Potty Training - Las Vegas,NV

My son is also 3 and is allmost there s well. There is no window when it comes to potty training. My oldest boy woke up one day after months and months of working with him and just started going on his own. One day they just get it, just stay stern in his training and trust it will happen it's just a process and boys are so much harder.

Hi K.!

I have a 28 month old son and I am wondering myself when is the right time to potty train. What I do know is that you want to look for some signs that indicate he is ready. For example, he wants to pick up his own pants, is not afraid to sit on the potty, talks about the "poo poo" or "pee pee..."

My dilemna is whether I should do it now or potty train after the twins are born. (yes, I'm having twins in June!) But I wouldn't worry about that "window of opportunity" because every child is different and will let you know when they're ready. Boys on average take a little while longer than girls too.

On a side note~ my husband and I are both musicians and songwriters and are always looking for other couples in the same business especially living in this area. Please contact me sometime, would love to chat.

A. B
____@____.com

First dont use pull ups. That will give him the security of a diaper. Only at night time did I ever use pull ups. I know it is kinda messy sometimes but it will work. Also about every hour or so have him go try to use the potty or 20 min to 1/2 hour after drinking or eating. When he does use the potty be sure clap and give praise. I also used stickers. Everytime my son told me he had to use the potty he got a sticker and we put it on the lid of his potty seat. Everytime he went potty he was sooo proud of his stickers.

Oh one last thing...when he does have an accident dont rush to change him try to wait for him to tell you. He will eventually realize he does not like the feeling of wet pants.

Hope this helps:)

Hi There! With my son--we tried the Cheerios and he thought that was pretty fun but didn't use it all the time. Something else that might help have daddy and him do a "special potty" Not to sound gross or anything but my son saw my hubby go potty and he wanted to be like daddy. Good Luck! D.

Ok this might sound nuts but if your using the "big boy potty" try throwing a cheerio or fruit loop in the toilet and tell him to try and hit it when he goes. Also try placing him on the potty every 15-20 minutes until he goes and then make a HUGE deal about him going and what a big boy he is for using the potty.

Ok you are going to think I am terrible. 13 years ago I was potty training my son and he had an accident in his little underwear while we were attempting to potty train him. I went "ewwwww" and said how icky it was and gross and made it really dramatic and then explained to him that we have to make that "icky" go away thats why we use the potty. Well as terrible as that was it worked..instantly! He used the potty everytime after that. Of course I have a 2 year old now and will be going through potty training again soon so well see if it works again! Only thing I know for sure is that it is mean to make a child sit there until he goes. Be patient but a little icky guilting might not hurt. =)

Kimberly,

My daughter's preschool teacher suggested taking her out of pull ups and putting her in real underwear. (even though this is a lot of work for you) It worked for Grace and within a week she was potty trained even though we did have a few accidents of poo poo but I have heard that is harder to master. I also used treats to reward her at home when she successfully went potty. I put the candy jar with gummy life savers and stuff where she could see it but not reach it.

It worked and if you haven't tried it maybe you should give it a whirl.

Let me know how it goes and I hope you find the answer soon since I know how frustrating that can be.

D.

Hi K.,

I was able to potty trian my son when he was 2 years, 8 months...don't worry about "missing the window" you are right there!! For us, we did a reward system with stickers...one for everytime he pottied, and 2 for everytime he pooped, he got to pick out the sticker and put it any where on his potty chair that he wanted. First thing in the morning, he sat on his tolet, and about 30 minutes after each bottle, we'd visit the bathroom...just in case, and normally we were right on. That got him used to going in the tolet. Going poop in the tolet was a diffrent story. He would hide and not want to go to the bathroom when he needed to poop. I had to use empty treats of time out if he didn't at least "try". What also helped was giving him either some toys or a book to "read" while he was in there....and he also was much more apt to poop in the bathroom if I gave him privicy, shutting the door and left the room. He would come running bare butt to tell me how he did it!! Also, GET RID OF THOSE PULL UPS!!! Put him in "big boy underwear"!! You are likely to do alot of wash for a couple of weeks, but it worked for us. He might not want to wet his big boy underwear, but even if he does, he wont like feeling wet, and will be more likely to stop peeing, tell you and then you and he can rush to the bathroom where he can try to finish....and a big hooray to him! He would be very proud of himself.
Anyway, good luck to you and your son.

