Getting almost 4yo DD to poop on the potty

[kristenk]

How in the world do I do that??? She wears "big girl panties" and is great about peeing in the potty, but she still asks for a diaper when she needs to poop. About a year ago, she had major problems with holding poop and I'm terrified that telling her she *has* to use the potty will make us travel down that horrifying road again. We still use Miralax on a semi-regular basis.

It seems like it's such a control issue for her and I have no idea what to do so that she'll want to use the potty instead of a diaper.

Help?

[Gena]

There are some suggestions here:

http://www.keepkidshealthy.com/parenting_tips/potty_training/potty_training_problems.html

Scroll down to Problem#2, which addresses the situation where a child is urine trained, but requests a diaper for poop.

[kristenk]

There are some suggestions here:

http://www.keepkidshealthy.com/parenting_tips/potty_training/potty_training_problems.html

Scroll down to Problem#2, which addresses the situation where a child is urine trained, but requests a diaper for poop.

Thank you for that link. I really think it is all related to standing vs. sitting. DD stands to poop and, I'm sure, hasn't quite figured out how that's going to work with the potty. I'm not sure how to transition her to sitting, but at least I have something to help her with.

Thanks!

[Twoboos]

We too have had loooong problems w/pooping on the potty. DD1 has had horrible constipation for a long time. Finally, after 6+mos of going only in a diaper (or in her panties, hidden and squatting in a corner or under the table), she pooped "by accident" while peeing on the toilet at school. I cried when they told me, I was so happy. She really turned the corner then.

I would give her the diaper but always make her sit on the potty while I got it, very very slowly, just hoping the poop would fall out.

Is there anything she really wants in particular? I was not above bribery - she had been promised a Belle doll when she finally pooped, and we drove directly from preschool to the Disney store on the day it happened!

She still gets m&m's as prizes when she poops on the potty. Really, it's tough, she can go days without going at all and I can tell when it's time. And she'll refuse to go, it's definitely a control issue. I just try to make her linger on the potty a little longer on those days, and eventually it comes. I still have to sit and hold her when she goes. (Earning a nomination for mom-of-the-year from one of my friends who has seen this process in action. :-)

Can you get your DD to just sit on the potty maybe a couple of times a day? (even though she does it to pee already). I always made sure I told dd - this is not to poop, this is just to sit and get your bum used to sitting on the potty where poop should go.

I also tried getting her to poop in the diaper while sitting on the potty, to get the whole process more connected in her brain. (of course, my DD would sit, not poop, get down on the floor and go there in the dipe. sigh) A pedi also recommended after doing this, to cut a hole in the diaper so the poop falls into the potty - voila, you've pooped in the diaper AND on the potty.

Or maybe sitting on the smaller potty seat/chair, we had a theory at one point that DD was afraid of the big potty. (poop falling too far into the water and making "plop" sound... I know it sounds stupid, we were desperate...)

I hope this helps - this is really so frustrating and I TOTALLY feel your pain. Good luck.

ETA - one more thing I thought of (there will probably be more :)). I also told DD that if she was going to poop in her panties, then she would have to wear diapers all the time. Panties are not for pooping in, only diapers. I know this doesn't help you b/c your DD only poops in the dipes, but maybe losing the "privilege" of wearing panties?

[rupptopia]

A friend of mine has the exact same issue with her DD. She was sure it was just a control thing and something she could do to push her parents buttons. Bribes didn't work, she had no shame about messing up her pants & it was becoming an issue at her school - if it continued they would have had to put her in with the younger class.

She talked to the pediatrician about it & the dr suggested that she bring her in so she could have a chat with her. Basically the dr (with mom's permission) told her DD that she was a big girl now & needed to poop in the potty. And that her parents & she had to do what the dr said. No more messing around. And that did it! No more issues! She just needed someone else in charge to to tell her that they knew she could do it & she was a big girl now.

Not sure if it would help in your situation but worth a try maybe. . .