Potty Training - Tomball,TX

It sounds like he's not quite ready. I have 3 kids, my first was 3 when he was potty trained. My 2nd (girl) was 2 and a half and my last was 3 and a half. Once they were ready we had no accidents and they just got it!!! It was a "pleasant" experience for all of us!!! Just remember.... they will not be in diapers when they start school..

This depends on how much work you want to put into potty training. I am of the school of thought to wait. If you wait until they are ready (for my son it was 3, my daughter 2.5) you don't have to train, they just pretty much decide to do it on thier own and they don't have accidents. If you are really set on doing it now, you can but it will require a great deal of effort and consistnecy with everyone involved in his care.

They have potties and babies r us that make a star when he goes whith a reward chart. Also they have potties with a tune when they go and they have potty books and videos for babies.

hi:) yes it is hard to potty train (boys) especially but one of the great things about boys is that they take their time to learn things. Seemingly SLOW is not a bad thing when boys are young the longer he takes to learn "it" the better! because that is what sets women apart from men. we learn fast they learn slow. We are emotional they are logical. lol
two is really Early for boys to be potty trained but i asked my hubby and he said that the Cheerios game was great for the peeing just tell him to try and get them all! haha
But I know from experience that if he is around other kids who are doing it he will keep up if you know what I mean?
Work with what works for him if when you are trying to teach him some thing you use the "you want to be a big boy dont you?" approach and it works than defiantly use that to the fullest.
Also, if he is going for pretty much the better half of the day two or three days in a row then he is ready! but that means no diapers or pull ups except at night. reason being that he will not have the choice between the diaper or the potty.
Its like the bottle "where did it go?, aww guess its gone youll have to drink out of a sippy" lol take them away and set aside time to work with him on it for like, say over a weekend. Cutting back on drinks before bed is great and setting a schedule a real schedule for his eating and drinking is the best thing you can do right now. If you learn his schedule like how long it takes him to "GO" after eating or drinking youll be better repaired to ask "do you have to potty?" so you know when. But i can not express how important it is to not have him run around the house with a drink. Timing the drinks through out the day is crucial, If his bladder fills up all at once he will pee all at once.
But honestly the biggest help is the helpers. have your closest friends, people you would trust to do this, take turns make it fun and get all excited about it. "YAY lets go POTTY... YAY" kind of thing. When he is not comfortable with others taking him they are probably not using their excited voice and or excited facial expressions. That is what he is going to respond to. :) But i said people you trust because you going in with him he will just end up asking you to do it and then it wont work out so well.
I hope my trial and error turned in to tips helps you if you have any more questions let me know.
k
D.

We had alot of false starts. If he's screaming, he's not ready. Praise him when he does, but don't punish him by making him go. You will only promote resistance. My pediatrician told me "Train at 2 and end at 3 or start at 3 and end at 3" meaning, yeah, some kids will be potty trained by 2. It is possible, but many, many are not ready until closer to 3 (as was the case with my daughter). There's a website that has a lot of information on potty training that was helpful to me from the University of Michigan. Search their site www.umich.edu, "toilet training". I found all kinds of helpful info to get me through the frustrating times. Good luck!

I think you have it right - he's not ready yet. I believe that when you push children to potty train, they will have more accidents and it will inevitably lower their self-esteem. Give it time.

With my daughter, we talked about it and I offered it to her often, but I never pushed it. One day when she was 33 months, we were sitting reading about dance class (something she had wanted to do) and I read that she had to be potty trained. I didn't say anything else about it and later that day she went to the bathroom, went potty, and then came out to proclaim she could go to dance class. Apparently she just needed a little motivation. She hasn't had an accident since. In letting her make the choice, she took pride and responsibility in it.

On the other hand, I have a friend who has a 3 1/2 year old that is still refusing to potty. It is difficult on her because the *mom* feels pressured to have her potty trained. However, it causes trauma every time they try to make her go. At some point this little girl will do it, but for whatever reason, she needs a little more time and a lot of understanding.

