Pooping

We used a "prize bucket" to address this issue. Everytime she "went," she got to pick a prize from the bucket, which we kept in plain sight in the bathroom with a lid on it.

This is one of the most common problems. My son would pee and stay dry overnight from about 2 1/2. He did not poop in the potty until almost 4. We stopped using underwear and went back to pull-ups b/c the mess became too much. My pediatrician recommended we completely avoid the subject for 6 weeks (we had just had a second baby and moved into a new house as well). After about 4 weeks he was pooping on the potty himself. The moral of the story basically is, you can force them to sit on the potty, but you can't force them to go on the potty. Forcing them to sit there can make them more resistant to going. If your son will ask for a pull-up, let me ask for a while and then start gently encouraging him to use the potty. We brought books in and tried to make it fun (we had toys that could only be played w/ on the potty-- that didn't work either).

If he old enough to hold it until a pull up is put on him, he's ready for doing it on the toilet. Lose the pull ups (give them away or throw them away) and spend a few days at home dedicated to him completely. Whenever he shows signs of having to go potty, whisk him off to the bathroom. Don't ask him if he has to go, just take him. Keep him only in undies and a tshirt for a few days. Plan on washing lots of underwear the first few days. Get some cloth trainers for nighttime or keep him in the underwear and he will quickly learn that there is no more peeing at night. Reduce fluids a couple hours before bedtime so he doesn't pee as much at night. Check out 3daypottytraining.com, that's where I got the gumption to do all that. You can modify her suggestions to fit your own needs and child. Above all, do not keep putting those pull ups on him or it will take you FOREVER. I learned that with my first child!

good luck,
J.

What I found worked best is to just stop buying any form of diaper or pull up. He went in his underwear a few times and I tossed them out. He was very upset by that and stopped going in his pants because he didn't want me to toss any more.

My daughter will be 3 in October and last week she started to be potty trained. Before she would do the same thing about pooping in the potty, but as soon as she had real underwear on she went in the potty. I would suggest just putting your son in underpants and maybe that would get him to go in the potty. We still use pull ups at bedtime, but first thing in the morning she puts underwear on and knows she needs to use the potty. She still has accidents every once in a while, but otherwise is doing great. Hope this helps and good luck.

we started having keeping the pullups in the bathroom- so he would run to the bathroom when he needed to poop- we started out with them down low so he could get them when he needed, then we moved them up high so he had to ask, for a little while we gave him one when he asked, then we said "let's try on the potty first, then you can have a pullup" at first he would only pee, but then we made him wait longer and longer before we would give him a pullup, I think we had one maybe 2 accidents on the floor, but pretty soon he was pooping on the potty and we would say "LOOK! you don't need a pullup now! your poopie is in the potty!!!!" we made a HUGE deal out of it! hope that helps!

Another suggestion is to use a timer. Set it for every 15 or 20 or whatever works for you. Every time it went off my son knew he had to go sit on the potty. I would have the timer go off more frequenly when I knew he had to go poopy. It worked for us. Good luck!

S.,
It sounds like you've already received many good suggestions. The only other alternative I can think of would be to put a potty seat in the corner that he goes to when he has to poop, and just let him poop there in the potty seat? Maybe he just would like some privacy.
Good luck and don't worry he will get there eventually!

Your son just turned three. Be patient with him. Boys can take longer than girls and I know my little one sure did and is still taking his time! He's doing rather well and he will have an accident if he has rich food and it is loose - which is to be expected. (My son will be four in August and we only became aggressive with Potty Training in May...)

Throw away the pull-ups or use them at night, only. This is what we do. Altho our son will get up and tell us if he needs to pee (which still amazes me!).

Remember, some kids can be afraid that more than poop will come out on the potty. Silly, I know - but remember they are new to this and are still learning.

Patience, Love, Understanding, Consistency... all of this will help you.

I rewarded my son for all the times he did good with a special toy or trip. When we tried to get him to poop in the potty, he really wanted a Light Sketcher. I told him, even if I had a clay mask on my face...we would go into Target to get it if he pooped in the potty. I also mentioned prior to that he could play with a collectible I had. Well, one day he surprised us and did it. Did he mention the toy at Target? NO! He wanted my collectible! LOL! :)

Give them an incentive and it works, too. We still go to the zoo as a reward for being good and listening to mom, by picking up toys, too. That helps alot.

oh boy! my daughter would absolutely REFUSE to poop on the potty, would always hide and poop in her underwear or wait til nighttime and do it in her pull-up. does he have problems with constipation? my daughter did. if so, try giving him a tablespoon of mineral oil each night before bed for a few days to loosen it up. it's perfectly harmless to try a few times. or, my daughter was given mineral oil AND milk of magnesia(tablespoon). I'm sure you could try one or the other. Maybe just try it so he goes easy and goes on the potty one time and finds out it does NOT hurt him?? good luck!

Stacie,

Is your son afraid of the toilet? May be if he see's his dad sit on the toilet that may help. Another thing...is he regular? My son had some difficulty have BMs and would only do it in a diaper. I changed his diet to increase his water, raw fruits and vegetables, and put him on a probiotic. This helped soften his stool and we then went on the toilet.

M.