My son is 5 now but when he was three we had a very hard time potty training him. What I FINALLY resorted to (and it completely worked!)was bribery. I know it sounds terrible but we were so desperate =) So when we sent him off to preschool I would tell him, "If you go potty in the toilet every time, I will get you a special treat after school". And it worked! From the first time! Good luck

Hi K., I know what you mean of potty training. I have a 2 year old little girl who is going to be 3 soon in May and I am trying to teach her to potty train. This is the advice I was given just be patient with them because if you don't show them patience they will not go the other thing is which I am doing with my daughter is letting her walk around the house no diaper on. She wears sweat pants. They hate the filling of being wet. It will take time and reward him after he is done with the potty. But I would say give a try. It's not going to happen one day over the other it will take time.

K.,

We are going through this with my 3.5 y.o. son who is mildly autistic (which makes potty training just that much more challenging). So far the most effective thing has been to make taking him to the bathroom every hour no matter what, rewarding him with M&Ms (one for sitting, two for peeing, a handful if he poops) and lots of encouragement and "high 5s." His teacher also recommended that we go to training pants with the plastic pants over them. It is gross but that really did help. Even now, if he's wearing a pull up, he will just pee. But he's better about going to the toilet and/or telling us he has to go when he's wearing training pants because it is uncomfortable when they are wet. You can get the training pants at Walmart or Target (Target usually has bigger sizes, Walmart only seems to carry them up to the 24 month size) but they only place I've been able to get the vinyl covers is Walmart (or amazon.com). So at my house, we are using praise, rewards, training pants and consistancy. FWIW, he's much better about using the potty at school than he is at home.

My best friend let her daughter pick out "big girl panties" and then told her she couldn't pee or poop in the big girl panties and that was enough incentive for her daughter to want to potty train. Unfortunately my son couldn't care less what he wears so that didn't work for us, but it might for you if your son has a favorite cartoon character that comes on undies....

:-)T.

Hi K.,
My son is now six when he was about 2 1/2 or 3 we potty trained him. I truely belive the the bribe system works. What is his favorite thing? My son's was motorcycles, we bought 5 motorcycles put them up in his closet so he could see them and we told him the first time you pee on the potty you get one then when you poo on the potty you get another one. By the third time he was trained. You can also use a chart with stickers and after he pees you give him a sticker and after he poos you give him two stickers, when he gets 3 or 4 stickers you pick the number you give him a toy or whatever you have up in the closet. Whatever you choose for the gifts need to be out of his reach, but he needs to be able to see it all the time. Does that make sense? Good luck with this. let me know how it goes ____@____.com is my email. C. B

Hi Kimberly! Ok, well my mother-in-law always tried to drop hints to potty train my children @ 1 1/2 yrs old because, that's what she did. I am very happy for her, but that didn't work for me :0)!!! I waited. My oldest showed no signs of wanting to potty on the toilet, so I asked her doctor. He told me to wait, that there is no hurry & to make it convenient! Mind you...I was working full time at that time & my mom was watching her, so I needed my mothers full cooperation as well. So, when my daughter turned 3 I decided that it was time to crack down & give it a good try. Thankfully, for my mom...she just put the potty chair in the room where she was playing and explained it to her...showed her 1 time...and that's ALL it took! For the rest of that day and a couple of days after...she would go by herself. She only had maybe 2 accidents & never again did she have a problem going potty on the toilet! So, my advice to you...(every child is different)...is wait a little while & try again, but this time, make it convenient at first and gradually introduce him to the toilet. Sorry, but I just realized that you have a boy...lol. With my son...it was easier to have my husband help a lot with training him. Being a women and already having 3 girls...I had no clue how to show a boy what to do. My husband taught him to sit on the toilet. I was clueless ;) I assumed that males stood up! LOL But, it works! I hope this helped a little...be consistent, make it convenient at first & don't stress on the time frame. Take care!

Dear K.,

Noooooooo, you did not miss the window of opportunity. Maybe he is just a slow maturing person. I have a great grandson who is loving being a 'baby'. He finally started saying a few words just lately - he is 2 1/2 years old.
Not long ago I was giving him a bath, then out to dry off standing on a towel and using another one. Suddenly he started peeing and noticed that it was happening and said "Ohhh Oh". I think that he had not been aware of that happening before he saw it. So cute. He is still in diapers and even big sister is trying to get him to go to the toilet. He will, and so will your child. You have big worries ahead, do not hold onto this little one. Be sooooo happy that he is healthy. There are so many babies now that have a disorder called Autism . You are lucky so enjoy. C. N.

