ds will not poo on potty or toilet but wees fine.

[milkyjo]

I know this is a common problem but 2.7 ds has been holding in his poo for nearly 3 days now. He keeps saying he has tummy ache or says he wants a nappy on but we've tried to persuade/bribe him to use the potty. If he's wearing pants he'll just go in them. I came to the conclusion that a solid poo feels the same in a nappy or pants but wees are more uncomfortable in pants so maybe that's why he's cracked the weeing. But what can I do about the poo? Should I give in and put him in a nappy for his poo then take it off, let him poo in his pants until he gets it or risk getting constipation from holding it in whilst being bottomless? Any thoughts much appreciated.

I read on here someone gave a nappy to wear for a poo if they sat on the potty. Next stage was to undo the nappy while sitting on potty, then just a nappy placed inside the potty and then finally just the potty.

I really don't want ds to get constipated as it can lead to a lot of issues (the bowel can stretch so the can't push very well etc). So I'm putting up with poos in pants or bath and just repeating "Where do poos go?"

I think it is the stance personally that feels different, standing up must feel very different to sitting on a potty.

Just give him the nappy - it's not giving in. A lot of children find it very hard to start pooing in the toilet. It's uncomfortable and strange. They find it hard to let go. If you have Penelope Leach's books she is quite good on this as there are strong psychological reasons for doing this and trying to interfere may cause more harm than good.

Him being constipated is a lot bigger issue than the notion of 'giving in' - he will learn to poo in the loo, you just shouldn't rush it or set conditions on it. He is still very little.

DS was like this. What happened was we kept the nappy on at night for the first 6 months and he changed to pooing in the evening in the nappy. It was quite galling having to put on 2 nappies a night but we didn't make a fuss and after 6 months he was fully toilet trained - he did it by himself.