Nappies back on or not?

[sunshinecitrus1]

We are on Day 5 of potty training. Son is doing well compared to when we tried back in January. He is now doing all wees on the potty, bare bottom and will tell me when he needs to go when he has trousers / shorts on (with no nappy / pants underneath). However, poo is a problem. He is withholding and suffers with constipation anyway. He was on Laxido before we started potty training because of it and I will likely need to increase his Laxido to keep his stools soft as after today, I can see they are now a bit harder due to the withholding.

I’ve decided not to put any pressure on going for a poo on the potty for now until I sort out the constipation.

Now I’m not sure what to do as obviously he is weeing really well on the potty. No accidents all day yesterday and one so far today.

Do I keep nappies off so that we can continue with the weeing on the potty and then try and pop a nappy on him for a poo when he shows sign he needs to go? I feel like it would be just contradicting what he should and shouldn’t be doing but at the same time I don’t want to ruin the progress he has made of weeing on the potty.

How old is he? Has he done any poos in the last 5 days and how did he do them? I think it sounds like he’s going pretty well so I’d be minded to keep going. If he’s comfy on the potty, and has the supplement, may end up doing a poo on there while doing a wee, and learn it’s nothing to be afraid of.

@pjani He is 2 years 9 months. He has done poos over the last 5 days, most of which have ended up on the floor or in his shorts. If he try and approach him when he’s about to go, he gets quite stressed so I try not to push it or put any pressure on.

Each time I have picked it up, put it in his potty and told him this is where it’s supposed to go. He did get a very very small piece of poo in his potty yesterday when he had a wee which I made a big deal out of 👏

I think I need to focus on building his confidence around poo and minimising his fear. I guess that comes with time and patience. I bought him a “what is poo” book today too. Its OK while we’re indoors at home him running around bare bottomed but he is due back to nursery on Friday plus I’m just trying to figure out how to manage things when we go out… Not sure whether to keep him commando as we have been doing and just trust the process whilst dealing with a fair bit of washing! I just really don’t want to give up with this as he is doing really well!

Have you tried putting a nappy in in the potty . So when you see his poo face expression line the potty with the nappy and say let's get the poo in your nappy. And see if he will sit on the potty with the nappy under him.

Or just carry on as you are. They say poo part of potty training takes time. Definitely don't put nappy back on he's doing great so far 👌

I would definitely say try not to go back into nappies (pull ups are nappies so avoid them as well) he is obviously wanting to learn and get the independence of not toileting himself, as he has mastered the wees --- go with it 👍👍

He sounds like he is doing great and has another few days before nursery.
Don't put underwear on him, just baggy trousers he can push down himself. Start teaching him pushing down pants if not already done. Nursery will continue and help also.

How did he react when he did poo on the potty yesterday ?
I know a few children who have with held poos as they were scared, has it got better now he has got his first one in???
Keep reminding him of how amazing he was to do that etc etc

@Toejam24 Thanks for the nappy in the potty tip. That’s something I may consider depending how we get on in the days to come 😊 Poo part of potty training is definitely the hardest for us! I must say, I am not a fan of this potty training milestone! 😂

@tiggergoesbounce Yep I agree with you after thinking about this some more this afternoon, I’m not giving up on this! 😊 Yesterday he was a bit freaked out by it and did gag, but he did enjoy flushing it away down the “big toilet”. Since I posted this today, we have had mixed attempts with more poo… A couple of times he actually approached the potty to give it a try and was successful with a very small one all by himself! Then we had a couple of bits on the floor and then another bit in the potty so definitely an improvement…! Crazy really as earlier this afternoon he had such a stomach ache and was really backed up. The last few hours have been different so fingers crossed we are heading in the right direction!

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@sunshinecitrus1 I say keep going! We are three months or so into potty training and poos and constipation still an issue. I decided to let it go and not worry so much about it and things have been better since then though I do clean up pants every other day... it will only be for a short while. Sounds like your son is making great progress. Would recommend the nhs app poo goes to Pooland, mad as it sounds. Doesn't work on a phone, only a tablet of you have one!

I'm actually following this thread to copy what you're doing - it sounds like you've got it all under control! Xx

@twoandcooplease Ah that is refreshing to hear! 😁Everything is still going really well on the wee front, not so good on the poos but I am just being consistent. Every time he goes on the floor or his pants I’ll pick it up and say poo doesn’t go there, it goes on the potty. He knows this as he repeats what I say but it’s just building his confidence. If I’m able to catch him mid-going then we get the last bit on the toilet and I praise him for that 😊I think the less pressure I put on it the better for him (and us!) and I’m just hoping it all clicks into place soon. How are things going with you and your little one? x

Same issue here with my nearly 3 year old! Will follow this thread and hope we all see improvement soon! =)

@SB2021 How long have you been potty training your little one? My son is nailing the wees but he isn’t really attempting the potty for poos at all.

He is now wearing pants with trousers as opposed to commando which I’m not 100% sure about as pants can feel like nappies. He is pulling them down to wee on the potty though so he is definitely grasping what to do.

It just doesn’t really make a difference for poos regardless as he will just poo in the trousers / pants etc. and make no real attempt.

Every time I am at home with him, I let him run around bare bottomed and occasionally he has ran to the potty quickly and got back off straight away. I feel like going back to the bare bottom approach for a while but it’s really difficult with work / nursery commitments to do this consistently for a few days again! A couple of weeks ago when we started this was the bank holiday weekend so gave us a good few days stretch!