My son is turning 3 in May. He is 90% potty trained EXCEPT for the pooping part. He refuses to go on the potty. He has gone twice through the whole training process. He can pee fine. We still put him pull-ups in case of accidents occasionally but I feel like this will just let him pee in his pull up whenever he wants. Sometimes he hides when he goes #2 and other times he just tells us he has to go but will refuse to sit on the potty. I've tried candy rewards and toy rewards but he's not interested. Any other tips we can try?
Thanks!
Wait. Very patiently. My DD was peed trained for almost a year before she wanted to poop in the potty. But, once she did it, she saw my praise and then she's gone in the potty ever since.
My oldest daughter was EXACTLY the same way! We didn't even do Pull-ups -- just switched right to undies, but it didn't matter she just kept pooping in her undies anyway. It took a good six months to finally get her to do it. In the end I think it was more about her readiness then any type of bribe (oops! I meant reward - LOL!) system. As she was approaching her 3rd birthday we would occasionally, and nonchalantly, say things like "wow, you're going to be 3 soon and 3 year olds go poopy in the potty." The key here is not to overdue it (don't say it too often or with too much emphasis) otherwise it will cause stress and have the opposite effect you're hoping to achieve. Then on her 3rd birthday we said "yeah, now your 3, your a big girl and can go poopy on the potty!" Of course, you don't want this to be the first thing you say birthday morning. And at that point we created a reward chart. The chart was set up weekly and for each day she pooped in the potty we put a sticker and at the end of each week we glued a picture of a small reward (dollar store stuff) that could be earned for pooping in the potty several times that week. The visual was a real help. And then at the bottom of the chart we glued a picture of the "big" prize for mastering pooping in the potty (I think it was a bike or something--but it has to be something your child REALLY wants). Well, 3 weeks later she was done!
My daughter turned 4 in Feb and she wasn't getting it. Girls are supposed to get it faster than boys. At her 4 yr old check up, I actually asked the doctor about it because all her friends were potty trained. The doc found nothing wrong with her anatomically and said to give her a few months. Then, last week, she just did it and has been doing it since! I know I'm not much help but nobody told me that it would take a year between learning how to pee and poop and how long I would have to clean up accidents and I was so frustrated. I read the books and tried everything. Nothing really "worked." So when she finally got it last week, I was just overjoyed!!!
Sounds like my ordeal. My son is almost 5 and still flat-out refuses to poop in the potty. We've tried rewards from a piece of candy to shooting off fireworks. Nothing works. I'm about to leave the potty training up to his wife.
I don't have a suggestion, just wanted you to know you're not alone. Best of luck!
His body may not be mature enough for him to know in advance when he needs to poop. I'd take the pressure off him. Tell him you know he'll poop inthe toilet when he's ready and able to do so. Then relax and wait for it to happen.
Continue to take him to the toilet to pee. One of these days he'll surprise you by pooping, too.
Its tough but make the switch to undies - it feels different for them and is less comfortable than going in a diaper. It'll be messy and you'll have to be patient and understanding but give it a shot. Maybe let him pick out his own 'big boy' undies and then explain that we don't want to get so-and-so dirty (whatever theme he chooses). Good Luck!!
Go with the underwear! Oh, and my girl thinks farting is hilarious--so when I want her to "try" to go potty (poop), I just tell her that I want her to fart "one time" and we'll be all done! It works about 75% of the time!
It was 6 months between when my DD was peepee-trained and then poop-trained. She would hold her poop until bedtime when she got a pull-up or else just ask for a pull-up and go then. Very frustrating but I realized she would have to overcome this in her own time.
Another thing that might help is something I read: children going poop on the "big potty" with a child's size toilet seat, need to have their feet resting on something - a stepstool for instance, instead of feet dangling. It helps with their pushing muscles in their legs and bottom. Maybe helps them relax too? Anyway, food for thought. Good luck!
My son had the same problem, and what worked for us was to break 'pooping on the potty' into smaller, more achievable steps. I think the problem was he just didn't know HOW to poop while sitting on a toilet ... he was so used to pooping standing up. So, first, I had him poop in the bathroom (anyway he wanted, which was standing). Then I had him poop sitting down on the floor in the bathroom. Then sitting on the potty (with diaper on). Then with diaper off on the potty. It really helped him, and he went from resistant to very eager and proud of himself. Good luck!
