"Poopy Training" - Grand Junction,CO

Being able to tinkle in the potty doesn't automatically mean she is able to control the poopies yet. There are different muscles and different nerve systems involved. It may be that she doesn't realize she needs to go until she actually is going (there is a point evacuation is reflexive; as adults we have learned to control it a whole lot more). It actually sounds a lot like that, since she agrees and says okay she'll go in the potty, but then never does. I would say give it a while longer, she may just need a bit more time to coordinate nerves, muscles, etc.

i think its just time and getting use-to the feeling of not letting loose wherever you are.. as they did when they had diapers for 2 years...
My son still has this same problem from time to time .. he's four.
Just keep on trying the positive reinforcement for those good times, and maybe just TIME to gain control of the colon muscles :)

my daughter was the same! she'd hold her poops until just after naptime and go in her pull up...
then just go in her underpants. well I finally just said I'm done cleaning you up. You have to clean up yourself and your poops. she was upset but she does now. we went 2 weeks without a poop accident until yesterday at a friends house she was unfamiliar with the home layout and didn't make it in time. I found out because she called down to me, "don't worry mom I'll clean myself up" it was kind of funny. the first couple of times my husband or I walked her through the process of cleaning it up. now we just inspect after she's done. but it took 4 times of her having to clean it herself and she goes on the toilet, with that one accident after 2 weeks.
I don't believe in shaming a kid for having an accident, they are learning. I just told her she's a big girl now and mommy is done cleaning her poops up, she has to take care of it. first accident and I said wouldn't this be so much easier if all you had to do was wipe your bum?
we have the trianing chat we used for her when she was learning to pee only now she only gets to put a sticker on when she poops in the potty and then if she goes all day without an accident of any kind she gets to put 2 stars on the chart. its been helping a lot.
the chart she responded to has toilets on it. I think you can find it at Wal Mart. something about putting the sticker on a toilet made a connection for her.
good luck.

A couple of my kids also were tinkle trained first. Can you watch her and see if she needs to poop? When I'd see my kids were ready, I'd say, "You can poop on the potty, or ask for a diaper." Eventually they learned to ask for the diaper on their own. For a few months they chose the diaper! But eventually they were happy on the potty. I think it's quite normal for kids to halfway potty train. For me, I was a happier mom not having to clean up accidents, so this provided a nice balance to our learning.

It took my son a few months to get the "poop" part down as well. I just kept telling him he had to poop in the potty too. I would try to catch him when he had that funny look on his face. He eventually got it. I'm going through a similar problem with my daughter who is 2 1/2. She just started going to the potty, but it seems as if she will only poop in the potty if she doesn't have anything on. If she has on underwear, training pants or pull-ups, she'll go in those. I think we just have to keep working on it and give them time. I'm just excited she's even going.

Hi T.
I promise you this is the only response like mine you are going to get. So let me start by saying I do not believe in potty training, I know it sounds strange and yes I do think kids need to learn how to use the potty but after having 4 kids (I'm not saying I'm an expert) I have learned that no matter WHAT they will not do it till they are ready!! Girls typically are a bit easier b/c they want to be "big girls" ( I'm sure you remember when you were 13 and told the boy at the skating rink you were 15) it's the same thing! Going poop is always the hardest part b/c since the day they were born they have "felt" their poo whereas the pee is absorbed and forgotten so for our little ones to poo on the potty its weird and a bit scary. All I can suggest mamma is to let her know you are "proud" of YOUR poos in the potty and how wonderful her poos in the potty are as well and that no one is sad if she didn't do it, but that "OH MY GOD! you are so big we need to go let YOU pick out some new BIG GIRL panties" I guess what I'm trying to say is that it is their accheivment not ours, we don't potty train them, they just let us be a part of their learning!!!

I don't have an answer to the training question, but if your daughter goes more than one day without pooping, she IS constipated, no matter the texture of the poop when it comes out. This is something that may or may not be contributing to the training difficulty, but I would mention it to your pediatrician next time you go in.

It took my daughter 5 months after day training to poop train. And when she finally went in the poop, that was that, she was totally trained (day and night). She did this at 23 months, btw.

I bought the book "everybody poops." My daughter was in Gerber trainers, so I told her she could wear Elmo undies if she went poop in the potty. I also offered her fruit snacks --something she had only had once before. Also, when she would fart, I would talk to her about gas, and ask her if she felt any pressure. My daughter also always pooped in the same place in the house, around the same time, so I tried to catch her and get her to the potty. All I would say was "poop goes in the potty."

It took us one week. Hang in there!

My daughter was the same. My pediatrician recommended using Miralax (it doesn't hurt them at all...it goes straight through their system) and it worked so well. I gave half of the recommended dose every morning. It made her more regular, less constipated, and after only a month of using it, she would go poo regularly in the potty and we've never had a problem since. Good luck!

I know it is not always easy but if you can catch her at thebeginning of a bowel movement put her on the potty, it may stop her mid poop and not go but after doing this over and over she may begin to think to herself I better do this on the potty or it will never come out. Also when she does go in her panties take her and the poopy panties to the bathrooom and show her where the poop goes. MAke a huge deal out of it when she does it, I mean huge. You can slowly reduce the big effect after she has done it a few times. One thing I did with my daughetr was when I was taking ehr mid poop I would give her a book and give her privacy. NOw when she says she has to go potty she will ask for a book when it is nu ber 2. She asks for privacy all the time now when it was only just for poops. Good luck

Hi T.,
I would highly recommend you try the "tough love touch". A cold hose on her bare bottom a time or two will get her attention, no more pleading, no more whining, no more dirty panties. It may take more then once but it will do the trick if you are consistent and make it cold and uncomfortable with a bit of a sting. Right now you are only playing on her emotions and actually whining about behaviour you find foul. I'd almost bet you are still taking a warm comfortable cloth of some sort to wipe her bottom up giving her additional "Mama comfort" and your time. Well what kid doesn't want warm comfort and mama time? I know this sounds rough but you are the one unhappy with her so you are the one that needs to take (back) control as Mom and be the authority that's not going to let her play her little game. We did the hose thing on our son who thought this behavior was o.k. It took us about 3 or 4 times of hosing him off with a cold hose, outside. But he finally decided he really didn't care much for that cold sting so he changed the course and we've not had any issues since. It really comes down to A) Mom's in charge here and I don't care for this and B) Do the things in life that make all of her actions that you don't approve of counter productive. Remember those two ideas!! Most people are going to give you all kinds of other advise so when you get done trying everything else come back to this post and see how well it works:) Blessings, L.