Potty Training - Sierra Vista, AZ

Hi V.,
from what I hear, and my own experience, boys are harder to train than girls. My daughter announced when she was two "no more diaper mommy. I big girl today."
My son...well it was around 3+ years. I had to leave him bottomless and he would run around that way. he would have no interest in using the potty if his diaper was on! I tried the M&M method also...he thought that was fun! Good luck.

For a boy, he's still fairly young and definitely too young to be concerned. WAY too young to push him hard, which will likely backfire. My only suggestion is to get him out of pullups or disposable diapers while at home, if he's actually ready for it. IF he is showing signs of truly being able to control his movements. Get some reusable training pants so he can actually feel wet and uncomfortable and start learning from that feedback. Then calmly change him and not make a big deal out of accidents. They are part of learning.

Well, I know kids potty train on their own schedule and not ours. I found that out with my first son. He refused to start potty training until 3, and he also did not finish until he was 4-1/2. You can use a reward system, where you give him a sticker on a potty training book you can make out of paper. Write the day and every time he goes let him pick a sticker to put under that date and it will give him an incentive to try harder and he can actually see how he is doing. That is what worked for me.

28 months is still really young. Is he holding his pee during the night? He may not be ready yet. The worst thing to do is force the issue. My doctors said as long as they are potty trained before pre school they are ok. I think as parents we just want them out of diapers. What I did was every time I went to the bath room I took my daughter. She got the hang of it. But it took till she was three to be fully potty trained. Also stress will prolong the potty training as well. We were moving around alot. As soon as we settled down she was ready to go.

I am still working on my son. He is two. He still is not holding his pee at night. But he is at the point were he does not like the wet feeling. He tells me right away. Another clear sign that they are getting close to wanting to use the potty.

Just remember to always be calm. He will come around, just always make it fun. Praise, gifts when he does go. Things like that.

HI V., I have a son who turned 3 March first and still wasnt completley potty trianed. He is now but for a while i thought, Is he ever going to get the hang of this? My son was the same way. Some days he would go and others he would have accidents all day. I did keep him in underwear and at night put him in a pull up. It took a couple of weeks and he finally got it. My family was always in such a hurry for me to get him potty trained but i really think they do it in their own time when they are ready. I tried since he was 2 and it took this long. Im sure if you give your little one a little more time it will happen. Maybe try also to buy some fun things for him like Kandoo wipes to clean himself and some fun soap and a stool to stand on to wash his hands. That seemed to help with my son. Hope this helps and Good Luck.

Well, I work with a woman that had started potty training her children when they started walking. She had to! She is the only parent! For me, I think you have to watch your child and see when he wets his diaper, time it. Then, the next time he drinks/eats, you know when he needs to go on the potty chair and let him stay for at least a couple of minutes. I know potty training is hard, but you can do it!!!

If daddy is at home, make sure he sees him pee in the toilet. Same with older siblings and playmates and you can tell him how fun that would be. Wait until he starts to initiate it, and then get the ball rolling in the house (will be lots of cleanups). You can also buy him some cool underwear and give him a sucker or a racecar when he starts more interest. But this age is still way too young (especially if you started before age 2...) if he doesn't want to do it. good luck!

Dear V.,

He's playing games with you to see what your reactions are going to be. Put him on the potty (no options) EVERY hour for 10 minutes or so. Eventually you will catch something; then you make a big deal out of it with praise and a healthy reward (maybe let him choose his own "big boy" panties). I realize you can't do this when you work, but your caretaker should be able to. Do it whenever you can, and eventually they all give up and start letting you know ahead of time. I was a school teacher and never had a Kindergartner who wasn't potty-trained. Patience is the key.
K.

I tried with my boy before 3 and it was a huge failure. I thought he was ready because he talked a good game, and was willing to pee in the potty, but when it came to pooping, he would do it anywhere but (and then drive his toy tractor through it)
I decided despite all the other signs that he was ready, he really wasn’t, and tried again at 3½ yrs old (I may have waited longer if it wasn’t for wanting him to start preschool) and I was surprised how well he did.
If you try and it’s not working, just stop and wait at least 4 months, then try again. My rule is, if I’m getting frustrated, they’re not ready. My boy still has accidents and was way harder than my daughter, but it’s much better than the first time trying with him.
Good luck!

28 months is pretty young for al ittle boy to potty train...i have found with my 3 that they just "all of a sudden" decide to use the potty..my little man was closer to 2 1/2 before he decided to use the potty and he does great! good luck with potty training

I read a great article at babycenter.com about potty training. I can email it to you if you would like it. Just let me know! Good Luck!!!

You can't try to potty train. That's the same mistake I made with my oldest I spent a whole year trying and crying until out of the blue he just decided he was ready! So with my second child I didn't try anything I just waited and relaxed and sure enough when he was ready he went on his own.

He probably just isn't ready. Boys are tough to potty train. Both my boys where closer to the age of three. It's just like a light switch, all of a sudden they will just get it! Hope this helps!

Hi V.,

I've been through the same problem. I have been trying for a while and she would not go, or go sometimes. So, I just let it go and one day she just started going on her own. I put her in a diaper at night then but she wouldn't even need that. Now, she still sleeps with a sippy cup with water, drinks at night, and if she needs to she'll get up by herself and go potty or goes potty in the morning. I think a lot of the parents are obsessing about potty training and pushing the kids too much. sometimes the kiddos are not ready when we are. So, let it go for a little bit and try again soon. Hope that helps.
T..

You are not a failure. Some kids just take awhile. They will eventually make up their minds to do it. Until then, I will share what I've done and it's been working. My daughter just turned three and I've been trying to train her for about 5 months. I started with mainly pull ups and I try to make her go as often as possible. Some days are better than others. Now I put her in "big girl" panties for half the day and pull ups for nap and night time. That way she's still got some kind of continuity. I am now working to do whole days in panties and have her in a pull up at nap time and at night since she still goes in her sleep. It's been kind of a gradual thing for me and it has worked. She tries to get out of using the potty still but I make her go most of the time. I know some people are a lot more structured than I am but I want her to train without trauma. Maybe this will work for you. Hope it helps or gives you a starting place. :-)

HI V.-
I see alot of moms with potty training concerns on Mamasource. This really troubles me.... because I'm afraid it is causing stress and with little ones, you all already have enough stress!
My biggest advice would be to relax and try every so often to see if he's ready... if he's not, then don't push it, just wait a few months and try again later. It is not worth putting yourself through the stress. The less you talk about it with other moms, the less stress you will have.
I say this from personal experience. My first son was very smart (still is).. he could do 100 piece puzzles at age 2 1/2, but I found myself frustrated because he couldn't potty train! All the other kids were potty training, but couldn't even put together a 12 piece puzzle. After some time, it dawned on me that every child REALLY is different and I needed to just wait with him. Things went much smoother later.
My #2 and #3 sons were much easier because I took my own advice.. wait til they are ready.
I hope this helps. Please don't stress (if you are tempted to be).. he with catch on with time. There are so many other more important things to teach him and work with him on right now. If he's in diapers when he's 18 I bet he will see the need :)
Good luck.

wow, you've received some very good responses. my daughter is mostly potty trained. the hardest part for me was having to hear about how everyone elses kids were out of diapers at 18 months, blah, blah, blah... i love that the new thinking is to let kids get there on their own. just let the other mom's comments roll of your back! good luck to you. btw, i love Imse Vimse training pants.