Jackson is day-trained, pee-wise only. He flat out REFUSES to poop in the potty. He needs his pull-up and goes in the corner to poop. The problem is, if he doesn't get that opportunity, he holds it. He holds it for days. Then, the problems occur. He won't pee anymore, he ends up peeing during nap time at school all over himself, his cot, his blanket, etc. It's a HUGE mess.

What the heck can I do to get him to understand that pooping ON THE POTTY is a good idea? He tells me "I'm too little, I only pee on the potty". I tell him "mommy and daddy poop on the potty, big boys poop on the potty", etc. NOTHING is working and I'm afraid he will make himself sick by holding it in.

HELP!!!

I can only speak from my experience with Emma, but when I finally backed off and dropped the entire issue, she finally did it. She is so much like me.....everything has to be her idea.

Awwww Tracey, this must be tough! Mackenzie sort of did the same thing, only she would crawl under the table to poop instead of the corner. She was also pee trained at the time. If she didn't have a diaper on, she would go poop in her panties. Luckily I would catch her and place her on her potty most of the time. I wish I could help, the only thing I can say is that Mackenzie just decided to poop in the potty one day. I don't know if holding it in will make him sick :scratch: I think if he has to go bad enough, he would probably go. Sorry I'm not much help. Good luck!

Karri should have some advice. I think Aidan was the same way.

Thanks guys!

We have, unfortunately, spent many Sunday afternoons with him screaming at the top of his lungs because he needs to poop so bad and just won't. I dont' know what to do. I have been telling him the pull-ups are almost gone, but my fear is he just won't go, then we have to go through that whole screaming thing...which takes place over the course of several hours...it's REALLY not pleasant...

UGH!

I had to end up letting Austin just do it in the pullup...He would jump around up and down saying "it hurts! it hurts!" I felt soooo bad...One day, I caught him right at that time, put him on the potty and stayed there, kept encouraging him, saying its coming, its coming, he would kinda look down and watch and we had a huge party when he was done..after that, he would go on the potty for both. Its like he was scared of that first time. I was scared though cause like Jackson, he would hold it, he wouldn't hold his pee, but would just make himself constipated and that was hard to deal with.

I'm in the same boat! We ended up with a trip to the ER a few weekends ago b/c of his severe constipation! (I thought it was appendicitis or something) He got an enema after that and since then he hasn't wanted to get on the potty at ALL! I look forward to some advice :nod:

I'm in the same boat! We ended up with a trip to the ER a few weekends ago b/c of his severe constipation! (I thought it was appendicitis or something) He got an enema after that and since then he hasn't wanted to get on the potty at ALL! I look forward to some advice :nod:

That's the exact reason this is scaring me! I don't want to remove the only way he knows how to poop...meaning taking the pull-ups away if he's just going to hold it. I know it's all psychological and I can't seem to figure out a way around it.

That's the exact reason this is scaring me! I don't want to remove the only way he knows how to poop...meaning taking the pull-ups away if he's just going to hold it. I know it's all psychological and I can't seem to figure out a way around it.

Karri might have some better ideas...I would just let him go for a little while.. Give him what he needs to go...and just keep reminding him that big boys go on the potty. He just turned 3 right? So he just may not be ready. Boys can be sooo stubborn LOL!

Lauren would do the exact same thing and we too, ended up in the ER with severe constipations. No advice other than one day she just decided that she would poo in the potty. I never pushed the issue. She just decided on her own.

Have you tried, when he does use the potty, waving good-bye? I know some children are scared because it's 'part' of them going into the potty and being 'flushed' away. So if you say 'good-bye poop', 'good-bye pee'. It might help 'break' him of holding it all in. Just an idea...

I just have to share this with you guys. . . DH and Jacob went to visit the inlaws this weekend and MIL's suggestion was to put down paper - like a puppy - and have him poop there :jawdrop: Apparently thats how they trained DH :jawdrop: :eek: :faint:

You have got to be kidding. Seriously??

We took Joe to a potty specialist when he was having issues. The dr. said there's nothing wrong with letting him use pullups because it's more important that they poop regularly.

I wish I were kidding. when he told me Monday night when they got home, my jaw hit the floor! There is absolutely NO WAY I am going to make my child poop on the floor!

Jackson is day-trained, pee-wise only. He flat out REFUSES to poop in the potty. He needs his pull-up and goes in the corner to poop. The problem is, if he doesn't get that opportunity, he holds it. He holds it for days. Then, the problems occur. He won't pee anymore, he ends up peeing during nap time at school all over himself, his cot, his blanket, etc. It's a HUGE mess.

What the heck can I do to get him to understand that pooping ON THE POTTY is a good idea? He tells me "I'm too little, I only pee on the potty". I tell him "mommy and daddy poop on the potty, big boys poop on the potty", etc. NOTHING is working and I'm afraid he will make himself sick by holding it in.

