Need Tips for Potty Training a Boy

I had two girls and no boys, but my granddaughter's other grandmother had two boys and no girls.

Her trick was Cheerios. She floated them in the potty and had the boys take aim at them. I thought at first that it was a trashy idea, but it must not be since I've noticed that store sell training tools that are pretty much the same thing.

I didn't have sons, but I grew up with two younger brothers. One thing I certainly remember is how much fun they had with potty pranks and finding different ways to use their equipment effectively.

I have only trained girls, my 3 daughters back in the l980s and one granddaughter last September. With my daughters, I used Toilet Training in Less than a Day. It took them 2-3 days but they were all under 2. My neighbor used the same book with her son at 20 months and he did great also.

My daughter had tried praise, stickers, rewards, etc with my granddaughter and had little success. So, she decided to wait. In September, I had my granddaugher stay with me for the weekend. I put her in cotton training panties, took water, snacks, toys and the potty chair out on the patio. I instructed her on what we were going to do. "We want to keep your panties dry. This is what you do..." I showed her how to run to the potty when she needed to go and how to pull up and down her panties. I told her about the rewards of one sticker and one candy (m & m) every time she "tee-tees" in the potty. I kept her filled up with water, and then we played. When she started to "tee-tee", she squealed my name, I grabbed her hand, we ran to the potty, pulled the panties down. Talked about dry panties. She did NOT like those wet ones! We changed her and kept drinking the water. A few minutes later, she started to wet again but ran to the potty and got some of it in the potty. We clapped, danced, got a sticker and a candy. Changed her panties and kept drinking water. By the end of the day, she had several successes and several accidents but it was a good start. The next day we did it all over again, continuing to teach and train. I told her at naptime it was OK to wear a pull-up while she slept but as soon as I heard her stir, I got her up and on the potty.
It was a very consuming job but by the end of the weekend, she was 90% trained with fewer accidents every day. I have heard more than one person say that those pull-ups just don't work well and that was true for her. We only used a small package of M&Ms (less than a $1) and when they were all used up, we discontinued use of those; she was content to wear her "Dora" panties now and keep Dora dry.
For boys, I have heard that you can put a few Cherrios in the potty, tell them to "sink the boat", and they love that. Happy training!

Both of my boys learned to peepee quickly at age 2ish. The "number 2" issue was a bit more difficult. They both eventually embraced the idea of going in the potty but it was a case of me being very persistent and patient.
Watching for signals from them and taking them to the potty for a lot of dry runs. Finding them in the playroom or hiding somewhere else and then guiding them to the potty and celebrating. I also had Superman call and congratulate them.(friend with a deep voice)

2 is quite early but some kids are ready earlier than others. My son (who is now 4 1/2) was potty trained by his 2nd birthday, he HATED being dirty..worked to my advantage : ) Some of the things we did was telling him to make "bubbles" (when standing it makes bubbles when the urine hits the water) and teaching him to aim in the toilet, we would drop one cheerio in the bowl and have him practice his aim. He loved it and the cheerios dissolve quickly and don't hurt anything. Good luck!!

Thats great! My son potty trained at two. He sits, stands, gets on the potty on his hands and knees, he is very creative! I encourage him anyway he does it! When we are in a public restroom, I hold him up facing the potty so he doesnt actually touch it. My son is also very short. So, I have to do the water and soap still(he is 2 1/2 now). If he has interest, encourage it!

I potty trained both my kids at 2 yrs. old a girl first and then a boy. With my son I used the 3 day potty techinique. Wasn't sure if it was going to really work, but by day 3 it seemed to click. I didn't follow the night time routine, he is 3 not and has not had and accident day or night in many months.

Here's something i did: drain the water from the toilet, dry off a good 'target' spot in the bowl and paint a dot in your reddest fingernail polish. Let it dry and then make it a game for him. Best of luck, W.

I'm in the same boat for my 2.5 yr. old boy & girl. I'll take advantage of reading your responses. Wish I could help.....

I have potty trained two boys so let me see if I can help. I have a 2 1/2 year old so we are knee deep in round two of potty training. Let me start by saying that my youngest showed signs early on that he was interested in the potty too, but it took until he was 2 1/2 to really get him interested on an ongoing basis. I think the initial interest was from seeing Mom, Dad, brother and others go. Both of my boys started going at day care first too. Peer pressure I guess. My oldest would go great at day care, but never at home. We did a prize basket and everytime he went we got to pick something out of the basket. That made him want to go at home. I just went to the $1 store and loaded up on stickers and toys. My youngest would go at home when I asked or took him, but he wasn't all that interested. He didn't care if he had a wet diaper. I was having him sit, but he was standing when he was at dad's house. We started standing at my house too for consistency. To get him interested in going at home, I taped a piece of construction paper to the mirror. I listed out each day and told him every time he went to the bathroom he could put a sticker on the day. The next day we would try to beat the number of stickers from the day before. The issue I had with this approach is that I would take him in to go, and his diaper would already be wet. He would squeek out some tee tee so he could get a sticker. So I started rewarding him for going in the potty only if he had a dry diaper. This worked great. He loves picking out stickers at the store. Even though we are 98% potty trained he still likes to get a sticker. We just have a blank sheet on the mirror now and he puts a sticker on every time he goes potty. We don't track each day. His older brother is a big cheerleader for him too. He always praises him when he goes in the potty. We have also moved to big boy underware. You will experience a few oops, but they hate when they have to take off their Diego/Superman undies. You reinforce at that point that if they went in the potty they could have kept their underware on. It only takes a few mistakes before they learn. Also, the wetness is a lot more noticeable than in Pullups. Each kid is different. Be patient and praise. Just remember, sometimes you have to adjust what you are praising. Going on the potty or a dry diaper each time you go potty. Good luck!

S.:

Greetings fellow mother! I have a now 4 y/o. Potty training is more about consistency that when or how. If you set a schedule for him say every 45 mins (whether he has to go or not) to go potty, he will get used to going to potty. My son was very successful when going with his daddy. He wants to be like daddy and daddy's stand up to potty. I ven explained that daddy's stand up and mommy's sit down. Same with boys and girls and at daycare he stood up to potty. Now we are at the stage when we are learning how to aim. :) Anyway, I think if you go potty consistently and regularly, then he will know that he is supposed to go regularly and will begin to go on his own. The praise the effort, no matter what the result. Gone are the days of letting kiddos siton the potty forever until they use it. Let him go and pull his undies down in front of the potty on schedule, stand there for a few minutes, may be run the water, then praise him for going to the potty and let him know if he used it, say for instance (you did a good job going to pee or doing #2, whatever you call it), or praise him for just going to the potty and now using it, but diferrentiate the praise so he will know the difference. Then wash his hands and send hiim back to his activity. Afterwards, repeat the process every 45 minutes to and hour. See if this works and GOOD LUCK!