Help with Potty Training - Richmond, IN

I had the same issue with my son. A friend of mine told me how she would take her child's diaper/pullup/underwear off and only put a long t-shirt on the child. It took several days, but it worked. So I decided to try that with my son. I was terrified that the carpet would be ruined since we lived in an apartment, but it was my last hope. I was so frustrated and so was he. (We sat for hours in the bathroom to no avail.) I told him he couldn't put on a pullup or underwear until he went #2 in the potty. I would put a pullup on at night and almost immediately he would go. I knew he knew what he was doing. One day he did make a mess on the living room floor and it scared him to death. After that, he held it in for a few days and then a couple days later I was in the kitchen and I heard him run in the bathroom. I waited a few minutes and soon he called me in. He had done it all on his own and he filled the toilet with all he had been holding in. We had a huge "potty party" and he was so proud. After that, he only had a few accidents and has been great every since. I don't know how it would work for a girl, but it might be worth a try.

My son was exactly the same - my health visitor said it was because it was 'nice' to hold onto it!! We tried the make a fuss and not make a fuss route but neither seemed to work - the only way we dealt with it was making him sit on the potty/toilet after each meal.

Have you tried having her clean it up? This did not work with my son but I know MANY MANY people told me it worked like a charm for them. (My son ENJOYED IT!!!!! YUCK!!!!) Anyways, I would have him take off his own clothes, dump the poop in the potty himself, flush the potty, then hold the underwear in the toliet and flush again (holding on tight!) to rise. (Before he started he had to get a plastic bag out of the closet) He would put the underwear in the plastic bag, walk it into the laundry room, dump it in the washer, and with my help start the washer. If there was any mess in the bathroom from cleaning up, he cleaned it up to the best of his ability. (This all back fired with my b/c my son is a bit of a neat freak and he still enjoys cleaning up the bathroom floor and cleaning around the toliet. Hmmmm.)

Hi M.,
My daughter, who is 4 now, went through the same thing when she was 3 with peeing but not pooping in the potty. At least your little girl is going, mine would withhold until she got really uncomfortable and unbearable. We resorted to putting her back in a diaper when she needed to poop (she would tell me she needed to go, I would put one on, she would go into the bathroom and squat by the potty, and then I would change her in the bathroom when finished). Whenever she eyed a new toy or treat, I would tell her she could have it after she pooped in the potty. And then one day, she saw a Jasmine doll in the toy store. She went home and pooped that day, and I went back and bought it for her. From that day on she went in the potty, although I did give her more treats the first few times as incentives. As soon as she knew she could do it, we had no more problems. Hang in there, it will happen!