# Newbie potty question -- Why pee before poop?



## limabean (Aug 31, 2005)

Almost all (well, actually, I think *all*) the potty-training/learning stuff I read talks about pee training before poop training. May I ask why? My DS's signs prior to pooping are so much more obvious than his signs before peeing (he usually just pees with no warning), so it's much easier to get him to the potty for a poop than for a pee. Have any of you poop-trained before pee-training? Is there a reason that pee-training should come first?


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## mamato3cherubs (Nov 30, 2004)

I am not sure of the reasons for that, both my boys, conventional potty learners i guess you could say, learned to poop in the potty before pee. They had more to let me know, and I had mroe time it figure it out I guess.

With dd we were late start ECers, about 9 months i guess, and we definantly got the poop down before we started catching pees.

I think that maybe kids who are intimidated by the potty will be more scared to go poop because it is a longer bigger deal to them. Someone else here may have a better answer!


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## pianojazzgirl (Apr 6, 2006)

My dd is not at all intimidated by the potty and she loves to sit there for extended times. But still she pees on it regularly and has only pooped once. I think it might be because she finds it harder to push out a poop sitting down as opposed to using the kind of crouching stance that she usually assumes.


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## lizabird (Jan 19, 2004)

My DS actually started pooping on the potty before peeing, so it seems weird to me that so much of what I've read says pee comes first on the potty. Not for everyone, apparently.


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## hottmama (Dec 27, 2004)

My son pooped on the potty before peeing. But he did both around the same time. Pooping was consistently in the potty earlier than pee was- I don't think he pooped in a diaper past his 2nd birthday and he wasn't out of diapers altogether until 27 mos.


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## NannyL (Oct 11, 2005)

The girl I care for also learned to poop on the potty first. (6-8 months earlier actually.) Her poops were so regular, it was so easy to put her on the toilet after meals, and it was much easier for her to tell us she needed to go, more time, warning, etc. She also potty trained really early - completely out of diapers right before she was 2, so at 18 months, she was pooping almost exclusively on the toilet. Wonder if early age has something to do with pooping before peeing? (ie, for older kids, pooping may be a bigger deal, so they're scared or whatnot, and younger kids have trouble catching the pee before they go?)


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## lacysmommy (Nov 10, 2004)

My DD is also very young and is just now getting the hang of pooping on the toilet. She's been telling us she has to "pee potty" for a few months now (she's 23 months). So I don't think it's an early PT thing. My DD has soft BM's several times a day so I think she doesn't feel them coming until she HAS to go RIGHT NOW. That's the way it is for my DH and me also, so I think it is genetic in our case.


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## ani'smommy (Nov 29, 2005)

Huh. The first time Ani used the potty, it was a poop. I think she could tell it was coming, and while she didn't much care about peeing in her diaper, she definately wanted her diaper changed fast when she pooped, so maybe that helped. I don't know, never seemed like a big deal to her at all. (Although she does wave bye-bye to poops, but not pee when she flushes the toilet, lol)


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## nwaddellr (Jan 2, 2005)

My DS pooped on the potty on a regular basis much earlier than he peed, probably because he's a bit more regular in the timing of his poop (first thing in the morning). It doesn't have to be pee first!


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## cherryn (Jul 2, 2006)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *limabean*
Almost all (well, actually, I think *all*) the potty-training/learning stuff I read talks about pee training before poop training. May I ask why? My DS's signs prior to pooping are so much more obvious than his signs before peeing (he usually just pees with no warning), so it's much easier to get him to the potty for a poop than for a pee. Have any of you poop-trained before pee-training? Is there a reason that pee-training should come first?

My girl will tell me and bring her potty for me when she pee, but poop-training is more difficult... one day they will learn that... don't push them too much, they will scared of poop..


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## RomanGoddess (Mar 16, 2006)

The control of the muscle for pooping develops BEFORE the control of the muscle for peeing. Many children therefore do go poop in the potty before going pee in the potty. Here in France, it is even considered standard.

The issue with poop is more psychological than physical. Some toddlers are not prepared to see the poop being taken away and flushed down the toilet at that age. That is the only reason that a child might go pee in the potty first (or might poo only once in the potty and then resist pooing thereafter but be okay with going pee in the potty).


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## faythe (Oct 2, 2003)

I'd have guessed that it's because most kids pee much more often than they poop.


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## LizD (Feb 22, 2002)

I have found that a Mothering oddity too, and I'm glad I'm not the only one!







Everything I have ever read or remembered assumed pooping in the potty came first. My daughter was the same way and I expect my son will be too, since I am not a big fan of early potty training.


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