The poop . . . literally

[Michele]

I know all of my advice starts this way....if he were a dog....but I sorta think children are like little dogs, and it's what I know....

We'd praise the hell out of our dog when she would go outside, make it a big deal for her. It was kinda annoying, especially at 3am but it worked. We'd even sometimes carry treats outside and reward her for going out there....positive reinforcement...

I don't think you should give him a cookie every time, but maybe a cheerio or two? Or maybe just make it seem like a really cool thing, to go on the potty. Make it a big deal for everyone (you and the girls and DH) and maybe he'll feel left out of the "club." Or am I just going to make one wacked out parent?

[Rapunzel]

You know, Michele, in a way babies and toddlers ARE a lot like puppies! In fact I remember hearing that the psychological "age" a very intelligent dog attains at maturity is comparable to the mentality of a three year old human child. Don't quite know how that can be determined but I thought it was an interesting bit of psychological trivia.

See, you've already had outstanding training as a parent - without having any human babies yet!!

Jennifer

[samssugarmomma]

Isn't there a book about going on the potty? Something like - 'Everybody poops'? Would reading that to him help?


Kate

We didn't have that specific problem (she'd poop more readily than pee on the toilet). But a few things that worked for us (I think).
When he is pooping, let him know so that he learns what it feels like.

When he does poop in his underwear or diaper, put the poop in the toilet with him nearby and let him flush or something to be a part of the experience. Explain that poop goes in the toilet and that is why you are putting it there. Come to think of it, we did have a similar poop problem. She would poop in her pull-up first thing when she woke up (good morning, mommy!) and it drove us nuts. We tried the above with some success.

I think a reward is a great idea. Does he have a favorite cartoon character? See if you can find that character on underwear. Maybe he'll poop for Scooby (or whoever he likes).

we had this

We got our guy to go on the potty by literally catching him "in the act" one time and quickly placing his little bottom on the potty. After the first or second time of doiing this, he understood that it wouldn't hurt him or whatever fears he had were allayed.

Hope this helps.

Kelly

[Auspicious]

....but I sorta think children are like little dogs,

FH always jokes that 4 cats = 1 one child. We're considering either having three kids or twelve cats, we haven't decided which yet.

Totally kidding, of course.

I forget the origins of this joke, but now that we have it, it does seem to have eerie incarnations in real life--like our friends who keep declaring that they're going to start TTC, but then keep "delaying" it and simultaneously getting another cat. So far they're up to three cats. We think when they hit four they're going to decide they never really wanted kids anyway.