Seeking Advice on Potty Training a Boy.

you obviously cant force them they will do it when they are ready but i have twin boys that are 5 now and they thought it was fun to aim at the cheerios floating in the potty and also peeing in a mop bucket because its different and fun for them! what really did the trick for them was when we got big boy underware with their fav. cartoon character who happened to be spongebob at the time and we told them if they went potty in their big boy underware spongebob wouldnt be happy he would be all wet and cry! they didnt want to disappoint their fav. character so they only had maybe two accidents and that was that! they still wore pull ups at night for a little while though but at that age you cant ask for miracles! hope this is helpful and if nothing else something fun for a little boy to do!

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Hi A.,
I have two boys 16 and 10.I tried using those round blue thing that suppose to clean you toilet and turns the color blue. With a bowl of cherios in the bathroom and each time they used it they get to drop some cherios in the toilet and play shoot the battle ship.They both enjoyed that specially when the color changes into green.=)At the same time you might want son follow dad whenever he uses the restroom. goodluck
J.

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I have two grandsons and the 4year old has been potty trained since he was two and the other one is two and on his way. We used a method with them that has really been good.
Treats! we used tootie rolls the little small ones or the little packages of smartees. They love them and it isn't a
lot of sugar and when they go to the potty that is the only time they got them. It didn't take long either. Good Luck

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My mom taught a little boy she babysitted to potty like this. She would put him in front of the t.v. or whatever he wanted to do but he had to sit on his potty. When he did potty in the potty he got a reward. Then put him on a pull-up and ask him all day does he have to potty. Then make sure you tell him he will get rewarded for his actions. It kind of helps with the right and wrong for he terrible two's just in case. Also when he is eating and he finishes put him straight on the pot. Don't let him tell he doesn't have to put on their anyway. And if he begins crying tell him that you love him and that nothing but to make him happy. Good luck to you and him. I will be in your shoes in a couple of months.

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put some round cereal(cheerios) in there and have him aim at them. good boy when he hits one or even if he doesnt use the game.

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Try a cheerios in the toilet, rewards or put underwear on and when he doesn't use the potty keep the wet ones on him for a second each time he does it, he will get tried of being wet, or try putting on "big boy" underwear with plastic ones on top. He knows, but my not be ready to use the bathroom. I have two boys, 5 and 2 and both were potty trained at two, My youngest was just like that knew how to just refused to but that was our christmas present. And tell daddy to help out, they love to copy. Hope this helps a little.

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You can try putting a few fruit loops in the toilet, letting him take "aim". That worked with my boys. They thought it was a game.

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Hi A.!
I don't know if this will help. I have twin boys who are now 17, but I CLEARLY remember the potty training days/months! They were awful. We tried everything - letting them run around nude, we tried cotton training pants, so they'd feel the wetness and decide they didn't like it, reading favorite books on the potty, rewards of M&M's (I gained 7 pounds - no rewards, just boredom). Finally, I gave up. Like your son, they knew what was expected, and they were capable, but stubborn. Then one magical night my husband was out of town and I was taking two boys out of the tub, but alas, I had only ONE diaper left, and TWO bottoms to diaper. I explained that there were no more diapers and they would have to sleep in cotton training pants - all the while, biting my lip as I dressed them, expecting them to awaken wet. But, to my surprise - and delight - they woke up dry, and didn't fight me when I continued dressing them, cotton panties and all! Come to find out, they thought I meant that there were no more disposable diapers IN THE WORLD!! Whatever works!
-P.

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Try putting cheerios in the toilet and let him sink them. Have him write his name in the water. Read a book while he sits, if he urinates, celebrate - balloons, a treat.

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Do not think of him as being too small to train him. My son was fully potty trained by 28 months and my daughter by 23 months. If the child shows any interes AT ALL, it CAN be done.
Be sure to reward/praise every time he wants to go to the potty (even if he doesn't make it, or doesn't go). You can reward differently if he accomplishes the goal. We let our kids take the potty whereever they wanted, which was usually in the living room, just to get them comfortable with it, but when they actually started using it, they wanted teh big potty, so teh other was basically a new seat for them to take anywhere.
A silly thing we did with our son was told him that the potty was hungry or thirsty and he needed to feed/water it...hence making him want to go in the potty. I know it sounds crazy, but he loved it.
Good luck and just remember every effort is one step closer.

