Help!!! My 3 1/2 year old son will not poop in the potty. We have been at this for 9 months. He will go in his pants everyday and not care one bit. I have tried everything. I have taken his toys away form him, i have bought him a toy and said he can have it when he poops in the potty, i have even tried diciplining him. i have no idea what to try now. he goes to daycare and is around other kids that are not having any problems. Please help
This is normal getting them to poop in the potty is the hardest part. I wouldn't recomend punishment you don't want to make potty a negative thing. Just keep reminding him how gross and stinky he is when he does that. I would also kind of learn the times he does it and try sitting him and asking him to try and poop. He will get it trust me I don't know any 18 year old that still poops in his pants. Just hang in there and be patient!
Children potty train at their own pace and one of the reasons that many kids have this poop issue is they perceive it as part of themselves and it truly freaks them out a bit. My parents got my daughter over that milestone by telling her to wave good-bye to it as she flushed.
When he is ready to do it, he will. Continue what you are doing and don't make it a disciplinary thing or a huge point of contention. My middle son didn't potty train at all until he was around 4. Drove me nuts, ticked me off to keep buying pull-ups, but he did it in 2 days when he decided he wanted to be in the church choir which required potty training. My pediatrician also noted that if he hadn't done it by the time he started kindergarten, he would do it within the first week.
I had problems with my son doing this. The reason was: I worked at the day care and the school's policy was that they HAD to be FULLY potty trained. They made the exception because I was there and "could change him" whenever he had his daily poop.
Well, Christmas break came and I was given another class for the 2 weeks because of the fewer numbers during the holiday. I was not in the very next room during that time and it was not as CONVENIENT to change him (I had to get someone to cover the class and go take care of it instead of just having him come to the bathroom off of my classroom). I had also just discovered that I was pregnant with #2 and was determined to get him trained before the baby came.
Well, I made it a completely NEGATIVE experience for him every time it happened during those 2 weeks. It was to "fun" to get to see mommy every time, so I spanked him every time during those 2 weeks. About the 5th time, he realized that I MEANT it and quit.
It sounds as if you are possibly giving him too much attention for the negative behavior. If you do not beleive in spanking, then make him stand in the tub and change himself and then use ONLY cold water to wash with. If you do not speak to him during this except to instruct him on what to do "Take off the underwear" in a mono-tone voice (with NO personal words like, "Honey, take off your dirty underwear.") Then make him sit in time out after he is fully dressed. Beleive me, after a few times of this, he might realize that it is NOT a positive experience.
It's all in the math: (-times-=+)
Negative behavior X Positive reaction = Negative behavior
Negative behavior X Negative reaction = Positive behavior
I used stamps for my son, worked like a charm. I put a chart on the closet door after he went the got to put a stamp on square. when he filled up the sheet 10 squares he got to go Chuck E. Cheese. After every three he got a small special treat! My case may be odd but it worked great! Took me month to get him completly potty trained.
