Potty Training Toddler Boys

We potty trained 3 boys - two of them by age 2 and the third by 2 1/2, and one girl by age 2. I personally think potty training early was easier than waiting even until my 3rd son was 2 1/2. It seems like there is a magic window just before or at 2 yrs old where the kids are so eager to please yet haven't entered the strong-willed 2's yet. You have to work with them before they realize they can say no. :)

From 18 mos or so on, we were just very matter-of-fact about bathroom stuff. "This is a potty. This is where big boys/girls go potty. When you're big, you'll potty here to." At the first point that they showed interest, we started letting them sit on the potty. It seemed like it took forever (as in many, many, many sits) before they figured out how to actually go potty, but after that first time it was just a matter of making them sit at regular intervals as others have suggested.

We never used a book, kid potty, doll, etc., just a potty ring on the regular potty and a stool that they could climb up/rest their feet on. We also went straight to underwear vs. using pull-ups at all. We taught the boys sitting down rather than standing up. They easily made the transition when they were big enough to reach the potty standing

Two kind of off-the-wall tips for you...

When we were somewhere with no potty seat, it was much easier for us and they boys to have them turn around and sit on the potty backwards (i.e. face pointing toward the back of the potty, straddling the seat). They were more secure sitting that way and there was no wayward stream that seemed to spray everywhere but in the potty.

When they were big enough to stand to potty but we were somewhere where the potty was taller than they were able to reach, letting the boys stand on top of our feet generally raised them enough to be able to pee into the potty or urinal. I would stand facing the potty and he would stand facing the potty, only he would stand on my feet. I would brace him with my hands over his shoulders and/or on his chest. I hope that makes sense - I can't seem to word it quite right to get the point across. :)

Good luck!

When you say you haven't started yet, do you mean at all? My son was potty trained in about 3 days (for the most part) when he was just two but we had a potty in the house for him since he was about a year old...we spent that whole first year very casually introducing him to the potty...he eventually learned what it was for and as soon as we hit that mark, we went for it...I let him run around the house comando(no pants or underwear...it was summer) and from the first day he was peeing in his potty 99 percent of the time...we had one poop accident on the floor but I cleaned him up and told him that went in the potty too and that was that. I really think the biggest thing was preparing him for it for so long so if you haven't really done anything with it yet, i'm not sure how to start. I never tried the potty doll but i've heard good things...i know it says potty training in 3 days or something ,but that is after working with the doll for a while(not sure how long) so if you want to use your long weekend, I would get the book and doll before that gets here.

Basically in all that rambling my advice is once he knows what the potty is for, let him run around with no pants on for a while...and we also moved the potty to the living room where we spent alot of time (with a towel underneath to catch drips :) so it was right there if we needed it. good luck! i'm sure you'll get some great advice on this.

My son was trained at 27mo. I took the slow & steady method, beginning at 19mo. I know most people don't want to spend so long training! Here are my suggestions:

1. Buy a little potty to get him used to it. Expect it to take him a couple of weeks to get used to it. Let him play w/ it at first, then have him sit on it w/ his diaper on while you or Daddy goes potty.
2. Get some potty book for him, we have one, I don't remember the name. Read one yourself if you feel you want/need to. I skimmed through one, but pretty much did what I felt would work w/ my son.
3. Always take him into the potty when you & Daddy go, just to watch. Talk about it, let him flush.
4. Make sure he is showing readiness signs. I trained my son pretty early b/c he was definitely ready, but I know many toddler boys 3-3 1/2 yrs. old who are not trained b/c they simply weren't ready. Many books & websites will have readiness signs. If your son isn't ready, I still think you can do steps 1-3 above. I wouldn't do anymore though until he is definitely showing a # of the signs (communicating he has to go/is going/or just went in his diaper, following simple instructions...can't think of anymore right now).
5. Take him potty on a set schedule (1st thing in am, before nap, after nap, before bed). See how he does with this. Once he goes consistently at these times, then add other times (b/4 lunch, b/4 dinner, etc.). If he doesn't show interest, slow down.
6. Once he goes on the potty consistently several times per day, move him into underwear while at home w/ you. Take him potty every 30min. while in underwear. He will have some accidents, but he will quickly learn he doesn't like how pee-pee feels going down his leg!
Take it slow. I know moms who have trained their kids in a weekend. These moms let their kids go completely naked ALL weekend long, & took the child potty every 30min, consistenly. If you want to train him in your 4 day weekend you might be interested in taking this route; however, make sure he is showing the readiness signs or it could backfire. Good luck!

I PTed my 28 month old son about a month ago. We read "My Big Boy Potty" by Joanna Cole quite a lot. We sat on the potty every night after bath and peed for a month or two before I really went at it. Then we did the following, which really jumpstarted the whole thing:
1. Sticker chart. I put 4 rows of 10 stars on it and he got to put a sticker on top of a star each time he sat on the potty, whether he produced or not. When a row was filled he got a hotwheels car. When the whole paper was filled he got big boy underpants.
2. Naked butt day. I let him go diaperless for a day and set the timer for about 45 minutes. The deal was he could keep his diaper off if he sat on he potty every 45 mins (or ever 10-15 minutes after the 45 if he didn't pee at that time).

After this he got pretty good at going when his bottom was bare, but he would forget with his underpants on. We would do naked or underpants in the house (with frequent reminding) but diaper outside becacuse it was too hard to remember. Then one day it clicked for him (about a week later) and he was wearing his diaper and told me he had to pee. Since that day I can count on one hand how many accidents he's had. At some point the stickers lost their allure and we moved on to candy (like a single sweet tart or m&m if he peed). We still do this now, since it keeps him consistent. He's doing great! Good luck! Don't pressure your son much or it may be counterproductive. Only positive reinforcement. And be consistent.

It's good that you are going to start potty training your son this weekend. You may start but you may not finish until he is 3+ year old. If he is showing signs...great! Introduce him to the potty, keep it casual and try to keep it positive at all times. I never used a separate potty but I did use a potty seat that adapted to the toilet (never wanted to clean more toilets than I had to). Read books with him, sing songs even play guitar. Keep it positive. Reward for trying...a couple M & M's or candy-types for trying....one extra for actually going or some reward that he would relate to...like stickers or stamps for rewards. (Candy worked for my kids). Seating him backwards on a potty seat may help too, when he has to urinate. Once he seems like he may have a handle on things...advancing to cool big-boy underwear and trying them on and making a big fuss can work. Then you can eventually advance to having him wear them more frequently....Good luck.

Go really slow. Boys don't generally become fully trained till 3+ yrs. If he's leading you and telling you he's interested, great, if not wait. He'll let you know when he's ready to start. Pushing it too early will only start some pretty major battles, which really arent worth it.

My suggestions are:
Buy a Bjorn potty (great pee guard)
Take him every 30 minutes
Use small treat every time he goes OR if sitting on the potty is an issue every time he sits on it (I give 2 M&Ms).
Use underpants during the day and pull-ups/diaper at nap/bedtime
I didn't buy a potty doll so I can't comment on it