S.

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I have a 13 year old girl and a 9 year old boy. My daughter was potty trained at 18 month. My son was not until he was 3 years old. I remember because I wanted to send him to Pre-K 3 and he had to be potty trained. However, shortly before the school year started he finally was trained. I was quite relieved. Be patient and keep working!

It is not easy training a boy to begin with. My first son was 3 before he was completely trained. You've got to have paitents with boys. Have you offered to buy his favorite "BIG BOY" underpants yet? But tell him that he cannot wear them until he learns how to use the potty and not go in his pants. It took a while, but it worked for me. Now my other two boys, I had no problem, they picked it up on their own. Probably because I am the only female in the house.

Hope this helps.

ok i have tried that don't you want to be a big boy like daddy thing it didn't work for me HERE'S WHAT DID.... i took some fruit loops and threw them in the toilet.. they float i then took my little one in there for target practice. he loved it see when he actually hits one they move around the toilet i made it more like a game than a chore.. you can use and kind of circle cereal honey nut cherrios work too i used those when i ran out of fruit loops soon enough i didn't need them for him to go pee anymore... i hope this helps

Well, first of all, does he go to daycare? I have a two year old son, who will be three in April, who is almost completely potty trained. He learnt alot from daycare but the daycare workers also used a kitchen timer. They made sure he went ever 20 mintues, whether or not he did anything, it showed him how often he needed to go. They started training him early that way he would be potty trained by three. The only time he wears a pull up is in bed. My advice would be to try the timer, use pull ups instead of diapers and teach him to sit on the toliet rather then stand. It is easier for him, eventually then you can train him to stand on a stool and pee the right way.

Sink the Cheerios! Put them in the stool and make it fun! It also helps him learn to AIM!
This may help, but he'll do it when he's ready. Also try having him watch his Daddy. Have Daddy say things like "Look I'm a big boy I don't pee pee in my drawers, I pee pee in the potty!"
Good Luck!
Also if you are going on vacation wouldn't diapers be ok for the ride? MUCH better than if he is just learning and has an accident in the car seat. But I say GO FOR IT! DOWN WITH DIAPERS! Especially when it includes sand!

My son didn't potty train until he was ready. We tried and stressed and worried and prayed. Finally, one day, he got it. Until that day, it was so frustrating for us that we made it frustrating for him. By the way, he was over three and a half when he finally got it!

Pushing to get him out of diapers will most likely make it take longer. There are three things you can't make a child if they don't want to: eat, sleep, pee/poo. It is best to let him make the timeline and show you signs like telling you when his diaper is dirty, actually having interest in going, can pull his pants up and down by himself. Sometimes it's just best to wait to avoid the power struggles and the frustration.

I tried to push my then two year old into potty training before his brother was born so I wouldn't have two in diapers. Didn't work and I was beyond stressed and so was he. Finally I just gave up and just continued as if it doesn't matter. He wasn't ready until he was almost three and he had no addicents after a week.

When he is ready he'll let you know.

A., When your son is ready he will use the potty. I have 2 sons, the first was potty trained by 12 months. The second one was not ready so early. When he was ready he would go to the potty until then he wore pull-up, the inbetween stages of ready and not ready. He was almost 3 when he was ready for "Big boy underware". Do not force him, but do encourge him. C.

Hey A.,

It has been a long time since I potty trained my son. He is now 19 and in college! I do remember it quite clearly, however. Positive reinforcement is key. When he does well, give him something special, even if it is 10 times a day and only a dribble of "pee pee". I know this sounds silly, but my son was facinated with bandaids (you know the character ones, or brightly colored ones - there are so many now), anyway that was his reward every time he used the potty. Some days he was covered with bandaids!! Also, try very hard not to pressure him. Little ones do not understand "deadlines" & do not respond to pressure very well. Lastly, let him watch Daddy or Grandaddy, that way he will want to be "a little man" and do the right thing. Good Luck!! Keep us posted!! P.

