Potty Training - Lutz,FL

I have found, different things work for different children. With my oldest, when he was around 3 someone suggested letting him run naked because with the pullups and underwear they don't realize that its not something they can pee in, but if they are naked they realize what they are doing. He peed on the floor once, and pooped once and I never had another problem with him going potty. Now, my middle son... he was almost 4 when we got him potty trained and I never thought it would happen. Even now, when he is really into something he just about pees his pants before he will stop to go to the bathroom. Running naked wouldn't work for him, he would just pee where he was and not care! I can't remember any one specific thing we did with him to get him going consistently... just kept trying. I've heard some people say take them and make them try every 30 -60 mins and then reward them when they do go. Good luck though!

My son will be three in March, and I also just had another baby in June. My sister gave me great advise on potty training boys. Wait till they can tell you that they feel that they need to potty. She waited to train my nephew till he was three. If you continue to ask them if they need to potty they are training you, you are not training them. Wait till he tells you that he needs to potty, then you can just make it like a weekend training!! Good luck, I still have to train myself!

Hi L.,

When my son was 2 1/2 (about 2 months ago) he too was just going every once in a while, so finally, like Amber the post before mine, I bought him some scooby-doo underwear and told him not to wet scooby. He had maybe 3 accidents but it took 2 weeks and he's potty trained. He'll be 3 in Nov, but really I have to remind him and put him on the potty every 2 or 3 hours but, because of scooby he holds it until I put him on the potty. Even when I go shopping and running errands for a few hours he won't have an accident. I just make sure I make him go before I walk out the door.

I still have trouble with number 2 he holds it all day and won't go until night time when I put a pull up on him. Not sure what that's all about but at least number 1 is under control.

Good Luck,
V.

L.,

I have a 3 yr old and a 10 week old. We have made two othe atempts at potty training (based on his interest in it) and stopped when he started throughing fits not to sit on the potty. He finally has decided he does not like dirty diapers and started to take them off after he pooped. So I told him he couldn't wear a diaper anymore if he knew enough to take off his diaper and try to clean him self. I put his big boy underwear on him that day and he has went to poop on the potty by him self now for a week. No accidents. I would say if you feel he is ready then go ahead, but be sure he is ready. I have a friend that is still struggling with her son and his is almost 4 so don't feel bad. Most of my friends with sons that are three still aren't potty trained as well. GOOD LUCK!!!

I personally think people to much pressure on a child to potty train. I did that with my daughter and it failed miserably. Now I take care of my grandson almost full time. He started with peeing first we put big boy pants on him which he liked but he would still poppy in his pants. All of a sudden he decided he didnt like the feel of poppy in his pants and stopped. Now do you want to know his age almost 3 1/2 and I am not embarrassed because there was no screaming or fighting the transition went much smoother on his schedule. Good Luck

When my son was that age I told my pediatrician about it and he said to make a game out of going #1. He said when he played outside in his own back yard to see how many trees he can go pee-pee on. It may sound weird but, it helps them understand the concept of starting and stopping, and needing to go and not needing to go. Just try to make sure that he only does it at home or he may start watering all of you neighbors trees and bushes too.

laura hi i read your request and have a g reat ideal that works with almost every little boy i know. it worked with my son and grand son and several of my friends boys and other family boys put bubbles in the potty chair.they love to make bubbles and then they will follow with the next leavel after that because he will beleave bubbles will apear if he goes potty eather way. make a big deal out of his potty time make it exciting he will want to go cause he knows its making you happy.good luck i hope this works for you aswell as every one else.

I was one of those parents who didn't push the issue with potty training and my daughter is 3 yrs and 8 months now. She is potty trained except for sleeping times. We still have accidents when we are sleeping. I waited till my oldest daughter was out of school for the summer so that I could devote 2 full weeks without having to run out and do errands to where I could just stay at home and make it to the potty. So for whenever you decide to start, good luck to you.

