My three year old won't poo on the toilet. I have tried treats, toys,stickers and other prizes.Got any ideas?

Question

He has had a problem with runny stool for the last 4 months. Doctors have found nothing and are now saying its irritable bowel. Okay, so how do I train him to go on the toilet?

Answer 1

My son was hard to train too. Finally we found a toy that he loved. Hot Wheels. We started giving him hot wheels every time he would Tee Tee in the potty (we let him pick from a bucket of them) and we bought small Nascar cars (that were "special" cars) for the poops. He loved that and finally started to use the potty on everything. Instead of just generic toys, try something he REALLY likes even if it's a little more expensive. I know I know. One thing a mother hates to hear is spending more money. :-) Once we figured out what to use that would work with him, he trained in three weeks!

Answer 2

He has an irritable bowel or some other sickness, think about how your feel when you have runny poo. You may have cramping, you probably feel awful, and often you do not know you have to go til the last minute. Also it is harder to hold it in. It may also hurt when he does poo, it may feel acidic or he may have worse cramps. If it hurts he will try not to go and that will just make the whole situation worse. If he really does have IBS it is supposed to be really painful at times.

The problem isn't that he doesn't want to poo in the toilet, the problem is that he is sick. You need to address the sickness first.

It may be that he has food allergies, he is old enough for allergy testing so that may be the place to start. However many parents find allergy testing inaccurate. The ELISA food allergy panel is recommended for IBS.

Other things to try:

Make sure he gets lots of good bacteria through live yogurt and/or pills. (They taste sweet or you can mix the powder with food). Be sure to get them at at reputable store as improper storage can kill the bacteria.

Make sure that he gets enough "Soluble" fiber. Metamucil and other companies make some fairly nice tasting cookies as well as the icky liquid. I don't know if they have soluble fiber or insoluble.

Fruit and veg that are high in insoluble and should be limited, or eliminated temporarily.

Oil foods, chocolate, red meat, coffee/caffeine and alcohol (kidding about the coffee and alcohol), carbonated beverages, sorbitol (and probably most other artifical sweeteners and fat replacements)

Organic food may also help, pesticides and other toxins may make it worse.

Some people find improvement if they eliminate dairy, however be aware that eliminating dairy is a nearly impossible task. You have to eliminate anything with milk, whey, casium or other dairy products. It is not enough to just eliminate the obvious sources of dairy and then say it isn't working. I would say this is a last resort.

There are also medications though obviously in a child this young they are a last resort.

You may want to try him on a BRAT diet (Bananas, rice, apple sauce, toast) However I have heard apples are not really good for diarrhea. And the BRAT diet is very limited and low in protein. However a severly limited diet for a month might help you get this under control and then you can add foods back in. I would say one grain - maybe rice, one meat preferable organic, two or three fruit and veg high in soluble fiber (carrots, sweet potatoes, turnips, rutabaga, parsnips, beets, squash, avacados, bananas, mangos, and papayas -- papayas are especially good at helping digestion) And nothing else other than those 4-5 foods, for at least 2 weeks and see if there is any improvement.

The important thing is to make your son healthy before working on pottying. You wouldn't punish a child for peeing the bed because it is beyond their control, pooing in his pants is probably beyond his control as well because of the underlying illness.

Answer 3

Every time he doesn't do it in the toilet, say "Oh, yucky, _insert name_, poo poo's yucky and it should go in the toilet." Act truly disgusted and even act like he's yucky, himself, and you are disgusted by having to touch him when he's wearing that dirty diaper. Make him take off the diaper and throw it in the trash, and clean up his own bottom. He'll probably make a mess, but he'll learn that way.

I don't mean you should do it in a mean way - be sensitive and gentle about it, but just make it clear.

Answer 4

I'm sixteen so I don't have experience with kids...But I remember when I was little, about 3-4 years, my mum couldn't make me to poo(or pee) on the pot. I was sooo afraid that i will fall in the hole! But slowly I trained :) So don't worry, he'll probably learn soon.Just be patient with him.

Answer 5

Whatever you do DON'T EMBARRASS HIM....Boys take longer than girls, so just be patient.....try those training diapers and tell him when he does use the toilet that he did a GREAT JOB.....but when he doesn't DON'T yell at him....just tell him to try harder next time....Positive reinforcement is the best thing for him now

Answer 6

He might be afraid of falling in the toliet bowl, not uncommon with young kids. There is an insert for the top of the toliet for toddlers, which makes sitting on the toliet more secure. Kids 'r Us should carry the item.

Answer 7

I don't know but I have a son and he is not on the pot yet but I think I will prbably soon but ever time he gets up tell him to sit back down cause he might want to play but he know he can't untill he uses the pot.

Answer 8

Boys are harder to potty train than girls.The doctor told me that be patient and eventually it will happen.My boys were 3 and a half before they potty trained.

Answer 9

i have 2 kids my doughtier went on her own my son started wen he was 3 when there ready thell go just need time and patients

Answer 10

So where does he poo ...Because he is way too old for a diaper