potty training help

[starfishy]

Okay, like you haven't had a million of these.
So pee was so easy and we were done in a day really although he still wants prizes and M&Ms. However, poop has been a different challenge. I assumed it would be but I think I might need another trick or two in my arsenal.
What are some tips for helping with poop training? He seems to have stage fright, it's backing him up and then it gets worse. I've given juice and keeping him hydrated with water, I've upped the prizes for poops, we've been reading books about poop, we have him sit and relax on the potty for awhile, we don't make accidents a big deal but say that next time lets try to get it in the potty.

Every time he has to pass gas he thinks he has to go and I think he's getting confused. He's gone twice since Saturday and they were teeny tiny in his underwear. At this point I just want him to go!
That was long- any tips?

[somethingcleverer]

Aubrey is still mastering pooping in the potty but giving her an iPad/phone and leaving her alone to go helps. She won't have accidents but she will wait until bedtime and go in her diaper.

[starfishy]

Jul 1, 2015 19:01:18 GMT -5 somethingcleverer said:

Aubrey is still mastering pooping in the potty but giving her an iPad/phone and leaving her alone to go helps. She won't have accidents but she will wait until bedtime and go in her diaper.

I'm kind of hoping that will happen tonight. Poor guy didn't eat dinner and I think that's the reason.
I've been trying to have him stay longer and try. I'll have to think of some good activities- we don't have an iPad.

[somethingcleverer]

Do you have anything along those lines? Leap pad or apps on phone? That's helped a lot. Maybe a puzzle board? Just anything to get him to focus on something besides poop.

Eta: I hope he poops and feels better soon.

[starfishy]

He was playing with some kid phone thing tonight. I do have some games on my phone that might keep him busy for a bit. For his birthday he's getting a vtech laptop thing which in reality is really just a 2015 version of a speak and spell, but I'm thinking that could work.

[britbratjf]

I'm in the same boat. Pottying is no issue but she has yet to poop in the potty (shit her pants at the park yesterday & today, fun times). She has a big poop prize waiting for her that she knows about but says she doesn't want to poop in the potty. I've also told her she can have a sucker as opposed to M&Ms for pooping. I'm going to try the phone trick tomorrow. Hopefully once they go once they'll get over it!

[starfishy]

Jul 1, 2015 20:16:48 GMT -5 britbratjf said:

I'm in the same boat. Pottying is no issue but she has yet to poop in the potty (shit her pants at the park yesterday & today, fun times). She has a big poop prize waiting for her that she knows about but says she doesn't want to poop in the potty. I've also told her she can have a sucker as opposed to M&Ms for pooping. I'm going to try the phone trick tomorrow. Hopefully once they go once they'll get over it!

britbratjf, I was thinking I wouldn't be alone in this.  Today he picked out new duplos for peeing in the potty.  I said that after he poops he can come back and pick out a really big one.  He even showed me a few he liked.  I also told him 5 m&ms and 2 prizes! And H said he give him a big coin (half dollar) to put in his piggy bank.  So he says he has to go a lot, but he just can't relax.  I'm going to back off awhile and just have him sit longer when he does go.  Last two nights have been right around 6:30 so I'm going to just focus on that time for awhile.

Good luck!! 

[mrsrek10]

JA won't poop in the potty or his underwear. If he has to poop, he asks for a pull up and we honor it. We always offer the potty but if he says no, we put on his pull up. We tried sitting him on the potty but he would hold it and after a couple of days he was in pain and crying. So, we backed off of that and now honor his request for a pull up.

My previous experience is only in potty training kids with developmental disabilities and we considered the first step being them even knowing they had to poop. So, I am applying the same mentality to JA. I had one child's GI doctor write in a report that pooping in the potty was closely tied to development and happens at different rates for each child. The doctor stated not to push the issue because many children will hold it and that will lead to bigger problems. It also noted that basically when children poop in their diapers/pullups that the sphincter closing off after a poop is very gradual because the poop moves out and away from their hole slower; where as, when you poop in the potty, the poop drops and your muscles immediately close the hole back off. That sensation is very noticeable to young children and can seem uncomfortable bc it is new. Some children are more sensitive to that feeling than others and may take longer to be comfortable with it. That report stuck out to me when JA was crying and I didn't want to push it. I will say that over the years, all of the kids we trained did end up pooping in the potty within a few months of being able to say they had to poop. So, I think JA will be doing it in the next month or two.

I will also say that I know another behavior analyst that cut slits in the back of the pull up and would sit the child on the toilet in the pull up with the slit. The slit started out fairly small but enough that the poop could eventually push out. The slit was then made bigger on each subsequent trip until the child is gradually adjusting to the sensation of poop dropping. I am sure you can find the research on this method if you wanted.. I have never done it personally but she swears it works!

[junkytrunk]

The first day he was potty training, he had to poop and went on the potty but it scared him a little the noise it made when it hit the water, so he took a few weeks before he would go back. He would start popping his underwear, would say "I'm pooping" and I would rush to get him and put him on the potty. It took a few times to realize he had to poop before he started pooping, and then he was finally able to make it to the toilet in time. He really didn't like pooping his underwear, so I think that helped.

[somethingcleverer]

That's really interesting mrsrek10. I love your perspective on these things. Aubrey took really well to potty training in general but will try to wait for her diaper at bedtime to poop. I was always shocked she could sleep through (or fall asleep right after) pooping. That makes sense about the sphincter and the sensation being different.

[starfishy]

mrsrek10 thanks for the insight. That makes a lot of sense. I just hope he goes soon somewhere and we can keep working on it.

[origamimommy]

I haven't read through all, but we had this issue with Tyler. We tried everything like a treasure chest full of prizes, reading about it, letting him watch us, etc. and it didn't work. Tyler wanted all of the control and his pedi said to give it to him. We would ask if he wanted the potty and if he said no, we have him a diaper. It took a while, but once we started giving him a diaper without the fight when he asked, it was like 2 days and he was fully trained.

I think it's really challenging to learn to poop sitting down. Poop training is the worst.

[mrsrek10]

Jul 2, 2015 5:31:11 GMT -5 starfishy said:

mrsrek10 thanks for the insight. That makes a lot of sense. I just hope he goes soon somewhere and we can keep working on it.

I know what you mean. When JA was hurting, I just wanted him to poop and I didn't care how or where. I have said it before and I will say it again, these kids should pop out with their own, individual user's guide!

[jennmm]

Funny how different kids are. When DS was potty training, he would poop in the potty long before he would pee. With DD, she pees in the potty more than she poops and even argues about it. I just try to stay consistent and remind her that she needs to poop in the potty.

[starfishy]

And he was so cute this morning "yeah daddy we don't poop in our underwears"

I'm just using his cues today.