All Plugged Up & Don't Wanna Go

For the past month, James has been waging a "not gonna poop" campaign. It's been ugly. It started while we were on vacation (of course) and each skirmish lasts about 3 days.

I have tried:

• prune juice (he throws it up, and everything else that's near his digestive tract)


• more water and less milk/bananas, etc


• suppositories (eeewwwwww; and he still won't poop)


• Miralax (more than the pediatrician said to use)

Recently, his wonderful SHAPE assistant had a breakthrough -- she downloaded a game onto her iPhone for him and kept taking him to the bathroom. He could only use the game while sitting on the toilet. He pooped twice for her. Yay, wonderful SHAPE assistant!!!

Will he do this for me? Of course not! I am his mother, and I don't have an iPhone. Duh! I am seriously thinking of writing a grant to cover the cost of an iPhone and it's monthly fees until he has passed this stage and is successfully potty-trained.

I suspect this is because he's fighting the last part of being potty trained, plus the sensation of passing his BMs on the toilet is freaking him out. The delight of testing limits with teacher and parents is an added bonus, I am sure.

A lot of well-meaning people have suggested offering special food treats or toys for when he has successful bathroom transactions. I am here to tell you all thanks, but James does not operate that way. I wish it was that simple.