Potty question about pooping

[lellian]

DD is 24 months. She has been showing interest in peeing on the potty for the last few months. We are very causal about this. She has the Bjorn potty seat on the "big girl potty"and when she tells me she needs to go we help her on the toilet. Every time she says she needs to pee, she always does. She totally gets peeing on the potty. 

She is tall. The little potty seats just don't work her long legs. She is a squatter. She always, always squats to poop. Obviously she can't do this on the big girl potty. How do I help her understand she can poop without squatting? She always tells me when she's about to poop. I take her to the potty, put her on, and she immediately wants down. We put her diaper back on and she squats, voila.

We are in no hurry. I know she's young, but she definitely wants to go on the potty, just not poops.

Am I making sense? This is my first baby so she's teaching me everything I know.

Thanks!

[Megan73]

What might work is using a potty ring on the big toilet and offering her a stool so she can push down with her feet. That's what we do with our son after I read that it's really hard to poop with your legs dangling because you need to engage the pelvic floor muscles.

[crunchy_mommy]

She actually can squat on a regular toilet and it's way better for your bowel health.

DS just climbs up onto the toilet & squats with his feet on the toilet seat. Just make sure the toilet seat is secured well so it's not shifting or unstable. He can do this on his own now, facing forward, but at first I had him face the back of the toilet and I'd stand behind him holding him under his arms to make sure he didn't fall.

You can also buy or build a squatting platform (for example: http://naturesplatform.com/) or use a tall step stool or two to help her squat better.

Even if you aren't interested in helping her to squat in the long run, it would probably make it easier for her to transition for now and eventually she'll figure out that she can also just sit on the potty.

TMI but DH and I both use a tall stepstool now... I think we have lost the ability to fully squat but I swear even just a stepstool helps a ton... Not sure I could ever go back to feet-dangling elimination!!

[JudiAU]

She'll eventually learn how to poop in various positions. Only some kids have the coordination to feel stable and secure on a big potty without a ring. If she doesn't do it naturally I wouldn't push it. My two year old monkey could do it before she was two-- my son didn't until he was more than four and potty trained for two years. He just couldn't get comfortable.

I'd consider getting a small bjorn for the floor. Some kids really appreciate have something low to the ground that doesn't require balance and coordination.