Dropping the pull ups?!!

[Starlight21]

Hi!! New to all this!!

My son was diagnosed with constipation last month and has been on two sachets of cosmocol per day!

This has made his poo a lot softer and seemingly easier to go!

The problem we have is that he is still going in pull ups, he will not go anywhere near the toilet in fact he can have half hour screaming fits if we even try and convince him to use the toilet!

He starts school in September and if we take the pull ups away he just witholds it!!

Don't know how to get him to move onto using the toilet happily!!

He uses the toilet standing up for a wee easily!

[Cath88]

Can you try a slow transition to toilet. First step let him go in the pull up but ask him to sit on the toilet with the pull up on. Then try on the toilet but rip the sides of the pull up so it is just loosely hanging, you could then even just have the pull up loosely under his bum. Alternative would be a potty with these steps and then move on to the toilet. My girl was generally scared of the toilet, she didn’t like the feeling of the poo falling out. In the end a bribe actually did the trick after doing the above steps!

Good luck!

[CN4321]

You could also try letting him sit and play while on the toilet - I know it’s not the most hygienic but it always worked to get my son to sit for longer periods on the toilet. Good luck

[JoannaGuk]

I could have written this myself. My daughter is 5, starts year 1 in sept. I honestly could not see any light at the end of the tunnel. She spent reception in pull ups for poo. She had never poo’d in a Toilet (wee fine) and was petrified. We tried everything! Charts, rewards, consultant care, hypnotherapy, reflexology etc. School were great, speak to the teacher and explain the situation, they were a great support to us and my daughter not putting any pressure on and supported with pull up use. In May my daughter started to completely withhold and we don’t know why. It was horrendous and the levels of laxatives required were unreal. We then did the following... but I honestly think she just decided it was time....

Let her decorate the toilet with stickers and magnets to make it a happy place

Gave her an iPad and asked her sit fully clothed on the loo playing a game (slowly she started to sit with just a pull up) for 30 mins at a time (in the morning after breakfast and evening after dinner) we asked her to blow bubbles and practise pushing too.

She started to poo in the pull up on the toilet, which was huge for us. As she didn’t want to go near it before. In early July she told us she wants to do a poo straight in the toilet and not wear pull ups and instead give them to babies who need them. Something seemed to click in her head. She did it and has not looked back. I honestly never thought I’d see the day. She had a toy in the loft for 18 months that we said we’d give her once she poo’d in the loo. So that came out and lots of other praise and rewards. She’s even started using a toilet for poo in restaurants other people’s houses and on holiday etc. She remains on 2 movical sachets a day.

The book “what to do when your child won’t poo” helped.

Good luck, you will get there.

[Frantastic84]

Starlight your story is just what I’ve been through with my son! Thankfully we’re now through it and I thought this day would never come. My son is 6 and starting year 1 next week, and it’s only in the last 6 or 7 weeks that we’ve managed to crack it. We had to take very small steps to get him there, it started by getting him to poo in pull up in the bathroom with the door open, gradually we have moved on to sitting with pull up (on a potty training toilet seat placed over an upside down step stool - don’t ask! It was his idea and we went with it as he wouldn’t entertain the idea of sitting on the loo for poo even though he been doing it for years for wee). Gradually we progressed to sitting on the toilet for poos and very very slowly we managed to make small tears down the sides of his pull ups til he only had an inch attached either side. Next was having an open pull-up placed under the seat to catch poo, then we swapped the pull up for placing some paper in the loo first. Now we are finally at the stage of pooing on the toilet with no paper in the loo and not training seat. I could cry with happiness every day and the best thing is seeing how proud he is of himself. It took us two and a half years of taking baby steps towards getting him there, and with all of the above I also had him sat on the loo every day at the same time for 5-10 mins, first with pants and trousers on and sitting on the lid, gradually progressing to pants down and on the training seat. He was never used to sitting on the loo for longer than a quick wee and so never had the patience to wait for poo. It’s a horrible thing to go through as a parent and it’s so hard not to become angry/upset/worried, I cried so many times with worry. But they WILL get there are it’s more common than you think. To anyone going through this now just keep going and taking baby steps and encourage them but don’t push them further than they feel comfortable x