My son is 3 years old and has been peeing in the potty consistently during the day for 6 months. The problem is with pooping. He wears underpants all day, and poops in them at least 5 times a day, usually more like 8-10 times a day. He will usually poop in his underpants just after sitting on the potty to pee, and it doesn't matter if he sits on the potty for 1 minute or for 30 minutes. He is never constipated, the poop is always formed or soft, never like pebbles. He eats a lot of fruit, and an average amount of everything else. Our bathroom is covered in prizes that he will earn if he goes poop, and he has earned a couple for small steps in the right direction. He doesn't care about sticker charts, and I don't really want to reward with food, as he likes junk food an awful lot already. He never strains when he poops, my husband and I can't tell until we can smell it. We have a new pediatrician that he hasn't seen yet, and the old one never was concerned about his frequency. But I'm starting to wonder if the frequency of the pooping is a problem, or if I'm just getting sick of washing poopy underpants every other day. Any tips?
Pooping 8-10 times a day seems excessive. Maybe he's having trouble going on the potty because he can't control is bowel movements? Both of my potty-trained kiddos (5 and almost 3) poop once a day.
I would also be concerned about the frequency...My 3 1/2 year old goes once sometimes twice a day. He does't even pee 10 times a day. You should call your Ped. The nurse may be able to offer advice or tell you if you need to bring him in.
My son did that until shortly after he turned 4. I know it's VERY frustrating! We tried everything and I mean everything! This is what finally worked for us: my son and his grandpa are very close. Grandpa takes him during the day at least twice a week and they always have a fun and adventurous day. We also see Grandpa all day on Sunday. Well my husband, out of frustration one day, told our son that he could not go to papa's anymore until he started pooping on the potty. Our son would ask to see papa (plus it had already been a few days since he when daddy firstntold him this) but we would just remind him he had to poop on the potty. It hadn't even been a week and he went on the potty! As soon as he was done he said "I want to go to papa's now." So of course we called grandpa up and asked if he was available to take him that evening. Our son has been going ever since! So maybe try taking something away that's important to him.
I am NOT a Dr. so I do not how much my opinion is worth?...but, with that being said, I have never had any experience with any of my children having anywhere from 5-10 bowel movements in one day, this seems very excessive to me...
I think I would be very concerned about the pooping 8 - 10 times in a day. But to answer you question, I had boys too and they seem to be harder than girls. We did things like sink the cheerios or apple jacks. I would also put them on the trainer every couple hours ( in the beginning I would read a short stories and if nothing happened they could get up. Eventfully they caught on. Good luck..
Just because other mom's below haven't had experience with it doesn't mean the frequency is abnormal. If it's normal consistency not bloody, and he's not uncomfortable, there's nothing wrong with him. I have 3 kids and my oldest went that frequently at that age.
My son was a late potty trainer and by then he could control it well. Too well, in fact. He held it in for 2 days, which freaked me out because by then he'd missed 10 or 12 BM's! We ended up letting him wear a diaper for his BM's for a few more days until he got comfortable with the idea of pooping in the potty. He never had a problem or an accident after that.
There's no set schedule that every kid develops along. Boys typically are ready to potty train later than girls and bladder control develops before bowel control. There is a lot of muscle coordination that goes into controlling defecation. It's very possible that he's just not developmentally ready for that yet. You could save yourself a lot of stress and mess by putting him back in a pull up for BM's. He'll learn eventually and it's not really something you can force on a child.
I would definitely ask about the frequency/number of bowel movements per day. My son goes once a day. It does make it much easier to tell when he needs to go too. I started potty training him August about a month before preschool and 2 months before his third birthday. He just now seems to be getting the whole thing on a very consistent basis. He is very "busy" and never wants to stop to go or risk someone taking over his toy while he goes. He actually got the pooping part down first and we've struggled with peeing because he'll go enough to relieve the pressure but not be soaked. 15 pairs of undies in one day and I thought I was going to lose it. I had to buy more! Anyway, we've had our share of setbacks but here's what worked for us. We had a poop present. It was something that he really wanted and he got it when he successfully went and then if he didn't tell us he had to go it went back on the shelf. Like the other poster said if it's seeing Grandpa or playing with his friends or going somewhere special that can be the "present." Good luck!
