Potty Time........... - Bay Shore,NY

Hi J.,

I have successfully potty trained three children using the method outlined at Growing Families International. You could check it out on their website: http://www.gfi.org/java/jsp/article_category4.htm
It's a crash course in which you do it over the course of three days, getting rid of all diapers and pull-ups except at naps and bedtime and loading the child up on liquids. You take the child to the bathroom at regular intervals set by a timer and gradually extend the time in between trips. I loved it.

Hope this helps!

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Hi J.. My advice is to get aq potty that you can put in a room where he is for a couple of weeks. Leave him in a underwear. If he sees the potty is close by then he will try to use it. If he has accidents it is fine, he will not like the fact that he is wet and will use the potty. Then after a couple of weeks take the potty seat back to the bathroom and then take him to the bathroom to use the potty. He will learn soon enough. I know it is frustrating but he will get it. Just try to leave him in a underwear for as long as you can during the day while you are still at home.

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you know when i started having children the mom book never said how trying to potty train your child was going to be so nerve racking. my son is 4 and well just as stubborn as a child can be!!! we started with a timer, when to put him on and when to take him off the potty. i put him in underpants now and we still have accidents, but getting out of the pull ups stopped giving him the excuse to "forget" to go to the bathroom. now we use the pull ups at night only. i have found that every child is different, even siblings, and you need to just be the mom, you know better than anyone how your child will progress in such aspects of life. good luck, dont get discouraged, keep trying.

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Hi J.,

When I did the toilet training with my son, he was a month before turning 3. I used the triple layer cloth training pants with the waterproof outer layer. I took him to the toilet every hour and a half. I'd suggest not asking your son if he has to go, but just taking him. Don't give him the choice at this point.

I would also ditch the pullup diapers. They aren't underwear, they don't feel uncomfortably wet when he pees in them and if he views them as a diaper, he's not likely to just stop.

If you switch to underwear, underwear with plastic pants over them, cloth training pants or cloth diapers, you may find this speeds the process. With the widespread use of disposable diapers and pullups, kids don't really know what it feels like to be wet. With cloth, they realize what happens when they pee - they get wet! And they start to recognize what it feels like just before that happens.

Good luck!

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Hi J.:
My kids are all grown up now(26, 24, 21, and 17) but I do know a thing or two about toilet-learning! First of all, boys are usually not ready until they are at LEAST 2 1/2 and sometimes closer to 3! If you hear otherwise, it's because Mom is trained! Your son has obviously shown some interest, which you should continue to encourage-Dad modeling, potty visible in bathroom, pullups instead of diapers, but I would go really low key and let him set the pace. It will be a lot less frustrating . the longer you wait, the more he will be ready and it won't seem like such a long process. With my 3 boys we waited until they were about 2 yrs. 9 months, and then they were ready and it was a matter of days/weeks and they were diaper free during the day-much longer at night though. He may also respond favorably to big-boy underwear that he picks out at the store, but not till he is closer to 3. Also, when the weather starts getting warmer, have him run around with very little clothing at home, so if he does pee, he will feel uncomfortable and be more motivated to use the potty. The more you push the more he will resist. That is the definition of a two year old. Relax, Mom, he won't be going to kindergarten in diapers! God luck.
Cathy

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With boys it takes longer, my son is 4 now and he just got potty trained 2 months ago. It was extremely frustrating. I was hoping to have him trained by 2, 3 at the latest. It just did not take. I started putting him in underwear at 2 1/2 during the days. Let him pick out his own at the store. It's alot of fun and he thinks he's a big boy. Boy, the peeing took very quickly, however the pooing was just accomplished recently and I threw out many pairs of underwear. Everyone told me he'll do it in his own time, I had a very stubborn little boy. I still have him in pull ups at night we are working on that right now. I know from hearing from other people, some boys are still in pull ups at 5. Thank god it didn't take that long. My suggestion is just keep being persistent. I also got a small foldable potty for the minivan. It has disposable liners and is very convenient. I got it at Burlington Coat Factory, I think it is called Potty on the Go.

Good luck. Boys are tough.

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Sounds to me like your son is doing just fine. If its only been a short time and he is only 2 yrs old. Be patient and eventually he will get the hang of it. Its still new to him. My daughter was 3 when she really comprehended the potty thing/. One day we ran out of diapers and I said no more, and we bought her pantys. She had a few accidents and that was it. But Like I said she was 3, we started getting her used to it at 2 yrs though. We would sometimes sit with her for the longest time until she would go. and when she would go we would give her a reward (like a special cookie, or putting a stamp or sticker in her special potty book we made). She loved being able to tell everyone she was a big girl. Just be patient and it will happen. You are in for a long haul, and if you think it will just happen over night youare mistaken, especially at 2. Good luck.

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Pull ups definitely prolonged potty training for my daughter. Kids are smart...they know pull ups are really just a diaper. Once I stopped using them she realized she didn't like to be wet. I brought a change of clothes everywhere we went for about 6 months.

I have friends who tried at 2 w/ boys and they didn't take to it. Then tried again at 3 and they trained quickly.

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Every child is different. My son wasn't ready until he was 3 while my daughter literally trained herself before her 2nd BD. I found the easiest was in the summer and I let my son run around naked in our yard and I kept his potty outside. Everytime he would start to pee I put him on the potty and gave him a new (small) toy to play with (a squirt bottle, the hose, a small swimming pool type of stuff.... summer things). He eventually learned pretty quick because he wanted the water toys. When it became winter, we kept a small kids potty near him so he didn't have to go far to go potty. We slowly graduated to the big potty when the small one suddenly disappeared (left behind at a hotel.... oops :-)

I know it's winter right now, but maybe you can do something like this in a room where you don't care if he pees on the floor like the kitchen. Give him a TON to drink and crank up the heat. Have a bag full of small things he likes to play with so he can get rewarded. I wouldn't advise using food. Good luck!