Hi K.,

My daughter will be 3 in a couple weeks, and I am feeling frustrated with the whole potty situation....It takes alot of patience, I guess. The owner of my daughter's preschool suggested trying underwear. Have you tried a potty chart, with stickers for rewards? These are just some of the things that I am trying! Good luck....

Try making a reward chart. Make a chart like a calendar, with a row for each week and a column for each day of the week. Use as many rows as you want -- one months worth, two, etc. We did this for my daughter when she was 3 and needed to be potty trained in order to start preschool. (Potty training had started earlier but had been interrupted by the birth of her baby sister and our move cross-country to San Diego.) For each day that she successfully used the potty at least once, she got a sticker on the chart. At the end of each week, if she had stickers on each day, she got a small reward. At the end of the chart, on the day when preschool would start, I drew a picture of a schoolhouse, so she knew she was working toward the goal of being ready for preschool. She was potty trained in two weeks -- well in advance of the preschool start date.

Kim,

I have a son who is 3 1/2 now. It was getting very close to his 3rd birthday and we still werent potty trained. I know this sounds a bit rough and you may have to do a lot of laundry, but my husband and I put our son in big boy underwear and if he had an accident we told him it is okay but next time we will try for the potty. We would have 1 to 2 accidents a day and he finally got tired of peeing on himself. Like your son, ours was very close too. By putting him in underwear and letting him realize that if he goes potty in his clothes, they are going to get wet and he is going to have to change clothes all the time. He finally realized that it was uncomfortable to be wet all the time and have to get changed so many times, that he finally started going in the potty. we also went to Walmart and picked out little $1 and $2 dollar toys and things he liked doing, like a little box of crayons and what not and put them in a tupperware bin. We also got a board and placed the days of the month on it. Everytime he went pee he got one sticker and when he went poop he got 2 stickers. Once he reached 5 stickers he got to pick a prize out of the box. This made it to where he wanted to go potty because he wanted to get stickers and prizes. After he had the hang of going potty all on his own, we slowed down on giving prizes and eventually we didnt need to do it anymore. We had issues for a little while with #2 but he finally got it. We are now on the phase of winging him away from pull-ups at night and we have been doing good for a week now. We cut liquids off at around 630-7pm and make sure we go potty 2 or 3 times before bed which is 830. I wish you the best of luck. Boys are a little harder than girls. It just takes them a little longer. Dont worry though. You havent missed the window of opportunity.

Hi K.,
I saw your posting and just wanted to let you know that I feel your anguish! I can't really offer any solutions, because I am going through the same thing. My son is already 3 (he will be 4 in May!) and nothing is working for us as far as potty-training! He will go when we ask him to, but he doesn't understand the 'urge' to go, and it's hard for us to ask him on an hourly basis. We've tried every trick in the book - sticker charts, bribery (a quarter for every potty, to save to buy a Thomas train), tinting the water blue, putting Cheerio 'targets' in the water, a training potty with a doll, books, videos, etc!! And he's a very smart boy, so I don't know why he's not getting it! The preschool we want to take him to will only take him if he's potty-trained, and he really liked the preschool, so we tell him, you have to do potty in the toilet if you want to go to preschool! I also have another baby on the way, so I just want him to be done with diapers before the baby arrives! I just hope something will 'click' one day and he'll be ready! Everyone I talk to says, you just have to go 'cold turkey' and let him run around naked for several days in a a row, so maybe we will try that?? Anyway, good luck & I hope you get some good responses!
Take care,
S. Kavert, 32
Lakeview Terrace, CA

Hi Kimberly :)
Naw, it'll be fine. If he's in undies part time I would put him back in pullups for about a week then try the "doll method". I used it with my son and it was very effective. Potty Scotty is the best one I've found. :)
http://cgi.ebay.com/Potty-Scotty-Training-Doll-Used-One-D...
Best of luck to you!
M.

i only know what i did, introduce often, especially after you notice a wet diaper, put underwear on them sometimes i think they get lazy with a pull up on. underwear is much lighter. sure you will have accidents but thats what moms are for... get a training potty or step stool. let them come with you to the bathroom or watch other kids their age, preferably family of course. yu cant make him tho, takes time.

