HELP DS "still" not pottytrained!!!!

[vllygrrl]

Ah, the great "Mickey" motivator for potty training! My son was also having issues with potty training last summer when he was 3 1/2. It was August, and although he had no issues with peeing, he simply would not poop in the potty. We were going to Disney in a month, and I wanted him to be able to go in the pools with his cousins. First, I told him that 3 was the age that Disney started considering him a big kid, and only the babies were allowed to wear pullups there . Then, I bought Craisins, which were new to him, and called them "brave buttons". We still use them now - he eats a few whenever he's worried about something. Finally, I picked out a toy that I knew he desperately wanted and told him that when he was brave enough to poop on the potty we would go to Toys R Us immediately to get it for him. We ate brave buttons every day for 2 weeks and then one Saturday he asked me to go to the potty with him. Miraculously, he did it, and immediately was night trained too. Have not touched a pullup since, and have only had 2 accidents since that day.

 

[mdhkitten]

I was laughing when I ready your post, only because I'm going through the EXACT same thing, and to make it worse, I am considering doing a fairly last minute cruise in the next couple of months (who knows, maybe we'll be on the same one! LOL)!

I have a 3 1/2 year old daughter who is completely potty trained as far as peeing goes, but forget about the poop! LOL One time she pooped on the potty and my mom called me at work and my daughter was all excited. I bought her a gift at the mall before leaving work, praised her, so I thought that we were good to go. She hasn't pooped in the potty since. She always wants to do it in a Pull Up as well. Otherwise she wears cloth panties during the day. I've tried sticking her on the potty when she's ready to go and we've sat there for an hour with no luck. I've tried leaving her pantless (because in desperation she would go in the cloth panties), and she would hold it for days if I let her, I believe, or until I put her in a pull up for bedtime. It's very frustrating, but I figure that it will happen when it happens. Good luck, and know that you aren't the only out there going through this!

 

[lizzie64]

Pull ups are the anti potty training staple.

Every pediatrician I've spoken to goes against them. It just gives them a fall back that if they really have to, they can poop in the pull up.

I never used them. I potty trained 4 kids and all were fully potty trained in one week. Granted, it wasn't fun and I spent the week walking back and forth to the potty several times a day, but by the weeks end, they knew what to do.

Good Luck!

 

[Vanvmom]

Beware of the super sucking sound the toilets on the ship make for those of you with potty fears. My youngest first heard the flush when we got to the cabin and decided he could "wait." I told him we were going to be on the ship for 7 nights, so I didn't think he could wait that long. We compromised with flushing for him once he left the bathroom.

 

[rylisal]

We too are trying to 'potty' train our soon to be 3 yr old ds...We sail october!
I find it hard because I'm a working mum & so am not always around and its tough relying on his carers!
I'm taking a week off work in May & will spend it trying to get him 'clean'!
I think losing the Pull ups will help big time as since last Summer(UK) he has been quite able to go if naked, its just lazyness when he's wearing a Pull up!
We are using the whole "You can't come see Mickey Mouse" thing at moment as we are also trying to lose the dummy(soother) which he has come far too attatched to!(Any advice on how to lose it??)
He will be 3 in June which is around the time we got DS1 trained..He's now 13 yrs, so here's hoping!
It is the 'Pool' thing with us too as when we sailed The Wonder last year he was only 20months but SO desperate to go in the 'Big' pool that we had to avoid walking anywhere near it!
Pleased to find this thread & know we're not alone!

 

[SILLYANDI]

My son was very easy to potty train. We never did pull ups or training pants, we went right to big boy underware. Yes I did have several messes at first however, I think pull ups are too much like diapers there for the child thinks it's ok to go potty in them. I think you should take away the pull ups even at night, reward you son every time he goes in the potty with a sticker or some other small reward and you will be suprised how quickly he will catch on.

I agree with this post. I have 4 kids, learned the hard way that pull ups are a no-no.

I suggest getting rid of them completely, and having a jar of "poo poo" candy in the bathroom. M&M's worked well for us. If he poops on the toilet he gets some candy, no poop-no candy. In the beginning you can give him 1 for sitting and trying. If he doesn't have a sweet tooth find some other sort of "currency" that works for him. A new hot wheel car (I filled the jar with 10 cars for my son!) every time, etc.
The other important thing is that once the poo poo candy/toys, etc are gone then that's it. They are "big kids" and big kids go in the potty because that's the rule, not to get gifts.
My oldest was a pull up hold out. I told her she could wear them, but she had to clean herself up if she pooped or peed in the pull up. At 3 1/2 they are old enough to do this themself and to understand it is not a fun job. I think she went twice in the pull up before she decided that the toilet was much cleaner. I have not used pull ups since the 1st kid and the other kids have been fully trained in a week with no problems.
Good luck and don't fret-2 months is a long time for a kid to practice.