He will do it in time...I have yet to meet a 1st grader that doesn't go potty!

It sounds as if he just not ready yet. Relax and try again in a few months.

It takes a lot of patience and stubborness on YOUR part. But, at the same time, he may not be ready yet. Developmentally, they aren't truly ready to be independent regarding toilet training until age 3.

If your husband or his father is around, then what worked for my son was to see how males use the restroom. When my husband was at gome, he took my son with him and talked to him. He always say me go and he thought that he had to sit down everytime. I did not push the subject and just let him try on his own. I have daycare kids in my home and that also helped him along. One day he just said that he wanted to use the potty.
Best of luck and your son will tell you when he is ready!
J.

Sounds a little like you are ready to potty train him, but he is not quite ready or does not want to give up that power. If you have the flexibility, I would put the potty in the bathroom and let him know when HE feels ready to start going to the potty like Mama and Daddy (or whoever) do, just let you know and you will help him. Sometimes when the pressure is taken off of the child and he is given more choice in a matter, that moves things forward faster. This may empower him in some ways. Also, I always talked to my kids about looking for the "signals" that their bodies would give them when it was time to go potty. I would say something like, "listen to your body and it will tell you when you need to go potty". "Oh, you recognized the signal" when they would say they needed to potty. It won't hurt, here and there, to throw out subtle and gentle comments about the underwear he will get to wear when he is in big boy pants or how he can get out of wearing a diaper or gets to use the big potty like Mom and Dad. Do all of this without pressure and always letting him know that when he feels ready, you will be there to help out.
Someone mentioned using balloons for a reward and I would like to say a word of caution about balloons. I only use balloons that are blown up and never allow the kids to blow them up themselvesor play with them. Often children put them in their mouths and can choke on them. The worst thing about balloons is that if a child does choke on one, you cannot dislodge it like you can food, buttons or heavier objects. I love balloons, but not in the kids hands!

My perspective is that kids potty train themselves, parents have little if any control over it. That said, there is typically a window right around 18 mos where a child will show interest in the potty. If you encourage, support and take the time to respond to the "training" you may be lucky and have the child trained at two (I did this twice). If you miss the window, the opportunity doesn't usually present itself again until three - three and a half. If you miss this window (I did once) between two and three, all you can do is find a rewards system that works and keep at it, making sure not to try to push or force the isssue. Some rewards may be: m&ms, marshmallows, stickers, sticker calendar for big prize, talking about giving a "potty party" with charachter cake and balloons when child is fully trained. Other than that, my opinion is that you will be beating your head against the wall.

You can try "big boy" underwear, but even his wetting those is no guarantee that he won't just keep doing it...which creates quite a constant mess. There is the hourly alarm which will train YOU to take him to the potty. There is letting him run around naked, which some people swear by, but got my carpet peed on more than once.

Anyway, I hope there is a method here that works for you, just be supportive and laid back and he will decide when he is ready.

I've been using stickers and balloons as rewards for my son. Sticker for an attempt and balloon for actually going. I'm ready to give him a pony or something that big if he would just poop in the potty.

You're lucky he'll at least go for you. Mine will go for everybody but me. I think that has to do with he knows how to play me. Our day care suggested the independence route before we actually started trying. Make him do more for himself.

Anyway, just keep a regular schedule of going to the potty and hang in there. It will happen eventually.

Mine (we) didn't really start trying until 2 1/2, and we're still working on it. He'll be 3 in Jan. I do wish I'd have started sooner, though.

Good Luck!

Yeah, sounds too early. My daughter would potty at day care off and on for the longest time and never consistently. After speaking with the daycare we decided we would let her go if she wanted but wouldnt push anymore. Not long after she turned three she suddenly got motivated and started using the big potty on her own. She still refused to use the little potty and would scream if we tried to get her to use it. We ended up just buying one of those child seats that sit on the toilet seat. Since she has had that we have had only a few accidents and she is constantly calling herself a Big Girl because she goes potty on her own and not in a diaper. When they are ready and motivated they will do it.

