Looking for suggestions! I have a son who is going to be 4 in September. We are having NO luck with potty training. He refuses to sit on the potty chair (which he picked out himself) or in the ring that sits on the toliet (he picked this one out too!). I have tried stickers, snacks, toys, and almost any other form of rewards you can think of. He starts Kiddie Kampers and a new daycare center on the 9th and I was hoping to have him potty trained by then. He says he is scared and throws a fit if you try to take him to sit on the potty. We have not had an issue that should cause him to be fearful of the potty, so I am chalking it up to him being VERY stubborn. In the past he has been slow catching on to things, he did not talk until he was 2. Any ideas would be great!
My son is only 9 months, so I have not been through this yet, but would putting him back in diapers be frustrating enough to him to go on the potty? I know many people use cloth diapers to help pottytrain because they stay soaked and the kids have to feel the wetness and get tired of it. Just a thought...
T.
Do you have in pull-ups or underwear? If pull-ups I would start by putting him in underwear. I know it is yucky and messy, but I think it more effective. They really can feel if they are wet or messy that way. The other thing I would do is maybe have him wash out his underwear in the sink (with your help of course) when he messes. I wouldn't make a huge deal, just something to the effect of , "oops, you had an accident, no big deal...lets clean up." If he is anything like my son was he probably think this is great fun at first, but that will get old. The other thing is, you could take away something he likes. I know it sounds it extreme, but honestly it was the only thing that ultimately worked for my son. He was pretty much completely potty-trained by 2 1/2..seriously except at night, then we moved. Well I expected a back slide, but not blatant willfulness. It got so bad that he tols me he liked to sit in his poop. that's when I had had it and said, well that's fine, but baby's don't get to watch Dora, so if you poop in your pants again you cannot watch Dora at quiet time. Well of course he pooped, and of course I still made him clean up with me, and of course I did not let him watch Dora at quiet time. He was soooo angry. He never pooped in his pants again. He was much closer to three at this time, and it worked like a charm. Your boy is four, he is old enough to understand consequence of his actions a little bit. Maybe he just needs you to treat him more like a kid, and less like a baby. Might be worth a shot if the other stuff is not working. Good luck.
When I was trying to teach my son, he had alot of issues with going to the potty and one day I got creative out of frustration with him. I used Cheerios and told him to aim at it. I had no male in the household as well so that he could be shown what to do and this worked for me. I tried many things including running water in the bathroom when he sat on the potty and that did not work but the cheerios did the trick. He still remembers my little trick to this day and we laugh about it. Good luck and let me know if you try this if it works for him.
The second part of what I did too, I bought him some underwear and let him wear them to get comfortable. He had a couple of accidents and I did not want to waste money on pull ups because he would just get comfortable and go in those like diapers. The underwear gave him confidence he needed to go, too.
UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE
We got to be in class today at booty camp (saturday may 31st)
The founder taught the class and it is AMAZING
for anyone who isn't sure - I will offer my personal testimonial and praise for this class.
My daughter took to the training instantly - and before we left she was tinkling and pooping in the toilet - I'm on the phone bragging to all my friends who are in the same situation...
K. P -
email me - and I'll give you my home phone if you want more than just an email - because I was so so so needing this - and I can't say enough about the class - the founder - the concepts - saved me for sure.
best wishes...
My husband and I are so frustrated because our daughter (she turned 3 this may) has been sporadically going potty (both tinkle and poop) since JUNE 07 -
When we did her 3 year check up the Dr said NO MORE DIAPERS (except at night) and while we tried cold turkey - we've had a TON of accidents...and she too is super stubborn. I saw a segment on 190N about 2-3 years ago - and remembered it - and then just saw something in a flyer I had - here's the link
We're signed up for a class in two weeks - long story short - we know we can't send her to pre-school without the potty training (we're probably too late to even sign her up for preschool) - AND - my husband heard on the radio that diapers are going up in August (argh)
good luck -
Hi K.,
I feel your pain! My daughter was nearly 3.5 before she was finally trained. We tried on & off for about a year - she was just NOT interested and very stubborn. Finally, I just decided enough was enough. I cleared our schedule for a week so we could be home. On the first day, after my daughter woke up I just said, sorry we're all out of pull-ups & put her in underpants. It was a rough first 2-3 days, then it just clicked! This was the ONLY method that worked for us. You have to be willing to clean up a few accidents, but you might want to try it. The first accident my daughter had didn't bother her too much, but after that she got really upset when it happened, so it only took a few of those. Once she was "forced" to wear underpants, she was more willing to head to the bathroom when I said, "It's potty time!" (We started off having her go every three hours, then stretched it out.) It worked well - in fact it worked so well, that now I have trouble getting her to remember that she HAS to go (no accidents, just sometimes doesn't want to take the time to go). Anyway, a huge incentive for our daughter was school - they wouldn't let her go in pull-ups, so I often pretended I was calling the school to say she wouldn't be able to come & to give her spot away. That REALLY helped because she was so excited to start school. And the sticker chart didn't work for us UNTIL she was in underpants - then she got really excited to put the sticker on the chart. Every 15-20 stickers, she got to pick out a new (small) toy. Anyway, good luck - I know how hard this can be!
Just know that you're not alone. We're dealing with this too.
Does he have control of his bladder/bowels? If so, you are done with diapers/pull ups. Move over to underpants with a rubber pant covering(I think I bought these at Target or Babies R US)- you can wash the pee pee pants and if the poopy ones go in the trash it is still cheaper than diapers! My son had complete control over his stuff and refused to put it in the potty until I did this. Two other things I have heard is letting them sit in it or giving them the wipes to clean themselves up.
Hi K.!
I have 2 boys and both did not potty train until they were 4.
My husband worked with our oldest and gets all the credit. With our second (after hearing the grandparents were discussing the fact that I had yet to potty train my younger son) I realized that I needed to do this. It took 5 days. Every moring as soon as my son woke up/half asleep I put him on the toliet. He would also say he's scared. I think he was. I would make him sit there for at least 5 minutes and congratulate him for trying. I also learnind that I needed to have more patients. Finally on the 5th day...I just didn't know what to do anymore and was frustrated (more with myself) and actually told my son fine....I don't know what to do anymore. I walked into the other room and not even 5 minutes later my sons starts yelling...I did it!!! He was potty trained from that moment on. Couldn't believe it....I called my own father and said...look dad...I did it!
Basically, what I am trying to say is that...kids are ready when they are ready. I think his fears may be real because I believe my own son's fears were real. Yes, I wish I could say that I was able to do it when he was 3 but it didn't happen.
I also have a stool for my kids to put their feet up when they are on the potty. Keeps their feet from dangling all over the place and they can get up and down easier.
Good luck. You will do it!
give it a break for about a week. you may stressed over it and he senses this. I did potty training in a day with 2 boys and a girl. it's a book with great ideas. have your husband take him in the bathroom with him to watch so he gets the idea from somebody that has the same parts. when you do it have your daughter gone for the day so it's just special you and him. when it starts to work make a big deal about it calling gram or dad. take it easy it will happen some boys are slow.
