Potty Training Stress

I definitely understand the frustration with potty training. My oldest son will be 4 in June, and it was around Christmas time this past year that we had him fully trained. It might help if you buy your boys their own little potty seats that you can have wherever you want in your house. We used one of those for awhile until he was at the point to tell him he needed to go and it would come out directly. We bought the kind that made noise when he would go, and that made him excited to go.. that might help speed up the process for your boys! I hope that helps!

I am a mother of 3 boys. I found that none of them were very successful at potty training until around 3 1/2. My youngest son took the longest of all. I feel like I tried every trick in the book with all of them. For each one, something totally unique to them worked. One did well with a strict schedule. Every 2 hours, sit on the pot. One did well with peer support. Until he actually started preschool where the whole class had a potty break together as part of the school day, he just didn't get it. Barely four weeks into preschool, the teacher says, "by the way, you can stop bringing pullups and put him in underwear - he doesn't have accidents here." And how about this story from a parents magazine ... a little guy is wiping his own bottom at preschool, but still asks for help at home for over a year before the parents and teacher finally connect on that important milestone! For the youngest of my boys, I had to find a motivator. He really likes M&Ms which he rarely gets, so I had the bright idea of offering a few "beans" (that's what he calls them) when he successfully went pee. This was a good plan, but it didn't work. Taking away the computer did. If he went potty with no accidents all day - he got computer time. If he had even one accident that day - no computer. It worked so quickly with pee pee, we modified it slightly and got results for poo poo, as well. Bottom Line (excuse me - couldn't resist) your boys are perfectly normal and so are you. Give me labor and delivery over potty training any day. Most importantly, You ARE a GOOD Mommy! Potty training IS a rough deal.

M. S

i think that as long as your boys are willing to wait it out, that is your best bet. my daughter used to cry when it was time to sit on the potty. i think that it is really normal for kids to do this. your biggest problem is just that you have two going through it at the same time. just give it some time, and life will get back on pace.

Part of the problem may be that they can not relax enough to "go." Get a potty book and read it to them. Set a limit of 1 or 2 times depending on how long the book is. Tell them that when the book is done, potty time is done if they have not done anything.

Are they wearing pull-ups or underwear? The 2 yr opld might not be quite ready for underwear but you could try it with the 3 yr old. Throw away the pull-ups and have him wear big boy underwear. I also bought some vinyl training pants to go over the underwear to help minimize damage to floors and furniture. The problem with poull-ups is that they do not feel wet until it is too late. If they have an accident in the underwear, they have to help clean it up. This works especially well for going poopy on the potty. Once they have to clean that up a few times, they usually decide it is better to poop in the potty.

I would concentrate more on the older boy. Once you get him trained maybe little brother will want to follow suit. Good luck.

I was having trouble potting training my now 4 year old daughter last year. She was determined to outwit me at any costs. She knew when she had to go, but refused to do so. As soon as she would pee her diaper, she would take it off or come and get me and tell me she peed then laugh about it. I tried everything to potty train her. We bought potty training books, DVD's, bought a brand new potty chair that made flushing noises and had a place to put a role of toilet paper, bribed her with treats, everything I could think of. What eventually worked for me was instead of the potty chair she wanted a potty seat that fits on the regular toilet because she said that was the potty that me and her older sister used and she wanted to use the same potty. I also made her wear panties instead of a diaper and if she did have an accident I made her leave the wet panties on for a little bit and she hated that. I also let her run around naked for a couple of hours when it was warm and she loved that. She was to start preschool in the fall and I used the "if you don't learn to use the potty you can't go to school" speech and that I think worked better than anything else because that was something she really wanted and didn't want to miss out on. So, you might use that as an incentive for them. Found out something that they are looking forward to or want and tell them that they really need to get potty trained first or they can't do this or go there.

hi, my name is V. and i also have a 2 yr old boy. I had the same problem with my son untill my husband took my sone to the bath room and showed him how men pee. He never wants to sit down anymore and he wears pull ups. I told him one day, that these were underwear just like daddy's. I told him that if he can pee in the toilet without going in his pullups he can wear underwear like daddy. this has so encouraged my son to pee in the toilet. I ask him every 1/2 hour if he has to pee. It worked untill he started to tell me he had to go. Right now im trying to break him of the pull ups. if through out the day when your husband is home have him work with them. My husband is a tow truck driver and is always gone. on his time off i asked him to help me and within 2 weeks he was doing it on his own. i hope this helps. any questions just ask. my email address is ____@____.com. i hope you have a great day.

Hi i know what your going through but me and my hubby did it the back in the day way lol we just let him out side and play with no bottoms on i know it like no way but in 2 weeks are son was train and when he weared his close and wet them we make him wear them for a few sec cause he would cry and not like being wet so he picked up quick just hold on and befor you know it it will all be done

Dear T.,
I am a mother of five, 4 girls and 1 boy. The boy was much easier to potty train. I found with him I made it a game of making bubbles in the water. Boys are suppose to stand and if they hurry then we get a treat, a piece of fruit or fruit juice or something they really like. The sitting down with the girls was like you described they wanted to sit and play. So you might try the other, since you have two you also might make it a game of who can finish the fastest. Good Luck

I am a grandmother of 6 and another on the way. I raised
3 kids, my daughter is 7 years younger than her 2 brothers. But are only 1 years difference in there ages.
I only had I potty chair for them so only took one at a time. Work with your oldest the most and I would only take them for 10 minutes at a time, if they have went by
then take them again later. Cut down on how much you let them drink, and watch for signs of when they are stating
to # 2. Take them right away if you can. I also used cloth training pants on mine. I know they are more messy,
but start to notice it more when they pee. And doing it in the summer time if they are out side let them pee pee out side.
Thats just the way I did with my boys and they were easier to train than my daughter was.
Hope this was helpful.

C.

Hi T., I was in the process of writeing you a message earlier and not sure if you got it or not because my computer decided to shut down on me...so here I go again with my advice. When my son would say he had to potty I would take him to it and let him sit there a couple minutes if he hadn't done his thing (pooped) by then I would get him off it and let him go back to playing and tell him to tell me when he thought he was about to again. (If your able to watch him usually they will stand really still when they are about to poop or get this look on their face,so watch for that too). It was hard to train him on his poop schedual, but when he had to pee I would put a little water in the potty and add some cheerios and tell him to sink the cereal..he loved that and learned very quickly how to pee in the potty right away. It does take longer on the number two though...start now watching them when they do poop...notice their faces just before they do and eventually you will see it in their faces and will be able to get them to the potty in time...I have a grandson who just turned one and I will be doing it again soon myself...*L* So, best of luck to you and just try to make it a game for them, but don't let it mess with your other schedualed stuff.

R.

Have you tried running water in the sink, pretend you're washing your hands or whatever. The sound sometimes triggers the peeing. (It can even work for adult men.)