Kimberely, my name is Chere' & I am a 34-year-old mother of 4 children. My youngest is almost 3 & I am in the 3rd week of potty training with her. My advice for you is to just stick with it. My other kids were 3 or older when they were finally potty trained, but I have friends & relative who had their kids potty trained before turning 2. Every child is different. For my 2-year-old, I have her go sit on her potty chair about 5 minutes after she wakes up in the morning, then we put on her panties. The first week I had to take her to sit on the potty every 20 minutes & there were a lot of accidents, but the 2nd week it got easier & now at the end of the third week she is almost there. Only 1 accident this week. I still put her to sleep with a "Goodnight" on & only just before bed time. Hang in there!!

I fully agree with using a potty chart and stickers....I used that with my son and he was totally trained in 1 day! It took one intense day though; the whole Saturday revolved around potty things; watching the potty video over and over (till I wanted to pull my hair out), reading the potty book, talking about the potty, showing him the chart and telling him if he used the potty he'd get a sticker, etc....

I totally believe this works, because my son just turned 2 on the first of February, then in March he was out of diapers......
of course, if he's busy playing or can't get to the bathroom quickly enough, he'll still have an accident in his underwear (poop only) so I watch him closely and if it looks like he's going to start grunting, I have him sit on the potty; half the time it works.......
good luck!

We used a small reward (2 M&Ms) to get my two 1/2 yr old to use the potty. and I take her to the potty every 30 minutes, even if I am out shopping. I don't think there is a window of opportunity for potty training. the older they are the more mature they are and can understand the concept. Lots of kids alos have imature bladders and really not a lot of control when they are young. It will work out don't worry

Kimberly I am right there with you. I too have a 3 yr old boy who has the concept but does it when he wants to. I and gma's have tried the bribery.. me I make a HUGE HUGE HUGE deal when he goes in the big boy potty... I let him blow out a candle, and when he completely does it on his own (tells me he needs to go and then goes) he gets to do it 2x.
I also tell him that he cannot go to school like his friends at daycare until he does go in the big boy potty...
We have now started with the big boy pants.. let him pick them out--spiderman, bob the builder whatever he is into... then put him in them.. and start this on a weekend.. ask him every 15-20 min SERIOUSLY.. baby steps...

I know you already received a lot of advice but I just wanted to add one more thing - when we were training my son (using bribery as many of the other mom's posted) he would just go in his "big boy" underwear if they were tight fitting in any way. We had to get loose little cotton shorts and he immediately stopped going in them. For some reason I dont think he could distinguish between the tight undies and diapers. Also he wanted NOTHING to do with those little potties that sit on the floor - Target has a seat that is a normal toilet seat with a built in toddler seat that goes up and down. Kind of hard to explain, here is a link so you can see what I am talking about:
http://www.target.com/gp/detail.html/sr=1-1/qid=117511030...

My son showed much greater interest in using the potty when he got to use his own big boy stool and sit on the big potty.
Good luck!! :)

Hi K.,
I definately feel for you. My last son is going on 5 years old, I had tried just about everything to get him to go potty in the toilet without any success. Then I ran across this elmo potty doll and got some chocolate covered raisens and within a week he was finally going to the potty. Now after a year I am still cleaning his bottom despite showing him how to use the paper, wipes, and even this training paper with a dog and paw prints that show how much to take. But I can deal wih that since he is going to the toilet instead of his pants. I had the same thoughts as you did that this child is going to go to the bathroom forever in his pants. Another thing that I did was get rid of the diapers and placed him in training pants, it was hard to deal with at times but i had a steady supply and got the plastic pants to go over them (which he did not like) but told him we can remove them once he is going potty in the toilet. There was literature all over saying that children always have a set time to go and you can make sure that you just keep taking them to the bathroom...but my child would go at anytime, so what I did was constantly ask him ever 30 min to an hour if he had to go potty and one day out of the blue I walked passed his bathroom and there he was sitting on the toilet going pottie!! I have to say that one bathroom is his and it is dedicated to little people, a toilet seat converter for their smaller butt so he does not fall in, a step stool to rest his feet on while sitting there. Just don't give up its just taking a little long but he will get it.
I hope these suggesstions work for you.