Won't Poop on Potty

Monkey2007 · June 2012

My 3 year old (now closer to 4) has never once pooped on the potty. She has peed on the potty consistently for over 7 months and I can't remember the last time she had an accident. She is not afraid to poop on the potty and tries, but nothing comes out. She then asks for a diaper and stands up and pushes against the table to go. She never poops in her underwear. We have tried everything and I'm not sure what else to do.

Vine07 · June 2012

Is she having trouble pooping-like being constipated? That could definitely be the problem. We give DD miralax everyday and it works wonders. I started off with a small amount and then increased as necessary. Worth a try if you have not tried already!

jlw2505 · June 2012

Is she constipated at all? I would just keep having her try - my DD took a long time to be able to poop on the potty, months and months after she was pee trained. One day she just did it and never looked back.

Catch23 · June 2012

Vine07:
Is she having trouble pooping-like being constipated? That could definitely be the problem. We give DD miralax everyday and it works wonders. I started off with a small amount and then increased as necessary. Worth a try if you have not tried already!

This exactly!!! We use miralax as well - - wonderful!

Monkey2007 · June 2012

Thanks for the advice. I will try the diaper and sitting on the potty. She is not constipated at all (and has never been except a week when she was an infant). She's super regular and goes once or twice a day.

neverblushed · June 2012

I'm another mom of a kid who was fully trained for months for pee, but still asking for a diaper for poop.

I would be surprised if there's a physical problem stopping her from pooping in the sitting position. My guess would be that she's just not pooping because of the whole "weirdness" factor of doing it in a different way than she's used to. Imagine how weirded out you would be if the toilet seat were carpeted, or if you had to poop with no stall doors, etc. That's what it's like for her to make this change.

I would try the suggestion made earlier of having her sit on the potty to poop with her diaper on. Or, if it's the holding on to something that seems to do the trick, try having her sit facing the tank so she can brace against the tank of the toilet. Or put two small step stools (stacks of old phone books?) on either side of the bowl so she can stand/hover, with her bum over the bowl.

Once she realizes -- oh, yes, I can still successfully poop, even if it's not exactly in the way I'm used to doing it -- she'll be more willing to just sit on the potty and poop like everyone else.

BMenz · June 2012

neverblushed:
I'm another mom of a kid who was fully trained for months for pee, but still asking for a diaper for poop.
I would be surprised if there's a physical problem stopping her from pooping in the sitting position. My guess would be that she's just not pooping because of the whole "weirdness" factor of doing it in a different way than she's used to. Imagine how weirded out you would be if the toilet seat were carpeted, or if you had to poop with no stall doors, etc. That's what it's like for her to make this change.
I would try the suggestion made earlier of having her sit on the potty to poop with her diaper on. Or, if it's the holding on to something that seems to do the trick, try having her sit facing the tank so she can brace against the tank of the toilet. Or put two small step stools (stacks of old phone books?) on either side of the bowl so she can stand/hover, with her bum over the bowl.
Once she realizes -- oh, yes, I can still successfully poop, even if it's not exactly in the way I'm used to doing it -- she'll be more willing to just sit on the potty and poop like everyone else.

I'm one too! After bribing and everything you could imagine to get him to poop on the potty I realized that he was scared about it. It wasn't until one night that I knew he had to poop, and I bribed him with an m&m and he pooped but I never gave one to him because he forgot about it lol

I also explained to him that going poop on the potty is nothing to be scared about and that we have to at least try and go poop because if we don't our bodies won't be healthy and our tummies will hurt. Just tonight he pooped two times and both time said (after) "holy moly that's a lot of poop, no wonder why I had a hurt tummy!"

eta: he didn't/wouldn't poop until he turned 4 (it's was 2 days or so after his bday party that it just "clicked" for him). I also explained that when kids turn 4, they don't poop in diapers anymore because they're big kids, and big kids go poop and potty on the potty.

AVioletV · July 2012

cmeon_the_water:
You could try telling her she can have a diaper, but, must sit on the potty while she wears it. If constipation isn't the problem (and it may be), she may just need to get used to using her muscles in a different way. Pooping on the potty is truly difficult for some kids at first- pooping in a squat or standing variation (like she's doing) is probably a lot more natural.

Yes, "practicing" on the potty was really helpful. We're not out of the woods yet, as DD still has some trouble going consistently, but it has certainly helped. I have a friend who eventually cut holes in the back of his sons diapers and had him "practice" on the toilet!

Monkey2007 · July 2012

Thanks again for the ideas. My daughter will now poop on the potty with a diaper (with a whole cut out - so it goes in the potty). We're still working on getting rid of the diaper all together, but I feel like we are making progress.

Want a personalized experience?

Won't Poop on Potty

Re: Won't Poop on Potty

Choose Another Board

Search Boards