HELP! "Potty Training for a 3 Yr. Old Boy"""

best advice i ever got was to allow him to use the pull up but **he had to use the bathroom like everyone else**. no more hiding in the corner. eventually, i said enough is enough and when i knew he was going to do his thing i put him on the pot and he did it there, had a major happy dance and he got to go to the toy store and get anything he wanted (a firetruck). Had one accident and has never looked back. stressful on the parent though. ds#2, he was stubborn as hell and i had to use a timer for all toileting. i set the timer for every 15 minutes and he HAD to use the toilet when it rang, no matter what. quickly he learned i meant business and cut the funny business. pooping was another story, he'd hold it for days. then it was painful to poop and he got really clingy and crabby. sooo... he got to pick out a small toy (one for pee and one for poop) and i hung them over the toilet. when he went in the toilet, he got the prize 9had to stay dry all day for the pee prize and poop in the toilet for the poop prize). he still held the pooping for days, in fear of the pain. try reasoning with a 3yo!! ugh. i would tell him the more you go the easier it is and fed him things that would help things move along. finally i busted out suppositories. that took about two tries and then all i had to do was threaten to get the suppositories and he'd poop!! every kid is different. good luck. btw, he potty trained fully in about two weeks. now for advice on cleanig yourself? that is what we need here.

despite what we may think sometimes 'that we are responsible for our children potty successes' the truth is when they are ready they will go..your son will get tired of having poop on himself and he will go. so just continue following his pace. you are doing a great job!

C.,

I went trough the same thing when my son was 2. He would pee on the toilet, but not poop. What I did was put the underwear on him and when he went to poop he did it in the underwear, and did not like that feeling. Also I spanked him when he knew what he was doing, because he would tell me after he did it. It worked for me he was potty trained before he turned 3. Hope this helps.

Quit stressing over it. Give him a little more time for this, otherwise you re going to have a power struggle. (Not that you don't already...)You are stressed and he certainly picks up on it and you probably have a bit of the "I dont' have a paying job but certainly I can get this boy to learn to do this" feeling. The underwear idea is good- but maybe you both need to back off for a few weeks and then go to the underwear and make it his problem. If he poops in his underwear you can show him how to rinse it in the toilet (give him some tongs for this purpose only!) and put the wet, cleanish undies wherever you want them to go. Good luck.

Stop using the pull ups and put him in underwear. You will have to do more laundry, but he won't like the feeling of going in the underwear and will eventually use the toilet. Once you do switch to underwear, don't ever switch back or it will confuse him and slow the training down.

Good luck!

There is a book called "Everybody Poops"...you might give this a try.
He also might just need a little break for a short while...don't push the potty training. You do NOT want for this to turn into a power struggle.
I have potty trained four children...three is still a bit early for some boys (believe it or not)...

Looks like you have received some great suggestions. Good luck!