How to encourage poos on the potty/toilet, nearly 3yo DS?

[rrreow]

DS will be 3 in May and we've been potty training for a couple of weeks. He's doing well with wees, usually goes on the potty/toilet without too much fuss, starting to show some awareness of when he needs to go and asking to go to the toilet. He likes wearing pants and isn't keen on having a nappy at night (he does still need it).

However poos have been much more difficult. He is withholding and getting constipated and then eventually soils himself. He has never successfully pooed on the toilet/potty and will have a complete meltdown when I (or anyone else) suggest he does his poo on there. The withholding is new and definitely training related, he didn't have any problems while still in nappies. When I can see him doing a poo he will categorically deny it, have a tantrum if I suggest the toilet and also won't entertain the idea of a nappy to have a poo in. I really can't think of anything else to try or how to help him!

Is this normal? Any tips for helping him with this transition?

Bribery. Chocolate buttons did it for ds. As soon as I saw his poo face I would say he could have a button for a poo.

am having a similar issue with 3.5 DS and will def give the buttons a go

Bribery, yes. But chocolate buttons didn't do it here. It was a combination of Poo goes to Pooland, being allowed to play games on my tablet while sitting on the toilet and the promise of a whole chocolate Santa that got us there in the end, and lots and lots of reassurance.

I think the chocolate Santa was the tipping point.

thanks Juniper - I may have to up the chocolate stakes

We went through something similar with DD (now 3.9). She had a bit of a tummy bug just after we started toilet training so got the fear of poo. We had to go through a little while of letting her poo in her pants, because there was just no way she'd go on the potty or put a nappy back on, and I figured it was better than her getting constipated, etc. Once she was pooing without crying, we used star charts, lots of rewards (ballons, bubbles, etc) and poo goes to pooland. Good luck with it!

My DS was very much the same & at aged just 4 he is still not an overly happy boy about pooing. We have a'poo treat' box so when DS does a poo on the loo he can choose a treat from the box.

We also used 'poo goes to poo land' which he liked & we used on the tablet in the bathroom.

Thank you all! DS loves chocolate so going to try the bribery and get Poo goes to Pooland on my phone.