Email From Customer:

My son will be 3 on the 14th of this month. He has been doing so/so with potty training. He wears big boy underwear accept at night, he wears pull-ups, which after reading your article, I will find cloth pull-ups. However, he does not like to poop on the toilet. His daycare says I have until the end of this month to get him potty trained or they will have to remove them from the program. Please help.

Kerry

Our Response:

Dear Kerry,

I am sorry to hear that you and your son are struggling with potty training and with BM training. It is really hard to give you specific recommendations, as your email does not offer me enough insight into your situation. I do however, have some general recommendations that may help.

1) Regarding Pee Potty Training.

I am interpreting "He has been doing so/so with potty training" to be that he is having some accidents. My first recommendation is that you make sure that he is ready for potty training. This article on When should I start potty training? What is the right age for potty training? Will help you with this.

Then once your son is ready, select a method for potty training. Read the article "How to Potty Train".

The five potty training methods will help you select a method. Once you have a method selected, then create a plan how you will implement the method, get all the tools and information you need for you to be successful and then of course implement the method.

With all methods, consistency is the key. What ever method you choose, just be consistent, so that your son can be clear on what is expected of him, as Dr Phil would say, make sure that your son can predict the consequences of his behavior with 100% accuracy.

Applying some process and consistency may resolve both the pee and BM issues. If you are still having issues with BM, I have some suggestion below.

2) BM Resistance

When children resist, there is usually a reason behind the resistance and it is our jobs as parents to become detectives and figure out what that reason is. Once we know the reason, then we need a plan to address the issue. Then you slowly implement your plan and before you know it, the issue has been resolved.

So, this article "Potty Training Resistance (DETAILS) Why do Children Resist Potty Training" will help you identify why your child is resisting BM training. Once you figure out why, you can address it to resolution.

Kerry, I hope this information help you through your struggle. You are doing the right things by reading info and asking for help. Keep at it and you will find the way to get there.

You know where to find me.

Narmin