Hello again!

There is nothing more frustrating than this issue!

Did you ever try "letting" her use a diaper to poop, as long as she's in the bathroom? For some parents, a gradual withdrawal process works best. This is how it works:

1. Tell her she can use a pull-up/underwear (I know.... GROSS!) to poop, but she has to tell you that she's going AND she needs to be in the bathroom. Do you think she would tell you ahead of time that she needs to go IF she knew she didn't have to try to put it in the potty??

2. Once she has done this two or three times, tell her that now she can use pull-ups or underwear, but she has to be sitting on her potty when she goes.

3. After a few days of this process, "sacrifice" a pair of underpants (or still use a pull-up) and cut a small hole in it before she sits down. Each day, make the hole a little bit bigger.

The key to this technique being successful is to be really encouraging and positive when you explain to her that it REALLY is ok for her to go in her pants. She'll probably wonder why the rules are changing all of a sudden.

Let me know if you think this might work for you! Hang in there...


-------- Original Message --------
Subject: Re: Chapter 9
From: Cammy Jantz
Date: Wed, July 01, 2009 9:45 am
To: Suzanne Riffel

Hi Suzanne -

Wanted to give you an update - it's been about a month now that we've been struggling with the poop issue with our now 30 month old daughter. She is potty trained for pee both day and night. She hasn't had a night-time accident for over 2 weeks.

Here's what I have tried . . .

1. Poop presents. We have wrapped several presents and then have a big present in the window of the bathroom - a Veggie Tales DVD she has been asking for. She is very aware of what these presents are for. When she is done trying to poop on the potty, she'll get down and say (in a disappointed way), no DVD, no poop presents. I think she gets that part! It's just not that motivating to her.

2. I worked for a couple weeks to increase the fiber/liquids in her diet to make sure she's not constipated. We got her going once a day (which is good for her) - good consistency and pretty regular. However, this was always in her pants, never the toilet! Last week we had a little setback - didn't poop for three days, then had one instance of diarrhea in a 24 hour period. One of her 2-year molars did completely break through the surface during that 24-hour period and this has been a symptom in the past.

3. I've caught her in the act several times. She'll usually "pinch off" what she has already started, but only once did she completely finish her bowel movement on the toilet. It was much bigger than usual, but I was in the bathroom the entire time and she showed absolutely NO signs of being scared or in any kind of pain. I actually had no idea she had gone that much until she got up to flush. We praised her to no end and she asked for a present and she got it. She was very excited and proud, even telling people about it the next day. But . . . it was the 3 days after that she didn't poop at all.. . . followed by the loose stools.

I'll be honest, I'm 6 1/2 months pregnant and not as patient as usual. I am extremely frustrated with this and have run out of ideas. It doesn't seem to be a fear issue . . . we bought several "pooping" books and she loves them so much that she practically reads them back to me on the toilet when we are doing our "sits." She's normally not upset about having to sit on the toilet - she'll usually stay there for about 15 mintues or so. But, nothing ever happens!! Sometimes she'll "toot" and let me know that she's done that much. She is very verbal and doesn't have trouble communicating with words.

If you have any new ideas, I'd love to hear them. She does lie to us about going poop in her pants. If you ask her when you think she's trying to have a bowel movement, she always says NO.



Post by Suzanne Riffel, author of "The Potty Boot Camp: Basic Training for Toddlers" - a new, fast, easy toilet training method that produces remarkable results.

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