How to Introduce Son to Standing up to Pee-pee

Hi C.-
2 thoughts: He probably needs a stool to stand up on so that he can reach over the toilet without peeing on it. The other thing is to make a game out of it. Drop cheerios or fruit loops into the toilet and let him "aim" at them. Give him points or let him earn something for peeing standing up. Say, going potty sitting down is one point or marble in the rewards jar, and standing up is 3 points or marbles. THis way you are still reinforcing his potty training, but allowing him to try it another way with a reward behind it. Plus, as he gets older, we all know how unclean public toilets can be...and standing will be cleaner all around.
I hope this helps!
-E. M

I don't know if this is for you, but I put 3 or 4 cheerios in the bowl for him to aim for. It worked for my boy (now 20 years of age), if its not too silly for you, give it a try. Good luck! <:(((><

Let him ppe outside if you can...boys love that and it is one of the best ways to teach him to stand up to pee. Another is to have your husband take him into public restrooms to use the urinals...if they are not just wall urinals, but go all the way to the floor. The first time my son experienced a urinal, he was amazed and was quite insistent about standing up to go pee.

As far as height goes, we found that a 2-3" phone book wrapped tightly with duct tape was just the right height. Any higher than that and he was peeing allover the backside of the toilet seat and lid. Use Cheerios or something in the toilet for him to "sink" to help his aim.

If he doesn't like standing up, don't push him as he could still rebel and regress. Besides, when he starts standing you will have more cleanup of all the little dribbles or when he pees all over everything because it went out of control because he had to pee real bad. Teach him to wipe up after himself now. LOL! Good luck!

Hi C., I have two boys, 18 and 8. You could try the "potty targets" sold at Toys R us and Babies R us...they go in the toilet bowl and the child tries to sink it to the bottom by peeing on it. If he's reluctant, I wouldn't push it, you don't want to give him anxiety around going to the bathroom when he's just newly potty trained. Once he's more comfortable using the potty, he'll realize that it's "fun" to go standing up like daddy and do it on his own, especially if it isn't a "power" thing with mom :-) I don't know what your little guys personality is, but with my older son, if he had thought I wanted him to go standing up, he would have dug his heels in and insisted on going sitting down :-) I didn't really care either way, as long as he was staying dry, that was fine with me, and so around 3 or 4 months after he was trained, he started gradually switching over to standing on his own. Oh and by the way, be ready for a lot of bathroom cleaning once he starts standing to pee. When they are in a hurry or distracted by something else, they tend to not aim very well! As far as how high over the toilet bowl, I think that as long as he is high enough that he's pointing "down" and not "across" the bowl, it should be fine.
Best wishes,
A.

First, I wouldn't rush it. If he's successful now, when he's sitting, let him enjoy that. It's probably hard to reach the toilet at his height, and standing on a stool is sometimes scary or intimidating if you're trying to aim too. You can put the stool in front of the toilet so his feet don't dangle when he's sitting (more leverage for pushing too), but I would let him decide when he is completely comfortable with standing on it.

That being said... cheerios make good targets. Another fun idea is to use the blue toilet cleaner and when he pees he can watch the water turn green.

It is more fun when he is like 5 and wants to be more like daddy. I wouldnt rush it he will make a mess which you get to clean up. If you get him on the toilet basckwards he can see himself pee and it hit the water then may want to try. You good put targets in the water but be careful cause God knows what might get flushed down.

Maybe let Daddy have some fun sinking Cheerios without encouraging your son to try. When he isn't feeling pressure to do it he may decide on his own to join in the fun Daddy is having.

Hi C.,

I wish my "boys" would all sit on the toilet - then I wouldn't have so much cleaning to do.......ahhh....men and their lack of aim..... are you sure you want your son to stand? All kidding aside, I think that will come with time and seeing other boys stand.
J.

