Potty Training for a 2 1/2 Year Old Boy

I had a hard time potty training my duaghter. She was soooo stuborn. I tried every thing litterally. I thought she would never be potty trained. She is now 41/2 and potty trained. She finally got it 2 months before her 4th birthday. Even after that it was a battle with pooping. I would have to tell her to go and almost force her to sit or she would just hold it and get constipated. She finally realized that its going to come out either way. Now she will go on her and come anounce it to me. My advice would be let him lead the way. You don't want a power struggle becuase he will win. Good luck

I have 3 boys ages 5,3.5 and 2 and I find that 2 is too young for potty training... my 3.5 year old just got potty trained and he will be 4 in november and my 5 year old was not potty trained until 4 so I am not even gonna try iwth my 2 year old for a while...

HTH
A. J

I have 3 children. 2 girls, 1 boy. All 3 have potty trained at different ages. My oldest was completely trained by age 3. My middle child would pee in the potty at age 3 but continued to poop in her panties until age 3 1/2. And, finally my son who WILL NOT pee or poop in the potty yet and he's 3 yrs. and 3 mos. old. He tells me AFTER he pees and poops. We try every day and he's just not ready. All children are different. So, if your son will pee in the potty, but not always poop, then he sounds like my middle child. You'll have to tough it out with big boy underwear until he gets the hang of it. Going back and forth with the pull-ups is a bad idea.

I think you just need to choose to potty train or not. You are going to have your son confussed by switching back and forth from pullups to undies.

I have 2 boys who are sucessfully potty trained. I started each at different ages (ds 1 at 2yrs, ds 2 at almost 3yrs.) I can't tell you what worked and what didn't because neither one of them was trained until they turned 3. For whatever reason 3 was the magic number. I had issues with both of them as far as they would pee in the potty, but not poop; they would go and hide and then come tell me. As soon as they turned three they figured out that they could do it. It had everything to do with them deciding it was ok and nothing to do with anything I did. I gave treats and stickers when it happened in the potty. Something that made a difference with my 2nd boy was that I was much more calm and matter of fact about it. When he went in his pants, I would say, "well that's too bad," but not get angry or frustrated knowing that he wasn't going to be ready until he was ready based on training his brother.
I know that might not really help you as far as advice on how to get the training done. However, I wish someone had told me and my dh that we needed to relax about it, a lot of boys aren't trained in 3 days like "everyone says" can be done, and just to prepare myself to clean a lot of soiled underwear!
I feel your pain, hang in there and this too shall pass!
Ha - no pun intended. :)
L.

Sometimes when you work you don't have the time to be concentrated on potty training, as it is very times consuming for the first couple weeks. If his diapers were dry for two hours at a time his bladder is ready to be trained to potty. Just pleasantly encourage him, and the poop part always seems to be behind the pee. When I thought it was about the time they usually went I put my kids on a little potty chair, and maybe gave them a little book to read, and when they go you could give them (a) cholate chip, raisens or a sticker to put on a chart. I just had a little cup with raisens, and they got some when they went potty at first and it worked.

I am in same boat! lol

Try the "naked and 75" approach. You leave them naked all day for about a week. (you are stuck at home a bit and you only do it during the day) Then after the week you get your carpets cleaned for $75.00,haha. I did this with my 2.5 year old and it worked. We spent a lot of time outside in the back yard. He loved it. It only takes a few times and they realize it feels gross and the potty is better. Remember it is totally normal for a child to be potty training until 3, so relax and have a potty available for them to get to easliy. One tip for the poopin', we gave our son a magazine, and he felt like a big boy like daddy,LOL, and he would sit for long periods of time, long for a toddler mind you. If you son poops around the same time each day, get him on it and distract him with a book/mag. and he will probably go and then you can celebrate in your individual way,the potty dance, special story, m and m's etc.
Good Luck!

Hi C.,
I think Pull-ups are more of a curse than a blessing! As long as he has the Pull-up to depend on--- (That's why they call them DEPENDS for adults! :) Sorry, I couldn't resist)----he will depend on them.

