So Michael has been working on potty training for months now. Months. The #1 part he really does have down no problem. He'll tell us when he has to go and can manage everything in the process well with little assistance.
It's the #2 stuff that we are continually struggling with. Really struggling. If I were smart, I'd keep a journal, because something tells me there is a pattern here. Sometimes, Michael has his "business" to do in the afternoon, for which there has been no problem going in the toilet because we always have him sit on the toilet before nap time, and he goes during that time.
But a few days a week, Michael's business schedule leads him to have to go in the morning. Usually between 9-10. It's these morning business transactions that are constantly causing problems. It's these times that he always just goes in his underwear. Sometimes it's just a beginning installment, sometimes he empties his accounts.
Today, my frustration with this on-going problem was compounded, when taking off his soiled underwear, he managed to step in it, trailing it all over the bathroom rug.
Oh. The new bathroom rug I might add.
I put him on the toilet and left him there to finish his business while I attended to other matters, which included making a sandwich. (After using the word "toilet" and "sandwich" in the same sentence, I must add how thoroughly I washed my hands in between the two activities).
Perhaps in my flurry of frustration over the toilet incident, I mishandled the mayonnaise jar (after it was open, of course) and upon hitting the floor, it glopped mayonaise all over the kitchen floor....You can imagine my state of mind at this point in the day.
After remedying the current problem of continence, condiments, and confidence (with wet wipes, a gaggle of napkins, and a Starbucks drink, respectively), I conducted some extensive research on the problem (e.g. I googled "my three year old keeps pooping his pants") and am finding I am not alone in the mothering community with this problem.
Some of the solutions include:
1) Just wait until they grow into greater control of their muscles and the problem will solve itself.
2) Doctors sometimes prescribe laxatives to help kids who have on-going struggles with this (does this not seem like a bad idea to anyone else??)
3) "Just watch him better" (point taken. There have been a few occasions when I have been doing other things and he's been playing in his room quietly--a little too quietly I later discover--but other times it happens when I'm sitting right in front of him asking if he has to go on the toilet to which he responds "No" only to do his business right in front of me...boy if that isn't the most frustrating ever).
Never mind my own solution which I thought was going to be a quick remedy to the problem: have him wash out his own poopy underwear. Unfortunately, he is quite taken with the process of scrubbing, washing, rinsing, and wringing out his underpants that it no longer serves as much of a deterrent.
So, I pose the question to anyone out there: Any experience with this? What methods, if any go towards solving this problem?