Hello C.: Boy do I have memories of this one with my 3 sons and have I had a good giggle.
Trust me you want to give it alittle more time. Visulize the attenntion span of a 3 yo and suddenly turning and spraying the entire bathroom-- oh yes it happens! so we waited until they were a little over 4 and for one he was almost 5 and they were better at aim and paying attention!
He will let you know, and when he is ready he will have the example of dad to follow- most likely in the middle of dinner with family with the announcement "I need to go potty like Daddy", That is how one son did it for us. smile
By the way we had a childs potty chair that was higher than a regular one that we used for this or a stool that they could stand on.
My girlfriends boys were playing out in the yard and started because they went against a tree and we(her and I ) were never able to stop laughing since. So take it easy and he will let you know when he is ready. Nana G

i tried to get my son to NOT stand up to pee, because of the inevitable mess. they all figure it out eventually regardless of our wishes

My son just did it on his own - standing didn't become natural for him until about 4 months ago - he is 4 1/2. My little one, 2 1/2 tries to stand like his brother and nothing comes out (he has to sit). I suspect eventually my little one will stand as it becomes more natural.

My boys are 8 and almost 6 and they still sit down to pee. I figure they'll let us know when they want to stand and this way I have less mess to clean up.

My son who is 2.5 always sits down to pee. I sometimes let him pee outside which he loves. That was his intro to peeing standing up. He recently saw one of his friends peeing standing up at the toilet. He now does it every now and then. He's pretty tall and does not need a stool. He does stand on the side because he can get closer that way.

I would just wait until his he observes peers in preschool - there won't be any teaching necessary. Less fuss, no frustration on either side.

Alittle about me: I'm a child psychiatrist in Palo Alto with two great kids, 18 &12 and my sweet husband of 20 yrs

My son is almost 8 and would much rather sit also. We encourage standing in public restrooms as it is much cleaner, but at home whatever he wants is fine with me. Much less mess for me to clean too! When they see their friends it will change.

Congratulations on your son's success! I had to laugh over your question, though...Don't be in such a hurry to have him stand up. It's no fun to clean up when they don't aim well. Let him take his time. = )

Take him to the backyard, strip him down, and let him pee! He'll love it. Lesson learned!

OH the joys of boys. I always taught my oldest son to sit on the toilet till he got the potty training down. I encouraged him in public restrooms so I didn't have to deal with him sitting on dirty toilets with a sheet protector, etc. Many of the toilets even in our house are too tall for him to stand with out a stool. He is 40inches tall at 3years old. WHat i do sometimes is lift him up with one arm. Its really fun when I had my 7 month old in my other arm who wasn't totally walking yet but standing up. (walked at 7.5months) I made a game out of it with my oldest when we went potty. I would tell him to pee in the hole (the drain in the toilet) So now he decides what position he wants at home. I tell him things like, let's pee like daddy, or let's teach baby brother how big boys pee.

I would let him go at his own pace. He will let you know when he is ready but encourage him along the way in a positive manner. I always use the big boy phrase when I try to get him to move forward with milestones. Its easier when he has a brother that is 2.5 years younger then he is. It makes him feel important.

Good luck

SAHM with 2 amazing funny little boys.

It is not so important to get your son to stand up to pee. It will only mean more mess for you to clean up, as their aim is not so good when they're little (and sometimes when they are big too). Speaking from experience here (two boys). Mine chose to stand up to pee after awhile. Yours will do it when he's ready.

A side note with standing to pee. As a (retired) pediatric nurse, I've seen a few kids over the years with bruised penises from the lid/seat falling down while they were peeing.

Its a VERY low rate, so not something to be paranoid about, but just something to be aware of - making sure the lid/seat are all the way up and out of the way. It happens to adult males as well.

My husband sits to pee, and the difference between our bathroom mess and my friends, especially those with little boys is substancial. When my little boy is ready I am going to encourage him to sit to pee as well, at least at home!

Hi C.-
I threw Cheerios into the toilet when I was potty training my son. It made it fun for him to aim at the Cheerios!

Good luck.

M.

Honestly I wouldn't rush it. My son is 5 and is just now into standing up when he pees and that isn't all the time. I just kind of let him lead the way. I talked about it a few times. I do encourage it when we are in a public restroom...but really it is up to him.