Potty Training - Toledo, OH

E.,
Fear not...he will learn. My advice is simply relax. My oldest son learned to deal with #2 when he started daycare at 3 1/2 years old. He wouldn't go at school, he refused at home, and then held it completely for a week. We went to the doctor who prescribed some medication and within another week he was done. Each kid is different and will decide when they are ready to do it. Stressing will only prolong the problem and make you both more stubborn.
Maybe talking to your mom about the importance of keeping him in his big boy underwear will help. Really ask her as a means of helping him understand that now that he's switched to big boy pants, it's for always.
Also, don't make the potty thing such a big deal. It's part of being a person so maybe tone back the praise a little bit. He'll learn that what we do when we have to go is to do it in the potty.
Or, if you are extremely patient and have lots of time on your hands, you could try what my husband did with our second son. About a half hour after meals he sat Jake on the potty until he went. Jake looked at a book or played with a car but sat on the pot until he went. Of course, my husband is extremely patient in that area and was home with the boys at that time.
Hope that helps a little.
A.
PS most kids aren't potty trained by 3, their parents are.

Hi E.! It seems like that is the hardest thing,going poopy in the potty. It's a very common thing so don't get discouraged. The key is to stay consistant,dont go back & forth to diapers & underware. At night I put a pull-up on my son and call them "night time pants." I have him wear underware all day so he feels it more when he has an accident. Also...pay attention to what time of day he usually goes poopy,try to set him on the potty around that time of day. Maybe you will get lucky and he will go for you then,and he will see how it's done!:) Don't freak out if he's not totally trained by age 3,every child is different....you don't want to make him feel pressured so just go with the flow,he will get there. Good luck!

I think that the harder we push the kids to potty train the harder they rebel. I hope that I'm wrong, but make sure that you aren't trying to lump your son into what you think is the "norm". In my personal opinion, there is no norm. Kids train when they are ready. I also understand that #2 is harder still. I tried several times over the course of more than a year to train my son. I kept hearing things about him still being in a diaper at 3. I just followed his lead. We would leave him naked & he would still pee on the floor. We would try this for several days to a week. If ever I started getting frustrated, we stopped. Only to try again in a couple weeks or months. Finally, at about 3 1/2, I told him that I wasn't buying anymore diapers. Every time I changed him for a couple of days, I reminded him. It was a Mon. We only had 3 days of pee accidents. #2 took a couple more weeks. We had to find that thing of "value" that worked as a reward. For us, it was "Daddy's candy". Gummi dinosaurs. It's been almost a year & we haven't had any accidents after finding the reward. I would also make sure that your mom doesn't have any diapers to put him in. I think that some kids can use them with no problem, but others regress when put in them. Time & patience is the key.
Good luck.

I totally know where you are coming from. My son when he was potty training would go pee just fine and he literally has had five accidents in his whole five years that I can remember, but when it came to number 2, he would hold it in for weeks, then when he couldn't hold it any more, he would come and ask for a diaper so he could go. I would try to get him on the potty and he refused. Because I was worried about his health, I gave into the diaper. Then I just got sick of putting him in a diaper, so when I used up the last diaper, I showed him, told him we were all out, and told him that big boy pants were not for using the potty in. He picked out Thomas the Tank Engine, and we made a big deal out of keeping them clean and dry so Thomas would be proud, and after that day, he never went anywhere but the toilet. When he did poop in the toilet for the first time, we made a HUGE deal out of it, called everyone we knew, and even gave in and took him to the dollar store to get a toy for his accomplishment.

well first of all i would do away with diapers completely it just confuses them if i can wear a diaper here and underware there you have to stick to one for consistancy and i had the same problem with my son and the only way i could get him to stop messing in his pants (it might sounds harsh) but we would make him clean himself up he had to take off the yucky pants and rinse them in toilet and than we would turn on the shower and make him clean himself he didnt like the idea of cleaning his own poop so he started to go on the toilet i never yelled i just said if your can poop in your pants you can clean yourslef too it took maybe a week of that and he quit pooping in his pants hope my idea helps it worked for me

maybe he needs a little more time and patience. telling him he isn't a big boy won't hurry things. not all kids are potty trained by 3. my son was 3 1/2 before he would poo on the potty.