I feel your pain.  My sister and a good friend both had this same problem.  There really is no magic way to make him go.  My sister would call the doctor almost weekly and everytime she got the same response -- He will train when he is ready and not a second sooner.  She did keep a reward jar by the potty as an incentive, but you can't punish them for not going.  To him, it just doesn't seem right to go in the potty.  When he figures it out, he'll go.  As far as him "holding" it.  I'd either make him eat an apple (assuming no allergies) or drink apple or aloe vera juice, both will keep him "flowing" and he won't be able to hold it.  As hard as it is, patience is your only option at this time.  Good luck!

Kerri

My youngest also had this problem it drove me mad till we started a smiley face sticker chart, when he got to 5 smiley faces. He got to pick out a small toy car at the toy shop. (He is mad on rally cars) A friend of mine gave me the idea though she did a poo chart for the whole family. They all got a treat when they got to 5 stickers. Another person I know had different bed times for the younger baby so if her son messed his pants he went to bed at the same time as the baby including afternoon naps. If he wanted to be a big boy he had to do bigboy things like poo in the toilet. Just a few idea's. PS once we got my son to use the toilet to poo and put up his sticker we showered him with praise once he had his first car he never looked back. GOOD LUCK

I have read so much about this topic......firstly congrats on getting your son onto the potty in the first place......My son has only been successful twice....other than that he's still in nappies/diapers  but apparently the child nurses tell me not to fret or worry because overall every child is different and ready in their own time. It is summer and he goes without nappies during the day but he still manages to pee everywhere but in his potty......oh well..patience is a virtue.

But boys are much harder and take longer than girls so I hope I have at least given you some comfort to make upfor my lack of advice.

hmm ok hes half way there ,, what about making a a poo and wee chart and placing stickers on it everytime he wees and tell him look what a nice chart what sticker should we put on it today for you doing wee, and have special stickers differnt one just for the poo chart and let him pick them out?? rewards also ,, let him know that hes pants are smelly also ,

let him see you put his poo down the toilet to flush it away and say byy byy,, un make a poo chart s also for you and hubby and you both give eachother stickers to make it look like fun and he might want his own also you praise your hubby and hubby gets all happy and praises you for yours etc,, lol it might work ??? who knows

That has to be very frustrating for you, but don't give up yet!   I don't know when your son starts school..(mine started at three and half) but I  used that as a tool to help with toilet training..oh you're such a big boy now...I'm so proud of you..no more babies in our house , oh boy you're ready to start school now..look no more mess, doesn't it feel good to be clean...things like that.  Once my children were trained on the potty, I had a potty where the lid fit on the toilet seat so they didn't feel like they were going to fall in or have to hold themselves up.  I also put a step up to the toilet....and  with every success they were rewarded with a popsicle.  I would also show great disappointment when they messed, told them awe...and you were doing so well what happened.?..and then sit them on the toilet with a book for a few minutes. When your son soils his pants let him sit in it awhile and don't change him right away.   Soon he will see that poop in his pants is far more gross than in the toilet.  Also, keep asking if he has to go,  sometimes they are just too busy playing and it takes too much time so they hold it.  Start a routine, and put him on for a few minutes after every meal.  He'll probably not like that and agree to go on his own.  Good luck!

Have you tried a mild child laxative?this may seem extreme however so is holding in his motions as you are aware,I just think it would perhaps speed up the fact he has to go (in his mind)Is his seat on the toilet comfortable?can he climb up easily?You have probably addressed all these little issues I know,but they all tie in together.I do have a few friends that have 4 yr old Sons that still find going no:2 in toilet is an issue(not now they tried a suggestion of min and so far they have had a 70% success rate)Basically I got them to try and have their boys going at roughly the same time each day so they could moniter and work with them to achieve big boy status.They tried a very warm milk drink first thing in the morning along with a high fiber cereal this works usually 20-60 minutes.As time is moving along they are getting better and better.....they have implemented this method for about 4-5 weeks.Hope this works for you too regards Merle