Seriously. It makes that big a difference.
All this aside, even diet doesn’t completely solve the pooping
puzzle. The right diet certainly will help things but it’s not the
complete answer. After all, it’s not like the day you start potty
training your child completely changes his eating, right? And still,
many parents with a child who pooped three times a day, no problem,
with a diaper on, see drama start when the diaper comes off. So the
trouble’s got to be in the potty training.
The “Poop Problem” and Modern Life
Here’s where things get interesting. I’ve looked at the poop problem
from all angles, trust me. For generations upon generations, pooping
has generally not been a problem. Suddenly, the last ten years are
bringing about increasing poop problems. Diet is a factor. Squatting
versus sitting is a factor. Still, there’s one factor we haven’t looked at,
and in my opinion, it’s the big one: the speed at which our world
moves. These days, we get information and connect with others so
much faster than previous generations ever did. I think the world is
moving too damn fast for our kids. I think that as a result, they are
anxious, regardless of how we try individually to combat this at
home.
If we think of your child as fundamentally anxious, and of the
diaper as your child’s oldest and dearest security blanket, the poop
problem makes sense. In essence, I don’t think it’s the pooping itself
that is the problem. I think our children are clinging to the literal
security blanket of something (the diaper) that they’ve known since