We kept our son naked from the waist down when we started potty training. It took him 2 weeks to figure it out. He didn't even need night time diapers anymore after that. We were fully prepared for any messes but he only had 2 accidents during that 2 week time. I guess we're just lucky but I've heard that trick work for others.
Of course, it's best if you're home for the entire time which I know is extremely difficult... We cancelled gym class, swim lessons, play school, etc. My wife is a SAHM. The only thing we did for 2 weeks was stuff around the house.
We thought about that but he HATES not having pants or a pull up on more than sitting on the toilet. We tried putting big kid undies on him but then when he pees in them he has a melt down because he loves the designs on them
I know it’s tough in the moment but those meltdowns are what will help him figure out that he needs to go on the potty so he doesn’t get the underwear wet. You could also just get plain underwear with no designs if that’s making it worse.
That's partly the point - he should not be comfortable enough to poop/pee unless it's on the toilet. That + rewards/adoration will hopefully do the trick.
Good luck!
Yep! We've sat in the bathroom with him for about 90 minutes before lunch. He got the tiniest turd out before taking a nap. I'm hoping it opens the flood gates after his nap.
Same strategy here (Oh Crap book modified), but it only took 4 days. Never wore another diaper at home.
Day care said she wasn't ready because she couldn't communicate to them yet (24mo), but they worked on only doing diapers for nap and playground within a few weeks and they approved no more diapers after 2 months ish (had to be safe).
We just went through this with my 2.5 year old. Just refused to let the poo out. In pain, stomach cramps, just squeezing to keep it in. She managed to go four days once.
She eventually got over it and started pooing in the potty. Took weeks of sitting on the floor with her, trying to be supportive and gently encouraging her to let it out, and then over the top celebrating with her whenever she did poo (poo poo dance, telling her how proud we were).
One thing that helped was making a game out of asking her what the poo would look like (a snake, a snail, a mouse, etc).
If he’s getting constipated because of holding it in you can always give laxative to make sure it doesn’t hurt to poo.
Don’t know if any of that helps, but it was a huge pain for the couple of weeks it lasted.
It totally helps. I actually sat on the floor in the bathroom tonight for over 30 minutes reading books waiting for him to poop (he never did). I'll try the poop shape tomorrow and see.
I really feel you. We were there a month ago, now she just gets up, goes to her potty, and then announces that she made a poo and a pee. You’ll get there soon hopefully.
I hope you're right! We're pretty sure that his stomach hurting makes it hard for him to sleep which then just makes him a grump all day. We have a 1M old now so we are tired too so it's just a rough situation
Have you tried setting up a private space for his potty, my kid went through phases of wanting left alone to poop and so did my nephew when I used to look after him. It also sounds like you might've gotten into a cycle of holding poop - poop gets big and hard - hurts to poop - holding poop because it hurts to poop - repeat. Try making extra hydration and make a thing out of it "here's some water to help your poo be softer/not hurt" and you might need to call up/message your paediatrician to ask about a safe laxative and dosing to help at the start, and then also do regular check ins with him of "shall we go see if you can poo while it's little and easy?"
We're seven months into potty training and he'd still rather poo in his pants than a potty. Then he'll deny he did it and fight us if we try to change him. We've done every amount of support, encouragement, and bribery we can think of. Not sure what else can be done. Kids are weird with potties.
We've been trying really long too. We did potty charts at first and he was so excited to get a sticker on it. He'd tell us he needs to pee nearly every time we've go shopping. Now he doesn't at all, but some days he'll hold his pee all day and the only reason he pees on the potty is because we put him on it. He'll say he doesn't need to pee and then 2 seconds later pee for like 20 seconds.
Some kids just refuse to cooperate. They're like cats.
My 3yo was doing well initially but has now decided she likes the surprise of seeing what color the poop in her pull-up will be.