My little boy just turned two at the end of September. He is now totally potty trained and I cannot tell you how happy I am!! We comletely took away diapers and pull-ups. It was only underwear and it let him know when he had an accident. We also took him every 20 minutes or so and he typically went or at least tried hard. At one point we had a jar of cookies on the potty and if he went #1- he got one and if he went #2-he got 2! He always wanted those treats. Another thing we did, it took lots of attempts, he was very into flushing and washing his hands. He was not allowed to do either unless he actully went potty.

It may take a variety of attempts. Just try to be patient! It is so rewarding in the end!!
Good luck!

My son did the same thing. I didn't push him, and when he decided that he was ready, he just did it. We haven't had any accidents since.

I've raised three boys and have several grandsons, my advise, take some diapers. It isn't worth it to try to force it. When he is ready--it will happen. Encourage and remind him, but for most little boys, the more you try to force the issue, the more they will resist. You may be suprised when the pressure is off, how well he will respond. Playing little games sometimes helps. Dropping a cheerio in the big pottie and try to get him to aim and hit it, or outside, try to get him to hit a certain spot behind a tree. Have a jar of M&M's sitting (out of reach) as a reward for each success. All of these can be tried, but truthfully, until he makes up his little mind, it won't happen.

A., I have two sons. A twelve year old and a three year old. My twelve year old knew what to do at Two, but was not ready mentaly or physicaly. I was excited when he wanted to go to the potty, I put him in underware and was ready to do away with diapers. Well that only lasted a day. He was not ready to really put it all together til he was about 3 1\2.
I waited because my doctor told me if I forced him I would have to deal with the disapointment of his really not being ready, in the form of accidents. My friends forced there kids to potty, they had lots of accidents, and it was stressfull to parent and child. When he's ready to go it'll happen. If you force him your gonna have to deal with soiled undergarments rather than diapers on your trip. My three year old knows what the potty is, but he's not ready to go. Forcing him is not the thing to do and I love him enough to wait til he's really ready and save myself a major head ache. Good luck with what ever you choose. R.

What I did was not let him do it for two weeks and we would read books and say "when you are a BIG boy like daddy you will get to go potty"! Then we went to the store and he picked out his BIG boy underwear and a snack. We went home and said "now that you are BIG" and had him where his new underwear and NEVER diapers anymore. We gave him losts of juice and he would pee in his pants so that way he would know what it fills like. Then he would say he needed to go and we would go! He only got his snack if he went potty! He was doing it all within a WEEK. He never wets the bed=) Good luck!!!!

Make it fun to learn. When my grandson was 2 it was up to Nana to potty train him. I began with tossing a sheet of toliet tissue in the commode with the words "Hit It". He then shot a stream at it. Each time he went he began saying "hit It Nana".He really learned how to go potty that way.

two is TOO YOUNG for a boy!!! I have 4 kids and the two girls were potty trained around 18 mo. The boys were over 3!!!

Good Luck!

Two years old is plenty old enough to be toilet trained. Get the book Toilet Training in Less Than a Day by Azrin and Foxx. It works wonderfully and will save you a lot of trouble.

The best advice to just keep trying. Try to make potty time fun and explain to him what the potty is for. When he gets off the potty, whether he uses it or not, tell him he's a big boy, but when that long awaited day comes and he actually uses it, oh boy celebrate like never before. My son will be 2 next month and we are in the process of potty training. I can tell he's progressing because he mentions potty and pee pee. He will even pull his pants down, of course this is usually AFTER he has a BM, but hey it's progress. Also, keep toys, books, etc. around his potty (a cheap one works fine) to keep it fun. I use the cheap basic one in his room and I also use the seat to go on the big potty. Just keep trying, he'll get it.

