Oh Crap! Potty Training

your attention that your child is saving his poop for the nap or
nighttime diaper. It might appear that she is specifically holding it
for her diaper, or it could just look like she has readjusted her timing.
For most children, this really does straighten out on its own. If you
are in no way ready to tackle night training, it’s okay to let this ride
out for a bit. For most children, it’s simply about relaxing. When
potty training is so new, they are only fully relaxed at nighttime. As
daytime gets better and better, they will start pooping on the potty in
waking hours. However, if you do feel up to night training, the fix is
to ditch the diapers all together. This isn’t actually a difficult fix,
because most people don’t get up in the middle of the night to poop.
So you’ve got nature on your side. Head over to chapter 6,
“Nighttime Training,” and start that soon. I highly recommend a
couple of nights of bare bummed—not just commando. This is
because when your child is sleeping, she needs strong, unconscious
reminders to either get up or hold it (in addition to the two wake ups
recommended in the chapter). Here’s the thing: underpants or
commando pjs will help to contain any accident, but they can, in
fact, actually cause the accident (because fabric on the bum can feel
like a diaper and trigger muscle memory). It’s a catch-22, and what
you decide to do is your call. Regardless, I’d set down some Chux (aka
piddle pads) or a towel under your child for nighttime. The diaper-
pooping issue usually takes one or two nights to straighten out, so it’s
not like it’s going to go on forever once you take the diapers off. Also,
giving up diapers all together usually helps clean up any other little
potty training issues you may be dealing with.