Pooping at the playground

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I used to get the urge to go every time I went to Barnes and Noble in my 20s. The playground is a poop trigger for your kid OP. Stop taking him for a while as others have suggested. And quit with carting the plastic potty around. Gross.

What is with this anti-plastic potty thing? It's so helpful when they are little and much less gross than having them wear diapers. OP, ignore these fools.

I do think the portable potties are gross for poop. I also think the push to potty train earlier and earlier, and to do it fast so that families can keep going out as much as possible, is what drives their popularity. We never used a portable potty because we stuck close to home when potty training and also didn't rush it -- we were just never in a position where my kid was young and inexperienced enough with potty training that they couldn't make it to a nearby bathroom to go. I didn't really consider her potty trained until she was capable of realizing she needed to go with enough warning for us to get to a bathroom. And yes, that meant that for a while we had to stick to playgrounds at rec centers with toilets, or close to home. It was like 6 months -- not a huge sacrifice.

The upside is that my kid never pooped herself at the playground. YMMV.

I am the OP - we only started potty training because my little guy showed interest - he wanted to be like his big brother! He sat down himself and started peeing! He pooped without prompting and all by himself one glorious time before the proverbial shit hit the fan. (No real shit has hit any actual fan - yet.) I agree he isn't potty trained yet - I don't claim he is. That's that problem.

Now we've been at this for 6 months or more now, and we've stalled. None of our local playgrounds have public bathrooms that are regularly open, so saying "avoid the playground for a while" is basically saying "deprive your child of outdoor time, or travel very long distances." We don't have a yard he can play in, public playgrounds are it. So he stays in a pull-up at the playground because every other option is too gross, and we keep trying to get him to go before we leave and at other times. And we bring the fold-up travel potty because at least if one day he decides he wants to go in it, it will be there as an option - I don't get why people think this is weird? Like someone else said, this is pretty normal at all our playgrounds, we're not the only ones.

Anyway, "normal" potty training stuff isn't working, so I'm looking for the kind of advice only strangers on the internet can give. Or, a recommendation to someone I can pay to help me solve this. (And I've ordered a dollhouse-sized playground set that will now go in the bathroom at home because why the heck not it can't possibly make things worse.)

I would keep him home or somewhere close to a bathroom while actively potty training. He has no incentive for doing this differently right now. Or use a pull up and take a break trying to potty train. As for pooping at the playground, how would you feel like if I pooped in a bag right next to the monkey bars?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I used to get the urge to go every time I went to Barnes and Noble in my 20s. The playground is a poop trigger for your kid OP. Stop taking him for a while as others have suggested. And quit with carting the plastic potty around. Gross.

What is with this anti-plastic potty thing? It's so helpful when they are little and much less gross than having them wear diapers. OP, ignore these fools.

I do think the portable potties are gross for poop. I also think the push to potty train earlier and earlier, and to do it fast so that families can keep going out as much as possible, is what drives their popularity. We never used a portable potty because we stuck close to home when potty training and also didn't rush it -- we were just never in a position where my kid was young and inexperienced enough with potty training that they couldn't make it to a nearby bathroom to go. I didn't really consider her potty trained until she was capable of realizing she needed to go with enough warning for us to get to a bathroom. And yes, that meant that for a while we had to stick to playgrounds at rec centers with toilets, or close to home. It was like 6 months -- not a huge sacrifice.

The upside is that my kid never pooped herself at the playground. YMMV.

I am the OP - we only started potty training because my little guy showed interest - he wanted to be like his big brother! He sat down himself and started peeing! He pooped without prompting and all by himself one glorious time before the proverbial shit hit the fan. (No real shit has hit any actual fan - yet.) I agree he isn't potty trained yet - I don't claim he is. That's that problem.

Now we've been at this for 6 months or more now, and we've stalled. None of our local playgrounds have public bathrooms that are regularly open, so saying "avoid the playground for a while" is basically saying "deprive your child of outdoor time, or travel very long distances." We don't have a yard he can play in, public playgrounds are it. So he stays in a pull-up at the playground because every other option is too gross, and we keep trying to get him to go before we leave and at other times. And we bring the fold-up travel potty because at least if one day he decides he wants to go in it, it will be there as an option - I don't get why people think this is weird? Like someone else said, this is pretty normal at all our playgrounds, we're not the only ones.

Anyway, "normal" potty training stuff isn't working, so I'm looking for the kind of advice only strangers on the internet can give. Or, a recommendation to someone I can pay to help me solve this. (And I've ordered a dollhouse-sized playground set that will now go in the bathroom at home because why the heck not it can't possibly make things worse.)

I would keep him home or somewhere close to a bathroom while actively potty training. He has no incentive for doing this differently right now. Or use a pull up and take a break trying to potty train. As for pooping at the playground, how would you feel like if I pooped in a bag right next to the monkey bars?

