Well, that’s not entirely true. Praying for, pardon the term, a poop is something I am sure everyone has done at one point in their life. Sounds yucky, but we all do it. No need to get embarrassed here..
Anyway, that’s not why I am praying for poop now. You know, before having children I was aware of certain things that were politically incorrect and swore I would never, ever do them with my kids. Like a three year old having a soother or as our three year old called it, his choochie. William was known as Choochie Boy for awhile, God bless him. Weaning him off of that thing was the hardest thing I have endured. And I have had brain surgery and two c sections.
Yup, that’s two choochies for my Choochie Boy ♥
Then there is the sleeping in their own beds thing. I think it was considered taboo for kids to sleep in their parents bed. They should always wake up in their own beds the “experts” say. Ya, we tried that with both the ten year old and the four year old. I am happy to say the ten year old (Emily is gonna be ticked if she reads this) does sleep in her own bed now and has since William was born. She had no choice but to get out cause we were starting to run out of room. :-).
Little angels, in MY bed ♥♥
William is another story. It’s my fault, but yes, I lie down with him every night until he drifts off. It doesn’t usually take very long, but it is a sweet spot in my day to cuddle with my boy. So, that habit will be around for a little longer. I make no apologies for that. I have sung some of my best made up lullabies during these cuddles. Emily benefited ( yes I said benefited ) from this and William is to. I think I get something out of it as well. ♥♥
The big issue that plagues us to this day is the one I am praying about. Pooping. On the toilet. Just to clarify the one not pooping on the potty is William. It is torture for him and torture for us to get this movement ( 
) to, well, move. I am not entirely sure why he can’t do it or won’t, but every visit to the throne ends in tears. Not crocodile ones either. It breaks my heart. Just last night we went through the same ordeal and after what seemed like hours of him alternating between reading a book while perched on the potty or crying his eyes out trying to get off the potty, he finally gave up. And so did we. The problem that I fear now and pray to avoid, is that William will hold it in to avoid an accident. Poor little bum. 
When I ask William why he can’t poop in the potty when he has no trouble peeing ( he sometimes even sits to do this) he tells me he is nervous. Big word for a little dude, but that is what he says. Not scared, not afraid, but nervous. He just can’t say why. What in the world happens next? The doctor says to give him time, he will outgrow it. Our neighbor with fourteen kids says to let him sit until it happens. My own mama says not too worry, no kid has gone off to college in diapers. I think we might just set a record here.
We have tried the method of having him sit for awhile, with entertainment, then get off for a bit and then back on again when the urge hits. This event usually gets very dramatic. We have offered bribes. You would think the promise of a new toy or game would be the carrot this little donkey needed to get a move on, but nope. I have even tried the method of cutting a hole in a pull up and getting him to sit on the potty wearing it. He hated that and screamed bloody murder. Here I thought it was the best of both worlds, but William did not agree. Yup, good times.
My little wild animals ♥♥
So there you have it. There could be a drought, with wells run dry and the grass dying on the ground or a heat wave so nasty I am boiling in my own sweat and I will still not pray for rain. Because I am praying for poop.
Friends, experts, fellow parents, lend me your years of wisdom. What should we do next to get this boy to go poop on the potty?
FT&PD
Suz
This touched my heart and brought back so many memories. One of my sons, had the same uhhh issues. He apparently thought of it as , well a part of himself so it terrified to see “it” detach much less flushed. The solution-we took a picture of “it” and gave the picture to him to keep. Problem solved and yes we still have the picture!
This is a really great idea Gayle, thank you! I am not sure why William is nervous, but I think it has to do with this fear of loosing some part of himself. We have taken photos of “this” in the past so it is certainly not gonna shock the people at the Walmart photo place, LOL
Thanks for this great tip! ♥
Suz
Don’t worry about it, and don’t let him worry about it. He knows the potty is there and I would guess, can get there and deal with the pull-ups, so just fahgitaboutit! Leave it to him, and no big deal one way or the other. (Performance anxiety?)
