HE DID IT!!!!!!

[~Charlie's~Angel~]

OK, I havent posted a ton about this journey, but my location says it all. 

And last night, something clicked, for both of us. 

His DCP said he hadnt pooed yesterday. And they really have been working with him for the past week.  But after three tries, he just ends up going in his pull up.  AGH. 

So I was in the kitchen making dinner.  I went into the living room to check on them, and i see Charlie behind the loveseat.  "What are you doing?" "Nothing" "did you poop?" "NO!" "Do you have to poop?" "NO" "Well you know, if you go poop on the potty, you get a prize" (Yes, I have resorted to blackmail.  Flame me if you want, I really dont care  ) That caught his attention.  "OK MAMA! Lets go!" So i get him situated on the little potty (he usualy always pees on the toilet) And just tell him to relax, and I will be in the kitchen doing dinner to give him privacy.  I go to the kitchen, not 45 seconds later, I hear him running up the hall, and saying "Mommy!  I show you, see see, I did it, see!!!"  Here im thinking he just peed again to try to get a prize.  But to my amazement he ACTUALLY POOPED!  I was so overjoyed, I think I startled him.  I hugged him like 4 times, did a little dance, sang a song.  Im hoping my encouraging reaction will give him more incentive to keep trying. 

This may not sound like a huge deal.  but this kid is 3 years, 2 months old, and has NEVER EVER pooped on the potty or toilet ONCE.  So BIG TIME hurdle we got over last night, and Im exstatic.  I just hope it lasts. 

[BFandHS]

How exciting!  Has he done it again yet?

[sapphire_chan]

Win!

Sounds like he's figuring out how to relax the right way on the potty. Which means that it should be easier the next time!

(And, um, :blush: did he get a prize? Did he like it? Sorry, I'm all curious.)

[~Charlie's~Angel~]

He absolutly got a prize.  Wasnt gonna lie to the kid. 

He hasnt done it again yet, but im staying really relaxed about it all.  Hes having to poop while in school.  If his body would just schedule around the time we get home, it would be great.  lol  Dont get me wrong, the girls at his daycare are SUPER and they have been working really well with him.  I just think its more comfortable at home for him.  Heck, I know I prefer to do it at home. 

One thing he is also doing is pulling down his pants, and STANDING to pee (another huge hurdle) pulling pants back up and washing all by himself.  Im like, seriously?  Your a REAL BOY.  Just like pinnochio.  (i say that and hes like, mama, who is pokiko?)

[sapphire_chan]

Originally Posted by ~Charlie's~Angel~ 

He absolutly got a prize.  Wasnt gonna lie to the kid. 

I was thinking maybe you got so excited that you forgot to give him the prize.

[~Charlie's~Angel~]

sorry I misunderstoon. And no.  There is no way on God's green earth that child would let me FORGET to give him his prize.  Blasphemous. 
 

Originally Posted by sapphire_chan 

Originally Posted by ~Charlie's~Angel~ 

He absolutly got a prize.  Wasnt gonna lie to the kid. 

I was thinking maybe you got so excited that you forgot to give him the prize.

[JamieB]

Saw this in the new posts.  Congrats!  We have only been PL for a couple weeks now and my DS is a little younger than yours but I got so excited when my DS peed on the potty for the first time today that I actually scared him.  LOL  I hope your DS keeps it up for you so you can move from that location!

[FrugalGranolaMom]

Congrats !!!

This is not a journey I am looking forward to.

[~Charlie's~Angel~]

Just wanted to let ya'll know that it has now been almost a week, and he has YET to do it again.  Toddlers are so freaking fickle. 

This was why I tried not to get my hopes up to high. 

[Super~Single~Mama]

Originally Posted by ~Charlie's~Angel~ 

Just wanted to let ya'll know that it has now been almost a week, and he has YET to do it again.  Toddlers are so freaking fickle. 

This was why I tried not to get my hopes up to high. 

Keep offering prizes!  Can you send some prizes to the daycare for if he does it there??  Make it something he really likes ( candy anyone?)

[~Charlie's~Angel~]

I wish I hadnt already thought of that Thyra.  LOL 

yes, we offer them CONSTANTLY, and its skittles, his absolute favorite  and he really does try to go.  But he just sits there and pushes, and i say (or the girls at daycare) Dont hurt yourself honey, but when you feel it coming, tell us, and we will bring you to the potty so you can go.  he will try like 3 times a day, and then lay down for his nap, wake up an hour later, and say, Miss XXX I POOPED!   

He did this to me just yesterday. I asked him all morning, he tried a few times.  I turn my back to go make breakfast, i come back out FIVE MINUTES LATER, hes behind the couch.  MOM I POOPED! 

[sapphire_chan]

Then what I'd try is laying down with him to read a story, with pants off (obviously at home not daycare :D) and then rushing him to the potty when laying down and relaxing helps things start moving. I'd even put the potty in the bedroom to give more chance of catching things.

Also, do you have a low potty where he can be in more of a squatting position? Like the baby bjorn little potty, the potette, or the ikea potty? One of those, plus a small table for a snack or toys could help with relaxing.

Because the pattern I'm seeing is that he feels pressure to "produce" so he's probably straining and struggling and actually holding things in from the tension. Then when he "gives up" and goes to doing something else, his body just takes care of things.

[Super~Single~Mama]

Originally Posted by sapphire_chan 

Then what I'd try is laying down with him to read a story, with pants off (obviously at home not daycare :D) and then rushing him to the potty when laying down and relaxing helps things start moving. I'd even put the potty in the bedroom to give more chance of catching things.

Also, do you have a low potty where he can be in more of a squatting position? Like the baby bjorn little potty, the potette, or the ikea potty? One of those, plus a small table for a snack or toys could help with relaxing.

