Potty Talk

have you tried pooping in front of him? My DD was scared to poop at grandma's house one weekend when we went to visit, and she'd held it for 3 days because "I dont poop at grandma's house!" so finally when I had to go, I had her stay in the bathroom with me, and then about half an hour later she went poop on the potty "just like mommy!" I'm not sure if this will help your son, but maybe if he sees that other people do it and it's fine, he'll be more ok with it.

Hi M....I feel your "pain." I am a "Nana" of 4 grandchildren..2 of them boys. My youngest just turned 3 in July and we have been potty training for about 6 months! He too was afraid of the poop in the potty, but from raising my 2 Sons, I had a little insight. This might not sound right in words, but here it goes..
Make it his "job" to flush the toilet when he is done...but also have him go in the bathroom with Mommy or Daddy when they potty too. That way he knows that everybody poops n pees in the big potty. Then he gets to see and make the "yucky butt" (as my grandson calls it)go away!! Remember to say "bye bye yucky butt!!" We make it as fun as poop can be..hope this helps some!! Good Luck!!

I have been told to talk yucky talk about poop. Like if you have to change him and wipe him with baby wipes, say things like "P-U this is so stinky!" or "Pooping in your pants is so yucky. Why not poop on the potty so you won't have to sit in it?" Some things like that. I never told my son he was bad for it or that he was gross for doing it. It is not negative talk about your child but about the poop itself. It really helped when I was potty training my son. He has become fully potty trained at the age of 3. Another thing is I took it slow and easy with him. I just knew he wasn't going to college with stinky diapers (or at least hoped he wouldn't! ha ha!)

hey M. - from a mom who just finished potty training! i tried several times to get my son to "go" on the potty and he fought it and would just go constantly in his pants - UNLESS we were taking him every thirty minutes...i went through that twice and just stopped after a couple days because it was ridiculously obvious that it was ME doing all the work! but a couple months before my son's 3rd birthday (he turns 3 next week! yay!) he finally "got it". i knew he got it because i wasn't constantly having to hassle him. within a month or so we went from zero to 100, including staying dry during naps, and even many nights. it still amazes me (remembering all those times of having to take him every thirty minutes) how he can go like two or three hours without going, just like the rest of us, and we NEVER went through that whole "AAH! i have to go NOW!" and not being able to hold it in, running to the potty at whatever store we're at...none of that. it is amazing. we actually went to the grocery store yesterday, and he said he had to go potty. i said, well can you wait a little bit? and he said, "yes i'm okay"...and he waited till we got home and went like it was no big deal. i tell you this (partly because i am just so proud!) but also because this last time that we started training, we didn't really make a big deal about the pooping vs. the peeing, except he got two stickers on his chart because he pooped AND pee'd...but i really think it was because he was 100% ready, where he wasn't before. you don't mention if you're still in that taking him every 30 minutes or every hour thing, but is it possible that he's just not ready? i have heard that some kids just don't get the pooping as easily as the pee'ing too. my advice would be don't make a big deal of it, treat it just like any other accident. we told my son that thomas the tank engine, or steve mcqueen, or whoever, didn't like getting potty/poopoo on him, and they were "sooo sad" when they did...but every child is different. just as long as you're not making a big drama out of it i'm sure he'll catch on soon. good luck! finishing potty training is THE BEST!

hello M., let me tell you I know what you are going through all too well. My son does that too! He doesn't scream when we put him on the potty though but he prefers to go in his pull up or hold it in rather than go on the potty. He is doing better with it now though. One day he told me that he needed to poop so I ran in behind him and he went! I was so happy, told him he did a good job and he too got a toy! He did it again the next day but now he will poop in his pull up in the morning after he wakes up. I don't know what the deal is but it's so frusterating. He will pee just fine on the potty and go in by himself or when we are out he will tell me he has to go and he has been doing that for a while but we are still working on the poop thing also. It's getting better though. I would just try to relax ( I know, it's easier said than done.) and he will start to poop on the potty. Ever since we have relaxed about it my son has been doing so much better. Everyone told me he will do it when he's ready and they were right. I know that it's hard cause they understand what they are doing and it can be so hard at times but just hang in there, I promise it will get better! Hope this helps! God bless you and your family!

Will he sit on the potty with a diaper on and poop that way? Then you can work on getting the diaper off. Some kids don't like to feel it fall completely away, so they want the diaper or undies on. Also, some prefer to poop standing because they have to push, so if you can be sure they have a footstool or their feet on the floor and a potty seat with handles, that really helps.