The Potty Wars

Aidan began potty training last summer. We had to work with him diligently to get him to pee in the potty. He became comfortable enough to use his potty seat to pee, but refused to poop. This past winter, we ended up in the hospital because he became so constipated and we thought he was having an appendix attack. This spring, he became comfortable enough to stand when he pees, and, for the most part, he will use any toilet to take care of business, but he is still not potty trained overnight, so he still refuses to poop in the potty. Usually, he will go a week between poops, and by then, he's hurting a lot.

As we packed for Myrtle Beach a little over a week ago, I completely forgot to pack his potty seat for poops. Once we got to the beach house, I wasn't overly concerned because he rarely poops in the potty anyway, and I knew I had plenty of pull-ups for overnight use. We were at the beach on Friday when Aidan began dancing around.

"Aidan, do you need to poop?" I asked him.

"Yes, Mommy. Will you take me back to the beach house?"

"Yes, Aidan, but I expect you to actually poop if we walk all the way back to the house. If you do, I will give you some Coke as a reward."

Our pediatrician has recommend rewarding his pooping in the potty, and usually, at home, I will reward him with something non-food related, but at the beach, my resources were limited. He loves Coke, but it's not something he gets daily. I figured that might motivate him to take care of business. The beach house is enough of a walk from the part of the beach where we play that I did not want to walk all the way back only for him to refuse to potty.

Aidan happily walked back to the house. It was hot and sunny on Friday, and when we got to the house, he went to our bathroom. He was timid about not having a potty seat, but I promised to hold him so that he wouldn't fall in. As I helped him, he quickly took care of business. I was so proud of him!

"Mommy, can I have my Coke now?"

"Of course, Aidan. I am so proud of you!"

As we made our way back to the beach, Aidan boasted to everyone about pooping in the potty. He was in a fantastic mood from that point on.

We began driving home on Saturday, and, once again, Aidan said he needed to poop, but also said it wasn't urgent. When we got back to Grayson, he pooped in the potty again! We were impressed. However, the biggest surprise was yesterday--when he got up yesterday morning, he pooped in the potty for a third day in a row, and his pull-up was clean! Yes! Finally!! Maybe our potty war is finally coming to a close! For some reason, pooping in the potty at Myrtle Beach seemed to erase his fear of pooping in the potty. And for that, I am thrilled beyond words. Maybe he won't be constipated anymore. The past two days, he pooped without being bribed. Instead, he was simply proud of his accomplishment!