LOL Jud, I hope it is not performance anxiety at this age! Lots of time for that later, LOL. You are right that he knows what to do and he has done it in the past. I hope this will resolve itself soon so the issue doesn’t get any bigger than it already is
Thanks for the advice and support. I appreciate it!
Suz
I completely understand! We had similar issues with our daughter. A little constipation with a cold resulted in a fissure that caused enough pain that holding “it” became what seemed like a very long horrible process. We had to let go of the potty and just work on doing her business again. Luckily she loved prune juice and a couple of glasses of that and there wasn’t much she could hold back when the time came. And it didn’t hurt. Good luck, you’ll find the right balance!
Oh wow, that would be awful Michelle.
Poor Sarah:-( It is the holding part that scares me the most. William had a lot of constipation issues when he was a baby and they did not start to get resolved until after we discovered his food allergies. Pooping was painful, even as a little baby. I just hate to think he might go through that again, to some extent. Fingers crossed! Thanks for the advice and support. I appreciate it ♥
Suz
I hope you get some good suggestions, Suz. I see two already. William will be attending school this September, if I remember correctly and that is ALL day, right? Another reason for your anxiety I would assume? Good Luck!
So far so good Gem, lots of good ideas have come forth. Yes, William starts full day this fall and that is what has me worried. He has become a master at holding it in, but accidents happen. If that happens at school he says he won’t go back, LOL. I just hate to have him stressing about this when starting school should be a happy, exciting time. It is bad enough we have to worry about his allergies
Thanks for the support ♥
Suz
I agree with your mom. He will not go to college in diapers. I think the anxiety makes it worse. As hard as it is just try not and make it a big deal. My heart goes out to you mommy.
Hugs,
Sandra
The Adored Home
Aww, thank you Sandra, I appreciate it ♥ I know our anxieties about it are being passed on to William and I need to get that reversed. I don’t want him to worry. We will keep plugging away, but I think we will ease back a bit as well. See how maybe NOT talking about it with him works. Fingers crossed!!
Suz
It will come. We went through this with our oldest years ago (he held in one for almost a week) and just this past summer with our youngest who is 3.5 years old. I think he was just too scared to do it. But after he had the first one and saw that it wasn’t too scary, he has been great every since. Wishing you luck! And patience.
Thank you Brandy…I really hope it just clicks one day so we can move on from here but we have eased off on any real pressure…
Suz
I used to stress about EVERY thing with my son. I hated the fact that he was “behind”. He’s catching up now. I’ve learned he won’t be 18 and not talking or not using the potty
LOL that is what my mom says Randa. He won’t be in a pull up at college…I hope
Suz
This must be stressful for you and your little guy. I wouldn’t make a big issue because it will make it worse. With my little one it was to get her to relax and trust that it was ok to go. My little one would hold it for a week and the only way she would actually go was once she just couldn’t hold it anymore and we would put her on the toilet. What a commotion! It all ironed out once she realized it was ok, didn’t hurt and nothing to be afraid of. Good luck
You are very right Dawn, the last thing he needs is pressure and we have eased off a lot. He went through many bouts of constipation when he was much younger and I would hate to put him through that again
My poor little man <3
Suz
It took my 3-year-old longer to learn how to poop too… like William, she seemed nervous about it for a while. Peeing was easy; pooping was hard. Not sure why. I just left it alone and tried not to make a big deal out of it, just to encourage it. You could also try feeding him foods that would make his poops softer (in case big, hard poops are part of the problem). And a warm bath often helps make muscles relax so it’s easier to poop (just get him out of the tub quick and onto the potty!). That helped when our 5-year-old was really constipated and fighting pooping… Good luck!
Thanks for the suggestions and empathy Bonnie. The last thing I want is for William to be in pain from holding it in so the softer foods and baths might just be the answer.. Thank you
Suz