Good Morning,
My son Caz has successfully been potty trained with no accidents for the past two weeks with prompting about every hour. Yay! However, he will not tell us when it’s time to poop and poops in underwear usually towards the end of the day. Thanks in advance.
Answer:
Congratulations to you and Caz, that is amazing progress! There are a few things we can do here when it comes to successful BMs.
1. Is there a specific time at the end of the day that he tends to have a BM? If so, put him on the toilet 10-15 minutes before that time and have him sit for a good 20-30 minutes to see if you can catch the BM in the toilet instead of his underwear. Since he will be sitting for longer than usual I like to ramp up reinforcement for sitting. Make that time that he is sitting fun! Read books, sing songs, bring little toys into the bathroom, etc. And make sure there is a HUGE party/reward if he has a BM on the potty!
2. Keep an eye out for any "signs" that he is about to have a BM (ex. farting) or currently having one in his underwear. I call it "assuming the position" AKA squatting, hiding, etc. If you see him doing this bring him right to the toilet. Even if he has already started going in his underwear I would rather him finish in the toilet.
3. Work on requesting the bathroom! For #1 & 2 above, before you take him to the bathroom prompt him to request the bathroom. Depending on his mode of communication he can verbally say, "I need the potty" or if he is non-verbal he can touch a picture of the bathroom. If he is going to the bathroom every hour with prompting then I would work on him saying "Bathroom" when the timer goes off instead of you prompting him. For example, the timer to go to the bathroom goes off nice and loud (can be a fun alarm) and you say, "What is it time for?" or "What do you need?" Caz should say, "Potty!" or "I need the bathroom." So instead of you saying, "Let's go to the bathroom!" he should be saying it and you can prompt him to say "potty" the first few times until he gets the hang of it. Typically what we see happen is after a week or two when the timer goes off he will say "potty!" independently without you having to say, "What do you need?" Then eventually he will start requesting the bathroom before the timer goes off if he needs it!
This takes time and consistency, but you got this! 🙂
Congratulations to you and Caz, that is amazing progress! There are a few things we can do here when it comes to successful BMs.
1. Is there a specific time at the end of the day that he tends to have a BM? If so, put him on the toilet 10-15 minutes before that time and have him sit for a good 20-30 minutes to see if you can catch the BM in the toilet instead of his underwear. Since he will be sitting for longer than usual I like to ramp up reinforcement for sitting. Make that time that he is sitting fun! Read books, sing songs, bring little toys into the bathroom, etc. And make sure there is a HUGE party/reward if he has a BM on the potty!
2. Keep an eye out for any “signs” that he is about to have a BM (ex. farting) or currently having one in his underwear. I call it “assuming the position” AKA squatting, hiding, etc. If you see him doing this bring him right to the toilet. Even if he has already started going in his underwear I would rather him finish in the toilet.
3. Work on requesting the bathroom! For #1 & 2 above, before you take him to the bathroom prompt him to request the bathroom. Depending on his mode of communication he can verbally say, “I need the potty” or if he is non-verbal he can touch a picture of the bathroom. If he is going to the bathroom every hour with prompting then I would work on him saying “Bathroom” when the timer goes off instead of you prompting him. For example, the timer to go to the bathroom goes off nice and loud (can be a fun alarm) and you say, “What is it time for?” or “What do you need?” Caz should say, “Potty!” or “I need the bathroom.” So instead of you saying, “Let’s go to the bathroom!” he should be saying it and you can prompt him to say “potty” the first few times until he gets the hang of it. Typically what we see happen is after a week or two when the timer goes off he will say “potty!” independently without you having to say, “What do you need?” Then eventually he will start requesting the bathroom before the timer goes off if he needs it!
This takes time and consistency, but you got this! 🙂