Can't Get 3 Year Old to Poop in Potty!!!

Maybe try putting him on the big toilet and telling him this is how big people go potty. Do you want to try it since you are a big boy? Hope that works!

Orange tic-tacs. That was her special "pooping in the potty" treat. We kept them out of her reach and that was the only time she got one. Worked like a charm. Good luck!

I feel your pain. I have just recently been through the exact same thing with my son. I think he's finally potty trained now, he's 4! I hope it doesn't take that long for you. I just had to make a decision, no more diapers, no pull ups. I discovered after I bought the big boy underwear that he didn't mind pooping in them either. He didn't even really want them, he was happy with his diapers. Like you, bribing, etc. didn't work. He finally had to go naked. That's the only thing that worked for us because he didn't want to poop on the floor. I also put a little potty in the room that he plays in most. Finally, he just started going on his own. One thing that really helps is not making a big deal about accidents and emphasize when he does go potty that he did it "all by himself". Boys seem to like to do it on their own terms. The more I asked if he needed to go potty, the less likely he was to go. If there's an accident, just make him help you clean it up (my son didn't mind unfortunately) then remind him where he should go when he has to go potty. I can't think of anything else right now but feel free to email me with any questions!

Speaking from experience, DO NOT FORCE HIM with his potty training.
When potty training my twins, who are now 15, One refused to sit on the toliet. I was bound and determined to win the battle. NOT> He started withholding and to this day has bowel issues. Still goes in his pants and has to take Mirlax to go, when he goes. He is very head strong and bucks me on everything. I would not want this to happen to anyone. Not fun having to clean out underwear and pants everyday-- several times a day.....
Hope this helps and good luck!

My daughter did the same thing. Try not to make a big deal about it. She is now 3 1/2 and goes in the potty for everything all the time. I would suggest letting him go his way for a while. I know that it is not fun changing a diaper, but if it becomes a power struggle then nobody wins. I just kept reinforcing that big girls go in the potty and when I changed her how bad it smelled and how grose it must feel to get it all over her bottom. She always asked for a diaper and didn't go in her panties so I felt pretty fortunate. Patience is the big thing. Good luck :o)

SOunds like our problem exactly! I guess poop can be a scary thing to do in the potty for the little ones. I'm just going with Milo's lead and allowing him to put on his own pull up wheh he needs to go #2. :o) It'll work itself out in time, I know it. Just be patient; that's what I'm doing since I cannot force him to use the potty for #2s!

BTW, Milo, my son just turned 3.5

Love,
C.
www.LostRiverNaturals.com
Organic Goodness for the Whole Family!

You'll need superhuman patience, tons and tons of it.
REFUSE to argue about it.
REFUSE toget into a power struggle,
REFUSE to force him to sit,
REFUSE to get upset at the inevitable accidents.

I've had my share of problems, too, but I can tell ya this. Every time I lost my patience, or even got a little upset, or scolded or was in any way punitive, it set me WAY WAY back. And even after my oldest was going to the bathroom on his own, he was an Angry Young Man for a loooong time after. Especially if he regressed or had an occasional accident months or even a YEAR later. He would be VERY embarrassed, and when he was embarrassed, he would get angry.

Any kind of power struggle was just as bad. If it gets to the point of a power struggle, I let him get up, even if I KNOW he's moments away from an accident. Yes, in this case it's better to give up than it is to "win" The power struggle is sooo much worse. Even when "I won" and he ended up going, I ended up paying for it 10 times over in the long run.

Now, all kids are different, I know. But I've never heard of a bad outcome from having TOO MUCH PATIENCE and NEVER letting it get you upset.

They need top learn that feeling, to "listen to their body" as they say, so even when your kid has an accident, they ARE still learning. Maybe even learning more with those accidents than when they have a success after sitting on the potty because you tell them to.
Good luck.