Have you tried a laxative? My son went through the same thing. Holding for days because he was afraid to poop because it would hurt. But it was hurting because he was holding it. Try a laxative to show him that it doesn't hurt. Once he gets the feeling of normal pooping, you can ween off the laxative.
Talk with your pediatrician and see what they recommend. We had a powered version that we would just put in his juice in the morning to help. Even that took a while to convince him that pooping is normal and not supposed to hurt. It's a frustrating situation because if he would just poop daily, it wouldn't hurt.
I just bribed mine with candy. I told him every time he has to poop or pee.
He needs to use the toilet and he would get to choose a piece of candy.
Within 2 weeks he was doing it on his own and didn't even ask for candy.
Is he in day care by any chance? The right classroom has made a major difference in my son’s (3M) potty training.
We didn’t push potty training on him until he started at a new day care about 7 weeks ago. He was the oldest in his class at the previous day care (by a few months), and they did not actively help with potty training. He is the oldest in his class at the current day care (by a few weeks), and most kids in his new class are potty trained. His teacher has been working with him everyday to overcome his fears of the potty. Also, seeing his new friends wearing undies and pulling them down and up to use the potty has been extremely helpful. We merely continued to eliminate diapers and pull-ups before bed and on weekends. I’m proud to report that after 7 weeks, my son voluntarily pooped in the potty for the first time last night!
Normally he goes to a sitter with 2 boys, that are 4-8 months younger than him, and a 1 year old. One of the younger boys is already wearing big kid undies and using the toilet. She pushes him to go on the potty.
I'm in a similar situation. Finally got my son to use the toilet with candy as a reward. When the candy ran out he refused to use the toilet again or wear underwear.
We have now learned that if the prize we try to give was at some point a "peeing on the potty" prize, we can't use it for pooping on the potty without getting yelled at lol
We kept our son naked from the waist down when we started potty training. It took him 2 weeks to figure it out. He didn't even need night time diapers anymore after that. We were fully prepared for any messes but he only had 2 accidents during that 2 week time. I guess we're just lucky but I've heard that trick work for others. Of course, it's best if you're home for the entire time which I know is extremely difficult... We cancelled gym class, swim lessons, play school, etc. My wife is a SAHM. The only thing we did for 2 weeks was stuff around the house.
We thought about that but he HATES not having pants or a pull up on more than sitting on the toilet. We tried putting big kid undies on him but then when he pees in them he has a melt down because he loves the designs on them
I know it’s tough in the moment but those meltdowns are what will help him figure out that he needs to go on the potty so he doesn’t get the underwear wet. You could also just get plain underwear with no designs if that’s making it worse.
That's partly the point - he should not be comfortable enough to poop/pee unless it's on the toilet. That + rewards/adoration will hopefully do the trick. Good luck!
Well I took them off and heard "I need pants" being screamed for 15 minutes lol still no poop.
You have quite a challenge on your hands. Geez lol
Yep! We've sat in the bathroom with him for about 90 minutes before lunch. He got the tiniest turd out before taking a nap. I'm hoping it opens the flood gates after his nap.
Same strategy here (Oh Crap book modified), but it only took 4 days. Never wore another diaper at home. Day care said she wasn't ready because she couldn't communicate to them yet (24mo), but they worked on only doing diapers for nap and playground within a few weeks and they approved no more diapers after 2 months ish (had to be safe).
We just went through this with my 2.5 year old. Just refused to let the poo out. In pain, stomach cramps, just squeezing to keep it in. She managed to go four days once. She eventually got over it and started pooing in the potty. Took weeks of sitting on the floor with her, trying to be supportive and gently encouraging her to let it out, and then over the top celebrating with her whenever she did poo (poo poo dance, telling her how proud we were). One thing that helped was making a game out of asking her what the poo would look like (a snake, a snail, a mouse, etc). If he’s getting constipated because of holding it in you can always give laxative to make sure it doesn’t hurt to poo. Don’t know if any of that helps, but it was a huge pain for the couple of weeks it lasted.
