Need Help Trying to Potty Train 3 Year Old

Updated on May 15, 2008
M.C. asks from Red Oak, TX
5 answers

I have two children, one is 3 years old and the other is 7 months old. My three year old slowly started to show signs of being ready for potty training. He would tell us he needed to go potty and he would go pee pee in the potty for about a week. Then I found out I was pregnant. He suddenly stopped any desire to train. (I didnt even tell him I was pregnant and he just STOPPED wanting to go to the big boy potty)About a month or so ago he started trying again...this time he went poo in the potty...THAT is a huge step....and then...he regressed..AGAIN. I have tried all I can think of to encourage him to get potty trained. I bought pull ups...his aunts bought him some boxers like Dad's, I ask him if he needs to go potty, nothing helps...When I change his diaper and try to put a pull up on he whins and cries for a diaper. He tells me flat out he doesnt want to be potty trained...Does anyone have any ideas or suggestions for what i can do to encourage him to potty train...I think it is way past time for him to be trained, but we have had no luck thus far.

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K.H.

answers from Dallas on

my daughter didnt really want to be trained either, she didnt care either way...
what i did was naked training, which was to basically put nothing on her not even pants, i am a sahm so i could do this, not sure if you are.

but because she would pee if she had anything at all on then i would just put nothing on (still diaper or pull up at night, in the beginning) & i kept a potty chair in the living room & then we have 2 bathrooms one on each side of the house....well she potty trained quick after that because she hated peeing on herself. she only peed on herself like 2x's before she decided she didnt like that so she better use the potty, then i still put nothing on her for like a week & then started using underwear. i know this may not work for everyone but it was great for us, she has been potty trained for a year now & has only had maybe a dozen accidents (including nighttimes) in that year, which i think is amazing! because most kids will have accidents, probably more than this.
but also a lot of it in the beginning is just making them sit on the potty so they get used to it, i would just keep one in the living room & if she was sitting watching cartoons she would have to sit on the potty. i would just take him to the potty & have him sit on it at least once every hour. its a lot of work in the beginning, but the first month is usually the hardest.
good luck!!

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K.D.

answers from Dallas on

I have 3 kids, 2 of whom are potty-trained. When my son was 3 I simply told him, "No more diapers" and we had a rough couple of days but he just understood that it was time to use the potty and so he did.

My daughter turned 3 in January and I tried to have the same approach all through her 2nd year because I knew that she was able to potty-train if she wanted to but she just didn't want to yet. She is our strong-willed child and she just does things on her own time. One day after she turned 3 I said to her, "Uh-oh, we're out of diapers, I guess you will have to use the big girl potty" and in that one day she potty-trained. She had a couple of accidents but that was it.

My point is that for some kids, no matter how ready they atually are, they just won't do it until THEY want to do it. But like with my son it was as simple as saying "No more diapers" and he followed suit.

I have a friend whose daughter didn't train until she was nearly 3 1/2! She thought she would lose her mind! It will all work out! Good luck to you!

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A.D.

answers from Dallas on

My daughter still isn't trained and she is three. I wouldn't put a lot of pressure on yourself. Just remember, it will come.
All you need is for his interest to be sparked and then it will happen right away. Right now he doesn't seem too cooperative. maybe he has a favorite character (like Elmo) who has done a video about potty training. Or maybe he would be interested in seeing the inside of the toilet and how it flushes. This is what got my extremely reluctant daughter to come around to the idea of sitting on the potty at all.
And even after the interest is sparked there will be two steps forward, one step back times for a while until it is really mastered.
Hang in there, you really don't see very many kids in high school wearing diapers so he's got to train eventually :-)

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K.R.

answers from Dallas on

I agree with Kara. Naked is the best way. Diapers just keep them more comfortable. Nights is okay, but he is old enough to be potty trained.

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A.R.

answers from Dallas on

Kara hit it...nothing on during the day. Keep the potty in a room where he sees it all day long (preferably where he can see the TV!). Summer is coming up and I'd pump him FULL of liquids so he has plenty of opprotunity to give it a try! Good luck!

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