I have a son who went through this as well. One thing I learned is that most often boys develope slower and therefore take longer in this area. There are always exceptions but try not to compare him to that statistics etc... I went to the dr. many times for my son because he would hold it and get backed up and then it turned into a situation where he knew it would hurt to go so he just kept at holding it. A really bad circle. We tried everything. The rest are right about the power struggle. They know they can control thier bodies and choose not to go and if that is threatened to be taken away they are up for that challenge. And when using supositires or enemas etc you need to be VERY careful not only with doing it but also because it can become a traumatic expereince in itself. (we only reverted to this when it had been more than 3 days of not going and it was effecting him, in pain, stomach distended and hard etc...) We ended up going with patience and supplementing with the powder fiber as recommneded on the bottle. We were given an RX for it but now the most common one is OTC Miralax. But even with giving that the idea is that over time he wold learn that it was not a painful expereince and not be as scared to go. Because honeslty he would hold so long that it was unimaginable that such a Large thing could have been inside his little body (sorry hope not too descriptive).I will tell you that it was a long process, lots of changes because even when he did not have an accident when holding little marks would show up. We just bought a couple big packs of white undies. He was still learning into kindergarten and I would say that finally had it all down 5 1/2. Today he still has control, choosing to hold it until....he gets home or is done playing that game etc... BUT he does go on his own with no accidents. We probably had to use the fiber powder until he was about 6. On another angle I have seen someone force their daughter to go on the toliet with a battle of the wills. Lots of time, anger and tears and a girl who had issues with accidents into her pre-teens. Not worth that. Better to wait a little longer now then to give them life long issues.

Maybe he does have a problem pooping. Try giving him Fiberchoice occasionally.

I am with you! my son was 3 the end of March and we are still working on the whole potty issue. He will pee on the potty, with prompting but won't poop. when he has done it he likes to see how big it is. We've rewarded him, sang, danced everything the few times he has done it. I think his problem is he doesn't want to stop what he is doing to take the time to sit and poop. I put him in underwear and haven't put a pullup on him since. It's not fun to clean up but I try to emphasize his big boy underwear. I guess we just need to be strong. If you make a breakthrough - I'd love the idea!

OMG! I am having the same issue with my 3yr old daughter. She does fine with peeing in the potty but absolutely refuses to poop in it. I too have tried everything. She knows that she isn't suppose to do it because she tells me she shouldn't do it. I am trying hard not to pull my hair out over this. I too would love some advise on this.

Have you tried putting a pullup on him and having him sit on the potty to poop with it on? If he gets in the routine of pooping while on the potty he may soon decide to take the pullup off himself. It is probably acontrol issue brought on by the recent but necessary changes in the normal routine. He may be adapting slowly and needs your assurance that he is doing a good job even if he poops in his pullup while sitting on the potty. Never scold him about potty training or put too much emphasis on it as it almost always gets the opposite outcome you're hoping to achieve. Good luck on your upcoming wedding and try to relax. Children can sense if you are tense about somerthing and can become that way as well. Hang in there. I have never seen any college students wearing pullups, so this too shall pass! Best wishes to you and yours!

My daughter did this. We did very little steps. We told her she could go in a pull up, but had to stand in the bathroom. "Poop belongs in the bathroom, not the playroom, kitchen, bedroom..." So after weeks of that, talked her into sitting on the potty while wearing a pull up. That went on for a while. Then one day she had such a large, soft BM that some came out of the pull up and fell in the potty. I seized that situation to tell her she's a big girl and her poop is to big for a pull up and now she has to go in the potty. I had a new Dora toy up high that she could see and knew would be hers when she pooped in the potty. Well, she didn't go for 3 and a half days! (How's that for control!) I bought something called Babylax. It's a little tube of glycerin that you squirt in the bottom. There's no controlling it after that! (Boy was she mad at me for putting "medicine" in her bottom. lol) So she pooped on the potty and realized it wasn't a horrible thing. She got her toy. I also gave her another toy the second time she went and that was it!

Good luck!

I'm thinking you may need to have a "naked" weekend with him, where he's at home, can focus on the job at hand, and not wear pull-ups. You will want to have a couple of little potties around the house (IKEA sells a little pot for two or three dollars, or borrow some from friends). I can't remember if it was Dr. Phil who outlined the process in one of his books, but there's a lot of information about "One Day" potty training online. Stickers on a chart towards a goal, M&M's, whatever encouragement it takes! Are his stools hard? Is he getting enough liquid? Lots of questions before you get started. Some kids love the feeling of the warm poop in their diaper (my elder son seemed to think that was great and didn't train until after his third birthday). Good luck and great patience to you!