Poop Training

Is he "attached" to his poop? I know this sounds weird, but I had a friend whose little boy didn't like to part with something that came from him. It finally worked to have him sit on the big toilet (with one of those seats), and then get to say "goodbye" before flushing.

I noticed you said the phrase "potty chair". That may be the problem. Unlike tinkle, poop looks and smells yucky. He may prefer using the toilet. This was the case for my daughter who hated seeing it.

Because of my negative experience with Pull Ups and potty chairs with my daughter, I didn't use either with my son. Instead I bought regular undies with his fav characters on them. Told him if he wet or pooped it would make them yucky and he'd have to take them off. Granted, he had accidents but he got the hang of daytime toileting in less than two weeks. Really enjoyed running around the house sans pants showing off his undies.

Also I'm an early childhood major conducting potty teaching research. From my daycare work, I found kids age 2.5-4yrs who use Pull Ups take an average of 5-8 days longer to learn as opposed to the undies group (12 kids each group). This is particilarly true for pooping. Guess maybe because dirtying a Pull Up is similar to soiling a diaper (??). Currently trying to figure out how to understand the children's ideas about that.

Anyways, hope some this info helps. And good luck!

At 3.5 years old,a child knows what he likes and whaat he doesn't. Don't be so quick to change his pull-up or make them so available. Soon, he will be asking you to change him. Then, casually suggest that he could poop on the potty and then flush it to watch it swirl down the hole. Make it fun!

I have a son that just turned 4 and he has been potty trained a long time but we are having the same problem with pooping. Our doctor recommended giving him Miralax to try and soften things up. We are in the process of trying that. Otherwise, I am just not going to get worked up about it and figure he will eventually go and it will be fine!
Hope it gets better!
J.

I had a similar problem with my son. Rather than bribing him, I took a trip to the bookstore and picked out a Potty Book. Every time he seemed to have "the urge," we would go the bathroom and I would sit and read to him while he was on the toilet. Once he made the connection that it was "okay" for the little boy in the book to poop in the toilet, he was okay with it too. We have no problems now! :-)

We have 6 biological children. Our oldest refused to "poop" in the potty. Our Dr. told us to just let him be. That is one of the very few things that children can control in their lives and he would use the potty when he was ready to let go of that control. Needless to say, he was using the potty long before he went to kindergarten! Boys are also harder than girls to train. I say, just let it go. He will figure it out on his own when he is ready. I think that too often we as adults fall into "peer pressure" and are worried about what others might say, instead of the relationship we have with our children.

A little about me: I am the Director of the Nebraska Foster and Adoptive Parent Association. My husband and I have 6 biological children and 2 adopted children and continue to foster. We have learned through the years to "pick our battles" and "not to sweat the small stuff"
Pam Allen

I would definitely use a "Good Consequences box" It worked for me when I was a kid, and I have used it for 4 out of five of my kids, (one is only 14mo) and it has worked like a blessing. Decorate a manilla folder or shoebox, and fill it up with colorful strips of paper that each have a different "Good Consequence" on them. Good consequences are special (but simple!) priveleges that your child will only get when he poops. for example, a trip to the zoo, half an hour of television, 15 minutes of a computer game (something like KidPix), a special playdate, a saturday morning at the apple orchard. Anything like that.

Hope this works. Has for me!!
Good Luck J.!

My oldest was the same way(who is now 6), and I use to push him to go and discipline him when he went in his pants. This had negative results. He would hold it in and get really constipated. We never knew why he held it, but he did. After talking to his doctor, I stopped disciplining him when he had accidents and put him in regular underwear (at age 4). I did have to clean up and it was a hassle, but after a few accidents he realized he didn't like to poop in his pants, but he was still really constipated (from holding it in for 2 or 3 days) so my doctor recommended Miralax, which softened the poop and by the time he was 5 he would go in the toilet, but we still had to wipe him until for a few months after that. I just wouldn't push him. That is what we did and it made things worse. He needs to feel safe when he goes poop and needs to know he won't get in trouble for the accident. I hope this helps.