My 2 year old son is working on potty training. He was sick a few weeks ago and had diarrhea. I was outside for a few minutes and when I came inside, he was screaming. He had started to have diarrhea in his diaper and tried to get to the toilet. He evidently pulled up the wrong seat (pulled the lid and seat up), got his diaper down and sat down in the toilet. He was wet, cold and full of poop. There was poop everywhere.
Now he is afraid to sit on the toilet - he all but refuses to try. I feel really bad for him. Obviously this is going to take some time to get over. The biggest problem out of it is he has reached the "loves to be naked" stage and when he's home, he strips his clothes off. I tell him he needs to pee on the toilet and he says okay, but is peeing and pooping on the floor. He pulls his diaper down so putting it on backwards isn't an option.
We have a potty seat for the big potty and a kids potty in the kids bathroom. I think he would just take Pulls Ups off, so I'm reluctant to try them. We have done timeout for peeing on the carpet and if I catch him doing it, I call his name and take him to the bathroom. If he's not finished, he does not finish there.
Any ideas about how to get the potty training train going again or stop peeing and pooping on the floor after being traumatized by the toilet?
Thanks!
REWARD every little thing he does correctly so he starts to replace his bad experiences with good ones. Use M&Ms or matchbox cars or tv time - whatever he likes and you don't mind giving. We did happy potty dances and I made a BIG deal out of it. POSITIVE REINFORCEMENT works wonders - just takes a bit of work! Good luck.
Sounds like he is pretty independent. (He went to the potty without you in the house) - TOTALLY ON HIS OWN of his own volition).
Maybe, (don't push), you can step up the mommy attention/aid during his potty endeavors for awhile. I used to grab a magazine or newspaper and go sit on the side of the bathtub with my kids. When they were still needing help balancing of course, I helped them. But once they were sitting... I was RIGHT there (sitting right there next to them practically) and we either talked, or they played with a small toy/book and I looked at a magazine until they were done. I'm sure it was reassuring for them. My son dropped the toilet seat on himself at about 2 1/2 (standing to pee without using step stool)... he wasn't traumatized as badly as I would have thought. (It did entail a frightened rush to the ER though, lol). But I did stay with him, or right inside the door at least, for a bit after it happened.
Don't push, but it is okay to DOWNplay what happened and reassure that he's fine now and he learned not to lift the seat when he plans to sit... you can try to help him see that he won't make that mistake again. The bigger deal YOU make about it, the bigger deal he will make it out to be, too.
Make a box of fun stuff he wouldn't normally get to play with - bubbles, markers, stickers, whatever. Show him the box and tell him he can play as long as he is on the pot. it worked for my daughter. She would not sit and once she saw the box she loved it.
A similar thing happened to my daughter, she didnt fall in the potty that time, but the poo was everywhere, then about a week later she did fall in the potty (i hadnt put the little seat back on and she didnt notice till she was in the potty) I just started by having her come in the bathroom with me and seeing that it was ok, the potty didnt hurt me, and wouldnt hurt her. Then I would set her on the potty, and hold her, so that she knew I was there to help her, and soon after that she was able to go back to going on the potty herself, although she sometimes still says "the potty hurt me that one time."
Also, this potty seat might help you: http://www.onestepahead.com/catalog/product.jsp?productId... It's part of the regular seat and doesnt come off as easily. Good luck!
Being a Momma who's struggled with traumatic potty training issues I can totally understand your frustrations and concerns! My little girl did the opposite, after a go around with my Mother in Law trying to force and then shame her into going poop on the potty (while I was in another room with my youngest) she refused to go. She'd been almost completely trained and then she was holding it for days, not just hours, days of no poop and peeing in her panties or pull ups.
I was at my wits end and asked for help here and I go tons of advice. What I found the most useful was to back of for a bit. I gave her some space, told her I understood that she was afraid and we would take a 1 week break, and showed her the calendar. Then we went together and bought some rewards for going potty (I use gummie bears, all fruit so they aren't too sugary for her) and on the Monday we started over. It took some time, but the little break and the conversation that we had about me understanding she was afraid has helped.
Good luck! Just remember this is new for them and not always easy.
My daughter had a similar incident and fell into the potty at daycare a few weeks ago. Since then she doesn't want anything to do with PT. Even pull-ups, which she loved, are now out. We will just wait until she is ready to try again. She has sat on the plastic potty a few times, so I know she will be ready again soon.
I agree with Lola - let him have a few weeks off to recover from this. Our doctor told us it's best to potty train when you're life is "normal" and there aren't any illnesses. So let him get over this and calm down before you start up again. Also - make sure you get a special potty for him - the little ones that sit on the floor. Yes - they are messy to clean, but it's worth it and much easier for the kids. We used it for my daughter and she only used it for a week or two before transitioning to the regular toilet. So you don't have to put up with the mess for long...
Good luck!
E.
Oh wow! I had trouble with potty training as well and we tried everything. I have always heard that kids will NOT go on the floor and the easiest way to train them is to let them run around naked and they will go on the potty. That blows that theory.
Does he mind having #1 and #2 on his skin? If so, you may want to put in big boy underwear. He will probably only go a few times in them and then be ready to use the potty.
As for the experience he recently had, you may want to let a little time pass before trying again. He may need to forget what happened first.
With my son, we tried everything and the only thing that worked was the big boy underwear. He messed his pants a few times and that was all it took.
Good luck!!
what about a potty seat for just him.. that he can't fall into.. show him it doesn't have water so he can't get wet.. good luck.
i would stop now. bring the pull ups. try it a few months later, when he has all forgotten about the experience.
anytime kids get traumatized during potty training, best thing to do is back off.
Hi - I'm not sure I have an answer but I had a similar experience. My son started potty training at 3 yrs. old. It went well until he got gastrointeritis and had severe vomiting and diarrhea for several days. After that he absolutely didn't want to use the potty again.
I decided that it was a battle I couldn't win, and that fighting him over this would be traumatic for us both. I put him back in pull-ups and let him be. It was a full year before he was potty trained. He come home one day from preschool and mentioned that no one else was in a diaper. He started using the potty every time he had to go from that day forward without me asking or prompting him.
For our family it worked to just leave him be until he was ready. I tuned out people who were judgmental about his age and remembered every kid is different. He is now 5 and delayed potty training has had no impact on his happiness and success in preschool. In retrospect I am glad that I didn't turn the potty into a confrontational issue that we battled multiple times a day for some period of time.
So, if your son isn't ready to try again consider giving him some more time in a pull-up. Remember that in the long run the age you started using the potty really won't affect the rest of your life at all! Hope this helps - S.
