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Friday 8 March 2013

Pooping in the Potty



If you are a regular reader of this blog, you may have gleaned that my
“household” (I use the term lightly) has some challenges with pooping. Things
have definitely improved, but now that we are at the stage of peeing on the potty
fairly regularly, I’m working with the Guppins to poop on the toilet. For one, I think
it’s easier for her. Sitting rather than standing. And it sure makes cleaning her
bum less of a production number, not to mention the improved smell, etc.

However, she doesn’t like sitting on the toilet. She’d rather hide in a corner and
poop in her pull-up. (Which is an improvement from holding it in.)

For both issues, this book helps: It Hurts When I Poop. A Story for Children Who
Are Scared to Use the Potty, by Howard J Bennet MD, illustrated by M.S. Weber.

The first time I read it to her, she was a little young (two years). The book uses
a metaphorical narrative of a coyote named Bill who hoards trash, and there’s
also an imaginary dinosaur world that the little boy operates through. The timing
is better now that she is closing in on three. She loves the book, and relates to it,
and its images.

I recommend this book for parents facing down the painful problem of “holding
it in” and fear of the toilet. I would caution parents against this book if your child
has never withheld poop, because, as with the Caillou series, you may give your
child some unwanted ideas (they may engender a problem in your child that is
not already there: fear of daycare, fear of the dentist, fear of pooping).

The book also offers up helpful dietary choices in a way that your child can see
and enjoy (I recommend putting flax meal in cereal or porridge every morning,
and pear juice over apple juice). The book also offers some fun things to do, like
putting Play-Doh in a plastic bag and pushing it out a pre-cut hole in the corner.
Doing this is supposed to help your child with imaging. You can see the Guppins
and I having a great deal of fun with this in the video.



-Drama Mama

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