I know the longer you wait to do it, the harder it will be. Both of my sons were over 3 before we started. Their main thing was when they started doing #2 in the potty because they didn't want to be stinky. If you can tell when your son is about to go, then you can put him on at that time to get him used to being clean this way. Everyone will give you advice, but ultimately, you will have to do what is best for you.

My son is 3 1/2 and we're still working on it. We pushed really hard b/c he could not start school if he was not. It would not have been the way I wanted to go, but I wanted him in school. He has "drips" and accidents almost every day at some point, but he has the main idea and mostly does a great job. My other son we pushed too for months, but then I just said, he will do it when he wants. Probably after a month of letting him know what we wanted , but letting him do what he wanted, he just woke up one morning and was potty trained. No kidding - never had an accident day or night. Every child has different personality and growth spurts (which affects bladder control), so what works for one may not for another.

The stress for you is consistancy! With a new baby, this may not be the time to dedicate. You need to be constantly reminding them to go and taking them. A friend said she constantly filled her son with fluids and then took him to the potty every 30 minutes. It may help to leave him with just underwear or naked when you start getting the gist of it. Mainly, he has to want to do it. You can have rewards for going and lots of praise. You may have to try everything. The big thing though is no more diapers - and no pull-ups if you can prevent it. For my sons, the pull ups felt like a diaper and they would soil them like one. when they went to the store to pick out big boy underwear, they did not want to soil it. I know a lot of friends who made the changing point at the third birthday - 3 is a big boy and we say bye-bye to baby diapers and hello to big boy underwear - let's say bye-bye together - give your son the control.

Try the peeing on the Cheerio target in the potty game too - this works for a lot of boys. We also went and bought a cheap timer and we set it for every 1/2 hour and told my son that when it went off it was potty time and we would race to the potty. He liked this idea and it worked well.

I know this may not help, but truely, there is no right way for everyone. Good luck.

L.,

My son is now 28 months and I have a little girl 7 months. My son showed interest before his sister was born, but I didn't push the issue because of the same reason. We finally tried in June and he resisted the first couple of times. I finally woke one day determined not to have 2 in diapers and put his "big boy" pants on, he screamed for about 5 minutes for a diaper and I told him we didn't have any, he would have to wait until we went to the store and until then he would have to wear his "big boy" pants. By the end of the day he didn't want a diaper back on! For the first few months I would put one on at night in case of an accident, but he woke up dry every morning, so I stopped.

I have to say, I did plan 5 days of just being at home with no traveling, going out, etc. The first 2 days I was ready to quit, having all the accidents, along with a newborn, but it was worth going through it.

Good luck and if I can be any additional help let me know.

J.

My children are now 14, 11 and 9. Potty training came late for every single one of them. The first I tried everything, begged, pleaded, bribed, got mad, nothing worked. The second was lazy would pee on the potty but not poop, finally took a bribe of if you do not go poop in your pants and use the potty for 3 months I will take you to Disney...that was what did it. The third could care less. I was more stressed by thinking they had to be potty trained by a certain age. The pediatrician told me "one thing is for sure, they are all potty trained by college, just let it go". With the third, I let her decide and then convince me that she was potty trained. All three were close to 4 before fully potty trained. Just let it go. Every child develops differently, don't sweat the small stuff. I have never seen a college student in diapers either!

My son is also two and a half and displays the same signs as your little one. He has pooped in the potty just once (completely on his own) and has only peed once! He too does not display the readiness signs. We have always heard boys take longer and that 2.5 is still young for them. We bought him books (and recently Elmo's potty time dvd) and we let him observe bathroom skills. I am bnot sure if it helps but he has become more interested in toilet training as a result. Let me know if you get any other advice - I would be interested in hearing any suggestions. Good Luck and Congratulations on the new baby.

