Oh, boy... do I feel your potty-training pain!!
DD was a nightmare to train. She went to preschool at 3 in pull-ups. She was 3.5 before we could even think about underwear. Poos... almost 4. We resorted to bribing that would be too embarassing to disclose. It was a desperate situation, LOL!
DS will be 3 in three weeks. He starts preschool in 2 weeks. He had such a huge potty-phobia, initially, that we had to hide all the potties and toilet rings from Feb-June of this year. He had full-blown panic attacks. I brought them back out in July and offered to buy him new trains if he would use them. He peed once, got a train.... pooed once, got a train... has not done a single thing since. We can get him to sit on the potty a few times a day, but only if we bribe him with treats. This is not how I intended to parent when I set out on this journey, but I am learning that everything I ever thought about parenting needs to be thrown out the window when it comes to my kids.
With DD, what ultimately worked was a dumb motivation pack I bought online called The Potty Lady. It looked like a bunch of hooey, but it worked in 6 days. I'm thinking we need to revisit Potty Lady again.
Sorry that I cannot offer any helpful advice. I often think that my kids overanalyzed the whole potty thing. It became such an event that it took on a life of its own. I would love to just back away from the potty for now, but DS has to at least be able to sit on it for preschool... and he really, really needs to go to preschool!!
Best of luck. I'll think of you every time DS throws his arms around my neck and begs me to save him from the scary potty.
