Help with ds

[pebblemum]

My ds is almost 3 and we have been potty training for 2wks now. Since then he has not wet himself once but he has suddenly developed a fear of doing a poo. He has done it on the potty several times but got very upset when he did it even though i reassured him it was ok and made a big fuss of him for doing it. Since Saturday though it has been a struggle to get him to do it. He keeps holding it in until it hurts and even then he doesnt want to do it. He tells me he needs one but no matter what i try he still wont go. On two occassions i have caved in and put him in a nappy. I didnt want to but I couldnt let him go on in that much pain. Even with a nappy on though he still didnt want to go. When he does go its because he can no longer hold on and he gets in such a state its horrible to watch. Its a though he is afraid to do it.
What can i do to show him its ok before it gets out of hand. A friends little boy used to do this and in the end he had to go to hospital regularly to be cleared out as he would hold on so long on that it became impossible to do it naturally. I dont want my LO ending up like that

DO you think it hurts him to do it? Are his poos generally a bit hard, or are they wet? (tmi, sorry!). Ds1 used to wait till hi had a night time nappy on to do his poos, and dd has just had a phase of being slightly constipated which made her a bit afraid of doing them sitting down - it's easier standing up, because they can push against the floor!

Things you could try - try getting him to do a poo on the potty/toilet at a regular time each day - we taught ds1 that way, so he always does a poo at bedtime. If it's a phobia you could get him to sit on the potty with a nappy on, then move to putting the nappy in the potty iyswim (as a liner). We also bribed in a big way - starting off with a Thomas engine for a poo, then 3 stickers to get an engine, 5 stickers for an engine etc.

All the books say that poo is easier to teach than weeing, but everyone I know has found the opposite - your little one is doing fantastically well to be dry so quickly, and the pooing will come! Good luck!

It doesnt seem to hurt him to do it he just seems scared to. I thought that by putting a nappy on that he would feel more comfortable doing it IYSWIM and then i could gradually do as you suggested, putting a nappy in the potty then eventually he would be ok but he doesnt even want to poo in the nappy anymore. Ive tried bribes, from stickers to ice lollies even toys but nothing can convince him to go. I dont remember having this trouble with ds1 (hes 9 now so maybe ive just forgot!!)

Give him lots of orange juice to get his bowels moving and try putting something in the potty when you know there's a poo due. Lots of children don't like that feeling of 'losing' a poo (ie they like sitting in it) so if you pop in an old terry square folded up or a disposable if he's more used to those, he'll kind of feel the poo landing safely iyswim.
Sounds nuts I know!