Not my son. Is it seriously too much to ask that my almost 4 year old use the effing toilet? It's been damn near a year and a half of potty training and I am about to throw myself in front of a friggin truck. The kid knows he has to poop. He hides in the corner or behind something every time he has to go. He will sit on the toilet for hours with a turtle head poking out and he refuses to push it out. I have tried games (drop the bomb on the little target drawn on toilet paper was fun), cheerios, rewards, cool lookin underpants, colace, stool softener, diet change and pretty much everything I can think of. I hate keeping him in a diaper because he will just pee in it but I am tired of cleaning crap filled underpants.

Ugh. I just had to get that out. Any ideas I maybe have not tried?

I agree let him do it when he wants to and reward him when he does. Also seek medical help just in case. (as you already are)

My dd did this too with the poop thing although she potty trained herself at 16 months!!!!!!!!! (for pee) It was about 3-4 months later for poop, and what did it was I told her she could blow out a candle everytime she pooped in the potty~ go figure. He'll get it but "shameing" him into by letting others including kids in really a bad idea!!!!

My son's also 4 and only recently gotten into the swing of things with this #2 business. He'd been peeing on the potty for quite some time, but just didn't want to stop playing long enough for a BM.

I figured: he knows he has to go, and he knows I'll come with if he wants company. The choice to go in the potty or in undies is his. And so is the responsibility of his decision. I know this may sound evil, but it really helped. I calmly (never mean or humiliatingly) had him (under my supervision) dump the poop in the toilet from his undies (or pull-ups trainers, which were the real problem, I think -- inconsistency is the very concept of those) and rinse out the undies in the bathroom sink. "Accidents happen, but we've got to clean them up" was what I said every time.

It sucks cleaning our your underwear when you'd rather be playing, but that was the choice you made in not going on the potty in the 1st place. Obviously the 'rinsed' undies then got thrown in the washer (by him), the sink cleaned out with a bleach wipe (by me), and my son's hands scrubbed (though he quickly learned not to actually touch the poop or dirty part of his underwear). But the point is that HE had to "do the work" in cleaning up his accident. Everything being Mommy's job just means that kids don't take responsibility for their own actions -- be it picking up toys, cleaning up spilled Cheerios, or rinsing out poopy/wet undies!! (Does that make me a rotten mom?)

And he was FOUR for pity's sake! I am not doing the same thing (yet!) with our DD who is 22-months and actively interested in the potty. With every wet/dirty diaper change, she says "go-potty, go-potty" until I plop her on the toilet...even though she just went in her dipe. DS never did that -- and was never interested in trying, despite my pulling out all the tricks.

I, obviously, hope your son's potty issues are stubbornness (as they were for mine) and not a bigger medical issue. :gluck:

Suzanne

My daughter, Jordan was a challenge...

I think she was 3 or 4 when she got the hang of it all.. she was extremely hard to potty train with the poop too! She was always too "busy" to come in. There was this one 4th of July weekend when the whole family was down at my grandparents beach house.. I'm talkin like 20 people... and Jordan wanted to hang with the big kids.. they played all day.. and she never wanted to come in to use the bathroom... so I had plenty of sh*t stained underwear that I had to throw out... I mean.. a couple pairs had a full fledged turd in them. How she could run around with that in there... I have no idea..and the best part.. you'd ask her if she pooped in her pants and she'd say no...while reaking of sh*t, mind you....

My youngest (of 4) is now 5 1/2. It wasn't until she turned 5 that she finally stopped "skidding" her panties!! She never full on POOPED her pants, but like your son, she didn't want to give it up and held it and held it and held it!! She has finally stopped "skidding" but she still doesn't poop daily and that's a little concerning. I think I'll try the senna. Glad I read this

OH...big kid undies aren't all that expensive...so I just threw away the really messy ones....I'd rather buy new ones than try to clean a really messy pair of undies and there was NO WAY she was getting pull ups! She was my fourth and when I stopped buying diapers...it was like independence day at our house!! lol!