PT and holding in poop

so cam is doing well with going pee on the potty. but WONT poop on the potty. he was pooping in his underwear, but i kept telling him over and over it's not good to get thomas/diego dirty, our poop goes in the potty, etc. etc. i even bought him a special ball he wanted and put it high in the bathroom and told him he could have it when he went poop on the potty, and he knows he can have a tattoo when he poops on the potty (that's what dd gets). BUT no dice. now, this is a kid who before PT would poop at least twice, sometimes three times per day regularly. he didn't poop today or yesterday AT ALL. what do i do? i don't want him to hold it in - i would rather he poop in his diaper at nap or in his underwear than get all constipated because that will make things worse. help! :help:

 

I went through this with Erick. Yogurt has a laxative effect on him so we had that once a day for a while, lots of raisins for snacks and whole grain/high fiber breads/crackers. If he skipped a day of BM, on top of the other stuff I'd give him a single dose of a laxative...I'm pretty sure it was Little Tummy's but whatever it was the ingredient was basically the same as what's in an adult stool softener. Just stick with it and do whatever you can to keep his BMs soft so it doesn't hurt when he does go.

 

Bea definitely poops less now that she is potty trained. Sometimes she waits until she is in her pull-up for the night, and will go within minutes of being put to bed. Not sure if you are using little potties at all, but that is sometimes more comfortable for kids to poop in, because their feet touch the floor. Do make sure he stays well hydrated and such so that the poop doesn't get too hard and then hurt for it to come out. Bea can get constipated easily too, so we really have to watch her, especially since she's only pooping once a day now, if that.

 

Not that this helps much, but I know a 3.5-year-old boy who will only poop in pull-ups. He has to be PT at school, so he simply doesn't poop at school. It can't feel good, but his mom has just given up fighting it as long as he doesn't poop in his undies.

 

I think giving him lots of foods that stimulate the result will teach him HE HAS TO USE it not matter what.

And I know this sounds kinda harsh but my oldest was turning 3 and would not poop in the potty (he was peeing fine) so I basically told him I was calling off his birthday party if he didn't go in the potty that week. He did it that day and every day after that. :blush: I know scare tactics are not good but when nothing else is working, you gotta pull out all the stops sometimes.

Good luck!