I tell people that my little boy, now 4, was Katrina trained. This means I was able to stay home with him (because of the storm, I was working at home). Since we were home, I just let him run around naked. It seemed when he had underwear on, it felt like a diaper to him, so he would just wet them. But, when he was naked, he instinctively knew that if he wet, it would go all over him. Just two days of this, and he was trained. However, I had talked to him and showed him, and even put him on the potty many times before this. He was 2 and 2 months!

I will tell you what worked for my two kids and the little girl I babysit for. I bought the gourmet Jelly beans and when they went in the potty they got to pick a jelly bean. With my son he shot fruit loops like the others have suggested on here. The easiest way for me to get all of them to learn that feeling was I would turn on the water. This got to all three of them. The girls I would sit them down and then turn it on. They would go shortly after. My son, I pulled his pants down for him and stood him on the little step stool in front of the toilet. I then turned on the water and told him to shoot the fruit loops. We cheered and then they all got jelly beans. I had my son potty trained in a day. My girls, it took about two days. But, you have to be consistant. You take them in there every thirty minutes to an hour and have them try. By turning on the water, even if they just have to go a little bit, 9 times out of ten they will go. lol. Then, at night about an hour or two before bed make sure they don't drink anything and make them go pee before you put them down. We went ahead and put a trash bag under the sheets so the mattress wouldn't get wet, but none of them ever had accidents at night.

How old is your son? My little boy didn't use the potty until he was almost 3. His pediatrician told me not to push him because she pushed her son and he didn't potty train until he was almost 4. She said that boys just take longer than girls do. I didn't push him. He wasn't interested either. We watched all the videos, read the books, talked about it, but I didn't make him do it. He decided one day when he was about 3 that he was ready, and he just started going on his own. Trust me, diapers are easier to deal with on a trip than a child that goes in his underwear.

I tried to train my son at 2 years and he would just sit and cry the whole time he was on the potty. Someone suggested I wait a few months since he was so upset all the time. I waited a few months and he was ready then. It took about 2 weeks and I never had a problem with bed wetting or anything. It may be your son is just not ready yet so hold off a few months and see what happens. Good luck on the trip.

I have 3 children & the potty training experience was different with all of them. The first child, a girl was potty trained by 2 she knew the difference between the diaper & her " Big girl panties". My second child , a boy was harder. i started then stopped & tried again later b/c he just wasnt ready. I used specail things like colored marshmellows that he recieved ONLY after potting. He was almost 3 before he quit potting( BM) in his pants. I made him wash them out, he hated it & that broke him from doing it. At some point in time make a big deal out of big Boy underwear take him shopping & let him choice his underwear and decide on a specail treat to give after potting & it might work. Good luck.

Try drawing a bulls eye on the TP squares (with a sharpie) and have him "aim at the target",in turn, making it a fun time to go potty. Just do not leave the bulls eye squares laying around lol or they will be used, in or out of the bathroom lol.

I used colored cherios and had my son do target practice. He didn't want to use the small potty so i put him straight on the big one. I would place a bowl on the back of the toilet and toss a couple of them in every time he used the toilet. Number two is a little harder to teach. You son may need the swimmer diapers just to make sure he doesn't have #2 accident in the pool. My son did really well with both things but some kids don't - just have patience and reward him when he goes a couple days without using a diaper during the day.

I kept my son very dry and clean when he was born. At two I decided it was time to get rid of the diapers. He told after messing his pants. In fustration I made him wear the mess for 10 minutes. After that he went to the pot.

But he was ready just needed the encouragement.

My nephew was a liitle over 3 when I went to visit my Mom who babysat him. Spent the summer with my son 12. Took my nephew when I dropped off my and pick up my son for Daycamp. Truck liked to ride with me. I simply took him out of diapers and carried a change for accidents and also consistancely took him to the bathroom.

Once he had to stay with my Mom do to unforescene in my schedule and continuously messed his pants. My Mom put a diaper back on him. Diapers mean one does not have to go to the potty. I told the boy that diaper babies did not go with Aunt M. and the boy never messed his pants again.

But then that is different from your own child. The favorite big boy shorts and no diapers force them to know they must use the potty.

