9 month old DD is not wanting to use the potty much these days, and that's pretty much how it's been for a month. The trouble is that she usually doesn't want to go, but a few times a day, she will want to go, and besides a few patterns that I have been able to figure out, I never know when she will accept my offer, so I keep offering. She's also found a "potty spot" in the living room (No, we don't have a potty that I could put there, and even if we did, I don't think she would use it at this point.), so combined with other signals, I can tell when she's going almost every time.
Generally, when I see her going or trying to go, I go up to her calmly and ask her if she needs help or if she needs to use the toilet and show her the sign for help or toilet. She gets angry when I pick her up and fights me getting her diaper off. What worries me the most is that sometimes I catch her as she's pooping in the diaper, and she never goes more in the potty. I caught one yesterday before any poop touched the diaper, and she went a lot in the potty, but if there's any poop already in the diaper, she won't finish in the potty, and she won't poop more for a while. I don't know if I'm always catching it after she's done or if she is just refusing to finish, which would worry me. She's not constipated yet, but I just don't want to go there.
Is there a better way that I could be handling this situation? I just got finished working through my own feelings about this potty pause. I'm OK with washing diapers every other day. I'm OK with washing out poopy diapers every day. I'm excited that DD is taking control over her eliminations even if she is making a different decision than I would make, and I trust that she'll decide in her own good time that she wants to go on the potty again. I just need help figuring out how to handle this time.
Generally, when I see her going or trying to go, I go up to her calmly and ask her if she needs help or if she needs to use the toilet and show her the sign for help or toilet. She gets angry when I pick her up and fights me getting her diaper off. What worries me the most is that sometimes I catch her as she's pooping in the diaper, and she never goes more in the potty. I caught one yesterday before any poop touched the diaper, and she went a lot in the potty, but if there's any poop already in the diaper, she won't finish in the potty, and she won't poop more for a while. I don't know if I'm always catching it after she's done or if she is just refusing to finish, which would worry me. She's not constipated yet, but I just don't want to go there.
Is there a better way that I could be handling this situation? I just got finished working through my own feelings about this potty pause. I'm OK with washing diapers every other day. I'm OK with washing out poopy diapers every day. I'm excited that DD is taking control over her eliminations even if she is making a different decision than I would make, and I trust that she'll decide in her own good time that she wants to go on the potty again. I just need help figuring out how to handle this time.