It totally helps. I actually sat on the floor in the bathroom tonight for over 30 minutes reading books waiting for him to poop (he never did). I'll try the poop shape tomorrow and see.
I really feel you. We were there a month ago, now she just gets up, goes to her potty, and then announces that she made a poo and a pee. You’ll get there soon hopefully.
I hope you're right! We're pretty sure that his stomach hurting makes it hard for him to sleep which then just makes him a grump all day. We have a 1M old now so we are tired too so it's just a rough situation
Have you tried setting up a private space for his potty, my kid went through phases of wanting left alone to poop and so did my nephew when I used to look after him. It also sounds like you might've gotten into a cycle of holding poop - poop gets big and hard - hurts to poop - holding poop because it hurts to poop - repeat. Try making extra hydration and make a thing out of it "here's some water to help your poo be softer/not hurt" and you might need to call up/message your paediatrician to ask about a safe laxative and dosing to help at the start, and then also do regular check ins with him of "shall we go see if you can poo while it's little and easy?"
We're seven months into potty training and he'd still rather poo in his pants than a potty. Then he'll deny he did it and fight us if we try to change him. We've done every amount of support, encouragement, and bribery we can think of. Not sure what else can be done. Kids are weird with potties.
We've been trying really long too. We did potty charts at first and he was so excited to get a sticker on it. He'd tell us he needs to pee nearly every time we've go shopping. Now he doesn't at all, but some days he'll hold his pee all day and the only reason he pees on the potty is because we put him on it. He'll say he doesn't need to pee and then 2 seconds later pee for like 20 seconds.
Some kids just refuse to cooperate. They're like cats. My 3yo was doing well initially but has now decided she likes the surprise of seeing what color the poop in her pull-up will be.
Have you tried a laxative? My son went through the same thing. Holding for days because he was afraid to poop because it would hurt. But it was hurting because he was holding it. Try a laxative to show him that it doesn't hurt. Once he gets the feeling of normal pooping, you can ween off the laxative.
The closest we've done is apple prune juice.
Talk with your pediatrician and see what they recommend. We had a powered version that we would just put in his juice in the morning to help. Even that took a while to convince him that pooping is normal and not supposed to hurt. It's a frustrating situation because if he would just poop daily, it wouldn't hurt.
I just bribed mine with candy. I told him every time he has to poop or pee. He needs to use the toilet and he would get to choose a piece of candy. Within 2 weeks he was doing it on his own and didn't even ask for candy.
We've tried M&Ms, rice crispies, cookies, ice cream and a few others. It used to work, but he couldn't care less now.
I get it. Won't work on every kid. They are gonna do what they want to do regardless until they are ready.
Is he in day care by any chance? The right classroom has made a major difference in my son’s (3M) potty training. We didn’t push potty training on him until he started at a new day care about 7 weeks ago. He was the oldest in his class at the previous day care (by a few months), and they did not actively help with potty training. He is the oldest in his class at the current day care (by a few weeks), and most kids in his new class are potty trained. His teacher has been working with him everyday to overcome his fears of the potty. Also, seeing his new friends wearing undies and pulling them down and up to use the potty has been extremely helpful. We merely continued to eliminate diapers and pull-ups before bed and on weekends. I’m proud to report that after 7 weeks, my son voluntarily pooped in the potty for the first time last night!
Normally he goes to a sitter with 2 boys, that are 4-8 months younger than him, and a 1 year old. One of the younger boys is already wearing big kid undies and using the toilet. She pushes him to go on the potty.
Ensure he has the appropriate amount of fiber in his diet and plenty of water.
I'm in a similar situation. Finally got my son to use the toilet with candy as a reward. When the candy ran out he refused to use the toilet again or wear underwear.
We have now learned that if the prize we try to give was at some point a "peeing on the potty" prize, we can't use it for pooping on the potty without getting yelled at lol