HELP!! My 3 Year Old Refuses to Poop in the Potty!!

Ugh, I went through the EXACT same thing with my daughter. She eventually got it. I did the pull-up thing too, and got to a point where I told her I couldn't buy any more once "these" were gone. She would wear panties, but go to her room and put on a pull-up when she needed to poop - I mean, really!? Ha ha, she even trained herself to stay dry at night so as not to use up any unnecessary pullups for anything but pooping. One thing that I think helped was I let her use the pullups, but I made her go in the bathroom to poop. . . . she did eventually get it and I never had to buy more pullups.

I can't believe I am typing this but my oldest would not poop on the potty. He would pee like he had done it all his life but would sneak into the dining room, drop his drawers and poop in the corner. I didn't know what I was going to do because we were going to visit family when he was three and a half and stay with them. Then a week before we were to leave he started pooping in the potty like he had been doing it his whole life.

The funny thing is he can tell me why he did a lot of mischief before he was two, he was almost four with the pooping. He doesn't even remember so not able to tell me why he was afraid of the bathroom.

What is interesting about that is everything he remembers he was up to no good so this indicates to me the reason is a little more deep than defiance.

I would be suspicious of encopresis. (You might want to talk to your ped about it if you haven't already.)

It's not uncommon for kids to train at #2 after #1. And I think it's more "mysterious" for boys--with pee, they can pretty much "see" the process & where it's coming from.

With my son, we had to catch him in the act--rush him to the toilet and then kind of...ummmm...."knock" the poo patty (sorry, TMI!) off his bum into the bowl & then celebrate wildly!

Good luck!

i would try stressing to him that big boys dont wear pull ups they go to the potty and he cant stop wearing pull ups if he doesnt do #2 in the potty.. just pput emphasis that hes not gna be a "big boy" if he doesnt do it or i hatesaying it this way butu could try bribing him like if u go potty u can have a --- (whatever he wants) hope that helps

it's an easy answer... he's three!

I have three boys and they were all different, I had one that wouldn't poop on the potty so we offered a big reward (toy) for when he pooped on the potty for the first time then small rewards (M&M's) when he continued to poop on the potty it worked okay we also talked about it with him. but overall he will grow out of it, just give him a little more time and use the pull ups to save your sanity, mine are 6, 10, 11 and now they all poop in the potty just fine :)

I let my 2 year old watch this over and over ( I explained what's going on in the video the first few times we watched) for three days, then he potty trained himself in a week with no accidents. He's happy to go potty and even insist going to big potty when he's up to pee at 2 am.
Hope this video also help your son.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_aHx5R0isO4&feature=yo...

My guy was a master at peeing but hated to poop on the potty. I found this site and the info I gleaned had him literally running to the potty to poop in a little over one day ~ long live the "power incentive!" Pooping refusal is truly a problem with many children and I hope the tips help you as well:

http://www.rogerknapp.com/medical/pottytrainingrefusals.htm

He is not ready for underwear. Put him in pullups. Do not use chemical laxatives and do not stress him out. Give him a small dose of probiotics every other day. Encourage him to continue going number 1 as he is. Leave him alone regarding number 2 for a week or two. Have you asked him what his deal is? My son trained going number 2 in like 3 days and never had a poop accident. But that is because he does not like being dirty. Lots of kids are like your son. You may need to up the reward for pooping on the potty for him. Maybe he doesn't like his potty seat or the location of it?

Sounds exactly like my youngest. My pedi told me to give him a spoonfull of mineral oil everyday to keep him from holding it. since not a stool softener, there was no reidual poo squirts in the underpants, but it was about 8 months of skid marks from where he'd try to hold it, etc.
I just had to bite the bullet, buy a ton of underpants and change him four or five times a day.
Each time he had a mark in his pants I'd simply ask him to sit on the potty for three minutes (how old he was) to see if he needed to go. Not as a punishment, as a "let's wait and see what happens" most times, he'd go and since we were doing the mineral oil it didn't hurt so he learned that it was all ok.
It was like having cloth diapers for a few months (little bucket in the bathroom with detergent - running a load of underpants every day), but then he got it and we haven't looked back.
Best,

3 is still pretty young. Boys in general take longer to potty train. My first son was potty trained by 2 1/2, but his three younger brothers were still having accidents at 4 1/2! The most important thing is to be VERY patient. Praise him when he uses the potty, but show no emotion when he has an accident. Getting upset with him will just make it worse and he will take even longer to potty train. I agree with B.B., just put him in pull ups and wait until he is ready. And, you should probably skip the laxatives.