Struggling With Getting Poop In The Potty?

Pooping difficulty is probably one of the most common issues when potty training.  There’s a million different specifics but the gist is a child who’s doing well with pee and for some reason, just can’t let go of that poop in the potty. It can look like fear. It can look like a power struggle. It can look like your child is just being difficult.

It’s important to remember we can never, ever MAKE a child go to the bathroom. It absolutely, positively MUST be their idea. This is why I say you can never get into a power struggle with a potty training toddler. You will lose. They completely hold all the power, literally…they can hold the pee and the poop in.

So how can we nudge the process for them and help them decide for themselves? Here’s the 2nd video in my Poop Series detailing how. I mean, c’mon…I have a Poop Series on YouTube. I know. Don’t be jealous.

The whole routine details how to finesse the situation so your child is making the choice for herself.

BUT. Let’s say you have a holder. NOT a super constipated child. NOT anything concerning. JUST enough holding that you can’t really hunker down for a couple of days and know that you’ll get a poop in that time frame.  This child usually holds his poop for a few days until he can’t anymore and there’s an accident.

In the video, I say “prime the pump”; what I’m referring to is dietary suggestions that make it much harder to hold that poop in.  You probably already know that dried fruits and high fiber foods are good for moving things along. But did you know that giving MORE of these foods can actually back things up and have the opposite effect?

The BEST thing to get poop soft and easy going is to up your child’s fat. A lot of parents watch their fat intake and subsequently your child could be not getting enough fat. The 2 BEST fat sources are avocado and full-fat coconut milk.

I just recently had a private client who struggled with this very issue. Her daughter would hold the poop JUST enough that they couldn’t do the whole poop routine I detail in that video. She found that a full-fat coconut smoothie once a day resulted in a nice, healthy poop once a day. This gave the whole family the opportunity for practice.

The great conundrum with fear of pooping is that once the child has pooped 3-5 times in the potty, they are over it. BUT they can’t do it until they are over it. That’s why having poop smooth and easy going is so key in this fix.

If you’re not feeling creative, here’s that mama’s special recipe. Of course, make your own according to taste!

*1/2 can full-fat coconut milk.

*A couple of wallops of full-fat plain yogurt

*1 frozen banana

*A handful of frozen strawberries

*1/4 cup of pineapple

*A handful of shredded coconut

The coconut milk/shredded coconut is the most important thing, change the fruit as you wish. I have a direct quote here, “Not a day has gone by that I’ve given her this and she hasn’t pooped! Thanks for the full-fat suggestions. I always have done fiber but I didn’t realize fat was so crucial.”

And that’s what I’m talking about.