3 Year Old Potty Trained Girl Pooping Her Pants Every Day!

My mother had some problems with my second brother doing the same thing. He decided out of the blue that he didn't want to stop what he was doing to go poop on the potty. It took to long I suppose. He didn't like to clean himself either. He would just gag and gag.

Finally my mom got so sick of it she told him she would no longer clean him up if he went in his pants. She would take his pants off and make him clean himself up as best he could with toilet paper making sure he flushed so as not to overflow the toilet and then she would make him get in the tub to finish cleaning himself. She would tell him how gross it was to poop in his pants and if he went on the potty it wasn't nearly as bad and she would help him clean up....but only if he went on the potty.

For some reason he stopped after the first time he had to clean himself up. Guess he figured that was more disgusting than sitting on the toilet and cleaning himself there.

He was a silly bird and would literally gag when he smelled his own poop.

You should have seen him changing diapers as a dad. TOOOO FUNNY!!!!

I would rather my son poop in his pants rather than not poop. Developmentally, learning to poo is a second step. I love the positive, encouraging approach another mother recommended. She's learning a new behavior and it's best learned through positive affirmation.

I hope we're all emotionally intelligent enough to know that telling a daughter that she is a "bad girls." Our words are very powerful. Our children understand who they are from what we tell them. My children are not "bad" but make inappropriate or poor choices.

Hi R.,
You are not alone. I have a 3 yrs old son who also goes to the potty with no problem and is ok at night with no accidents, but he too poops in his pants me and my husband can not understand. I also am at home and he goes to preschool 3 days a week. He will poop in his pants and he says "mommy I boo-boo", but of course its too late. He says he's scary. I tell him there is nothing to be scared of. It's ok to poop IN THE POTTY. His preschool teacher says it will take time because he has to be comfortable about going. We are trying to be patient, but it's beginning to be an annoyance especially when we go out and I'm fearful that he will poop in his pants and not say anything until I smell it. HOW EMBRASSING, IT HAPPENED IN CHURCH ONCE, can you imagine. Sorry I don't have any advice for you on this one, but it's always good to share stories with someone who is going through the same dilemna. GOOD LUCK TO US BOTH. Take care.
I am 41 yrs old with my hardworking husband and very outgoing and busy 3 yrs old boy

My suggestion would be to have everyone involved give no verbal or emotional response to the poopy pants........just change them. Then, give an overflowing amount of response to her anytime she has clean pants....it could be just one hour after poopy pants. Just say things like, "You are such a big girl with your clean panties. You are taking good care of yourself and showing everyone how responsible you are." And, say thesse things in aenthusiastic voice and manner. The idea is attention for doing right, for the many hours of the day she is not in poopy pants. Hope this helps.

Had your daughter been experienceing any boughts with constipation prior to having the BM in her pants? Any hard/painfull stools or diareah? This might have made her afriad to go #2 on the potty. Have the accidens been normal BM or loose stool? This could also be a sign that your child is constipated. A hardened stool in little kids can lead to loose stool coming out uncontrolably.
Also, it could be related to stress that she's feeling about being in preschool. Little ones don't have the ability to tell us outright what is bothering them. This could be her way of letting you know somethings wrong at school. talk to her instructor. Better yet, spend the day with her at preschool and see for yourself. If the teacher says no to this, then think about finding another class.
Many kids have setbacks when it comes to potty training, be patient, and please don't follow any of the advise on this page that invloves belittling her and calling her bad and making her clean herself up. If it keeps happening contact a your pediatrician for advice.
As for the holidays, put her in a pull up and don't stress.

My son did the same thing. I was sure he was doing it on purpose. We decided that he would not be able to watch his videos until he decided to poop on the potty. Sure enough, the next day he pooped in his pants and missed his video. From that point on he started to use his the potty again. It is worth a try. We were not mean about it. We simply told him that he would get his videos back when he decided to poop in the potty.
Good Luck!

My older daughter did this for a while after being potty trained and my younger daughter who was 3 in August still does this a few times a week. It's frustrating and with my older daughter I used to get really worked up about it. With my younger daughter, I now have the perspective that she will grow out of it eventually. I know you've probably heard it before, but you don't see many kindergardeners pooping in their pants. My advice is to just change her and like another poster said, don't get emotional about it. Best of luck!