 

[QJ411]

I had to pop in and say, since reading the tips and suggestions here, I did stop with the pull ups for our DD (2). For the past few months, she's been off and on with the potty, but we've always kept the Pull Ups on when she's not on the potty, we did the ask every 30 mins thing and it didn't work.

Last Friday, I decided to grin and bear it. Got the towels ready, stopped the pull ups and so far so good. She loves the idea of wearing big girl undies and no pull ups. She's had a couple of accidents but that's a given!

So I just wanted to say THANK YOU for all the tips and to the OP for starting this thread! It's only been a few days, but I'm not going to be discouraged!

THANKS again and good luck to my fellow potty trainers!

 

[dizzi]

Neither of my kids trained until 3 1/2. For my son it was an issue of mastery - he wouldn't until he could with no mistakes. My daughter was stubborn and had some issues with not wanting to grow up. For her, talking to the peditrician about being a "big girl" and then taking away the pull ups and putting her in DIAPERS when she had "accidents" (which both the peditrician and I were sure weren't accidents - they were stubborness) - solved the issue, but it was two weeks of hell.

Pull ups were enough big girl for her to have it both ways.

I had same issue with my DD........
Did not want to grow up!
She is now 11 and goes to the potty just fine...ha ha
But still does not want to grow up and resists it every day??????
Whats up with that???
I think this is a rare thing.
Any thing at all that requires growing up she doesnt even want to discuss...she doesnt even want to go to middle school next year.....

 

[yogibigdog]

Yes, stop using pull ups!

Also if he likes to swim use the pool on the ship as a motivator too! Unless he is completely train he can’t go in the pool. He would probably love the Mickey pool and slide.

I have seen the pool closed too many times because of accidents. When they close the pools it takes 2 to 3 hours to clean and refill.

Last cruise I actually saw a boy have an accident in the goofy pool. I was sitting on the edge of the Goofy pool watching my son swim. I heard a young boy maybe 3 or 4 tell his father he had to go. His father was holding him and he started yelling well where is your Mom. A few minutes later he picked him up and when he stood on the edge of the pool – let’s just say it all came out- some was on the deck and some went into the pool. He just looked around and walked away.
Well I started yelling for the kids to get out of the pool. I found a cast member told him what happened and he said he would go get someone. Meanwhile I had to prevent people from stepping “in it” while trying to tell people to get out. Luckily two teenage girls came over and help. They were very loud and we managed to get everyone out of the pool before the lifeguard from the Mickey pool came over and officially closed the pool.

Imagine the father just walking away and leaving everyone to swim in his son’s toilet!

Best of luck!

 

[mdhkitten]

Since I read this post and then posted myself about my dd not pooping on the potty, things have changed!! I was determined that she would be able to go to the classes onboard and NOT the nursery! I started putting her in big girl undies (no pull-ups except while sleeping), because I know she's fully wee wee trained. I told her that we don't poop in the panties and said that if she needs to poop to let me know. She came to me and told me that she needed to go and I immediately stuck her on the potty. She said that she was scared and I told her that there was nothing to be afraid of and that if she wanted to go on Mickey's boat that she had to start going on the potty. Well, she stood up and said that she went and it was just a tiny bit. LOL Better than nothing! I made a big deal about it and we resumed our activities. A few minutes later she said that she had to go again and did a little more. A few minutes later, more! She hasn't had to go since, but I'm hopeful that we're moving in the right direction!

 

[yogibigdog]

Since I read this post and then posted myself about my dd not pooping on the potty, things have changed!! I was determined that she would be able to go to the classes onboard and NOT the nursery! I started putting her in big girl undies (no pull-ups except while sleeping), because I know she's fully wee wee trained. I told her that we don't poop in the panties and said that if she needs to poop to let me know. She came to me and told me that she needed to go and I immediately stuck her on the potty. She said that she was scared and I told her that there was nothing to be afraid of and that if she wanted to go on Mickey's boat that she had to start going on the potty. Well, she stood up and said that she went and it was just a tiny bit. LOL Better than nothing! I made a big deal about it and we resumed our activities. A few minutes later she said that she had to go again and did a little more. A few minutes later, more! She hasn't had to go since, but I'm hopeful that we're moving in the right direction!

Great to hear!