About the same as if you pooped in your pants and then slid down the slide, honestly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I used to get the urge to go every time I went to Barnes and Noble in my 20s. The playground is a poop trigger for your kid OP. Stop taking him for a while as others have suggested. And quit with carting the plastic potty around. Gross.

What is with this anti-plastic potty thing? It's so helpful when they are little and much less gross than having them wear diapers. OP, ignore these fools.

I do think the portable potties are gross for poop. I also think the push to potty train earlier and earlier, and to do it fast so that families can keep going out as much as possible, is what drives their popularity. We never used a portable potty because we stuck close to home when potty training and also didn't rush it -- we were just never in a position where my kid was young and inexperienced enough with potty training that they couldn't make it to a nearby bathroom to go. I didn't really consider her potty trained until she was capable of realizing she needed to go with enough warning for us to get to a bathroom. And yes, that meant that for a while we had to stick to playgrounds at rec centers with toilets, or close to home. It was like 6 months -- not a huge sacrifice.

The upside is that my kid never pooped herself at the playground. YMMV.

I am the OP - we only started potty training because my little guy showed interest - he wanted to be like his big brother! He sat down himself and started peeing! He pooped without prompting and all by himself one glorious time before the proverbial shit hit the fan. (No real shit has hit any actual fan - yet.) I agree he isn't potty trained yet - I don't claim he is. That's that problem.

Now we've been at this for 6 months or more now, and we've stalled. None of our local playgrounds have public bathrooms that are regularly open, so saying "avoid the playground for a while" is basically saying "deprive your child of outdoor time, or travel very long distances." We don't have a yard he can play in, public playgrounds are it. So he stays in a pull-up at the playground because every other option is too gross, and we keep trying to get him to go before we leave and at other times. And we bring the fold-up travel potty because at least if one day he decides he wants to go in it, it will be there as an option - I don't get why people think this is weird? Like someone else said, this is pretty normal at all our playgrounds, we're not the only ones.

Anyway, "normal" potty training stuff isn't working, so I'm looking for the kind of advice only strangers on the internet can give. Or, a recommendation to someone I can pay to help me solve this. (And I've ordered a dollhouse-sized playground set that will now go in the bathroom at home because why the heck not it can't possibly make things worse.)

Ok. Here's my thought: game the system. You say he's not withholding poop, right? Arrange playground visits around his poops. Does he poop once a day or twice a day?

If twice, wait until he poops in the morning, and then go to the playground immediately. He can't poop, he just did it. Then come home and don't leave the house until he poops again.

If once a day, even easier -- just plan on visits outside his schedule so he can't poop at the playground.

If he's not on a poop schedule, get him on one. Talk to your pediatrician about Miralax. Low dose. We did it in the morning for a month and our DD was on a consistent schedule of pooping in the afternoon between 3 and 5 for the duration of potty training. Also helps with poop withholding issues.

You can also pay attention to his diet and maximize his regularity via plenty of water, avoiding foods that constipate (dairy, heavily processed foods, certain fruits like underripe bananas). This will make it harder for him to hold poops until the playground. If you take him right after he poops, problem solved.

Do this for a month or two and it will break the habit of pooping at the playground. If you are unsure about the schedule at first, leave him in pull ups for the first week but once you've gone a week without incident, get rid of them and do underwear only.

[Anonymous]

OP you’ve “been at it for 6 MONTHS” in your own words. He’s not there. Put him in diapers and call it a day. And spare everyone from the your kid pooping at the park.

[Anonymous]

Yeah I’d just go with the pull-up until he is older and can be bribed. My DC is the same way - just turned 3 and would try to hold it in, but was fully pee trained, even during nap. If we put pull-ups on, DC would just get lazy and pee in them too. We lost a lot of good pairs of underwear. Eventually started holding it for the nighttime pull-up, or a swim diaper - not in the pool - kid would actually get out of the pool to go poop in a corner and then announce it - In a couple of months I will try bribery. They change and grow so quickly. But I’m going to stop stressing about it for now.

[Anonymous]

My third kid was slow to the whole poop-in-the-potty thing. She wouldn’t withhold and wasn’t dependent on a diaper but never seemed to know that she was going to poop. And she never pooped the same time of the day.

I bought a bunch of cheap underwear and just waited it out. Big rewards for pooping on the potty. She got there.

I would never go back to diapers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Where does he go to poop otherwise?

Also please tell me I misread and you aren’t taking your kid to the park commando and letting him poop, or setting up a potty at the playground for him to use.

We definitely bring a travel potty on the playground in case he needs to go. There is no public bathroom at the playground, where else would he go? It has a plastic bag for easy cleanup. We set it off to the side wherever there is some privacy, not like in the middle of the slide.

You go home or to a nearby business.

+1 good lord

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Where does he go to poop otherwise?

