Toddler Potty-training & Holding Stool In

the constipation- easy as prune juice,raisins & water.As for the potty training, I bought my son Spiderman underwear,and that was that.He showed them off to Grandma, Aunts,Uncles and cousins.And let's face it,there's a much better selection of girl's underwear then boys' even at 3yr.

When she's constipated, a nice warm bath should help to get things moving again. Good luck.
D.

Hi! I actually had this exact same problem. I even wrote a book about it which will be exceprted on the SoHo Parenting blog the week of June 21st. This is what happened in a nutshell. The longer they wait to be potty trained the more traumatizing it is. One saturday we told our daughter that the next day we were going to do something special and use the toilet instead of diapers. We told her we knew she was ready and we knew she could do it and it would be fun and at the end of the day we would all do something special. She hadn't pooped normally in a bout a year and there was so much pain and cryng and we told her this would help her. That is was time to poop on the toilet. She woke up the next morning excited but had forgotten aobut the plan and burst into tears when we wouldn't give her a diaper. My therapist told me to tell her "we would never ask you to do something we didn't think you could do," so I kept telling her that and she screamed and cried and tried to put on a diaper herself but we kept telling her in a soothing way that we knew she could do do it. Finally she gave in but was still mad. Then in a bout five minutes she sat on the toilet and peed and pooped. She pooped four times that day and it was done.

Good luck,
cathy

my book was called It Hit Me Like A Ton of Bricks incase you're interested

I'm a mom of four and I had this same problem with my oldest son who is now almost ten. The problem is that the longer they hold in the poop, the more constipated they will be and it will be a little painful when they do finally go, which doesn't encourage them to go again! I gave my little guy some prune juice. You could water it down or mix it with some other juice. Surprisingly, he liked the taste of it! Anyway, after awhile he couldn't hold it in anymore and had an accident. Then I put him on the potty and he went. Once he passed the constipation he eventually got better. He realized it didn't hurt and of course I gave him a reward, like m&m's or something to reinforce the new behavior for a while.

My youngest son is 18 months and after he switched to whole milk, he was constipated so my pediatrician recommended Myralax (sp?). It's a powder that has no taste, you can mix that with their juice and they can't tell it's in there. Check with your pediatrician as to a dosage. You may want to talk to your ped. too about your child's diet. I did with my first son and was surprised that some foods were actually contributing to the constipation like apple juice and apple sauce, cooked carrots etc.

Hang in there! You and your child will get through this! Good luck!

Prunes, prune juice, blueberries... those always do the trick for my daughter. ;)

My daughter will be 3 this month. I had her trained at night before I started during the day. I put her on the potty every morning for the past 6 months and then whenever it was convenient or she asked. I took her diapers off on 5/25. She has not wet the bed - she has had a few accidents and Saturday she refused to poop because she thought it would hurt. I cut the milk out and gave her juice and she pooped three times. She will eventurally go. My daughter loves chocolate and I promised her a piece of chocolate when she does a "pooper". Try rewarding her - offer her something she loves or give her a star and when she collects enough she can get a prize.....hang in there.....it will work.

My daughter went through the same thing. On potty training, what they say is true - pressure will make it worse. My mother in law (a true professional at motherhood) brilliantly recommended I just take her to the potty every two hours or so, and sit for 5 minutes, a book length or so to see if she would go. If she did, great, if not, that's ok too. Within 2 weeks she was off diapers.
On constipation, my daughter had to be on stool softener for about 2 years, with gastroenterologist's recommendation. Her problem was psychological - the pain from holding and consequently building and pushing out large stools had created a fear of going that would just self-propagate. Breaking the psychological aspect is always longer so we're not surprised it took a long time of soft stools to break this pattern and fear. I would recommend talking to your pediatrician about the option - stool softeners do not get absorbed by the organism - they go straight to the intestine. Only reaction to be cautious of is increased urination, consequently must rehydrate and compensate for lost electrolytes.
good luck!
M.

Hi,
We had a ritual with our son that whenever he went potty, we said "Bye-bye [peepee/poopoo], see yo next time!" The idea was that psychologically, kids are freaked out about part of them going away, so this reduces that fear; it also gives them words for what's happening and gets you in on affirming it all.

The trick is getting them to go in the first place. For us, we had a little while where our son had to see US poo, and say Bye with us, so then he wanted to do the same for his poo.

It all sounds a little personal, but worked for us. Good luck with whatever methods you try!

I have a 26 month old boy. He holds in his stool because he says it hurts. The doctor recommends that I hold off on the potty training, give him high fiber meals (lots of fruits, juices but no rice and bananas) so that the stool is soft enough not to hold in. once he forgets the association with the stool and the pain it would be easier for the training transition.

Hey Ma,

I have potty trained 3 boys sucessfully LOL

And what works is to always poop train on a POTTY not the toilet, because their feet touch the ground and they can relax,

second thing I do is always try for a POOP in the morning

Eat a soft dinner the night before such as pasta with sauce, or stewed chicken or beef

Then when she wakes up immediately go to her room and undress her, and place her on the potty.

have your morning coffee ready and drink some
( its a natural stimulant)
Give her a sip or 2 to help her go.

If you don't feel comfortable with that, try oatmeal.
works just as well

she can wear a Tshirt, but naked on the bottom LOL

Hopefully you feel the urge to go aswell LOL
and you take her with you, keeping the lights off.
and no conversation.

When you finish let her see the poop, and let her flush it.
and make her sit on the potty til she goes, it might take a while usually 20 minutes,
If after 20 minutes she still isn't ready to go,
let her get up,

Show her the reward ( I use reeses pieces )
You can even give her ONE to kind a wet her appetite for them.

show her your setting the timer 20 minutes( I use the microwave timer)
keep her involved in all aspects.And when it goes off put her back on the potty.

Hopefully she will go. But if not thats ok,

bring the potty out to the TV room and put on a movie she will sit to watch, and have her sit on the potty to watch it, tell her she must sit there til she gives you a poop.
and give her ONE reeses pieces.

Eventually she will go.

But it might take a while. so be prepared to spend the day at it,

IF she does go Poop, Get crazy excited and sing a song while dancing with her, ( I sing poopy in the potty, poopy in the potty) and show her what is done with the poop dump it in the toilet, and then have her flush.

call everyone to brag about their poops LOL my sister, my friends, my mom, grandma , everyone so they can praise them.

give her a bowl or cup with plenty of candies, afterall it needs to be a worthy reward for a repeat episode.

After she eats, and poops, give her her loose fitting big girl undies that are easy to take off and pull down.

She will have accidents. so keep plenty of papertowel on hand LOL

As for the holding, they almost all hold it in, the longest we've gone was 3 days but usually it ends up in the nap time diaper LOL

Good luck!!

M

Mineral Oil works wonders and it won't make her cramp up or gassy like some foods and juices. Talk to your doctor regarding the amount.