# Weirdo pooping position



## Halfasianmomma (Nov 1, 2007)

Yes, another potty training thread. Here goes...

Does anyone have a child who poops on his or her knees, or standing up? As far as I can tell, DD (3.5 yrs old) has never been able to poop sitting down. She always goes on all fours, and pushes that way. We're STILL struggling with pooping on the toilet. After some serious bouts of withholding, I changed a bunch of things around in her diet (no more white rice, bananes or apples...lots of prune juice, bran/flax, raw green veggies and fruits, lots of fluids)...it helped but maybe a bit too much. She ended up with totally runny poop, but at least she wasn't constipated. I'm still working on finding the right balance for her...

I still don't know what to do about the way she pushes. Put her on the toilet and she doesn't understand how to push. Put a pull-up on her and she's drape herself over an ottoman, and poop.

How do I change this habit?

She's got everything else down...pee hasn't been a problem for a long time. She's dry after naps. And she's starting to be dry in the mornings too...but we're so far behind in the poop department.


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## SweetSilver (Apr 12, 2011)

Can you put a chair in front of the potty that she can lean onto and get close to that position? Bum on the potty, legs draped, arms and chest on the chair? A nice, comfy chair with a pillow on it? I might try something like that and first get her used to this position on the potty and letting the poop drop into the toilet. If this works you can get her to push into an increasingly vertical position on the toilet.

I have never tried this, I was just trying to think of a way to simulate her preferred position on the potty.


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## Halfasianmomma (Nov 1, 2007)

Thanks for the suggestion SweetSilver...I'll give it a try. So far, what I've done is let her sit on the toilet (not the potty because it's too much like sitting in a chair, whereas on the toilet her bum drops down into the hole) with the pull-up ON, because on top of the weird pushing position, she is afraid of the poop falling into the toilet. Don't ask me why...she just refuses to go without a pull-up on. I figured i'd let her get used to sitting on the toilet and then perhaps...cut a hole in her pull-up?

I'm going on instinct here because DD is my first and I've never dealt with this before!


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## Youngfrankenstein (Jun 3, 2009)

What about sitting on the potty backwards and leaning over the tank? Or would she consider squatting over the potty?


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## pianojazzgirl (Apr 6, 2006)

My ds poops with a chair in front of the toilet as described above.

As for squatting I know you can buy a kind of "squatting platform" that attaches to the toilet. I saw a link to it on a thread here at MDC, but I don't remember what it was called.


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## crunchy_mommy (Mar 29, 2009)

DS squats on the potty. He climbs up and puts one foot on each side of the seat and squats over the hole, sometimes holding the front of the seat for support (he's got pretty good balance though, so it's not always necessary). Just make sure your seat is screwed on tightly!! Maybe you could try having her squat facing the back of the toilet, and then she'd be able to hold onto the tank lid for support (or you could wrap your arms under her armpits, if that would help).

Have you tried a little floor potty? Like the Baby Bjorn or IKEA ones? They are supposed to help them go in a more natural position, squat-like... plus it might be a good transition if she is afraid of letting the poop go down the drain.


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## Emmeline II (Feb 16, 2006)

I second trying one like this; it puts them in a bit of a squat, particularly if they have long legs, and it is easy to hose off (no crevices). You could also try giving her oatmeal in the morning then taking her for a walk (exercise can get things going). Once you find the right balance diet wise she shouldn't have to push.

My children did not have this problem at that age but my ds did in Kindergarten. Part of the reason must have been the diet change as he wasn't getting fruit smoothies daily anymore. I started giving him granola bars in his lunchbox, he sometimes ate oatmeal in the morning, and I would put a little sodium ascorbate in his morning OJ (the last I can't do now due to his ADHD medication). Now, he has yogurt with honey every morning and a slice of wheat bread with nutella, and still eats a couple of granola bars a day along with the rest of his lunch. He tends to be ok bowel-wise unless he's had an increased intake of sugar.


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## Halfasianmomma (Nov 1, 2007)

DD has a potty like that, and for some reason, it just doesn't work. She really likes to be on all fours to poop...or sometimes standing. I guess it's a question of getting her to get used to the idea of sitting/squatting while pooping. She managed to poop while standing in the (empty) tub, but when she's got a pull-up on, she likes to take the "doggy position" (either on all fours or a modified downward dog on her elbows...weird).