So in the end we all have to go back to the way we were trained. He either wears diapers or underwear and momma has to tough it out for a few days. Amazingly, once he sees you mean business, he will comply pretty quickly. But why use the potty if he can let momma change his diaper for him? Duh!

Most little boys like the underwear with comic or super hero characters and some like them so much they won't wet them. Some don't care!

Fancy panties usually work well for little girls.

Don't let it stress you out because this, too, shall pass. And as my mother always said, "I never saw one go to school in diapers (or with a bottle or pacifier)"

God bless you and all mothers of little boys.
D.

First of all make a decision, undies or not, then stick with it. Going back and forth will only confuse him. We did this with our son and he finally potty trained. Our daycare was not consistant when we started and it took a lot longer. Once he was moved out of the class and put directly to undies, he trained just fine. Be prepared to do his laundry more often. We put a potty seat on the big toilet and a potty chair across from the big toilet. He had the choice of which to use, he chose the big one for peepee and eventually the little for poop. We also started an incentive program, For everytime he pooped in his pants he got a car taken away (we put it on the microwave stand so he would still see it and be reminded of why it was there), when he finally went on the potty he got all his taken away cars back plus a brand new one. Once he went for a week with no poopoo accidents he got a whole pack of new cars. for the peepee, since they do it first we did stickers. Everytime he went on the potty he got to pick out a sticker and put it on the mirror. He has been going consistantly for two months and no more rewards. Good luck, it is frustrating, but sooo worth the effort.

C.,
My son is now 25 but was so easy to potty train. We would drink a bunch of water or juice every hour and then go potty each hour. He didn't seem to like the little training potty so we stuck a phone book under the big toilet and he stood on it and sank the boat in the toilet to pee pee. (a piece of toilet paper floating) Poo poo was easy because he used to make a face (straining) and I would snatch him up and put him on the potty. Just the sensation of sitting on the potty seemed to help him poop. After all the success we would have a sticker chart on the refrigerator that he would put a sticker on. Consistency is important. I didn't leave the house for 2 days and he was trained. I promised him he could pick out a new toy at the store but he had to stay dry because the store didn't clean up accidents. We picked out a new toy after a week of no accidents..
A friend had trouble with her son pooping in the potty. The pull ups seemed to be his safety net and he was scared to take them off for fear of hurting his bottom. So my husband, of all people, suggested she cut a whole in the bottom of the pull ups and let him poop with them on while he was on the toilet. IT WORKED... He saw that it didn't hurt his bottom to go in the toilet. My husband still thinks he is a child development specialist... haha
Good luck. All children are different and you will find out what works best for you. My daughter was tough but she finally trained herself on her terms... haha Bless you.

Every kid is different when it comes to potty training. My son started training at 2 1/2 years and it took almost 6 months including a new baby sister regression in the middle. He would pee in the potty most of the time, but not poop. I decided I couldn't do the back and forth between diapers and pull-ups. As others have said it seemed self defeating to give them a diaper to depend on.

The three things finally helped. I believe that it takes a village to raise a child and thankfully my parents live in the area. I wanted to avoid bribes, but they really helped. First, Grandma introduced gummy bears as rewards. I'm a bit of a stickler for sugar and artificial colors and stuff, so we switched to trail mix. 1 for peepee, 2 for poopoo, 10 extra for going dry and clean all day.

This helped, but eventually he hit a point where he could go on the potty but sometimes he chose to stay, play, and have an accident instead. We had a man-to-man talk about it, and I started putting the toys that were involved in the accident into time out after the transgression. They only got to come back out the next morning. He would point to them throughout the day and remind me why they were all out of reach.

The final thing was that Grandpa promised to take my son on a real train after he was totally potty trained. We decided that three weeks with no accidents would be the goal. We got a calendar and stickers. Every morning he got to put a sticker on the previous day if there were no accidents the day before. Then he got his 10 extra treats. We explained what three weeks looked like on the calendar and put a little train picture at the goal day. After having to move the goal day back several times, one day he jumped up from playing and yelled, "No more accidents, go on train with Grandpa!" He made it to his goal after that. We've had very few accidents since. Grandpa took him on the TRE from Ft. Worth to Dallas and to the Dallas Zoo. He still talks about that trip to this day.