L., unfortunately I have to agree with the last response. I have 2 boys (1 & 5) and I went through the exact situation as you. Everyone told me "boys train later and they will learn when they are ready, don't push it." Well, MY son was extremely smart and was like talking to an adult at the age of 2, so I could not understand how he would train later. But, guess what, he was about 3 years and 1 month when he finally decided he was going to start going on the potty. And trust me, I tried EVERYTHING to get him to go sooner. You name it, I did it, but he just wasn't ready. Then one day I bribed him with a pair of Thomas Train Big Boy Underwear (which I had done several times before)and this time he said "ok" and has been going every since then. I'll never understand it, but that is just the way it is. Kids can really baffel us, huh?Hope this helps!

Hi L.,

I am a second time single mom. My daughter will be 24 in December and my son will be 3 the 23rd of this month. He had shown so signs of wanting to potty train either. I got him books, etc. He would sit on his potty but only with a diaper or clothes on. He would always be dry at night though. He goes to his father's every other weekend and started going on the potty over there...I think they might have pushed him to do it but I'm not sure. He still wasn't telling me at home though. All of a sudden he did and now he is fully potty trained. We do use a pullup at night and during his nap at daycare. He stays dry usually at night but sometimes not at daycare...I think because they take a nap right after lunch so his food and drink hasn't settled yet to go potty before naptime. Don't be discouraged...he will get potty trained when he is ready. Just make sure you encourage him, but don't force him. :) I was told...."you've never seen a kindergartner in diapers have you?" I had to laugh, but it's so true. I didn't have to deal with another baby on the way but I did have to deal with him just starting every other weekends away which did put a damper on it for a few weeks. He was starting to potty train better but then he kind of regressed until he got used to being away. I believe my son just needed more time to learn how his body works and feels and how to hold it until he gets to a potty. It does take time. And even if he has gone sometimes he still might not know exactly how his body works. We used to take my son and sit sometimes for 20 minutes or more because he said he needed to go potty...or we would just take him when we thought he needed to go. Now it's...I gotta go potty...and off we go and it takes less than a minute and he's done. He still sits for a while sometimes going poop but that's because he has a hard time sometimes and it hurts so he's afraid to go...a whole other issue. :) Hope this helps.

D.

L., at 2 1/2 it seems to me he might be ready or he might not. It's not at all unusual for boys to just not be ready at this age. My oldest potty trained at 2 1/2. He was not ready at 2 and 4 months. He was not ready at 2 and 5 months. At 2 and 6 months (nearly to the DAY that he turned 2 1/2), he suddenly couldn't stand a wet diaper, was dry in the morning and holding it until the floodgates let loose, and suddenly wanted to use his cute little toddler potty so he wouldn't dirty a diaper. It just kind of happened... WHEN HE WAS READY. There was no no need to push. If he'd been 3 or 3 1/2 I would've worried a little more. But I knew him and knew his personality. When he was ready, he'd let me know. And he surely did.
One tip on training was using Pull Ups. I think he started wearing them during the day at just over 2. They were just more convenient for us, except when he pooped and then the mess was MUCH harder to clean than diapers. Anyway, he loved the idea that he was wearing a sort of 'big boy underwear' and it was a good transition for him. That's my only real advice other than to trust your instincts... and his cues. Good luck and best wishes.

Hi L.

I'm in your position with my daughter. She knows "caca" and sits on her little potty but doesn't really show much of an interest in actually USING it. Everyone I know has told me not to push it and make a big deal out of it. EVENTUALLY they'll start taking more of an interest in it.

One thing a friend of mine DID do with his son was to put a sticker or bull's eye IN the potty and make a game out of it.

Another friend said she would pick a day out of the week and try and devote THAT DAY to trying to use the potty and making a HUGE deal when her daughter did use it (clapping and wowing and yaying, etc..)

I know I need to start getting my daughter to use it but she's not really interested for now either so I'm kind of letting it slide...maybe that's a bad thing? She doesn't seem to be the worst off though.

D.