J. B.

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My experience was that he would not use the potty until HE wanted to. My son, now 5, was dry through the night at 21/2 years old and had 2 hours of a dry diaper during the day. He did not however train until 3 years 2 monnths and then never had another accident. Its really on their terms, unfortunately. My mom told me not to worry, he won't go to college in diapers!!

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Some kids just don't give up the peeing in the diapers until you stop the diapers. It means a couple of really messy days but it works for many children.

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Hi J. B,

I have two sons, now 6 and 7 and a half years old. I watched my sister (with a daughter now 8) go through nearly a year of on-again-off-again potty training and it was very stressful for both of them. My philosophy was to wait until they begged for underwear. With my older son, who showed interest in the potty, if he told us he wanted to go, we would take off the diaper and put him on the potty. We gave him underwear after he asked every day for about 2 weeks, and he had accidents (as every child will) for about a week while he figured it out, then he was done (at about 2 yrs. 10 months). With our younger son, we used the same philosophy but it took much longer for him to want underwear. It was harder on us because we were ready for him to be OUT of diapers, but ultimately, it worked because he had almost no accidents at all. If there isn't a reason your son MUST be potty trained by a certain time, I would let him tell you.

Best of luck,
E. W.

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Hi J.! Congrats on potty training already!!! I know a couple of people have said this already, but it might be best to do without the pull ups for a couple of days when you know you can be home, or close by. When my oldest was training he was about 2 and he was doing so good at home with underwear on. If I would take him out in a pull up like to the park or something he would pee in it all the time. I finally realized that he could feel the difference and if he felt the diaper his brain just said feel free to pee. :) Anyway, for like 2 days I took him outside in underwear and brought with me a few changes of undies and sweat pants. He had a couple of accidents, but he got it pretty quick. The hard part is that it's winter now. I also have a 2 year old (26 mos) and I'm waiting till it gets a little warmer out so I can try to do the potty training the same way I did with my first.

Hope it all works out for you. But he's doing a great job. He is still so young and he seems to get it all. Way to go Mom!

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I just wanted to point out that many kids day train LONG before they night train. My daughter has been completely fool proof (watch me jinx myself by sayign that) since she was 21 months. She's now 27 months. She is not, by any stretch, night trained. She sleeps far too soundly!

Naked time is great if you can do it, or just dive into the undies and be prepared to be calm and go through a lot of laundry the first few days.

I've also heard of women who start their potty training on Sundays after church (if you dont' go to church you can do this on any day) and plan to stay at home all week. When they get home from church they take off everything on the lower half, sit their child on the potty, explain how to use it and that if they're good all week they get to wear big kid undies! The entire week this is continued until the following sunay when the child finally gets to wear those undies to church. I've had several moms tell me that this is nearly foolproof. I haven't tried it as my daughter basically trained herself while I was laid up due to a major injury this summer.

Good luck mama!

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Potty training is different for each child. My son was trained by 2 1/2, which is a normal age for most boys to be done with potty training between the ages of 2-3. Of course his dad showed him what to do and I think that really helped. But you don't need to feel like you should rush him, when he is ready it will happen. It sounds like he has the hang of things, just not the full awareness of what is going on with his body yet and that will come. Just praise him when he does it well and don't make a big deal of the accidents and it will come! Good luck!

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I found the pullups made it harder to potty train my daughter. Once I put her on (big girl panites) she went to the potty on her own. However, I have a nephew the same age as my daugher and it was much more difficult to potty train him. Boys tend to take a little longer to potty train. Try big boy underwear during the day, and set a potty time routine. Such as 15 minutes after lunch is potty time. The daily routine is what finally helped my nephew. Good luck, enjoy him while he's two (they are so much fun at that age) and stay patient he will go potty when he is ready.

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It takes time and patience to potty train. I took my children to the potty EVERY hour. I’d say “let’s go potty.” When the child tells you that he/she has to potty and NEVER has an accident while awake, it's time for underwear; however, at bedtime you should continue using pull-ups. When the child wakes up dry for approximately two months, he/she is FULLY potty trained.

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I'm not at the potty stage w/ my son yet, but i helped my close friend with her daughter at about 2 1/2. She went from diapers on Sunday to big girl panties on Tuesday and diapers were only for night time. Of course there are accidents but it worked pretty well. The theory is, if they keep wetting their underpants, they're not supposed to like how it feels and they should become more diligent about requesting and using the potty.

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My son was potty trained at 3. Brutal, long, demanding process. The only thing that worked with both my daughter (trained at 2.5) and my son was to get rid of the pull-ups. I cannot stress that enough. They are great as an intro to potty training, but with what you are describing it sounds to me like it is time to ditch 'em. Yeah, he may have an accident in them but underwear is much different than pull-ups that he will stop going in them.

Think about it, he has been peeing & pooping in a diaper his whole entire life. A pull-up is still a diaper and he is conditioned to go potty in it. Underwear is totally new to him, so he will slowly begin to understand that these different things need to be treated differently - at night too. He'll get it.

One of the developmental readiness signs of potty training is if the diaper is dry in the morning. If his diaper has not been dry, they he may not be physically ready yet. If dry in the morning, do not give him a diaper, aka pull-up, at night either! If he is physically ready, he can do it. Now mind you there are some children who cannot stay dry at night for medical reasons.

Good luck.

A.

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