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Potty training

Is your child ready for potty training at nursery? Here's the place for all your toilet training questions.

3 year old struggles with poo - will do it only in nappy

3 replies

VS2022 · 14/05/2026 17:20

hello
I know this is a very common topic… my 3 year old son has been potty trained for wees since he was 2.5 and has very few wee accidents… Maybe once a week if he’s too busy playing at his nursery. his development is totally fine otherwise too and he’s a bit chatterbox.

We just cannot get him to do a poo in the potty or toilet. He’s on movicol but he still refuses the potty and basically will only poo after nursery requesting a nappy or before bedtime (which makes bedtime painful). He does get constipated a lot and we think this is what caused this in the first place. We’ve tried bribes, asking him to sit on the toilet with a nappy… we just want him to get used to the idea of doing it in the toilet and he refuses and usually will only insist on his room…
sorry for rambling but it’s stressing us both out a lot and nursery have tried to help but he refuses there…
any suggestions from others in this situation?
thank you!

OP posts:
Are your children’s vaccines up to date?
wanderingwillows · 15/05/2026 02:23

Following as we have the exact same problem!

mp2024 · 15/05/2026 13:23

Following for the same problem here!

SilentRefluxAdvicePlease · 26/05/2026 23:00

Hello! We have found ERIC very useful for advice on this. Our child turned three earlier this month and despite being dry since November, will only really poo in a nappy. Any poo that has happened on the potty or toilet has been a ‘happy accident’. I would suggest the first step is to insist that poos happen in the bathroom only. So he can tell you that he needs to go, the toilet is offered every time but if he insists on a nappy, he has to go to the bathroom and do it there. This is the stage we are currently at! Very happy to provide more context if helpful, but here is the ERIC advice: eric.org.uk/children-who-will-only-poo-in-a-nappy-and-other-toilet-avoiders/

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