Merry Christmas - It's a Potty Pause!

[mae11]

Hi. I have been reading this forum for months and months but first time posting. I have an 18 month old boy who I have Part Time EC'ed since 4 months. We work mostly on timing and catch about 50% pees and until this past Christmas about 90% poos. Since December 26th he has been on a complete potty pause (for poos only). Merry Christmas to me! He will still sit on his potty to pee and he will even sit there and play and read a book but as soon as he thinks he needs to do poos he will jump up, run across the room, stare right at me and start to 'push.' Obviously I don't want poo on the carpet so I either grab him and put him back on the potty (to which he screams), grab him and put him on tile floor (to which he poos on the floor or holds it in) or put a diaper on him (to which he holds it in until I am no longer watching him and then he poos in it). I don't want to force him onto the potty since that goes against everything EC stands for, but he can't poo on the floor so what am I supposed to do? I know he doesn't want to go in his diaper because he always tries to do it when his diaper is off he just doesn't want to do it on the potty?! Any ideas why it is okay to pee on the potty but not poo? This started when he was 14 months old and he is 18 months old so I have tried lots of things and nothing seems to work. We "talk" about it sometimes too and if I ask him "where poos go?" he ALWAYS points to his potty?! Grrrrrr.

[lisavark]

Maybe a different potty? Or the adult toilet? At some point my DD stopped wanting to poop in the little potty and switched to the adult toilet with an insert. I think sometimes the poop when touch her bottom when she pooped in the BBLP. Don't know if you're using a little potty, but maybe that's the issue?

If that doesn't help, then I would try putting a diaper or a bowl on the floor under him to catch it.

[mae11]

Yeah, we were using the BBLP and then switched to the bigger Bjorn Potty. We also have an IKEA one piece potty which he likes the best (go figure $3.99) I do have an insert but he won't even entertain the idea of sitting on that. He freaks and bends his legs back even if I let him "walk" up to it himself on his step stool. I guess the diaper or bowl under him is the best option for now. Thanks for the reply. Hopefully we'll be past this stage soon. I kept hoping but it's been 4 months so I figured I needed help from the "professionals"

[blackbird2]

I may be completely reading this in to your post, but here's a thought:
It sounds like the poops have become a point of conflict, since you describe the getting up, looking right at you, and pushing. If that's the case, it might help to do everything to convince him that he is /not/ doing something that pushes your buttons such that you can begin to work together again. Smile, cue him when he begins to push, talk about what a great job he's doing ... all while you gently do what you need to do to protect your carpet.

We've all felt the frustration - I certainly have! He will get over it. Good luck!

[mae11]

That makes a lot of sense actually. I guess I didn't really realize how it may come off to him and he is starting to enter the phase where everything I want him to do he wants the opposite. I think I will just step back some and try to make it fun and hope that things start to change. Thanks for the insight.

[clickclackmoo]

Just wanted to stop being a wallflower for a moment to say that we are in the SAME situation. Same timing, even. Poop strike since Christmas. DD is 16 months old. I suppose I could react a little more calmly to the daily poop on the floor, but it's been a while now, and it's getting old.

It has occurred to me that for pee she can go 'on command' and that the majority of our pee catches are this way. As in, she is offered an occasion to go, she sits on the potty, she makes it happen. She only occasionally announces the need to go and then waits for help, but she is learning to do it because she gets to practice, like, ten times a day.

I don't think anyone can poo on command the way it's possible to do with pee. There's a different skill set and they only practice once or twice a day: feel the urge, control the urge long enough to get to a potty, then make it happen. Plus there's the issue of willingness/control. Like, the poo is coming - what will I do? Run away and do it in peace, then have a fuss made afterwards? Or let someone know, have a fuss made now, and lose the urge (as sometimes happens if you wait too long). In essence, do it their way or do it my way? We have this with pee too, but it's not as noticeable because, well, it's just pee. And it's not every time.

Around Christmas DD stopped being regular and started wanting to jump up and go do something else. And voila....poop strike.

For the record, I find that 'formed' poop on the floor, even carpet, is really much easier to deal with than on diapers or squirmy sticky bum. Runny poop is a pain anywhere but in the potty.

Just wanted to say, I feel your frustration. Would love to know if anyone has a magic, toddler-persuading solution.