<human>: I'm sure someone has gone though this and has some suggestions we haven't tried. Our just-turned-3 year old was almost 100% potty trained a couple weeks ago, but has taken a significant backwards slide. I know that is common, but I'm more worried about the addition of him forcing himself not to have a bowel movement. He's done this on and off for as long as we can remember, but he's more willful about it now and holding it much longer, like 4-5+ days. Needless to say, by that time it hurts, reinforcing his desire to hold it. We've tried lots of fiber rich food/juice and rewards for success (at this point, I'd even reward him for going in his diaper and start over with free potty, if he'd just go)...and yes, discipline for trying not to go, after the positive reinforcement fell flat. I'm not really ok with suppositories or enemas on a routine basis, etc. - of course I'd use them if it got really bad, but that's not my goal. What I'm trying to do is explain it to him. He's a bright child, and I think he could understand, I just haven't found logic he's interested in or a way to convince him that the only way to stop it from hurting is to go daily. To him that sounds counterintuitive. Any suggestions on how to get him to change the behavior or approaches you used?

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<bot>: my son holds it as long as he can & he doesn't believe we need to have daily bowel movements to stop it from hurting.