 

[Hudson5&Lennon3]

I'll let you know what worked for us. I haven't gone through and read all the previous posts, so pardon me for giving an idea if a similar one has already been given. Pottying wasn't a problem (after putting him only in undies on a long weekend and keeping him outside most of the time), but pooping was a problem. Our situation improved when we gave an incentive for going on the toilet. He loved getting temporary tatoos, so one day he came up with the idea of getting a tatoo instead of a sticker (which come off within about 5 minutes and ended up stuck on the carpet--no real incentive there). I told him that he could have a tattoo every time he used the toilet, but if he had an accident, ALL the tatoos would come off (using rubbing alcohol). He was so proud of himself when he was COVERED in tatoos. Only once did we have to take off 2 or 3 tattoos for him to understand the concept. His 3-year pictures were taken with about 10 tatoos on his arms, legs, tummy, back, etc. I was embarrassed by it at first, but when I see those pictures now, I think about how grown up he was to catch on to it so fast. Two years later, he will still occasionally ask for a tatoo.

 

[Surroundedbyboys]

M & M's worked magic for our son. He LOVED candy but only rarely did we give him any. When he was a bit over 2 I decided to bribe him. When he pooped in the potty he got 2 M&M's. He was trained in 2 days. Never had another accident. Just use whatever your child loves the most.

 

[MariaTia]

My sister needs help majorly with my nephews - they are twins and turned 4 on January 26 and they are not potty trained at all. The both still wear diapers. My sis and bro-in-law have tried and tried, my Mom has tried and even me and my husband and nothing works! They will not go in the toilet and will not even talk about it. They get very upset or simply ignore you. They go to school 2 days a week for 1/2 days, but other than that they are not around any other kids and my sister is a stay at home mom. Please, help us as this is crazy and embarrasing. We have tried books, videos, candy, cherrios, toys, Elmo goes to the potty, and nothing works! They really don't know about going on trips, etc., since they haven't been on one yet, so that bribe would not work and they really don't look forward to anything yet. Has anyone trained twin boys and how?? I think they work off each other and are both against it, making it harder since they copy the other one.

 

[mdhkitten]

Just a quick update............the telling my dd about Mickey's boat and not being able to go to the big kid classes unless she went on the potty seemed to have worked!! She's been several times since on her own without telling me!! Let's hope it stays that way! Good luck to everyone else!

 

[stoofyg]

We had a similar situation - cruising right as our dd turned 3. We used the Mickey pool as an incentive and then I did stickers for pooping. When we started we did 3 stickers for a present (can be anything - like a lollipop or a trip to the dollar store). After 2 successes we did 5 stickers for a present, then 10, finally 20. She went on her own pretty fast after we started the sticker sheets. After a few days going for 20 stickers she kind of forgot and moved on! Yea Mickey and stickers!

 

[mindy327]

Thought I would give my update... Since I wrote this post, I have thought of many different ways to help my son learn to use the potty to poo. No luck! So next week, he and DD have spring break. (He is in Special Ed for Speech and goes to preschool) SOOOO, at the end of the week, no pull ups no undies! (he'll poo in his undies if we put them on him) Just a t-shirt and his urgency to go. Perhaps that will help. I HOPE SO. Lets cross our fingers and sprinkle some fairy dust our way.

 

[crw]

Perhaps a bit mean, but effective -- We simply told our 3yo that if she didn't put her poop in the potty, she would not be swimming in Mickey. She knows that we follow through on threats and results were forthcoming! Yes, Mickey potty-trined our daughter!
Chris

 

[secretkeeper]

Thought I would give my update... Since I wrote this post, I have thought of many different ways to help my son learn to use the potty to poo. No luck! So next week, he and DD have spring break. (He is in Special Ed for Speech and goes to preschool) SOOOO, at the end of the week, no pull ups no undies! (he'll poo in his undies if we put them on him) Just a t-shirt and his urgency to go. Perhaps that will help. I HOPE SO. Lets cross our fingers and sprinkle some fairy dust our way.

We put two small baskets in the bathroom. One held clean clothes and underware. The other was for accidents. We explained to him that he was a big boy and with our help he could use the potty. If he had accidents he would have to help take care of the accident. We then put the control in our 3 year olds hands & dumped the pullups except for night. We then told him to ask for help if he needed to use the potty. If he had a accident we supervised him removing the soiled clothing, cleaned him up and let him put new clothes on. Once he figured out that having accidents took up a lot more time then using the potty we had few accidents. I also had two training potties. One I kept in the room we spent the most time in and one upstairs. When he was successful with a poop he got a matchbox car. Once he was consistant on the training potty we moved to the regular potty quickly. It took about a week but he got it and we were pull up free for our cruise a year ago! Best wishes

 

[JennyW]

We're still having the same problem, too. Our son, though, knows exactly what to do and how to do it. But it isn't novel or exciting anymore for him, so he doesn't care and just goes in his pants. Soon we're going to ditch the pull-ups and see what happens. It should prove to be a messy week!