My 27 month old decided he's ready for the potty. (he picked it out a month or so ago but wasn't interested then) He went 9 whole days without accident and now poops in his underwear (or the floor--tried no undies) and doesn't tell us. If I ask him if he pooped in his underwear, he'll say no. He pooped just fine for those 9 days (usually poops 3-5x a day) without any reminders. What should I do? I've tried every incentive and it doesn't matter. His 4 yr old brother is awesome at encouraging him, and even that doesn't matter (he wants to be just like the 4yr old). He pees on his own just fine...even if mostly for the incentives. :) Please help.
Kids this age, do NOT have self-reliance yet.
Nor do they have fully developed "deductive reasoning' yet.
Not even teens have that.
Potty 'training' takes time.
Accidents happen. Even in older kids who are completely potty mastered.
Sometimes, they are not physically aware enough to understand the feeling of a bowel movement about to start. Yes, he may want to be able to be in the big boy undies, but he is just not aware at this point.
He is not 3 yet, so it may be a while till he figures it out. There has to be that connection in his brain. Body awareness, reaction, control.. That is a lot .
my son is around the same age and was going to the potty almost everytime he had to then all the sudden he wouldn't go at all. I think it is because at first it was a novelty to him, something new. Now its no longer new and exciting he doesnt want to.
It took my son about an addition six months before he would potty on the toilet. Kids will go in the toilet when they are ready. Don't push but just put him in pull ups and praise him for going pee. When he decides he wants to then encourage him to push.
Twenty-seven months is on the early end of success for most toddlers, especially boys, who ususally need more time. Toileting success is not only physical and neurological (it sounds like he's ready on those counts), but it's also emotional. A child has to be ready to accept the ongoing responsibility or exactly what your son is doing will happen. So even though he liked the idea, he may not be there yet. He may have realized that being that grownup is going to require a bit more than he has to give. And that is a LOT of pooping every day to keep up with.
You can probably help him on that count, though, by not leaving the whole task to him. Many kids need reminders even until they're four or older – they get busy chasing other interests and don't notice the urge until too late, or don't want to stop playing to use the bathroom. If he's at all regular in the timing of his poops, you can remind him or physically take him to the bathroom to have him try (but don't require him to strain, which can cause physical problems).
With my grandson, we often made a game of it. I'd notice he needed to use the potty, so I'd go into the bathroom and start noisily evicting all the dinosaurs that were crowded in there. He couldn't resist coming to help, and then taking his place victoriously on the potty. You might try a game like that to make responsibility more fun.
Lots of kids will answer dishonestly if parents ask if they pooped in their pants, or if they need to use the bathroom. Asking puts them on the spot, and they don't yet have the judgment or understanding to know how important truth-telling is, especially if it's inconvenient or will get them in trouble. So instead of asking, you might check his pants at regular intervals.
If he has messed them (or the floor), give him as much responsibility as possible to have him help clean up. He'll eventually get the idea that just using the toilet would be faster and easier.
He's learned he can control when and where he poops, toddlers do not like giving up control, who does? ; ) You need to work on getting him to WANT to do it in the potty. Also, he's only been training a very short time, it typically takes 3 - 6 months for a child to be successfully trained with no accidents, but of course there's exceptions. Night training is different, wetting the bed at night can happen until he's at least 6 years old and it's normal. And like you've seen, pee training most often happens first.
Watch him for signs as to when he's going to poop and sit him at those times, first thing in the morning, after meals and snacks, before naps and bedtime, etc. Have him sit when his brother and others in the family are using the toilet so he sees that's what everyone does. Have a toy he can only play with while sitting on the potty.
As far as incentives, you just haven't found HIS power incentive, the one that means something to him. What works for some children doesn't work for all. Ask him what will help him to remember to use the potty to poop, a DVD, toy, book, whatever HE says he wants, buy it and have it ready for him to use for 30-60 minutes after a successful poop in the potty. The key is that YOU own the item, he doesn't get it to keep. He earns the privilege of using it so the incentive stays new, unlike when he keeps it there's no more incentive to use the potty to poop anymore because he has it.
Make sure each and every time he poops in his undies you have him put the poop in the toilet and flush it away, to reinforce that "poop goes in the potty/toilet." Remember, he's training, he more than likely won't suddenly "get it," or maybe he will. Your job is to give him all the tools to "get it."
And, I'm sure your books may address this, but even when a child expresses that they're "ready for the potty" they're not. In that case you need to take a break from training until he's a little bit more mature, I had to do this with my little guy. Otherwise you're simply frustrating yourself and him, and making the training process last much longer than it needs to.
This site gives excellent potty training advice I hope you find helpful, hang in there!
http://www.med.umich.edu/yourchild/topics/toilet.htm
I would put him back in pull ups/diapers for a month (or more - he is pretty young) and tell him when he can poop and pee in the potty he can have his big boy underwear back.
The book I had said "ask your child if they are 'clean and dry' and when the answer is yet, give them a treat." Worked for my son at age 3.5. He got a skittle (smartie, M&M, whatever) every time he stayed clean and dry. This boy loves his sweets, so it was a good motivator.
Maybe he just needs the reminders. Or at his age, just say "Let's take a poop break." Let him sit on the potty and have a special potty toy to play with. My son just got a Leap Pad and he's only allowed to use it when he's pottying. He'll sit on the potty for ten minutes and play and get his poop out. Well my son poops once or twice a day though.
I offered pennies when my son was 2. One penny for #1 and two pennies for #2. He was completely trained by the time he was 28 months old. Maybe that will help your son. Good luck!! =)
Windows open and windows close. He is just not ready to be fully potty trained he's just really ready to work on it. I would not make a big deal out of it and see if he got back on track in a month or so.
