DS has pretty much totally mastered it! since this post he has got the hang of poos on the potty and only has the occasional accident! He's the perfect age to train I would say :)

more often than not he gets almost nervous and will end up going on the floor, even with encouragement from me and DH to go on the potty. He gets really upset about this and really worked up and confused.

Too young. Speak to your health visitor or GP.

@Tavannach that was the issue at the beginning, now luckily he has got the hang of it and doesn't get upset! Seems like he's mastered it at 23 months :) no need to speak to GP, but thank you for the suggestion!

It does sound like the reason he isn’t pooing is because he is not ready . He’s still very young , it will be a lot quicker if you wait until nearer three.

I don't think he is too young, they can have this issue at any age. All my dc except my youngest trained at 2/2.5, but my youngest didn't get it so left her til she was 3. She had huge issues around poos, and didn't do them in the potty toilet until she was nearly 3.5. She has sensory issues so i assume it was related to that. If we had waited until she was 5 she would have had the same problem imo. Stick with it, as long as he is happy to continue, he will get there.

Thanks @Tavannach but not sure if you read my previous message, but he is now doing his poos on the potty! :) I guess every child is different, but we felt 3 was too late to leave it. He's making really good progress :)

@Tavannach It isn't too young at all. My DD was using the potty confidently by the age of 1. She has just turned 2, we don't get accidents. She even brings me her potty when she is finished telling herself 'well done'.

Not all children struggle before the age of 3, and yes, my HV and GP know about it and think it's great. You're belief that all children can't learn until the age which you chose to potty train your DC is bizarre.

Wow @Ispywithmycynicaleye that's amazing, well done! I agree and don't think it's too young at all, the books I've read have all advised that my DS is at an optimal age to learn, and he's proven us right! He still has some accidents, but he is incredibly confident now with it all :)

Wow you've done well to have him potty trained at 23 months. My son was nowhere near ready then and we did it about 3 months before his third birthday!

My daughter was the same at the beginning but after 3 weeks something just clicked like it obviously has for your little one and she's never looked back. She's 23 months now and has barely had an accident in over 2 months x

My daughter was the same at the beginning but after 3 weeks something just clicked like it obviously has for your little one and she's never looked back. She's 23 months now and has barely had an accident in over 2 months x

That's good @iamloading! What age did you start training with her?

We tried at 19 months for three days and it was a disaster. She turned into a camel! Then at 20 months she randomly got the potty out herself and started weeing on it. Poos took about another 3 weeks, we didn't force it just let her put on a nappy to poo at first. Then one day she just sat down and pooed and it's been great ever since!

Ime (as a mum of 5, childminder and former nursery worker) it's easier to train a 2 year old than a 3 year old, assuming they are ready. They are often more biddable and less likely to get stressed about accidents.