You can read all the books, listen and digest tons of advice but in reality you really just cross your fingers when your child has his mother's stubborn nature as there is no amount of praise (or bribes) that is going to make them potty trained unless they want to do it.
Cole showed his aversion to potty training from the get-go at age 2 or so and it wasn't until last spring at almost 3 1/2 after nearly 15 months of gentle coaxing and quite a bit of silly songs and general goofiness (oh, if only you had been a fly on the wall in our bathroom)that he finally learned to go "pee-pee" in the toilet. He refused however to even try to go poopy. Once he went "pee-pee" it was easy for him and we made him wear underwear during the day, to school and when he was home and we rarely had an accident.
We thought by having him wear underwear most of the day, it would force his hand when he had to go poopy. We were wrong, so wrong, as this method to try and get him to go poopy without a Pull-Up on backfired. He simply just held the urge to poop back and he would deliberately wait until he got into his pajamas and Pull-Up in the evening and then poop, typically quite uncomfortable because things were now backed up. Yes, I could have given him Miralax per our pediatrician's suggestion but I am not one to make such a choice for my child and manipulate his GI tract. If he had an accident because I gave him a stool softener that would more of a setback. So I went with my gut knowing eventually we would become a PULL-UP FREE house.
Around the holidays, I realized his PULL-UPs were dry in the morning which meant he didn't need it anymore and thus we began another round of trying to get him to poop on the potty at his very first grimace. He fought us and we pushed back firmly but lovingly. Since he was now smarter and more aware, his fears were more difficult to overcome. So we brought in the big guns...a fleet of Hot Wheels Monster Trucks...although bribes/treats/candy had NEVER worked in the past, Cole's eyes went wide as he looked at the shiny trucks all lined up in their packaging. We explained that if he pooped on the potty he could get one each time.
It was a bit rocky at first and we could see the very real trepidation in his eyes but after talking about train whistles (gas) followed by poopy trains (too much information I'm sure) and the inevitable tunnel (the flush), Cole finally began to relax and let nature take its course.
Once he pooped that first time and took his prize, he pooped almost every day for two weeks. Where all that poop came from we cannot fathom but we were all relieved (in more ways than one). Our most difficult task now was to wean his expectation of a monster truck post-poop. It has been a month since that milestone, and with no setbacks, I'm comfortable in stating that we are officially a PULL-UP FREE ZONE!
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