why are kids afraid to poop in the toilet?

Question

there's this kid i babysit. he's 3 and has a mild form of autism. i take him to go pee every 30 min. and he pees in the toilet (he won't tell you that he has to go, though), but he won't poop. he'll poop his pants, and i'll sit him on the potty while i clean up the mess, and he jumps off and says he's all done, then finishes the job in the second pair of underwear. he did this twice. the third time (this is over a week of babysitting various nights), i sat him on the pot and told him to finish going (there was only a little in his underwear when i caught him). i read him a book hoping that would take his mind off of it, and after 10 min. still nothing. so i put a pull-up on him and he finished the job almost immediately. i talked to the mom and she said she'd rather have him poop in the pull-up than be holding it in because he won't go in the pot. (her oldest son held it for 3 days because he didn't want to go in the toilet). why are kids afraid to poop in the toilet?

Answer 1

My nephew didn't like the "splash". He's gotten over it. :)

Answer 2

It sounds like part of the problem is the parents are allowing and enabling the child to continue the behavior because he has a slight handicap. I think they should at least continue to promote the potty seat as an option if he is unwilling to cooperate with the big toilet. At least he would continue with proper toilet training rather than thinking it's ok to poop in his pants. Sounds like these parents are foolish when it comes to potty training if they allowed the eldest son to hold it for 3 days.

I think kids are afraid they will fall in; hence the reason they invented the smaller seats to fit on the regular seat so they wont. To this day I still hold my shirt above my waist because my footie jammies fell in once when I was little. Of course I didn't realize it til i got up and they slapped me in the back of my legs.....YUCK!!!

Answer 3

Our son is highly gifted and was terrified to poop on the toilet OR potty!

The parenting books that I read said that it's a completely different process than urination, and it feels odd to come out like that.

Add all the other factors are adding and it kinda makes sense.

I don't think it's the parent/parent's 'fault' at all. Every child develops when they are ready.

I bet by age 5 or so, he'll be fine with it. :-)

Answer 4

Various reasons, it depends on the child.
A. They're afraid they'll fall in
B. They're afraid something will grab them from inside the toilet
C. The toilet seat feels strange and/or cold
D. They are used to wearing a diaper and going to the bathroom in it.
E. When I was little, I didn't like going on the toilet because of all the excitement of it. It was embarrassing to me. Finally I guess I went on my own in my little potty and told my parents to leave me alone about it.

Answer 5

some say its like a part of them is falling off. it is just so foreign to them. give it time and he will master it. when i worked in day care. if they pooped in their underwear i would take them to the bathroom and if the poop is able to roll out then roll it into the toilet so you are showing them where it goes. i potty trained lots of children that way. there are many ways, do some research online on how to teach them.
i also trained kittens to use the litter box by putting their poop in the litter box after they did it on the floor. and it worked, but it does take more time for children...

Answer 6

Well... have you ever went to sit down on a toilet that some guy forgot to put the seat down? You feel like you're about to fall in and gasp and get a little scared? I think kids must feel like that all the time because they're so small and it's so big...

Answer 7

My son is three and has gone once, still waiting for it to become a habit. A lot of times children hold it in because it's a form of control for them. They might feel that the rest of their lives are controlled by their parents or other outside influences, but they can hold it in and control that one thing. Or so I've been told by my children's doctor.

Answer 8

they are afraid because when kids are inside their mommie's tummy's there is a police man who tells them not to poop in toilets because toilets don't like eating poop, and if toilets get mad at you they eat you... u don't know this because u are over the age of three.

i'm a three year old genius

Answer 9

I dunno really but my son is the same,

You could try, planning his poop,
EG,
you now have a ruff idea of the time that he poops,

so you could give him a few sipps of COFFEE, ( natural laxitive) to help stimulate his bowels,

and make him sit on the bowl 10 minutes afterwards

and just read him a story on the potty while you wait,

M

Answer 10

Its normal. Its scary to be sitting on a throne in the middle of a room doing something so private. Every kid goes through it.

Answer 11

they see the toliet as a trap and they are afraid that 1. they will fall in 2. something will pop out of there and get them