Potty Training - Louisville,KY

My advice would be to not put the pull up back on him. Take him off the potty and let him run naked. He knows when he has to go. He will run back to the potty and let you know. Running naked has been how both of my boys have trained it has been very successful. I don't do Pull Ups they are just like diapers to the kids. It allows them an easy out.
Celebrate big time when he is successful.
We also did lots of potty videos. mine loved and still do...Elmo potty time.

My son will be 3 in June and has been completely trained since last September. One thing we did was go cold turkey on pull-ups and went to big boy underwear. He was a rock star at the peepee, but not so much the poop. So, I took a mason jar and filled it up with bright, colorful, yummy M&Ms (his favorite!) and put it right by the potty. I sat him down and said, "ok..from now on, when you peepee in the potty, you get 2 M&Ms and when you poop in the potty, you get FIVE M&Ms!!" His little face lit up and that was that. We didn't even make it to the bottom of the jar before it wasn't even an issue anymore. I'm definitely not too good for bribery!! =0)

Take note of his "schedule"and about 30 minutes before give him a good dose of Miralax in his juice, I'd say 1/2 tsp. He wil be none the wiser, and once he is on that potty he will go. Once he goes in the potty that may be all it takes. Works for my daughter.

My son is doing the same thing. I have heard that you can just tell him that when he needs to go #2 you will put a diaper on him and he can go in there. My son is a little younger and I am totally putting all this off. My daughter is almost 5 and was so easy to potty train. If your son goes to a preschool, I think they should understand if he isn't fully PT yet. Good luck and sorry for the slim advice.

J., Congratulations you have a typical boy!! My son did the same thing. He was approaching 4 before he would poop in the potty. Here is what I did...When you see the "poopy dance", put him on the potty and tickle his belly. It sounds crazy, but it works. Then praise his good work for pooping in the potty! I think my son was afraid to poop in the potty and once he did it, he was fine.
GOOD LUCK!!

Hi J.,

I'm not sure if this is what worked for my son or not, but after I explained to him where the poop went after it was flushed, he started pooping in the potty every time. He even started saying "bye stinky, going to the septic tank!"

Good luck!

T.

This is very common. when my son was being trained we only used a pull up at night. He woke up dry most mornings but wouldn't come out of his room til he pooped (usually as soon as he woke up). I finally just took him out of pullups completely and braced myself for the cleanup. It actually worked, he started using the potty. I did sit in the bathroom and read to him until he would go. Then I gradually weanedhim from that by reading one book and saying oops, I need to go.... gave him a book and he would sit reading and do his business. I also got him the small seat that fits on top of the big seat as like many children he was fearful of falling in.

I would suggest getting rid of the pullup during the day. Children know there is a difference between undies and pullups. When you put him in underwear, he may have a few accidents, but eventually he will understand that it doesn't feel so nice, and he'll start using the potty! Good luck.
C.
www.gingerbreadmommy.blogspot.com

Letting him wear pullups gives him permission to use them. Either go with underwear (and have him clean up the mess), or I've known plenty who let the boys run naked...

have you tried any potty videos? That seemed to help with us. Once Upon a Potty was good.

Wow! Reading your request is like reading something from my life. I have 2 kids 8 and 3. My 3 year old did the exact same thing with using the potty. He would sit on the potty and read books we would play games and nothing. 15 minutes after leaving the bathroom he would go in his pull up. He has just in the last 2 weeks started going #2 in the potty. Here is what I did (I got this advice from this site after writing almost the exact same question) another mother said she put a mason jar of M&M's in the bathroom and gave him 2 for going pee and 5 for going poo. I don't know how you feel about the whole bribery thing but I got to the point that I would try anything! The first day he tried so hard to go in the potty and ended up not needing to go all day. He was crushed. After that it worked like a charm. After about 2 weeks of the m&m's he is 100% potty trained! He has not had an accident in 1 1/2 weeks. My son loves chocolate so he loved it. I guess you could try anything your son really likes. By the way he does go now without having to have candy. The only thing he still expects from me is an abundant amount of excitement! I think it worked great to have in sealed and in the bathroom for a motivator. I also got rid of the pull ups except for at night. He still wears them at night. Hope this helps. Lots of luck.

Not sure if his 'poopy dance' is just something you notice he does when he needs to 'go', or whether it's a celebratory dance, but anyway . . . When you realize he needs to go, administer a child's glycerine suppository (or 1/2 of an adult one cut lengthways). They're hard to ignore! LOL So he should 'go' on the potty. Also, maybe pour a little HOT water in the potty to help relax his sphincter muscles and sit there UNTIL he goes -- even if it takes an hour. If you need to use the bathroom at the same time, all the better (I hope he has a separate potty than the commode, tho! LOL) If he doesn't it would probably help. He may be afraid of the water spashing on his bottom, otherwise. Talk about him 'letting it out', etc, and when he does go, REALLY do a 'potty dance' (or 'poopy dance', in this case). Dance, clap, sing praises, etc. He'll get the message!