Potty Training - Refuses Going #2 on the Potty

agree with other posters.. keep her fiber/veg & fruit consumption up (keep things moving and soft). lots of fluids, etc. don't push too hard, she'll give up the diapers eventually.

a couple ideas.. one, always, always dump the poop (from the diaper) in to the toilet and say "bye bye" to the poop. I used to sing a little song about how poop goes in the potty and we flush it down.. and tell her that someday she can poop in the potty without using a diaper.

two, I know you said bribes don't work, but you might try different things, like a potty chart on the door... with spaces for pee and poop. with my daughter it was a sticker for number 1 and a temporary tattoo for number 2... don't know why, but she loves the tattoos. my sister used m&m's.. one for pee and three for poop. you never know what works.

I made my son clean himself up with minimal help because nothing else worked, he's been peeing for almost a year (backwards even) and preschool was looming. It took two weeks because he's so stubborn but it works. Some other moms told me washing them down with cold water works pretty well too because they hate that. He never held it in though. I don't think he would make himself that uncomfortable. My friend's son did do that and they had to go to the hospital but she said after that laxitive hit him, he never did it again. Not my recommendation but hindsight, she says she's not sorry.

Sorry I don't have any tips for you, just wanted you to know we're going through the same thing with our 3yo boy.

I have a friend whose daughter did the exact same thing. She tried everything - she even resorted to refusing to buy diapers when the last one had been used, and her daughter held it for 3 days, so she broke down and bought another package. She's grown into a beautiful young woman, and rest assured, she's now completely potty trained!

My advice is to be patient and don't turn it into a battle. She will eventually get it. Try putting her on the big potty backwards - that way, she'll have something to hold on to and she'll be able to see what she's doing. Sometimes they're a little freaked out about falling into the big hole behind them, and allowing them to stradle the seat and hold on to the lid makes them feel more secure and less likely to fall in. I wish you good luck!

Completely normal. You can't move her along in potty training -- she's 100% in charge. She's not ready yet.

one of my kids refused to poop on the toilet until he was 4. i'm not sure what changed his mind. he just decided one day that he would do it and then came and told me he had. he used the toilet from then on. but those 2 years of knowing he could use the toilet but wouldn't were so frustrating sometimes.
something that i have seen work (not with that particular child of mine, but with another) was for a potty training friend of the same age to spend the day with us. when my son saw how his friend went to the bathroom with no problem, he felt more confident.
good luck!

I smiled as I read your request as my oldest daughter of 5 did this EXACT same thing. I even refused to give her a diaper and she held it for 6 days once!!! (Of course I gave her a diaper as I was worried at this point) I even gave her prune juice mixed with other juice and other laxatives but she still wouldn't go on the toilet. At least she wouldn't go in her pants but she really would sit and try but mentally, just couldn't do it. So, I bought a barbie she wanted and it was in the box to be opened once she pooped. It ddidn't get out of that box for 4 months. She would sit on the pot and look at it through the package and try but still wouldn't poop on the potty. Finally, one Sunday when I had ALL day, I played really calm and cool and suggested she sit there a while as I read her some books. Then, after an hour and a sore bumb, I needed to cook dinner so she took the little potty training potty out to the kitchen and sat there as she was determined now. She wanted to be near me (which is different than most kids) but was really motivated and she really wanted to just do it as it had been months that she was wearing underwear all day except for her BM. Finally, after about 5 hours, she went and was so proud of herself and we all celebrated, she even had to leave it there til dad came home and saw it. She got the barbie and never regressed. I guess my point is.... she will do it when she wants, nobody will be able to chnge that for her or you. She will do it by the time she is 5 I am sure, patience.

This is so normal! I promise she will learn to go on the potty in her own time. It's very smart that she can ask for a diaper for pooping... this means you can save $$ by using panties during the day, you have the freedom of going out without accidents, because she can communicate her need for a diaper. To me, that's just part of parenting. I have 4 children, and my oldest three all did the same thing, so we never had accidents. Hooray. The youngest is right where yours is... so we're waiting. Hang in there.

My granddaughter, 3 in November, too, is behaving similar to your daughter, only she has just started to go #1. I have heard its not good to try to force or manipulate, so her mom and I are just going to try to be patient. My daughter got it earlier, 25 years ago, but my son (now 30!) was not as quick to train. As I remember, it was best to pretend you don't notice rather than to hint-hint or fib - they seem to know, and once they don't feel pressured, they stop resisting and decide to try it. Also, try leaving the bathroom for a few minutes, and then be sure to knock before you re-enter the bathroom.

here's an idea for you. you can get a stick and paint it. put streamers on it and make it look like a magic wand and put a note on it from the fairies. say something like "magic poop wand. use to be brave and a big girl while on the potty" idk...make up something. :) place it outside and ring the doorbell. have your daughter answer it and tell her it's a magic poop wand. when she tells you again she has to go poop then give her the stick and remind her that it won't hurt and she doesn't have to be scared. giving my daughter magic things has helped her on the potty, giving up binkys, and sleeping in her big girl bed. also give her lots of high fiber things so she doesn't get plugged up. good luck!

I actually have several friends who have gone through the same thing. My suggestion to them has been to provide fun "potty-only" activities, things she can do for awhile while sitting on the potty. I've used things like puzzles, books, the little princess CD players, etc.
I wouldn't pressure her much to get rid of the diapers - expensive, yes, but it would be a drag if she reverted back to wetting in diapers again, too.
Good luck! Potty training can be a looong process!

My son had (and still has sometimes) the same issue. It turned out that he thought it was cool to see what shapes he could make in the potty (gross I know). But that seemed to motivate him a little more than anything else. Bribes didn't work for him either. Just a different angle to consider. If he has an accident, we don't let him see his poop (which he always wants to, again, gross right?) He only gets to see it if he goes in the potty.

It is great if she will let you know that she needs to go regardless if it is in a diaper or the potty! I don't think you can force a kid to go on the potty either, but what did work for us was when she had started to poop we ran her over and had her finish on the potty(my child had pooping issues to where we had to use miralax daily and we would still only go every four days! and it hurt and she would just hold it in)After she went poop on the potty(a couple times) she found it soo much easier! So after that she started peeing on the potty by herself!!!! And will go over and poop on it by herself too daily!!! We did use stickers since she was kinda obsessed at the time lol! Good Luck!!