My son will be four at the end of this month. He has had the bladder part of toilet learning conquered for four months. He resisted having BMs on the toilet for a long time. I bought "Lightning McQueen" potty chairs for every bathroom in the house, for his sitter and for grandma and grandpa's. That helped a bit, but having a BM on the potty chair or in the toilet was still hit or miss. A friend of mine made a deal with my son on August 1 that if he had a BM on the toilet 30 times, she would take him to Chuck E. Cheese with her two daughters, whom he adores (his godsisters). We made a chart with 30 numbered boxes and a picture of Chuck E. Cheese and a picture of him with his two godsisters. All through August, we peeled maybe one sticker per week from his chart.
My son kept asking me if he would be four years old if he "pooped on the potty." For a long time when he asked this question, I would say "No, you'll be four when it's your birthday." Then one day in early September, he asked me the question again, and I said, "Yes, if you don't poop in your underwear any more and you poop in the potty, you will be four." After that day, he completed the Chuck E. Cheese chart in about three weeks, with a few accidents here and there (we went over two weeks without an accident). For about a month, I felt that we had turned the corner on the BM part of the toilet learning and that he had it down. As promised, my friend took him to Chuck E. Cheese, and we had a big celebration. I thought we had conquered the toilet learning.
The Chuck E. Cheese party was on October 23. On October 28, my son had a BM in his underwear, and for over a week now, has had no BMs in the toilet. All have been in his underwear. I'm at my wit's end and nearly in tears. I've tried to remain positive and lavish him with praise, but it isn't working. I "took away" one of his favorite activities - playing Mario Kart. I "took it away" by making it a reward for him to play it again. I created a new "poop chart" with 30 squares on it with a Mario Kart character's picture in each square. When he has a BM on the toilet, he will get to peal a sticker from the chart and get to play Mario Kart. I just got the chart done moments ago, so we'll start this tonight.
Do you think he knows how to have a BM on the toilet and just won't now? Is this type of regression normal? Has anyone else experienced this type of regression? Do you think he wants to negotiate another deal/is playing us? If you have experienced this type of regression, how did you finally resolve it?
Help!