Also please tell me I misread and you aren’t taking your kid to the park commando and letting him poop, or setting up a potty at the playground for him to use.

We definitely bring a travel potty on the playground in case he needs to go. There is no public bathroom at the playground, where else would he go? It has a plastic bag for easy cleanup. We set it off to the side wherever there is some privacy, not like in the middle of the slide.

You go home or to a nearby business.

+1 good lord

And that is how you get either a poop in the car seat or give them anxiety because you were running store to store trying to find a business that will let you use their bathroom, if they even have one. I had horrible urinary urgency after pregnancy due to pelvic floor issues and it is EXTREMELY difficult to find clean and accessible bathrooms. Basically I knew where every Starbucks, Target or Five Guys/McD was on any route that I took. Being in the car made it worse. Even worse is when the park services close the bathrooms during the winter.

[Anonymous]

My child would also only poop in diapers. He would wait until he had a diaper on at night to poop and do it in bed. We let him do it and didn't reprimand him. Eventually he started pooping in the toilet just after he turned 4. It did require some bribery.
My biggest fear was constipation because he would hold it if we didn't put a diaper on him. I've heard horror stories about toddlers being constipated to the point that they require surgery.

[Anonymous]

So he only poops at the playground and into his underpants?
I agree that its probably because the movement and distraction lets him relax.
Maybe use that? Get a trampoline or something and let him jump around at home and see if he will get tbe urge to poop.
Set up the travel potty at hime for consistency sd well. We also had the travel potty and used it at a playground: far from play and behind a tree. It was a short lived phase and worth jt.
Also agree with a low miralax dose with juice or something. Little kids are afraid of pain and if be ever had one painful poop he will not let go and will hold it in in anticipation of discomfort.
I have girls but am very open about bathroom things. They came in with me when i had to go until about 3-4 to see the process and sit on a little chair or little potty (fully clothed). We said goodbye to my poops and they flushed. Yes gross, but it teaches them that its ok and not scary. While training also around 2.5 we made a huge deal (clapping singing praise) for anything done on the potty to only have positive associations.

[Anonymous]

If you have him wear pull-ups and/or a diaper, all day long-- will he still ask to pee on the potty? Or does he simply revert to peeing in the diaper?

If he does NOT, and continues to go on the potty, then here's what I'd personally do, were I in this situation...

Put him in diapers, all day long. And encourage him to try and poop whenever the urge hits.

The reason for doing this is twofold: 1. You have GOT to get him comfortable with the idea of pooping in other places than only the playground. If he feels zero pressure to fight holding it all day, you might be able to break that habit and get him on more of a manageable pooping schedule. 2. It's incredibly dangerous (see: encropresis) for a kid to be holding poop in for extended periods of time. Like, seriously. Long term damage can occur if this becomes routine for him, it's no joke.

I think the key here is to get him to feel at ease enough to poop whenever/wherever the need arises. I'd set aside undies for the right now and go full bore on diapers for a while until this is resolved.

[Anonymous]

Are people really grossed out by seeing a very young kid use a travel potty outside in the park?!!

Too bad.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you have him wear pull-ups and/or a diaper, all day long-- will he still ask to pee on the potty? Or does he simply revert to peeing in the diaper?

If he does NOT, and continues to go on the potty, then here's what I'd personally do, were I in this situation...

Put him in diapers, all day long. And encourage him to try and poop whenever the urge hits.

The reason for doing this is twofold: 1. You have GOT to get him comfortable with the idea of pooping in other places than only the playground. If he feels zero pressure to fight holding it all day, you might be able to break that habit and get him on more of a manageable pooping schedule. 2. It's incredibly dangerous (see: encropresis) for a kid to be holding poop in for extended periods of time. Like, seriously. Long term damage can occur if this becomes routine for him, it's no joke.

I think the key here is to get him to feel at ease enough to poop whenever/wherever the need arises. I'd set aside undies for the right now and go full bore on diapers for a while until this is resolved.

I agree with all this. I'm dealing with significant constipation issues with my 4yo and he'll need to be on laxatives for at least a year to get everything sorted out. He's in pull-ups while we work on it since he won't poop on the potty. I think the issue became exacerbated when he was withholding poop during potty training. He can pee just fine in the potty though. Consult with your PCP and don't hesitate to reach out to a pediatric gastroenterologist.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Are people really grossed out by seeing a very young kid use a travel potty outside in the park?!!

Too bad.

Yes. And because this is very rare and I know I have never witnessed it means it's a pretty popular opinion. You're the outlier letting your kid poop in the park like an animal.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Are people really grossed out by seeing a very young kid use a travel potty outside in the park?!!

Too bad.

The fact that it's a child doesn't change the fact that it is rude, disgusting, lazy and unnecessary. Then what do you do with the poop? bag it and bring it home? This is insane. Just put a diaper on your kid if he's not potty trained.