HELP!!!Have you heard of encopresis? I'm looking for a link. Make sure he gets that opportunity. It's also very important that he is not ridiculed or even sense displeasure from you on his choice of pooping procedure (made my self laugh with that phrase!) Holding it in from stress or embarrassment (sometimes anger or fear or pain) can lead to encopresis. My personal advice from experience (the eldest) is do what you can to CASUALLY help him have this opportunity. Move him gently toward the Big Potty as he allows. It's very important that he doesnt sense your anxiety or disappointment.
Also, for you parents whose little ones fear the potty. When they DO soil their diapers/pants/floors (???) make sure they know you are taking their poop and flushing it. They need to know this is where it goes. Repetition!!!

http://www.keepkidshealthy.com/welcome/conditions/encopresis.html
http://kidshealth.org/parent/emotions/behavior/encopresis.html
http://www.aboutencopresis.com/

OH! and tell your pediatirician. He/she may give your little one a mild stool softener to be sure the stuff comes out and is not painful.

Thanks Miranda! I'm off to check out your links!!!

Thank you, Miranda!!! Since you've potty trained 6 kids, you must be doing something right :lol:

Thank you, Miranda!!! Since you've potty trained 6 kids, you must be doing something right :lol:yeah, everyone has to be good at something! ;) But can you tell me how to potty-train Hub? :locolaugh

Well, my in-laws used the paper trick with my husband :biggrin:

My twins are goign *SO* much easier! :lol:

Tracey (and others)...been there, done that :lol: We tried everything reccommended to us...keeping the stool soft, bribes, sitting while pooping in the pullup, putting a pullup inside the potty chair, taking all the pullups away, etc etc etc. Aidan was pee-trained in July of this summer and did not start pooping on the potty until December....just before xmas. We never thought it would happen. NEVER. And yes...we had some bad parenting moments...moments of frustration where we (he and/or one of us) ended up in tears and screaming matches. :shuffle:

Then one day, it just clicked. He came home from school and it was 3 days into his being night trained and not wearing pullups at night. He had a poop accident in his undies and I was upset and so was he. 5 mins later, he had to go again, and I stuck him on the toilet and calmly said, "you know what? you're almost 4. you will sit here till you poop in here. everyone poops on the potty. your teachers even poop on the potty. its time for you to, too." and WHAM....he did it. And from there on out, he has been in love with dropping a deuce.

So....like Dennis said....just let him poop in the pullup. We would leave them readily available for Aidan to get on his own free will and he'd have to put them on when it was time to poop and then he'd come tell me.
And my only advice is every so often, jus try encouraging him to poop on the potty. SOMEDAY he WILL be ready.

WE still battle this on occasion. There is times when Macie will poo in the potty and then there is times when she goes off to bed (she usually comes out at 1030 with a full pullup). I am sure it hurts her (she does not have great eating habits therefore her poops are very hard) and this is what frightens her. I really think I should mention this to the doctor for a mild stool softener. BTW she is 4.

I wish I were kidding. when he told me Monday night when they got home, my jaw hit the floor! There is absolutely NO WAY I am going to make my child poop on the floor!

Sorry, I know it's a day later, but I'm still giggling about this! I have never heard of such a thing. :woa: But hey, if it worked more power to 'em!

Tracey (and others)...been there, done that :lol: We tried everything reccommended to us...keeping the stool soft, bribes, sitting while pooping in the pullup, putting a pullup inside the potty chair, taking all the pullups away, etc etc etc. Aidan was pee-trained in July of this summer and did not start pooping on the potty until December....just before xmas. We never thought it would happen. NEVER. And yes...we had some bad parenting moments...moments of frustration where we (he and/or one of us) ended up in tears and screaming matches. :shuffle:

Then one day, it just clicked. He came home from school and it was 3 days into his being night trained and not wearing pullups at night. He had a poop accident in his undies and I was upset and so was he. 5 mins later, he had to go again, and I stuck him on the toilet and calmly said, "you know what? you're almost 4. you will sit here till you poop in here. everyone poops on the potty. your teachers even poop on the potty. its time for you to, too." and WHAM....he did it. And from there on out, he has been in love with dropping a deuce.

So....like Dennis said....just let him poop in the pullup. We would leave them readily available for Aidan to get on his own free will and he'd have to put them on when it was time to poop and then he'd come tell me.
And my only advice is every so often, jus try encouraging him to poop on the potty. SOMEDAY he WILL be ready.

Thank you Karri! I just need CHILL! :heee: I just get pressure from all these mothers saying I need to do this or I need to do that with Jackson...I'm "missing my window of opportunity"... blah blah blah. Jackson does things at his own pace and I KNOW that! I just need to let him lead like he always does. He dropped the paci on his own, he dropped nursing on his own, he peed on the potty in his own time, this will happen too!

Thanks for all the support everyone!!!

Tracey - the fact that he's pee trained a month after 3 (well, even before) is great! He's way ahead of Colin!!

Sorry, I know it's a day later, but I'm still giggling about this! I have never heard of such a thing. :woa: But hey, if it worked more power to 'em!

I have never heard of such a thing either :dunno: I'm not inclined to try it either :nono:

I would keep the undies on him and let him poop in those a few times. He will soon feel how icky it is and want to try the potty. Maybe you could make it more interesting on the potty and sit by him and read a book to him while he goes. Just an idea. I did that with my son when he trained. :)

Another thing I did with my son was let him watch me empty the poop in to the toilet when he did it in his underwear. I think that helped to get him to understand that's where it went. If he didn't see where it went then he really never had a clue.