We used stickers and sticker charts
(go to www.preschoolprintables.com and print some at home!)
Once she filled the chart with success stickers we went somewhere special (i.e. ice cream, toddlers play place, zoo)
Positive positive positive- she loved the rewards - but they have to come quick before they forget!? We talked about it every 10 minutes for 1-2 days before "When Saturday comes we get to go to the movie cause Bryndall went potty SOOO MANYY times!!" We gave lots of kisses/ hugs /claps and "yeah- you did it- rpoud of you!" all the way to posting the sticker on the chart. I mean over the top with the lavishing kisses/hugs- you will be amazed at how they just beam with pride at your praise "I'm SOOOO sooooo proud of you!"

She even took her chart to the play place to show them she had 20 victories! It worked for us - we even took a sticker chart over to Grandma's for her fridge and she had puffy & sparkly stickers there - so she REALLY wanted to potty for her!? Also, I made her help me wash out some #2 panties after she had her first #2 accident in months cause she was too busy playing with a friend. (NOT REALLY) I just made her stand in front of me at the sink while she added soap and I scrubbed for a good 2-3 minutes. She remembered having to wash them out & commented on it more than once afterwards - never did #2 in panties again though. We still have a "can't run fast enough" oops ever now and then- usually at a strange place where we don't know it's location (restraunt etc.)

But mostly she is 100% trained and the charts only lasted 2-3 weeks before she forgot all about them - we still leave the chart on the wall- but this last one has lasted a month and the first ones could be full in 1-2 days!? A couple of times a week she will revert back to the "yeah I get a sticker for going potty"... and ask for the the sticker with eyes that pop out etc. But 90% of the time she just goes and forgets about the stickers- just runs back to the play room to finish that ABC puzzle?!

Oh and once she had pretty much got the "going" down we said getting stickers now needed: a going, a good wipe (mommy approved) and a flush with hand washing and drying..." ALL BY HERSELF" (which she says 50xs a day at this stage)
It worked beautifully- sometimes we still have to remind to flush or wash/dry hands - but hey we are on the right track anyway and she isn't yet 3!? :-) She was 2 1/2 when we started this summer and had been doing pullups for 2+ months. STAY POSITIVE!!! Spend a few bucks on stickers and a few bucks on 3-4 rewards. If you are like us- you just might have gone to the baskin robbins or the zoo or the play place 1x mo anyway - so it doesn't bust the budget too much!?

HANG IN THERE- WE HAVE ALL BEEN THERE- THIS TOO SHALL PASS!

K

Here is what I've learned about potty training from watching friends and family. You can start when ever you want but you will not have them trained until THEY are ready. I have watched so many of my friends get so frustrated and stress themselves and their children out for SO long until one day the child is ready and it happens. So I've decided to go low stress. I figure changing diapers is less stress than trying to make my child do something they are not ready for or don't completely understand. Also, your child can sense your stress about the situation and that doesn't help- just slow down a little- what will it hurt?

When he is ready, and you have found these other tips work..... here is a car tip for potty training. Place a diaper under the pad of the carseat. This way YOU know there is a little protection in case there is an accident. really helps when you can tell them you will fix it in a minute but they won't panic cause they peed. Sure you don't want them to pee, but if you freak out cause it is going to go all over the seat (not that you would, I'm just saying) well, the best guarantee of a parent freaking out is the ensurance that it will set them back!

Also, for boys, put dawn dish soap in the toilet .. maybe he can make BUBBLES! And if his dad is willing to help with the training........... use BLUE dawn specifically, and let daddy go first -get some bubbles going and also note the color change in the water- but talk about it when baby does the peeing! (Yellow and blue make green!) I know it sounds weird, but it adds fun to it. Kind of like the boys have fun" watering the flowers, in the back yard. I never had boys, but hear lots of stories!
Best of luck, blessings ~ Laur

Yep, I would agree that he is probably not ready.