Because the pattern I'm seeing is that he feels pressure to "produce" so he's probably straining and struggling and actually holding things in from the tension. Then when he "gives up" and goes to doing something else, his body just takes care of things.

Man, thank goodness for MDC - when I need help PT'ing my ds, I'm coming here!  So many good ideas!
 

[~Charlie's~Angel~]

Ok, seriously?

Ive tried telling him to relax when i have him sit on his potty.  And that if he wants to stand over it, he can.  Then I ask him if he wants mommy to go away, because i figure if hes going behind the couch, he must want privacy.  The time he did go, I asked him if he wanted me to leave the room and he said yes.  But everything you said surely made sense.  I have tried giving him books to read while he sits.  Perhaps I could enforce that more at his school.  The girls are always willing to try anything I suggest.  They may have even tried it themselves.  LOL

Originally Posted by sapphire_chan 

Then what I'd try is laying down with him to read a story, with pants off (obviously at home not daycare :D) and then rushing him to the potty when laying down and relaxing helps things start moving. I'd even put the potty in the bedroom to give more chance of catching things.

Also, do you have a low potty where he can be in more of a squatting position? Like the baby bjorn little potty, the potette, or the ikea potty? One of those, plus a small table for a snack or toys could help with relaxing.

Because the pattern I'm seeing is that he feels pressure to "produce" so he's probably straining and struggling and actually holding things in from the tension. Then when he "gives up" and goes to doing something else, his body just takes care of things.

[sapphire_chan]

If you would be okay with it, and it would be legal or whatever, could he go potty with a friend? (Separate potties!!) Have the daycare take him potty at the same time as another kid he likes talking to and get them chatting about something of interest like what they'll make with playdough or what do they think snack will be? It'd probably work best if they could see each other, but a divider where they can hear each other could work too. (I have no idea how potty time works at daycares aside from often the learning kids are taken to try about the same time as diaper changes.)

I used books as an example because that's what really held my dd's interest for a long while. Now she just asks for, or brings, her potty to her toys (don't think you can do that in a day care, but maybe you could send in a bag of "potty toys" that they can just stick back in a plastic bag or something?) and carries on.*

*except when she's really got to pee and that's making her mad at the universe in which case I stand her in the tub and run some water and watch her pee a TON while complaining that she doesn't need the potty. Toddlers, eh?

[Super~Single~Mama]

Originally Posted by sapphire_chan 

*except when she's really got to pee and that's making her mad at the universe in which case I stand her in the tub and run some water and watch her pee a TON while complaining that she doesn't need the potty. Toddlers, eh?

Where is the LOL smiley when you need it?  Thats hilarious!  Toddlers really are interesting creatures!

[2xand2y]

With my boys the advice to "push your poopy out" failed completely.  We had to take a total break from PL.  When we revisited PL we went with "when you are ready sit on the potty and relax and your poopy will slide out".  Lots of fiber and water helped to make our words true.  Also, limiting bananas and cheese and any other constipating foods.  Do you give vitamins?  You might want to consider taking a temporary break from supplemental iron if you do.  It tends to make BMs hard.

Good luck!  I think the best birth control ever is having all potty learned kids.  Potty learning time is one of my least favorite parenting experiences.

[~Charlie's~Angel~]

Not only is multi quote not working for me, but the site seems to crash my responses if I take to long to type it out. 

Saphire- The bathrooms at his daycare have the little mini toilets in them, a row of three.  So I am pretty sure they take multiple kids at a time, and I have suggested him going with other preschoolers that are already fully learned, so he can see THEM pooping on the potty successfully.  When he caught site of a friends almost 4 year old peeing standing up a couple weeks ago, it really made something click for him, and hes been doing that ever since. I havent had a chance to ask if they try books to allow him to relax.  It might be a sanitary thing if they dont, which I could understand.  He really doesnt seem to bother with them when trying at home, which I have suggested. 

2xand2y- I make a mental note everytime I take him at home to NOT tell him to push it out.  I remind him to just relax.  I even offer to leave the room if that would help him relax even more.  I know I dont like an audience when IM doing it, lol.  Im not really sure where he got the "pushing" idea from.  It might have been from the girls at school.  I havent asked, becaiuse I dont want to get too gestapo on them.  I have to remind myself that some of these girls have been at it for 20+ years.  They might even be better at potty learning then most mothers I know, since they have helped literaly hundreds of kids learn to potty.  I try to trust in their experience that they have seen what works for each individual kid.  I  know hes in good hands at school, thats for sure. 

UPDATE- He went at school yesterday!  Another first. He even told one of his teachers he had to go!  Which is ALSO a first. The first time he went, I had caught him behind the couch JUST in time.  So I was very excited for him to make this connection.   Unforunatly, after being home for about an hour, he had to go again, and did it in the living room while I was making dinner.  I told him when we got home that if he felt it coming, to tell me.  Didnt work.  Oh well, baby steps with this little guy. 

[GardenStream]

DS1 pooped in his underwear for months.  He was perfect with peeing in the potty, but pooping there seemed to be so much harder for him.  I remember days when he went through 3 or 4 pairs of underwear.  It's so frustrating! It took a nasty bout of diarrhea and DS sitting on the potty for almost an hour.  He got a lot of practice pooping on the potty that day.  Good luck with potty learning and try not to stress over it too much.

[sapphire_chan]

Hey, baby steps are steps and every time things work out is practice for it happening again. At least he knows when he *has* pooped and (I hope) doesn't sit down with the poopy diaper?

Does he know that you can stop pooping in the middle? That if he feels himself start to poop, he can try stopping when there's only a little bit out and then finish on the potty? (Note, I have no idea if 3 year olds can actually do this. Sometimes dd can stop peeing and get to the potty, so I thought there's a chance it could be done some times with pooping.)