Dry but not clean - arrgh!

[buggie]

Hoping the esteemed brains of the EDF can help!

Bugglet took us by surprise last w/e by suddenly deciding the time had come to potty train

(She's nearly 2.5yrs & we were blocking out Easter w/e to give it a go!).

On the wee front she's done fantastically - by nursery on Monday she was taking herself & by mid-week she was t having any wee-accidents (even with a few small car journeys and a short nap!).

But, poo is another matter... She doesn't seem scared/hiding it, but doesn't make any effort to use the potty for it.

We've read Poo goes to Pooland, have some "Ben & Holly" knickers which Princess Holly has put a spell on so they can't be opened until she does poo's in the potty, and the promise of choc buttons. Nothing seems to be making a difference :-S if its fairly solid it doesn't even seem to bother her :-(

I know that the thing I need most is patience (I'm doing my best on that front!), but is there anything else anyone can suggest?!

Thanks in advance!

[Fuschia]

Does she go at a regular time? If so, set up a habit of sitting on the loo or potty for 10 minutes at about the right time, with a special book or toy?

[melbourne groover]

I found the regular time on the toilet/potty solved it for us. I used to give my son the iPad as it kept him there and gradually moved back to books. It stops the surprise events, but you do have to set a decent ammount of time aside though...

[buggie]

Annoyingly there's not a set time - last few days its been post lunch but she took Mr Buggie by surprise mid morning today :-(

She's very good sitting on the potty, but seems to get so comfy nothing happens! Think once she does it once she'll be ok, but getting the first one in is proving a much bigger challenge than I anticipated!!

[Fuschia]

It's still early days.

Go prepared in case of accidents, and go for a short sit on the toilet once or twice a day and it will click before too long.

[Fuschia]

It can be misleading if one part of the process seems really easy and instantaneous. And while some children really do DIY and are Dey and clean day and night almost in a flash, there are others who regularly poo themselves for months after the first wee has been extracted into the loo! (She says, shuddering in memory, and remembering the daily 'poo in pants ritual' that accompanied twin 1's start in Heber nursery - took a whole term to get past that, reliably)

[TE44]

I think reminding your lo that the feeling when needing a poo is

different to when needing a pee, then ask when they'd not use potty

for poo, if it felt different. I also think not worrying and keeping calm

helps.

[Fuschia]

Taking them into the toilet to wipe and clean up and putting paper/toddler wipes down the loo together saying bye bye poo can be a start

[craigy]

I am potty training my 2 and a half year old (with the help of her nursery 3 days a week). We are at the end of week 2 with very little input from me and we are the same. Great at wee's but poo's on a much less frequent basis than usual, in pants of nappy once put on for night.

Completely different with my son who the poo ages before wee's but her nursery (who potty train about 6 at once every couple of months) assure me this is quite normal and to just wait so I am!

We had had the potty out for a couple of months prior to starting and she had done one poo on it of her own doing one evening but it involved her on and off it for about 20 mins as if she knew something needed to happen but wasn't sure what so makes me think that it is a very different feeling and may take a whe to recognise..

[Monkey]

It was the same for ours and there was a two-month gap between her being dry and her becoming clean. We tried very hard but really I think she did it when she was ready ( two days before she started pre-school!) she had a good friend at nursery who was clean before her, they went to the loo together (as they do!), and I think it did help.

Arm yourself with patience ... and lots of pants!

[buggie]

Stocked up on primarni pants today! Got v excited earlier & accidently gave choc buttons for what turned out to be a v smelly fart on the potty (teach me to look before I reward!).

Anyhoo, nursery for 3 days now so fingers crossed seeing others doing it will help (& even if it doesn't it won't be me cleaning up!!) :)

[BellendenBear]

My daughter potty trained at a similar age and like yours had no problems with wees. It took at least another month or maybe 2 for her to master poos. I don't think this is unusual. We just stuck with it and had lots of dirty pants to wash / throw away. One day she just got it and was fine ever since.

[buggie]

Thank you all... It's reassuring to know there can be a big gap between dry & clean coming (think stories of withholding poo scared me a bit!).

Think she's in the midst of a developmental leap (if they still occur over 2yrs) as her language (& opinions on everying!) are growing by the day - she fell asleep at 6pm yesterday!

[alieh]

Same here - there was a good few months between wees and poos being mastered. I just accepted the fact that I would throw away pants that were really grim. I think better to just say "oh well" and clean up - I was afraid of it becoming a poo withholding issue if I made it into a drama (am sure there are many other reasons for poo witholding, but I just wanted to not contribute to that if possible!). It was always unpredictable times of day for us too, so difficult to time the potty trip. Eventually he just got it!