Mom Confessions

Sooo.. There are way too many years between my kids for me to remember. My 3 yr old daughter has been using the potty for about a month for both (pee and poop) - wakes up dry, etc. I thought we were going great.
Yesterday she wanted a pull up after we came home from the pool. Without thinking, I put one on her (as she goes to bed with them and wears panties during the day). she pooped.
Today she took her panties off, pulled on a pull up and pooped again. She'll pee all day long in the potty, but the past 2 days she's stopped pooping in it.
Obviously I need to take the pull ups away except for night, but is regression normal? Nothing has changed - other than her older brother (12) is out of school and is home all the time but they don't interact much.

I think it is. A lot of children have contipation issues holding poop, for many reasons, but fearing the toilet is one.

I would simply bring out a reward system.

Poop in potty = reward.

I would take the pull ups away. If she wakes up dry, then put her on the potty as soon as she wakes up. No more pull ups should fix some of the problems.

Ok she wakes up dry, if she has to use the bathroom in the middle of the night, does she tell you? If so, I’d ditch the pull ups.

Actually I’d just ditch them all together. Dd3 has only had two potty accidents at night and it wasn’t that big of a deal to change the sheets and mattress protector.

Its normal if you allow it. I put my children on the toilet on regular intervals. The choice to put on a pull up themselves so they could soil them was never an option.

Take away the pull ups completely. Get a mattress protector or some pads to protect the mattress and just take the pull ups out of the equation. Doing so will likely resolve the issue.

Have you asked her why she wanted to poo in a pull up?

I'd introduce a good jar and get rid of pull ups. They are for your comfort and doesn't benefit the child in any way.

So how is it going Jas? Is your daughter back on track with the potty?