Thursday, January 6, 2011

And Here's Where I Ask for Help

I keep saying I am laying low, changing poopy diapers till Gunner gets home, and then it is his problem.

After changing THREE of them today, for a child who eats everything that I do, I am disgusted.

I am looking for all potty training advice.  I have put him in diapers, and he pretends that they are pullups.  He knows what to do.  He isn't scared of the potty, he just won't go.

I've bribed.  I've threatened, I've begged.

We are getting NOWHERE.

I'm at my wit's end.  Everyone says it will come.  He's going to start Kindergarten in less than 7 months, and I really don't see 7 months making a difference.

The kid is brilliant.  He can write his name, has an Abbie size vocabulary, and can rationalize everything....

He will not use the bathroom.  He will sit there sometimes, but not on a regular basis.  Timers don't work.  Regular intervals don't work.

Nothing works.

I really might have the first boy that is not potty trained when he goes off to college.  I don't know how he thinks he can hide pullups at the Air Force Academy!

Help!!!!  Someone out there has to know the miracle that I am looking for....I hope!!!!

10 comments:

Kara said...

My son was the same way. He is in kindergarten now. I tried everything. I gave him incentives, punished him, praised him, ignored him, just about everything. He has had a few accidents at school (one was a poop), but it seems to be getting better. He had to make the decision to do it on his own. His teacher said that he isn't the only one, there are a few that have them.

He couldn't go to pre-school last year until he was potty-trained. He had a couple accidents at pre-school, but did good. It was when he was at home that he had them all. He knew what was going on, cause he knew if he had accidents at school he couldn't go anymore. Little shits.

stephanie said...

If you're absolutely sure he knows what to do and how to do it and it's just a stubborn thing I would tell my son he will have to use the wipes and clean and change himself.

My older son had to be told that like it or not he HAD to use the toilet (at 4 yrs old) that he was too old for diapers and that we WERE NOT changing them anymore and he would be punished if he went in his pants. Some parents would call me cruel and abusive, but I knew he understood what to do, and how to do it, but he was going to let me do the dirty work as long as I was willing to. If you make it clear you will not do it (and then really don't no matter how bad he smells) and he is forced to deal with the mess he might find the potty is a simpler method of disposal.

I hope you find something that helps!

Radiant Readhead said...

i dont have any kids, but i would assume, like the last post, that there are more like him. One thing he will realize when he gets into school, is that kids can be ruthless! even at that age. so if he gets there and isn't trained yet, i gurentee once he is called "poopy pants" by his peers, he will quickly learn:-) that is how my sister stopped sucking her thumb! lol...not that that is as bad, but still....enough negative feedback from her peers made her stop:-)

Amie said...

We did the same thing that Stephanie did. My oldest son pooped in his underwear (a lot). He had to clean them poop up, clean himself off, and hand wash his underwear in hot soapy water. It only took 2 times of him having to clean his own mess up, that he decided it wasn't worth it and he started using the bathroom all the time.

Charity said...

I agree, have him clean it up himself. Or stick him in the bathroom until he does that way the mess is at least contained if it backfires.

GlamorousArmy said...

Kids tend to do everything on their own timetable. Parents who berate their kids for potty accidents often put more stress on the kids. Letting him clean it up himself is just fine...it's more incentive to not do it anymore! That's a good call. Love the blog, btw...stopping by from http://theglamourouslifeofanarmywife.blogspot.com

Carissa said...

Oh you poor thing. I don't really have any advice to give you but I just wanted to let you know I'm wishing you the best.

Don't you hate it when your kids just know they can get the best of you and they have all the control??

Carissa said...

Oh you poor thing. I don't really have any advice to give you but I just wanted to let you know I'm wishing you the best.

Don't you hate it when your kids just know they can get the best of you and they have all the control??

Lemon Stand said...

I don't have any experience with boys, but I suspect that when Daddy gets home, you'll see a little boy who wants to be JUST LIKE HIM, if you know what I mean. Our youngest went through this while my husband was deployed. Once he was home and he loved on her as his 'big girl', diapers were over with. (Guess it was time for her to pull up her big girl panties... she just didn't want to pull them up for ME) Hang in there.

Julie Danielle said...

This is what I had to do with my oldest...

* Underwear all the time
* He helped clean up the mess
* Took away his favorite things like Taco Bell, movies, little toys until he would poop on the potty. If he asked for one of them, I would just say..."When you can poop on the potty."
* I took him every 20-40 mins. This was hard but I tried to stick to it as much as I could.
* Had a good friend I could come to, could cry to and would tell me he would get it when I was sick and tired of cleaning up the mess.

He was almost 5 and I did this for 3 weeks and then one day, he did it on his own and it was done. It was a miracle.

But I seriously was so frustrated because I felt like nothing worked and everyone would give me advice and I tried so many things. Then his aid at school told me I should just go cold turkey with the underwear and take him all the time.

*hugs* I know how hard it can be when your kid just doesn't get it and it seems like he should. But he will!