Saturday, July 5, 2008

My Son HATES the Potty!

Warning: There is a LOT of talk about poopoo in this post!

Let me tell you a couple of little stories before I get to the real point of this blog.

A few weeks ago after having Parker sit on the potty for 15 minutes or so, he looks at me and tells me, "OK, Mom, I'm done sitting on the potty now. I want to get a diaper change and go teetee in my diaper."

Today Adam and I went in to wake Parker up from his afternoon nap and he gets down and starts playing. He is in a squat position and I immediately see the "poopoo" face. So I say, "Come on Peanut, let's go poopoo in the potty!". He tells me, "No, I just need a diaper change." So after going back and forth for a few seconds and arguing about him going on the potty, I guess he had finished, because he then tells Adam and I, "I REALLY need a diaper change". No kidding?!?!? Of course you do! You're sitting in your own CRAP! (I didn't say that to him, but I really wanted to)

These are just a couple of examples, out of thousands, of my struggles with getting Parker potty trained. Keep in mind, I am DESPERATE!! He is 3 years and 3 months old....WAY past the potty training age. I have tried everything I know to do: sticker charts, rewards (candy and cars), taking him every 30 minutes, training pants, reading potty books, the little potty, the big potty with the padded insert, sitting, standing, and telling him over and over that only babies wear diapers (because he tells me multiple times everyday that he is a "big boy"). The only thing I haven't tried, only because we have new carpet, is letting him run around naked. NOTHING is working. He has only gone teetee on the potty like 2 or 3 times and those were by accident because he had sat there so long and he has gone poopoo like 3 times because I caught him in the act and forced him to finish on the potty.

I have run out of options and I am starting to REALLY lose my patients! (OK, I just realized that I spelled PATIENCE as though I am a Doctor or something...lol) There is nothing worse than changing what I like to call "man poop"! So, the whole point to this blog, is to ask for help from anyone that has had to potty train a boy. I have heard that they are much harder to train than girls, but come on, it shouldn't be THIS hard! So many people tell me that he will do it when he's ready, but as stubborn as he is, I fear that will be in 10 years. So, PLEASE HELP ME!! If you haven't trained a boy, but you know someone who has, please forward this to them, so that they can offer advice as well.

Desperately yours & love you all
Heather

4 comments:

Emily said...

I haven't trained a boy. Only 1 girl. But I know your frustration. I will say that if you maybe let go of it for a few weeks, I would bet money that he'd do it on his own time.

My good friend trained her son outside. Since it's summertime, let him run around naked in the yard for a while.

Sorry, this is the only advice I have. Good Luck!!

Jenny Seymore said...

Girl please, my little man was fully trained by the time he was two...which only lasted for about 2 weeks and then he for some crazy reason reverted back to pull-ups. The teachers at his preschool told us to leave him in them and wait about a month or so before we tried again. She said that the more that you force stubborn kids...like mine...the more they will dig in their heels. It was actually about 3 months later or maybe 4, but he finally began to see big toys that he wanted that we told him were only for big boys. He would want to go to Chuck E Cheese or the movies and we wouldn't take him b/c he wasn't being a big boy. The kicker was when we brought 3 of our nephews over to stay for the weekend and they all used the potty and when he didn't they told him he was a baby...and showed him how.

I don't know that any of this helps, but girl I know what you are going through. You'll have to let me know if Peyton is any easier when the time comes!!!

~Shelia said...

Boy or girl, doesn't matter. Sometimes kids just prefer paper over porcelain. Sometimes it is all about the power they have and can weild. Word of advice to someone going through it from one who has been their twice and has one more to go... give it some space. It will happen, and when it does you will wonder what the big deal was. With our oldest trying to find his "hot button" to get the process moving was a challenge, but once we did, he trained much more easily. Not without many tears and power struggles, but he did it. And he was older than 3 1/2 when it happened. And so was my daughter. (Both were and are tiny control freaks, so that made potty training sooooo fun!)

Be gentle with yourself, and with Parker. You both deserve it. It will happen, I promise.

Amy said...

I just potty trained my son (who turned 3 yesterday) about 2 months ago. I just had to decide one day to put him in underwear and be ok with accidents. In about 3 days we were completely pee-pee potty trained (during the day-not at naps or bedtime). Poop got us b/c he didn't want to stop what he was doing to poop...b/c it took longer. Plus Husband, who is physician says it takes longer for youngsters to process the urge that they get to poop b/c the urge doesn't come as often as peeing. Anyway, we finally had had enough of poop in underwear and we told him that his favorite toy in the world would go away if he pooped in his underwear again...that was 2 months ago and we haven't had a poop accident since. We also promised him a Leapster if he became completely potty trained. We would go to the store and I would let him hold it and look at it, but told him we couldn't buy it unless he was a big boy. Well, we purchased it about 4 weeks ago! Yippeee!!! I hope this helps! Don't give up, it will come.