Boys can be so disinterested in pottying. Try to make a game of it. I have two boys and what i did was take either cheerios or fruit loops and put one in the toilet when they had to potty. They had to try to potty on the cereal piece and pee pee thru the hole of the cereal. Each time they did they got a gold star on a sheet i had put up in the bathroom. At the end of the week they would be rewarded for each star! It worked wonderfully, not only did they have fun but they actually pottied in the toilet and not all over everywhere else! Good luck!!

Make it a game. When my son was little, I put a few cheerios in the toilet for him to aim at, and he thought it was the funniest thing in the world. You don't want to use a lot, just a few, because you don't want to clog your toilet, but 3 or 4 will give him some good targets to...um...shoot for, lol. I do need to mention that he was older, about 3, but you can give it a try with your son to see if it works. Good luck, and have fun on your trip!

Hi A....I did what two great-aunts told me and that was to take his diaper/underwear off when home and just keep an eye on him. My son became more aware of his body and would hold himself so as not to go. I would pickhim up and repeatedly take him to the potty if he didn't head there himself..we had a potty seat that attached to the toilet with a step up and kept the door open for accessibility. He learned in two weeks!

A.:
I don't have any children yet but my mom worked at a daycare for years. They always had a candy jar for the kids that were potty training. After the kids went to the potty they got to pick out a piece of candy. It gave the kids motivation to use the potty & worked with almost all of them. I hope this helps!

R. M

I agree with Linda. My son is two (three in April) and we have been trying off and on for over a year to get him potty trained. About 3 or 4 months ago, I just decided to give him time, and put much less pressure on him, and in two weeks he was asking to go to the potty. When he's home, and when I take him out he wears big boy undies. The only time he wears pullups is when he's in school. He has taken to the potty like a pro and knows how to go by himself and has even been sleeping with out pullups on at night ( no accidents in over a week). We started putting him on the potty every night and telling him to "boo boo" and he's even doing that now. Try to make potty time more fun and don't be punitive with it. Try alternative place to pee, like in the tub, or in a cup (sounds horrible, but for some reasons boys seem to love it and learn from it.) I'm positive that when he's ready, he'll do it with ease. Good Luck!!!

toilet targets (it's a little flushable thing that you put in the toilet and then he can aim at it to pee ... also letting them wear "Big Boy" underwear helps some of them so try to find the diapers that look like regular underwear instead of the diaper look ... I'm sure there's other things but that's all I can remember doing when I was potty training my sisters nephiew while he spent the week with me so sis could go outta town

If he's not showing interest, then it probably means he's not ready to potty train, yet. And that's okay. When he's ready, you'll know and it'll be the easiest thing in the world. However, if you try to force it before he's ready, then it'll just cause a whole lot of frustration for all of you.

A.,

Go to thepottytrainer.com! I kid you not, the best advise that you will ever get for potty training your child in three days, of course your child has to already show signs that he is ready. It worked for my twins and recently for a good friend of mine! Good luck!

K.
Stay-at-home-mother of four-year-old boy/girl twins and a 21 month old son.

I'm sure you've probably heard this advice before, but when my son was potty training I would let him wear little boy undies during the day. I think wearing the undies allowed him to feel what being "wet" felt like (something that most diapers these days do not allow). We would spend 5 minutes out of every thirty (or so) in the bathroom, him sitting on the potty, me in the floor nearby, water running in the sink, talking about peeing in the potty like a big boy. Sometimes he would pee while we were in there and I would cheer and he'd get a star sticker to wear. Other times, he would start to pee when we were somewhere else in the house and we would run to the bathroom where I'd set him on the toilet to finish. Even though he wasn't in the bathroom when he started, I'd still cheer and he'd get a star sticker to wear. Once he associated pee'ing to his undies being "wet" and using the toilet as a way to keep dry, he started going into the bathroom before he started to pee.

A short time later, he decided he wanted to stand at the commode like daddy. We made a game out of that transition by placing Cheerio's in the bowl. He was then able to aim at them and we cheered as he "dunked" them.

I hope that helps!

C.

Give him time, he will do it when he's ready....although I do feel your pain! Those little swimmer diapers work well.