3 year old won't poo on the potty

[haileysmama]

My newly 3 year old daughter has been going pee on the potty with no problems for almost a year.. but she will NOT poop! she wears panties all day then when she knows she needs to poop she asks for a diaper. i tell her "lets go try on the potty" everytime. we go in the bathroom and she gets on the potty and asks me to leave. when i stand outside the door i hear her FAKE grunting and pushing for 2 seconds then she yells for me to come back and says she needs a diaper.. She has gone poop on the potty twice.. i don't know what to do. i usually end up putting her in a diaper after she "tries" on the potty because i worry about her holding it in and getting constipated. She will not poop in her panties, only in a diaper. my husband says i need to start disciplining her for not going poop on the potty but im worried that discipline will discourage her.. please help!! i need suggestions and ideas!!!

[Kevin Kennedy, Ph.D.]

You're on the right track. There's no need to coerce her. Continue to be patient and supportive. At some point (it's really arbitrary when you do it), such as in another six months, if she has not made progress I'd suggest setting a date when all the pull-ups in the house will be gone and not to return. Don't become punitive around this, but simply insist that, at that point, she must use the potty and pull-ups won't be an option.

[cherishnkaiden]

I hope you don't mind me posting, I did this with both of my kids and it works so well-
You have your child gather up all her diapers and put them in a bag and set them on the toilet. Then when she is asleep the diaper fairy comes and takes the daipers and leaves a big girl present on the potty. So then the diapers are all gone because the diaper fairy took them away. My daughter was fully trained (with no accidents or wanting a diaper) in one day and my son within a couple days. Also a few days before tell her about the diaper fairy and get her excited. With my son (who was a lot like your daughter) I made him prove to the diaper fairy that he could be a big boy. He had to go on the potty everytime for two days before she could come. I even made a big deal and "called" the diaper fairy and told her that he was going potty. (I did it like santa in the fact that only mom knew their number and could talk to them.)
I hope this helps......it really works soooo good!!!
Cristen

[Kevin Kennedy, Ph.D.]

One of the valuable aspects of a Forum such as ours is the opportunity to learn from what other parents are doing to address the various issues that questioners raise. Cristen's idea is an interesting adaptation of the method of eliminating diapers/pull-ups from the lives of children who are trying to master toilet training.

[onroute]

Also I hope you dont mind me giving someone's else's problem/solutions with her child and going poo on the potty. With her daughter she actually felt that her poo was part of her body and she did not want it flushed down the toilet.  When she saw it flushed she felt she was being flushed as well.  I dont know how this was understood by the parents, but I guess I can understand the fear if that is what she was thinking.  If she can verbalize how she is feeling that would help...if she is talking well enough.  I dont know if t hat helps...it may not be that at all.

[sonibaby2004]

A related discussion, Poop on the potty - delayed was started.

[BwA_Ethereal]

A related discussion, poop on the potty was started.