The Magic Pull Up

11/29/08

So, we’ve tried just about everything to get Sam to poop on the potty. We’ve tried bribing with M&M’s (worked once), begging, demanding, insisting, promising, lying, holding him hostage on the toilet etc to get him to poop (and then guiltily adding money to his therapy fund) and all has failed. The only thing we haven’t tried is the magic pullup. That is, until 2 days ago.

We were in the house for the day – in no hurry at all. And we decided that today was the day for Sam to take the next step in growing up. He needed to poop and demanded his pull up for the occasion, which is our usual ritual. However, on this day, we said no. It was time for him to poop in the toilet. He would get hugs and prizes and treats, but he would not get a pull up. He begged and pleaded and cried. He ran toward the bathroom and then stopped himself and ran away. He sat on the toilet for about 1 second and then jumped off like it was a fire pit. He rolled on the floor in anguish.

And then I remembered the magic pull up. It was something my friend Diana told my friend Megan who told me. I never thought it would work so I never tried. But Sam was desperate and so was I. So I took a pull up and cut out a hole in the back toward the bottom. I told Sam that he couldn’t have a regular pull up, but he could have a magic pull up as long as he promised he would sit on the toilet with it on. He agreed. We put it on and he sat down and before you know it, he pooped in the potty. We laughed, we sang, we cheered , danced and immediately set him up in the kitchen with a bowl of chocolate ice cream. So happy were we.

The next day he said nothing about having to poop. The second day, each time he told us he had to go, we mentioned the magic pull up and he changed his mind. This went on until we had dinner in Friendly’s. We must have taken him to the bathroom 3 times. Nothing. We then went to Loews to look at flooring. I spent most of the time in the bathroom with him going so far as to sit on the toilet with him because of how scared he told me he was. Nothing.

Returning home, he first refused the magic pull up, but finally relented. He pouted and cried for a while, but finally…finally sat on the toilet and pooped. He was so happy that he ran out to the living where my in-laws were and proudly announced his success. We cheered, danced, sang and gave him M&M’s.

My God this is a lot of work, but thanks to the magic pull up, there is hope.