potty training great for wees, poos a diasater - do I just give up?

[ernest]

Ok I know this is common, discussed a zillion times, but can't find what I need.
ds is 3 next month.
Been out of nappies 8 days now. Wees are fine. He'll go in the potty. He'll sit on the toilet. He'll stand at the toilet. He's even been dry for 3 nights too. But poos a complete disaster. He clearly hasn't got the sensation. He has not had 1 poo in a potty/toilet the whole time. He hasn't gone for a couple of days, so today we has 3 pooy accidents. Even if he clearly looks like he's trying to poo & I ask him he says no & if I take him to the potty/toilet, nothing.

If the wee was going badly I'd def. give up and go back to nappies, but he's doing great with wee, but hopeless with poo.

Do I soldier on with the pooy pants. Yuk YUk Yuk.
Or do I revert to nappies and risk pissing him off - he gets cross when I put a night time one on him.. He wouldn't even wear a pull up and just kept saying 'no, that's a nappy'. He was not convinced.

And I know noone can answer this, but I'll ask anyway. How bloody long is this going to go on for? It is not fun.

I am also 8 days in with dd and having the exact same problem.She is now dry, even when out and pre-school.Has not done one poo in toilet.I am encouraged though and am not going back to nappies.It will happen i am sure,may try bribery!

thanks shellye. I was all set to just go back to nappies but dh dead against, plus he was dry again last night and asked by himself after breakfast to go to potty, so think I should plod on. He is basically toilet trained in no. 1's. But not at all in no. 2's.

No one else any thoughts?

I've already promised him a power rangers toy, but I don't think bribery will work, cos I don't think it's up to him iyswim. He doesn't feel it yet, I'm sure. Oh Lord.

This is really common - every kid I know has taken longer to get poos sorted than the wees.

Things we tried - getting ds1 to try a poo every night before bath - this worked, along with stickers, and he still does a poo every night before bed.

Dd - bribed her with Sylvanian family creatures. One animal per poo. By the end of the second box (each contains 4) she was done. Took about 6 weeks after she was dry.

They do get there - but it can take a while!

Took DD over 2 months after being dry to sort out poos. Tried to keep calm and be encouraging and one day it just seemed to click and we haven't had a poo accident in over a year. Very yucky on the pants front though

Don't want to dishearten you but my ds poos took 4 months to sort out. Was dry very quickly both day and night though. Buy lots of cheap pants that you can use like nappies. We ended up buying lots of treats in a special poo bag (worked better that star charts and choc buttons)

but do I carry on with pooy pants as wees sorted, or do I go back to nappies till poosorted? I know it's v. common just not sure how to handle it. thanks a lot tho for encouragement

I'll second that it can take a while on the poo front, I reckon it slotted into place after about 3 months with DS. I don't believe he was soiling intentionally. We tried and gave up on the reward chart - he was desperate to get the stickers and got upset if the he didn't manage it.

At nursery (who were always encouraging, never suggested reverting to nappies) they handled the mess by cutting the pants off and throwing them away, might be an option if you can find a source of cheap pants. We got some in Wilko for about 30p each, might compare with the cost of disp nappies for a day??

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Other thing we did at the very beginning was to show DS his own poo (we realised that he'd probably never really seen it), say gently "poos belong in the potty/toilet", get him to help tip away / flush if he was feeling cooperative.

well that's fine, thanks. I was of the 'no going back' brigade too until now that is! I've not been confronted with pooy pants one this scale before. But the wee's gone so well I didn't want to go back, but the poos going so badly wondered if I should. But if the general concensus is 'no', then I'll soldier on and think of you as I scrape and flush

Still having dry days but still poo in pants.I am determined not to give up.Thanks for everyones support and I agree NO GOING BACK.I have been out for lunch and an hour shopping and still dry.So long as I go where there are toilets I feel I can cope.Do not give up ernest.x

omg, he's just done a poo on the potty. I never thought I would be so happy to see a lump of poo before

Children can be really scared of doing a poo and feel like their bottom is going to fall off.

Try using the potty as it is lower down and gets the legs in to a better postion for the poo to come out. I haven't tried it as I use washables, but if you have disposables try laying one in the nappy as the child can then feel the same sensation on their bottom.

As the mother of a 5 year old boy who still sometimes wets the bed I would persevere. I am sure I did everything wrong with him and are hoping for better success with 3 year old girl. (dry in day before 2, we are one week in for night time learning. 1st night was dry but dirty, 2nd night damp and wet every night since)

Sorry to butt in (no punn intended) but how long did it take your lo's to be dry? Just finished day 1 and am struggling. He will wee on the potty if he is sat on it, but will happily wee and poo pants and not notice. Have spent the day sitting him on potty every 15 minutes. Not sure if I am doing the right thing. Am also a single mum so am doing it alone - although have a kind neighbour who handed me a glass of wine over the fence after bedtime!

On the upside I am heartened that he has gone from the boy who hated potties a week ago, to actually using one!

Ds went into pants in June.

Only now voluntarily going to toilet for a poo. We have either had poos in;

pant

nappy at night time

or

behind bushes int he garden

for most of the summer.