Inside: Help your toddler who's scared to poop in the potty with this simple solution to normalize pooping.
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The first day of ___
The first time you go into labor.
The first time your child feels a bandaid being ripped off.
We’ve all heard the saying we fear the unknown.
That simple truth shows up all the time in the potty training process...with a child who’s afraid of pooping.
Because let’s face it.
It’s a really different sensation to poop outside a diaper.
So how do we make these new sensations, this big new thing (poop!), something that feels normal and safe to your toddler? How can you convince your child that pooping in a potty is okay?
The easiest way to bring down the fear is to talk about it.
Talk about the elephant in the room. Make poop something that feels less scary.
And that’s why I’m a big fan of this children’s book…
Because whether you're seeing too much poop, too little poop, poop in all the wrong places with your toddler..poop is toxic. And it can stir up emotion. Big time.
Your potty training toddler is now SUPER aware of the feeling to go poop once the diapers come off. Potty training may also be one of the first times your child has checked out poop.
And maybe your toddler was discouraged to discover that, unlike unicorns, our poop is pretty yucky and anything but bright-and-happy rainbow in appearance.
The easiest way to help your child poop in the potty is to make it normal.
Make poop something we all do, everyday, just like brushing our teeth.
The first part of getting your toddler set up for success in pooping in the potty on their own is to simply NORMALIZE the act of pooping. It's easier to help your child feel comfortable with the process of sitting (or really, squatting) on the potty or toilet and releasing their poop, when they have a visual.
It also helps when poop feels like this normal thing that we ALL do.
Grownups and kids.
Boys and girls.
Elephants and whales.
Yes, THAT is why I love this book. It's all about taking the unknown out of poop and making it simple and easy for toddlers to grasp. What Is Poop is a fun flap book I discovered from Usborne Books.
Poop is a simple process in their body that kiddos need to make safe in their head often before being able to go along with comfortably pooping in the potty.
I also love how What Is Poop gives you a neat and tidy answer of WHAT EXACTLY is in poop so that it's not this scary unknown thing. Simple language gives information to toddlers so that can better understand what's happening, and when they understand MORE, you see the anxiety come down — and then there's LESS resistance to going poop in the potty (or the toilet with a helpful insert).
So if you're jumping into potty training I definitely recommend What Is Poop to keep by the potty for chats about poop. These books on the human body help children with understanding what's happening where (with The Gas We Pass being the most funny).
Did you know whale poop is pink?
You may learn something too, mama. And this may be the first time you've thought about poop in this way.
Illustrations: Citrus and Mint Designs
