Potty Problem - Charleston,SC

His body is most likely not mature enough to let him know ahead of time that he needs to poop. The fact that he has 2-3 times may be an indication that his body is maturing but then again it may have just been coincidental that he was on the potty when the poop came out.

He may also be unconsciously not using the potty because he feels pushed to do it. Or, because him using the potty is important to you he is feeling overwhelmed. There are several scenarios that could be causing him to be unable to use the potty.

I would back off about insisting that he poop in the potty. I'd tell him that you know that he'll start using the potty when his body is ready to do it. Give him control of when he poops.

In the meantime do take him to the potty at times he usually poops so that he is able to equate those times with pooping. This may also clue him into how his body feels. I'd just not insist that he poop. You're giving him the opportunity.

Relax and it will happen. Our babies' bodies mature at different rates. Many become potty trained without the parent making much of an effort.

My son did this for a long time. My sitter at the time was great and she just suggested that he try to poop in the toilet and he did. It took a while to get to that point though. We got special potty books. Anything to get him to sit on the toilet and relax.

The previous two answers are good ones! Also consider that many children are fearful of seeing a part of their body being flushed away. When your son is receptive can you assess for this fear?

I know how frustrating it is to deal with this situation but "this too shall pass"!

Our son didn't want to sit on that "big hole." It was fine to stand beside it and pee, but sitting on it was different. He did fine with the kiddy potty, but not the real one until I bought a plastic foldable seat with a smaller opening that you put on top of the real potty. That ended the problem as he didn't feel like he might be going to fall in. He also wanted his hands free so he could read a book while he sat there! The foldable seat fit in my purse. Here is one that I found on the internet but his was just plain white http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=40...

Can you get him in a pull up so you don't have the mess to wash? Does he know it's coming, but just doesn't want to get on the potty?
My daughter didn't want to poop in the potty for months and insist on getting a pull up when she had to go. Even had special toys sitting up in the family room, waiting on her to poop in potty so she could have one.
We finally took it a step at a time. First, she had to stand in the bathroom to poop in her pull up. (poop belongs in the bathroom, not the kitchen, playroom, etc.) After a few weeks of that, we had her sitting on the potty with her pull up on to poop. That was probably for about a month. Then one time when she was going poop, it came out the edges of her pull up and some went in the potty. I made a big deal out of her being a big girl now and her poop is to big for her pull up and she'll go on the potty from now on. Well....she didn't go for 3 days!! So i got some Babylax. It's glycerin in a tube you squirt in the bottom for constipation. Then she couldn't hold it in! I sat her on the potty after using the Babylax and she pooped. Made a big deal about it, she got a toy, and then forgot to be mad at me for putting that in her butt. :) She got another toy the second time she went and after that no problems.