Potty Training Nightmare! - Spring,TX

P.,
from what I heard boys are harder to train, I am still training my husband lol.. I guess I said this story before but anyway my friend had this problem with her daughter so she made up a story about "poo poo" ho needed to be with her friends in the ocean, and then they flush and wave bye bye.. In no time the daugheter stopped being so scared of doing it in the toilet.
Maybe you should get him one of those potties that make music if he goes #2.. There are amazing books and videos as well, and you might as well consider a reward just like stickers if he goes in the potty.
I think it is hard but it is a phase that'll pass.
Good luck

P. -
I have gone through the same phase with my now 6yr old. He said it hurt to go. He also had a little constipation and then was fearful. We never gave him the option of pull-ups. I think rewards and making pooptime fun, with books, music, etc. will always give the positive re-enforcement. He has the negative associated with #2, so you just have to give him something to look forward to.
I really think you should explain that his pull-ups are almost gone, and when they run out, mommy can't get anymore b/c he is a "BIG BOY" now and he can go in the potty and when he does he will get something positive, reward, favorite movie, etc.
but just remember do what you can, and it will pass, it is just a phase.

Good Luck.
A. :)

I just read your request, and I know it's been about a month, but if you're still looking for ideas, I thought I'd share one I read about recently.

First, I'm sure you understand that it's not an issue of doing something bad, like getting into forbidden cupboards or hitting would be. It's just a part of growing up. However, the fact that he can control where he poos tells me that he could do it in the potty if he wanted to.

If he goes in the pull-up, it takes more cleanup than if he went in the potty, right? Well, the families I read about told the boy that since he had gotten so big, he couldn't be cleaned up like a baby anymore. They would take him outside and hose him down with the garden hose. Since the water was cold and this new method of clean-up was undesirable, the little boy decided it would be better to go in the potty and was trained within a week. In the second case, the little fellow was so Spartan he decided to just grin and bear it, so they had to come up with something else. They told him that until he was old enough to go in the potty, he wasn't old enough to eat sugar. After a week of watching his brothers and sisters eat sugar--granted, not tons of it, but something like the spoonful of powdered sugar on french toast, a little honey in the oatmeal, that kind of thing--he decided he was big enough and that was the end of "diaper dumping".

Now, I know it's the height of summer down here, so hosing outside might not be as effective as up north--what with hoses full of warm water and if you live in the city limits you might not want to spend that much water--but maybe the stories will give you an idea of something you can do to encourage him to go in the potty. Without physically hurting him (even if you believe in spanking in it's place, it's not something that should be associated with potty training!), see if you can come up with something that is uncomfortable to him--even if it's just a mental discomfort. You might pick something he's fond of and tell him (in a very philosophical way) that you have decided that he's not big enough to do that, and when he is old enough to poo in the potty, then he will be old enough to do that. It just might help. :)

Good luck, let us know what happens.

I have a friend that had that problem and a sil that had that problem.

Friend--let her kids run around naked in the backyard and then run to the potty (little kiddy potty). She did this all summer till right before school started. My kids used to laugh about the house where the little kids run around naked when they are 2-3 and potty training. But it seemed to work.

sil- used mineral oil (check with dr on this one as her dr told her about it). He got so much per day and it makes the poop come out easier. It is like a laxative. Just a teaspoon or so. She did this for awhile and he just kind of got over it (it did not hurt or bother him and he forgot about the discomfort) and started going again on the potty.

my own kid --I have him lots of fruit and things that made him go more so that it did not have a chance to buildup and bother him. Sometimes their systems just need more help and they get afraid to go associating discomfort with pooping in the potty because they do get constipated. I found what worked for him (canned peaches and lots of fresh fruit) and fed him a lot of that. ;-)

Yea I've got the same problem tinkling in the potty fine pooping is a no go and I'm about to pull my hair out with it.

OMG, i thought my son was the only one that did that! my son is now 4.5 and finally goes #2 in the potty. he won't go in public places so he will hold it until he gets home. My son is in preschool now. My son also did the pull up thing for a year. Finally, I said no more. I explained that we need to go poo-poo in the potty and i told him that that potty was his potty and that is where he goes. We had to stay on top of him and learn to recognize the clues on when he needs to go and as calmly as possible tell him (don't give a verbal choice, ie, do you need to go? his answer will always be no) it's time to go potty. refresh his memory that that is his potty and that is where #2 goes. My son finally got the hang of it after a few accidents, but still won't go at school or in public and every once ina while, he will go at his Nana's house. Another thing that helped was i took my son to the store and let him pick out his own underpants and told him he gets to wear them if he learns to go #2 in the potty. Also I refraind from using the term "big boy".

hope this helps a little at least

T. A

Please know you are not alone. My daughter is 3.5 years and has the exact same issue. Tinkling fine. Poop..., "no, mom. i don't like to poop." We're still doing the pullup thing, too. I suppose it will resolve itself, but it's SOOOOO FRUSTRATING.

My friends daughter did the same thing. She would go tee-tee in the potty but she would not go poo-poo. She would also ask for a pullup and would go in that. She tried telling her no and putting her on the potty when she had to go #2, but she would hold it and then get constipated. She went to the doctor and asked what to do and he told her just to let her go in the pullup and she will evetually stop and start going in the potty. She now goes in the potty. It took awhile but she finally stopped going in her pullups.

P., make sure your son is not constipated. Young kids frequently prefer foods that are constipating, so their stool becomes hard to pass. They begin to have a bad feeling about going to the potty, and then they have accidents. Make sure he eats plenty of fiber foods, drinks plenty of water, and get him to sit on the potty at regular intervals. Maybe that will help.