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## crunchy_mommy (Mar 29, 2009)

Hmm I can't say I've ever seen a kid do that & I'm not sure how it would even work, biologically speaking... Sorry if this is a weird question but, is everything positioned right? Is there any chance she could have a mild imperforate anus or motility disorder or something? (I'm sure everything's fine but it just made me think of that because it _is_ a rather strange position from the sounds of it, the more natural position would be a low squat, with feet flat on the floor).


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## Halfasianmomma (Nov 1, 2007)

I'm getting her checked out on the 19th, so we'll see what could be physically wrong. The issues with pooping regularly only started when we started working on the potty training. It may be a physical issue...I honestly don't know, and I'm reluctant to go "poking around" down there because I don't want to make her associate more discomfort with that area. When she was breastfed, there was never an issue with poop at all, and as she got older, she would often poop when she was sleeping, usually drawing her knees up to her chest (which is sort of like a squat, lying down). I've also seen her stand while she she pooped...maybe this bent over this is due to the constipation she has had on and off in the past few months of potty training...


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## mkat (Jul 31, 2006)

I had similar issues with DS, now 6. What really helped was to have him sit on the toilet or potty while trying to blow up a balloon. This helped him locate and feel his "poop muscles" while in a sitting position. He thought it was pretty fun, too. I had him do this every morning for a few moments and within about 2 weeks he was sitting on the toilet to poop (with a pull up on).

By the way, toilet learning was a very gradual process for DS, with many small steps (all imposed by me.. he had no apparent interest on his own to fully toilet learn). We did the hole in the pull up method for a while, which I later abandoned as it caused more anxiety for DS about seeing the poop falling into the toilet (he was afraid of this, too). I never thought DS would completely toilet learn, but he did, a little later than I anticipated, but it did happen! You will get there, too


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## jtbuko (Sep 28, 2006)

You might try a Nature's Platform - we got one when my daughter was having some issues and she still asks for the "squatter" occasionally.


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## Peacegirl1975 (Mar 12, 2012)

My son also squats on the pot, feet on the toilet seat, his balance is quite good! I think that this is probably a pretty good position, biologically, for having a bm. And, my son is 7


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## Grace and Granola (Oct 15, 2005)

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Peacegirl1975*
> 
> My son also squats on the pot, feet on the toilet seat, his balance is quite good! I think that this is probably a pretty good position, biologically, for having a bm. And, my son is 7


My 6yo ds does this too! I've been wondering if it's time to start coaching him down


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## crunchy_mommy (Mar 29, 2009)

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Grace and Granola*
> 
> My 6yo ds does this too! I've been wondering if it's time to start coaching him down


That squat is actually a great skill to retain. It's much better for bowel health to poop squatting, but most adults are no longer able to do this because we've been 'out of practice' for so long. It empties the bowels more fully with less straining, look it up for more info because I won't explain it right lol. But it's a good thing & I wouldn't try to coach him down. If you're worried about him being too big to be on top of the seat like that, you could buy or build a squatting platform.


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## Grace and Granola (Oct 15, 2005)

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *crunchy_mommy*
> 
> That squat is actually a great skill to retain. It's much better for bowel health to poop squatting, but most adults are no longer able to do this because we've been 'out of practice' for so long. It empties the bowels more fully with less straining, look it up for more info because I won't explain it right lol. But it's a good thing & I wouldn't try to coach him down. If you're worried about him being too big to be on top of the seat like that, you could buy or build a squatting platform.


wow, that is very interesting!


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## Peacegirl1975 (Mar 12, 2012)

Great info crunchy mommy  Thanks!!!


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## Jasonv44 (8 mo ago)

Halfasianmomma said:


> Yes, another potty training thread. Here goes...
> 
> Does anyone have a child who poops on his or her knees, or standing up? As far as I can tell, DD (3.5 yrs old) has never been able to poop sitting down. She always goes on all fours, and pushes that way. We're STILL struggling with pooping on the toilet. After some serious bouts of withholding, I changed a bunch of things around in her diet (no more white rice, bananes or apples...lots of prune juice, bran/flax, raw green veggies and fruits, lots of fluids)...it helped but maybe a bit too much. She ended up with totally runny poop, but at least she wasn't constipated. I'm still working on finding the right balance for her...
> 
> ...


Any updates on this? My daughter is doing the same


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