Poop in Potty - What Worked for You??

I completely agree with the other moms that said to use the kid potty. I let both of mine did that for a while. I would dump the little bowl into the toilet in front of them and we would wave and say goodbye poo! Then I would ask if my child wanted to be the one to flush so they still have a choice and a little bit of control. After a little while I would ask if they were ready to try on the big potty. It didn't take long for either of them to go for it! I think part of it is uncomfortable and also scary for them to go on the big potty. Giving them the power to make it their choice really helps. Good luck to you!

Don't make him do the toilet-time. Kids will end up witholding their poop & getting constipated.

It's harder for boys (girls are easier for poop training).

My son finds it easier to poop while standing up.

You can gently urge & occasionally try to have sit on the potty but let him off if he continues to be upset/cry. That will only make the process worse.

I promise you he won't be 10 yrs old & pooping in a diaper.

Let him have a diaper or pull up to poop. Don't force the issue. It's a developmental stage. It will happen! Be kind, gentle. Work "with" the issues not against them.

Just keep talking to him about it, have him see you go to the bathroom, always offer going to the bathroom when you are out & about shopping but always bring a diaper/pull up. It will happen in time. Just let it run it's natural course. And remember boys mature later/slower than girls. Boys take more time. He's just not ready yet. My son could sit on the toilet forever but you gave him a diaper he could do it standing up in 30 seconds flat.

Another mom on here gave me the best advice when I was going through something similar. We went through the poo cycle. Basically, the story of where the poo goes when it leaves their bottom- down the toilet bowl hole, down the pipe, under the house, out to the pipe under the yard, to the street, to the BIG hole, under the road, to the poo factory (we weren't sure what happened then so we made something up-lol). My son thought this was so fascinating! After we went through the poo story a couple of times, he actually wanted to go. Then we would talk it through and go out in the yard and guess where it might be in the pipe. lol Anyway, it's worth a try. Hope this helps.

Tell him that you have a super tip that will make it easy for him--let him sit backwards on the toilet! Some kids find that easier. Might be worth a try.
Don't physically hold him on the toilet--let him poop in his pants--I'd say no more PullUps at this point--only at night.

Has he ever seen anyone poop on the potty? My daughter was inexplicably scared to poop at Grandma's house when she was 3 and we were there for a week. So I said, "well, Mommy's going to poop on the potty!" and let her stay in the room with me. After that, she was back to pooping on the potty like a champ.

I hate having anyone in the bathroom with me, so that was pretty mortifying for me, but it did the trick.

One of my kids was a reluctant potty pooper after being fully trained to pee in the toilet. She asked for a diaper to poop. I wasn't mean, but I said no, she needed to poop on the potty now. There was no logical reason she couldn't use the toilet since she did for peeing, and she had plenty of awareness she was feeling the need to poop. She stubbornly held it for awhile. But when I thought it had been too long, we used a glycerin suppository (bought at Walgreens, recommended by pediatrician) and had her sit on the potty. The response was almost immediate pooping action. After that first one, she was fine. She was never scared to poop on the potty after she experienced it working out just fine.

I was told, that pooping while standing is different than when sitting down. Different set of muscles etc.
Another Mom told me that, and her Pediatrician told her that, because her son was doing what your son is doing. But this is VERY common.
In time your son will poop, while sitting.
Just don't pressure him.
Because some kids, will start to withhold their poop, and then will not poop at all. And this will cause internal medical, problems. Encopresis for example. Or bulging bowels and constipation, etc. And once a child gets constipated because of it... it is VERY hard, to undo.

My son was like that too. And one day he went poop in a toilet.
My daughter was like that too. And we even had to take her to a Pediatric Gastroenterologist, because, even if we did not force her about popping in a toilet... she started to NOT go poop, at all. And withheld it. And got Constipated badly. The Doctor told us: it is a physical AND emotion based thing. Some children, get stressed and have anxiety or "fear" about pooping in a toilet. He said, just let your child poop, even if that is in a diaper for now. Because you do not want medical bowel impaction problems. A child, WILL poop in a toilet, when they are ready. It took a LONG time, to undo the constipation and poop withholding problems, my daughter had. I am talking, months.

