How can I get my son to sit down to poo?

Question

My 2 year old has suffered from constipation in the past. Now he is quite regular but he really strains when pooing because he insists on standing up which obviously makes him clench his cheeks which stop it coming. I know that if he would just sit down, it would come so much easier. I have tried sitting him on a potty but he seems scared of it. He has sat on the toilet once with a training seat, which was successful but he refuses to go back. I hate to see him strain and I'm sure he associates pooing with pain which is why he clenchs.

Answer 1

Sit in the bathroom with him & give him a book to read.

Or put his potty next to the toilet and maybe you should sit on the toilet, get him to sit on the potty next to you whilst you read to him.

Do you use the toilet in front of him? I always have so my kids knew it was nothing to be scared of & everyone has to go.

This is a tough one for most parents let alone with constipation. All kids will wee in their potties but pooing seems to be the tough one to crack. My son rarely used the potty, he went for the toilet almost straight away. The potty can slide away and that sometimes scares them.

We had a problem with the training seat, my son tried to put it on the toilet himself and the seat came down and banged his fingers, so he didn't want to use that again.

Trial & error & perserverance is the way to go.

I wish you the best of luck. :-)

Answer 2

I can understand your frustration. My son did suffer from chronic constipation when he was 2. He is now 6, and ok.

But my son's problem might be different from yours.. He has toilet fear, which means, he does not even want to pee into the toilet bowl or urinal.. he only pees into a bottle.. For the pooing problem, it went so bad, that he was once admitted to the hospital for it, and for 6 months, we have to use enemas on him every 3 days if he keeps his poo. And we always had to hold him down everytime, which was devastating to me.

It is not a easy process, but I remembered getting nice star stickers, and drawing up a very cute chart. I got him to sit on the potty for 15 minutes every day. Though the 15 minutes, does nothing. I will give him a star sticker on the chart. And lucky for me, I have 2 other daughters, whom I drew the same chart for too.. and their age are close to each other. But they are ok with their bowels. I demostrated that to my son, that he will get that little reward if he at least make an effort to sit on potty. It became their sticker collection chart and mini competition. He does that everyday and he pooed his first time into the potty 3 months later... I continued with it, and put a date beside the star everytime he managed to poo, but it started out still not too regular. We tried introducing even more fibre into his diet, and his toilet habit finally improved.

It was a nightmare to us. I hope that my method works for you. All the best.

Answer 3

Sounds like my son.

We've found that feeding him bran and prunes really helps.
Once he starts having softer poo -- even if it is an accident in his pants or on the floor -- he will start realizing that it doesn't hurt.
At this point, you can offer him an incentive to sit on the potty or toilet for poo.

We've also found that sitting on the potty, or sitting on the toilet *without* a trainer seat (while you hold him) puts him in a better and more squat-like position for poo-ing (vs sitting on a training seat on the toilet). That will also help him release the poo rather than hold it in.

Answer 4

HI, i read your question and all i can suggest is i didn't worry about the potty, i made my son train on the toilet I felt this easier in the long run for him and less stress on myself, I allow my child to be with me in the toilet when i go although not ideal i know but i thought if he wants to comes in with me, them it doesn't make the toilet seem so big and scary, so when he needs to poo i tried to make it fun letting him stand on his step sit on the big seat gently holding his hands on the sides of the toilet explaining he wont fall into the toilet them really congratulating him went he went, My son is only 3 and he goes to the toilet no problems, I do recommend not to get stress it will happen when he has confidence, I really hope this helps you

Answer 5

It's called "being a parent". Tell him to sit down. If he doesn't, discipline him. It's not a sin to discipline your child. The sooner your child learns that you are the boss, and not him, the better and easier things will be. If you can't control his "pooing", then you're really going to have trouble later on.

Answer 6

i had that problem with my son. i bought him a training seat with his fav little character it didnt last long lol so i put stickers on the toilet seat and everytime he sat down to poop id let him put another on it. it finally worked. and the best part is i can go to walmart and buy another seat for like 10 bucks and start all over with the other kids lol

Answer 7

I'd put him back in his nappy for a while. Make sure his bowels are fairly loose by feeding him fruit and fibre rich foods then after a couple of weeks, try the potty again.

Answer 8

my son was so scared to go to the toilet we tried eveything in the end i physically restrained him and when he did finally let it drop and i said there you have done it, easy isnt it? the look of relief on his face was tremendoushe was so pleased the toilet monster didnt bite his bum ( or whatever he thought was going to happen) its funny what goes on in their minds, you know your child and whats best for him if you dont then keep trying different things you will find a way.

Answer 9

Ever try bribing him???
Some say not to bribe a child, blah blah preach preach but when it comes down to it sometimes that's the only thing that works.

(Ex: "If you sit you get this candy bar, basically what got you here in the first place but whatever...")

Answer 10

Have a look at the link below - it may help.