This is so crazy that I'm writing this. My three and a half year old has been potty trained for seven months. She goes pee and poop, no problem, on the potty. She never had an issue with it, till now. It's like she is ALWAYS on the toilet. She has to try and poop ALL the time. It's driving me crazy. She does it especially at bedtime, which she NEVER used to do before. She's up in the middle of the night to try and poop. I'm breaking my own rules and yelling at her about it, because I get the sense she does this to stall, but I want to know why this is happening all of the sudden? I'm a teacher, and I am now home for the summer, so, if anything, she's getting MORE attention than ever! HELP!!! Someone tell me if I'm handling this right/how to handle...what caused this?? Suggestions...pleeeeeease!
Thanks to everyone who emailed a response. I started to just have no reaction when she got up. I'd let her go, but I'd leave the room; then, when she finished, she had to go right back to bed. If she interrupted stories to go, then we didn't continue stories for the night, it was just time to go to sleep. After a couple of nights, I guess she got bored of no reaction, and things went back to normal!
This is a normal step in the potty training process.
What we do is offer a peepee treat and a poopoo treat, not the same treat. If she is having pooping issues, make the poopie treat GREAT, something she doesnt get all the time.
This may work her let it out!
Good luck!
Kim
I have a 3 and a half year old neice that has been doing the same thing for my in laws when they watch her. It's basically for attention and stalling from her standpoint. They reward her for going on the potty(even though she's been doing so for several months now) and the more she goes, the more she gets what she wants. Try not paying so much attention and see what happens. Offering another bedtime story may help too!
J.- It seems that you do understand that this is a stalling tactic. I TRY to ignore my son when he is doing something I don't like....or I offer him something else. I would offere her an extra story or song at bedtime. Hopefully this is a phase that will become boring if you act like you don't care. I KNOW it is hard to do that...BELIEVE me I do.
Good luck!!!
Before you assume that the problem is behavioral, PLEASE.. see her doctor. A referral to a p0ediatric gastroenterologist might be necessary as well. I had this issue with my 4 year old when her baby sister was born, and spent a lot of time "admonishing" her.. I then found out she had irritable bowel syndrome, and signs of colitis. I felt like the crappiest mother on the face of the earth.
Sometimes there is a medical condition that coincidentally coincides with a stressful event in a child's life. Before you deal with the behavior, rule out a physical cause.
Hi, How are you reacting when she behaves this way? Since you have other children; it could still be an attention-getting issue. Sadly,we had a problem-- my 7 yr old neice, tho, started to poop in her pants! In school/after care walked around w/it in her pants for over an hour! Scared to tell anyone. However, her & her 9 yr old sister had lost their Dad/died a year prior & their Mom left them. They were placed w/my sister (their Aunt) & traumatized. All was ok at first -& at first we had a problem w/ the 9 yr old peeing at night and/or in her pants. All this time the 7yr old was fine. As soon as the peeing problem was resolved w/her 9 yr old sister-- seemed SHE stared w/this poo problem! She'd say "oh Auntie I had an accident" & my sister said a husky 7yr old poo is like an adult! It was a big problem! My sister has been upset w/me over nonsense & won't allow me to see the girls so I'm not sure of the current status. So I do believe the way my neice seemed to stop peeing .. it may soemhow be for "attention". Negative is better then no attention. Well Good luck.
