Potty Training - Centreville,VA

I applaud you for introducing the potty early on!!!! My first 2 children were basically potty trained by 2, 2 1/2. My third, who is 13 months, already poos on the potty. I don't quite understand why society has this stigma that 3 and 4 is the normal age to potty train. Who the heck wants to change diapers for that long!, and then have a battle on your hands with a toddler! Ah!

As for your son, it sounds like he is doing great! My daughter, who I started at 12 months, didn't actually consistently tell me she had to go until about 2 1/2. But there was no battle, no emotional fallouts, no tantrums, and No Bribes! It was just what she knows to do. I think it sounds like your son is doing Great and he is right on schedule. I think you need to continue asking him, and putting him on the potty at certain intervals.

The ball is in your court, and it might be a few more months until he is able to go on his own, but what a great achievement that will be!!!

So my short answer is have a timer if need be, and put him on the potty often.

Yea for you!

I just finished training my son...so I am no expert. However, we made it through our first accident free week even with fitting in an amusement park and zoo visit so today I finally feel we are in the home stretch (day only, have not even thought about night yet).....anyway, I never took him based on the clock. I wanted him to learn the urge and tell me when he needed to go. So yes, the first few days of our training was a mess. We probably went through about 15 underwear changes the first day (I actually had to wash a small load mid day because I was not sure we would make it until bedtime). After the first two or three days, the number of accidents greatly declined but we were at the point where he would go a few drops in his underwear and then tell me he needed to go and he would then finish on the toilet. I was not mean about it but every time I would say, you need to go to the potty before you pee in your underwear...you need to keep your underwear dry. Run for the potty/tell mommy when you need to go and keep dry. Each day, he just got better and better about making it on time. I think letting them lead is very important. He needed to recognize the urge himself, because if he did not, you are the one trained not your child. Good luck. I know it is not that easy.

in my opinion, I would NOT go back to diapers!! Just keep washing the undewear and clothing and keep working on it!! Going backwards will do more harm than good, I think. I have potty trained three and all three were completely different but the one thing I did was once they had success using the potty and underwear, we never went back to diapers. you have seized the "window of opportunity" and once that "closes" it is REALLY hard to get back through! Keep at it, he will get potty trained!! Just not overnight :o)

We let our son run around naked when we were at home. We had his potty easily accessible and it worked. At first he'd tell us he needed to go and we'd sit him on the potty. Eventually he began to go on his own. Kids are so last minute! Sometimes pulling down pants and underwear takes too long :) Our son was pee trained a little before 3, but refused to poop on the potty until almost 3.5. Good luck.

Good luck - from what I hear, especially with boys, it is more like "parent training" than potty training at that age. If you want to keep the schedule good for you, but I think its a bit early to expect it from him. I just waited it out with my three boys - all 3 were about 3 to 3 1/2 before they got it - but they went on their own, I didnt take them on a schedule. I hope it works out for you, but if you have to go back, don't beat yourself up about it.

I'm J. H. too!! I potty trained my son at 2.5. He would tell me when he needed to go, but usually not soon enough to get to the bathroom so a few tricks i used were keeping a few of his favorite books in the bathroom so he could "read" while trying to poop. I also got him his very own pump bottle of soap. He wanted to use the potty just so he could wash his hands with his very own soap. I also used m&ms. Every time he used the potty for about the 1st month he got 2 m&ms. I also asked him regularly (about once an hour) if he needed to go. We had accidents at first, but i was determined not to put him back in diapers! It took about a week to 10 days and he had it down pat.

Hope this helps!
Good Luck!!

We are at this same stage with our son who is 2.5 yrs old. Your son is ready to potty train, just not ready to tell you everytime he needs to go. He probably wont be ready to tell you until he is 3 or 3.5. But thats ok. You are still saving a ton of money using the toilet instead of diapers and are off to a great start. It is hard to potty train boys. I take my son every 1 - 1.5 hours as well and plan on just taking him on a timer until he does start to tell me he needs to go. This is totally normal and you are on the right track with your son. Keep up the good work!