3 year old female will not say she has to potty...wets/poops in cotton underwear

[maxmansmom]

I'd LOVE any help with this. My daughter will pee and poo on the potty if taken. She has even at times said "pee pee potty"....and has made it to the potty .
She has not worn pullups for three weeks now (except for at night).
  What frustrates me is that she will not tell me all the time or at least "on a regular basis" that she has to pee.
  Today she has peed twice in her undies and all over the kitchen floor and living room couch..... then after being cleaned up went back and pooped in her "big girl undies".
  Other than sit with her all day long and stare at her, how on earth do I help she and I get past this ?

[RockRose]

Does she have other slight delays?  It sounds like it may be that actually doesn't know when she's about to pee or poop - is that possible?

[Cleveland Mom]

How long have you been potty training?  It takes awhile for some kids.  Most kids are trained around 3 but for some kids its normal to be potty trained at 4.  I have a very verbal, very independent 33 month old dtr. who is not ready to be trained.  When I talk to her about potty training she tells me that she doesn't want to use the toilet and that she wants to wear pull-ups.  I know that sooner than later the big girl in her will win out over the baby in her.  So, I'm not pushing to potty training so to speak.  Consult a child care book or the internet about potty training to learn the potty training readiness signs.  If you conclude that she is not ready, back off and wait and re-assess her readiness.
Best wishes...

[tiredbuthappy]

i agree she may not be quite ready yet. however, i have worked with many, many children who weren't ready for underwear but their parents sent them to school in it anyways. for the first few weeks, we'd literally send them to the bathroom every hour. after that, we'd stretch it to every 1 1/2 or 2 hours, while they get used to the sensations. everytime the child actually asks to go potty, we'd praise or reward them. children are often pee trained before bm trained. sometimes, it's months before they're bm trained. for those children, we would try to anticipate when they were going to have a bm and try to make sure they were on the potty around that time of day. or we'd look for other signs. one child may hide when getting ready to poop in undies, others may turn red (from straining). good luck and remember it takes a lot of patience!!!!

[MammaTiff]

My three year old daughter will pee in the potty but will not poop. She is going to be four soon and she can't start school in a pull up.  She knows when she has to go because she hides when she does it.  How can I get her to go poop on the potty?