Hello! I just successfully potty trained my daughter in one week. She will turn 3 on October 18th. The very best advice my mother gave me was "Wait until they are ready" this may include several trials followed by several failures...but if it fails, they are not ready. I woke up one morning and asked my daughter if she'd like to potty on the toilet and to my surprise, she said, "YES!" One week later, she was peeing and pooping in the toliet without prompting or help...she WILL however, announce "I GO PEE!" LOL And we always follow this up with praise. The very best advice I can give you is try everything...M&M rewards, new books to read on the potty, new underpants, PRAISE, PRAISE, and MORE PRAISE. In the end, no pun intended, your child will let you know if he's ready.

I can also offer this little tidbit...if you live out in the country, this also might help as long as you don't mind. When my now 7 year old son was potty training, my grandparents were his daycare providers. My grandpa told him if he wouldn't pee in his big boy pants, he'd take him outside to pee on a tree (they lived on a farm) which delighted my 2 1/2 year old son to no end!

One last thing...I would recommend potty training all the way...get rid of the diapers and pull ups. I've found that it can confuse the child if you put a diaper on them at night or during naps. They might just learn to store it all up for the diaper. I bought disposable underpads (made by Depends) to put in between her mattress pad and sheet. You may end up washing a lot of sheets, but you won't confuse your child. P.S. Don't forget to cut off the liquids a couple of hours before bedtime too! ;)

GOOD LUCK!

I have a 3yr old and he did not get potty trained until he was 3. What I did was I would take him to the bathroom about every 1hour you just have to watch your child and see how often he goes in his diaper. But just encourge him, and when he's ready he will start going on his own, Its something they have to want to do and every child is different. Good luck.

hi L.
I have a little boy who did the same things, everyone I knew that had boys said they don't train until after 3rd birthday...I was certain that MY little boy would train sooner, and he tried, but it wasn't consistant.
Exactly one week after his 3rd birthday, HE started going to the bathroom by himself, and that was that! I know all the work we did prior to his 3rd birthday showed him how to go, and when to go, but he just wasn't ready until HE was ready! He didn't go to the small potty, he wanted to use the big potty, so I made him a little step stool that he just pushed up to the toilet and climbed up on it...Trust me, I did A LOT of cleaning, but it was what he needed to get him going!
I know it's frustrating, but it will happen when he's ready, just keep reinforcing it, and that's all you can do!
GOOD LUCK!
A.

Hi
I help my son along with stickers. I taped a piece of regular
8x10 paper to the back of the bathroom door and put his name
on it. Then told him that everytime that he goes potty that
i would give him a sticker of his choice for him to place by himself (like a big boy) on the paper. He loved this and even started picking out his own choice of stickers at the store to
use for his reward. At the end of his potty training we had
4 full sheets and i now have them in his baby book that we
look at and he still remembers the stickers. Hope that this
helps you.
L.

L. I know exactly how you feel I now have three girls. The best advice I can give you is that if you feel that he is ready...which seems to me that he is...then go for it. I have girls and had no problems potty training. Once I decided I made them go around in just a big t-shirt and no diaper or underware for a few days expect for nap and bed time. After three days of having them go every so often to the bathroom and not going anywhere they did great. Of course I didn't have any carpeting in the areas I lived at that time which made this method easy. My sister just had a baby a week ago and now has a 20month old boy and now a girl. She had her son potty trained before the baby came and I believe is still doing well with it. It's all up to what you can handle and being consistant once you decide what your going to do. I hope that helps and sorry for writting so much, this is my first time helping anyone I just became a member to this site tonight.

My sons are 21 months apart and EVERYONE said dont train a boy before they are three,well my oldest was 2year and 3 months and fully trained. I started with pullups at night and naps and tighty whitys all the other times. yes its a mess to start but he feels like such a big boy not a "baby" in diapers like his little brother. So I recommend go for it and be ready to clean up the mess. It lasted about 2weeks for full compliance, and no poop on the floor. Now he is 2yrs and 9months and we are only in underpants 100 percent of the time. Oh my son never told me he was wet or had a mess in his diapers, so I would not use that as a marker. Hope this helps. A.