At 3.5 my son wore underwear all day and would pee but not poop in the toilet. He'd come home and ask for a diaper and then poop. Finally I told him we had 4 diapers left, one for each of the next 4 days. Each time he put one on I reminded him how many he had left. The day he had to poop in the toilet he whined and cried for 20 minutes (his usual time limit for that) and then he went. He was so busy turning around to see himself poop that only half of it made it into the toilet. He got his promised toy for pooping and we never had any poop problems again.......... he's 16 now. lol

If you are putting him on the regular toilet, it could be that he doesn't feel secure enough on the toilet.

I would suggest either using a kid's potty or putting a stool under his feet so he feels more balanced. Also, having something to put his feet on will help him be able to go. Try going poop with your feet dangling - it's not really easy.

Hope this helps. Good luck!

About your son's age, we were at church and he had to go. We were in the gym playing and I told him if you go in the potty we can stay but if you don't we have to go home. He finally did! We bargained for some hot wheels that changed colors if he did it for a week. He was potty trained after that.
Maybe if you had something like that in your hand he might try harder.

Have you tried using a potty, rather than a toilet? My son needed a few months of going on a potty before he could move to the toilet. As another poster mentioned, a different set of muscles are being used. Going on the potty, which allows him to really get his feet and legs in the picture while he's training his other muscles, may help develop the muscles needed to go on the toilet. Also, is it possible he is afraid of falling in the toilet? That happened to my son once a year ago - and he still hasn't forgotten it!

I feel your pain. We have the same type of kid. Time - that's what works. I had the same question and my pediatrician told me, "He is essentially potty trained. He's in control of when he goes and has no accidents, so that part's done." I tried all the same things (except sugar) and nothing worked until he was ready (at 4 y.o.). We held out days without pull-ups (which nearly sent us both over the emotional edge) and it wasn't until it clicked for him. Unless you're in a big hurry for daycare or something, just let it go for now and keep encouraging him. He won't be wearing pull-ups to college. Heh. Just my 2 cents.

many times toddlers stand to go #2 in their diapers. So sitting to go is entirely a new concept. if it is possible to have him go standing up a few times (I know sounds weird) see if that can help him transition to sitting.

OMG, that was my son! He was urine trained in less than 1 day (at 3yrs 3mos) and never had an accident. Refused to poop in the potty though...for another 7 MONTHS. I was beyond frustrated with it. We tried EVERYTHING.

I know many parents will not agree with my approach, but what finally worked for us...we got rid of the pull ups. Even at night. Even though I knew he still peed in his sleep. My son always responded well to prunes and has never been constipated, otherwise I don't think I would have done this. I gave him prunes daily for a week. Then I told him he could not have a pull up. He could only poop in the big potty. No more choices. No more little potty. No sitting on the big potty with a pull up with a hole cut in the butt. No more bending over backwards trying to convince him to do it. On that fateful day when he had to poop and I refused to give him a pull up he whimpered and paced in his bedroom. He managed to hold it. I refused to give him a pull up at bedtime. He complained his bed would get wet. I told him that if he pooped in the potty he could wear the pull up while he slept so the bed would stay dry. He refused. I layered the bed with mattress covers and sheets. Had to remove a wet layer at 2am. He was not happy. Still refused to poop in the potty. The next morning he couldn't hold it any longer. He reluctantly sat on the potty and cried. I had to leave the bathroom. I told him to call me if he needed help or wanted company. I wondered if I was crossing the line, but knew we were at a crossroads. I stayed outside the bathroom door so he couldn't see me and waited. Then I heard him laughing. Then laughing loudly, hysterically even. I went in and asked if he was OK. With the biggest grin of his whole short life he said, "Why was I afraid of THAT? That was so easy! I'm gonna poop in the potty again tomorrow!" And he was very relieved to be able to wear a pull up to bed again that night, though he never pooped in it again.

And btw, I never did night time training but about a month later he stayed dry all night too. We were done with all types of diapers and pull ups, daytime and overnight, before his 4th birthday.

Good luck!