Poo training

[srisky]

Not sure how to deal with this so I welcome any advise....

....we started potty training our 2.5y old son in July and he is ok with wees (occasional accidents but can take himself to the loo and is generally dry). Poo is a totally different issue - we did the whole naked from the waist down, then commando etc and he did manage a few poos in the potty, several on the floor near the potty but he had the general idea and it was a matter of getting his timing right between feeling the urge to go and actually going.

We have now totally regressed and over the last week every poo has been in his trousers and he has even stopped telling us he has done it. It has made going out difficult, as we don't know when it will happen, and I am fed up of cleaning crap!

How should we tackle this issue? Luckily, he has no attachment to his poo so is not upset when it is flushed away. We have tried praise, bribes etc.

Thanks!

[SuperNanny]

Hi

I had the same issue when I potty trained a little boy 5 years ago.

It will pass. I implemented a star chart with a Thomas series train for each poo in the potty. Just patience and do not show him your disappointment. Say it is ok however do you remember that if you do in the potty you can get x/y/z?

Did something happen that could have caused the regression? Think about it. It can even be something absolutely silly. Good luck

[SuperNanny]

I also had a massive regression with a little girl 5 years ago after pa while she was potty trained. In her case it was also poos but the reason was so clear as she had a new baby in the house.

[beck]

Don't worry at all, he is just too young at the moment, if he doesn't mind walking around with poo in his trouses then it's going to be hard to find an incentive to get him fully toilet trained.

I would take any pressure off and let him go back into nappies/ pull ups ( he can still do a wee in the toilet if he wants) and forget about it for a few months.Loads of kids aren't toilet trained until well after 3years of age.

[patt1980]

We had this with my daughter too and as the above posters say she did just grow out of it. Two things that helped for us were, 1. buying a load of cheap pants from Primark that I would just chuck rather than scraping poo out of which helped me psychologically and 2. a silly song I made up along the lines of 'Poo Poos live in the potty, Not in the pants' which we sang all the time in a funny way and which she loved and eventually the message sunk in (or she just grew out of it but both the above made it more manageable!!).

[Loz334]

Glad I'm not the only one who makes up songs about the potty! 😜

[srisky]

Thanks all for taking the time to post.

We also have a wee song and poo song, as well as a wee dance and poo dance, which we used with success for my elder child!

Yes, maybe he is too young - he was at stage when he would tell us he had done a poo so we felt he may be ready for training. He's definitely not comfortable with the poo in his pants but I think he doesn't want to admit he has done it! I think he must have picked up on an element of frustration from me/us, as the accidents seem to happen at the worst time (the latest one was just before I was about to leave for work).

We'll play it by ear and keep in mind your suggestions - thanks, again.

[missse22]

My son was out of nappies at 2 completely fine with wee's in the potty, but pooed his pants once sometimes twice a day for 7 months :-( really frustrating especially if I was at work in the middle of teaching a class (thankfully fitness class to fellow mums) and he would come over and tell me he had pooed him self :-(

I have no advise to give , but will send big hugs as I feel your pain and frustration. Xx

[monniemae]

POo Goes to Pooland is an NHS app you can download for free - worked on my toddler

x

[Belle]

My son is now 4 and we have poo accidents every day, sometimes twice a day, I am demented! He potty trained about 6 months ago - pretty much fine on wees. Was okayish on poo to start with, then went downhill. In his case, he's managing not to do it at nursery which tells me it's something he can control.

Anyway, I read this very interesting article on FB the other day which may or may not apply - made me see things a bit differently:

http://www.parents.com/blogs/toddlers-kids/2015/04/22/health/7-crazy-important-rules-for-potty-training-success/

[srisky]

Thanks, missee22, good to know that this happens and can improve!

Monniemae - I will check out that app!

Belle - I feel your pain! Thanks for the link - my son's poos are very very soft (TMI) so not constipated but I definitely need to watch for any withholding so we don't end up with a new set of issues.