What workded for my boys was actually letting go of pull ups completely. We stuck it out at home for a few days. They got finally got it. You just have to be consistent. Don't force him. Provide a lot of positive reinforcement. Make a huge deal out of it. Poopies took a little longer. But my boys are fine now. It is normal for them to take longer to go #2. Don't go back and forth on pull ups. Either do or don't. I tried potty training at 2 1/2 and they were just not ready. So, I waited until they turned 3. It worked great! Good luck!

I'm a mom of 5 so yes I have been through this potty training dilemma a few times. My first son I started to potty train him around 3 right before my 2nd son was born. I put so much effort in that potty training I wore myself out. I didn't know what I was doing as a first timer and I think I put to much strain on myself and my child. He was potty trained at 3 but I thought to my self I will never do that again. I know my kids will not be 18 years old and still wear diapers. They will eventually get it. I will introduce the potty to them around 2 and let them take it from there. When they use the potty I give much praises! When they don't I just act normal. My 2nd son was 4 when he was potty trained, 3rd son was 3 and my daughter was 2. she was my easiest, just one day she wanted to wear her big girl panties to bed and I didn't fight her, ever since then she has been potty trained. I have to start over again in about a year. The joys of being a parent :)
What I'm trying to say is don't stress over it! Your son will feel the tension if it is forced on him. He will get this potty training down in no time. I bet before he is four :) Good luck!

The thing that worked best for my daughter was to spend two days naked. When I would try panties she would not go on the potty, only in the panties. Once I took away that false sense of security she did wonderful, an was accident free. But you have to be very committed, find some days when you can stay home and only work on potty. After two days we worked panties back into the mix and now she is doing great. (We are a 11 days diaper free.. yeah!!)

Hi C.,

I just finished potty training my son this past month and he is almost 2 1/2. We have been doing this for 6 months mostly because of a lack of commitment on my part. For Garrett the pullups where not going to work because he just thought of them as a diaper. I had to commit to putting him in underwear every day. We also did not use the little potty. I bought a stool and started teaching him how to sit to pee and then my husband showed him how to stand up which he liked much better. This way he can make bubbles. Our biggest issue with him was the pooping. He has constipation issues so he was not interested in pooping on the potty. I finally caught him at the right time so that he could see it didn't hurt. After that we bribed him with candy to poop on the potty. I have heard of others using stickers or something else that the child really loves and I have to say this worked. Sometimes just letting them run around the house naked is the best way to start as well. I hope this helps you some.

Cheers,

M. D.
Independent Wine Consultant
WineShop At Home
www.grapetasteathome.com

Every boy is different but I think the main thing is to be consistent with what you do. I just potty trained my third boy and we made a big deal about big boy underwear. We made a special trip to the store and then he "GOT" to wear them. I set my kitchen timer at first for every 20 minutes. Every 20 minutes I would put him on the potty for a brief minute whether he went or not. We stayed home mostly the first day or two. I put him in pull ups for naps, bed time and those first outings but would make sure to go to the public restroom with him where we were just in case. He got to the point where he didn't want the pull ups in just a day or two. This worked much better for me than the rewards like m & m or small toys of bribery.

This is a link to my blog with a conversation with my trainee about his underwear: http://www.junecleavernirvana.com/2008/09/big-boy-with-as...

Good luck!

Hi there... I feel your pain sister. I have a very headstrong 2 1/2 year old boy that is driving me crazy with potty training. Some days he is so there, most other days, he wants nothing to do with it. He takes his diaper off and tells me when he is pissy or poopy, but he won't tell me before. If you get any helpful hints, please fill the rest of us in. I am ready to pull my hair out.

Hang in there, I have four other boys and we made it through, so I know that this too shall pass! Good luck!

D.