Not pooping in the potty.
So my 3 1/2 year old is nearly completely potty trained as far as urination is concerned. But he refuses to go #2 in the potty. He will wait until we put him in his pull-up for nighttime, poop, then ask us to change him.
I know it's a psychological thing. But is there anything we can do to encourage him or help him get over his fear? Or will he eventually overcome it himself?
3 Answers
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Our oldest did this. We started putting on a diaper and then making him stay in the bathroom until he pooped (usually just a couple minutes). Then we had him sit on the toilet with the diaper. Then we just had him sit on the toilet. Oddly, I think the biggest thing was giving him privacy when he was pooping (something he still requires today, 2.5 years later). We also gave him a piece of chocolate (chocolate chip) for pooping on the potty which totally motivated him.
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That's hard! A few things helped our son *want* to use the potty:
- a really comfortable potty seat (he likes the baby bjorn seat much more than the stand-alone and flat seat-top that we had before)
- a promise of Dinosaur Train (his favorite show on PBS) - initially a full episode, now sometimes just half - for each time he successfully poops on the potty
- he also gets 2 stickers of his choice for his potty chart, but this incentive lost some luster over time (hence the tv addition)
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Success! He just excused himself from dinner, said he was going to go the potty to pee and poop! And he did it! Incredible! Now we need to remind him to wipe afterwards or to wait for us to come help him wipe...
Speaking of which, at what age can they use the potty completely independently?
Interesting strategy! As an aside -- there were a couple times where we did the "if you make a poop then you can have a cookie" thing, and boy, did that turn out bad. No poop, crying child, no cookie. Not a fun situation. So, it's best to set the expectation when it's a reality, and then reinforce, rather than dangling the carrot.
- Steve Lacy, Apr 2, 2010