My Son Just Turned 3 and Refuses to Poop in the Potty!!!

My son did the same thing, it was so frustrating. He was scared to poop in the potty. It took a lot of positive reinforcement to get him to go and any time I knew he was about to poop I would take him to the potty quickly. Once he saw it wasn't scary and didn't hurt he was fine but it did take a while, I think a couple of months. Good luck and stay positive:)

My son started being willing to sit long enough on the potty to poop the week of his 3rd bday. He was peeing on potty for about 6 months before that, but would hold it until he got a diaper (nighttime) for poop.

We went and bought him some books from the bargain tables at Barnes and Noble of his choice, that he could only read for poop on the potty. Initially it took about 30-45 minutes to get him to poop - sometimes I read the same book 9 times! After a few successes, he realized that it was much less "sticky" to poop in the potty than in his diaper/big boy underwear. We did let him see both Mama and Daddy go poop in the potty and flush it down. We also know that he needs to have the step stool under his feet for him to "push" to get the poop out. Now if it isn't there, he sometimes asks for it. By the way, my son turned 3 on 4-11-09 and has been pooping in the potty (no accidents to date) for about 6 weeks now.

We also gave him an increase in raisins and apple juice to try to soften things up a bit when we were having difficulties. Now we have no problems at all.

Your son will poop in the potty too! Hang in there, see if the other sons will demonstrate or read books!

C.

I am currently having the same problem with my son. I took him to a GI and they sent him Miralax. That has helped him have bowel movements because it gets so soft he cant hold it. He will either go in his underwear or his favorite place which is in a bubble bath. I guess the warm water makes him go. I was told by his pediatrician that this is a very common problem in boys. I also started taking him to a psychologist but I did not like the one I was going to so I stopped. He does #1 in the big people toilet so what I have him do when I see he needs to go is sit him in his potty and it has worked. Have lots of patience because it is a long process. I was told by the GI it can take up to 6 months for his body to get used to going everyday. I think you should take him to a GI because holding his poop does have a long term consequence in the body if it gets real bad. Good luck. Hope this helps.

Sit him on the toilet until he goes and reward him for going. Also, when you are home, do not allow him to wear a diaper or pull up. At 3, he should be using the toilet.

Things that worked for us were bare bottom around the house (makes them much more aware of their body), telling him the poo poos were going to a poo poo party when we flushed and a "treasure box"-a small plastic box with a lid that I filled with goodies from the Dollar Store. I didn't let him see what was inside but told him when he pooped he could pick on prize from the treasure box. That was a huge motivator for him. You just have to experiment and see what will be his motivator. And they just have to be ready to do it.