Normal First Day of Potty Training or Kid Not Ready??

This was normal for my son. He peed constantly the first day or so. I was on edge and cleaning up pee all day. I know a lot of mommas then say, that meant he was not ready...wait a few months and try again. But we kept going and guess what? He got it! By the end of that long month we were going to the zoo and amusement parks in undies without accidents. They've been peeing in diapers from birth. They need a little adjustment time. That does not necessarily mean they are not ready. Good Luck

Sounds exactly like my son last summer. The first day he was just like that. I put the potty in the living room in front of the tv. I made him sit on it every 20 minutes. Sometimes he would look up at me and say, "I peed!" You could tell he was as surprised as anyone. Several times throughout the day he peed on the floor. We celebrated! "Yeah! You peed!" My husband thought I was nuts. I said, "Today we are celebrating the fact that he peed not matter where it is so that he begins to recognize that feeling and so that he knows that it's ok to pee."

He was trained in 3 days and rarely has an accident! Keep doing what you're doing. It really does get better.

If he is willingly sitting on the potty then I would say he is ready. It will take a while for him to get some kind of connection between the mental and physical process. Keep it up and when he does not want to cooperate then it is time for a break for a while.

Sounds pretty normal to me. Rome wasn't built in a day. And if he's not ready at over 3 years, he'll never be ready. Stay the course and keep on him about it. He will get it!

You need to put him on there every 30 minutes for the first few days. Its called potty training because he doesn't know how to do it yet, right? After a few days you can put him on it every 1 hour. But you must be consistent and give a tiny reward each time. The potty can be anywhere you think is convenient. We had ours in front of the tv because often, even if kids have to go, if they are really involved in something they will not notice that they have to go then have an accident and feel bad. When he does go, applaud and cheer. Even call daddy to grandma to tell. Your son is probably ready assuming he was telling you when he went in his diaper or was hiding when he went.
Oh, and I am a big fan of pullups as long as they are used appropriately. The problem with pullups is people use them incorrectly (like a diaper) and then claim they don't work. I only used them when we committed to potty training because peeing on oneself does not speed up the process if they don't know what to do. Have the pullups on him but put him on the potty for regular intervalls like I mentioned. Peeing or pooping in pullups feels gross. Articulate to him how he must feel when he does have an accident like "Feeling wet doesn't feel good, right?" or "Pooping in pullups is very smelly and messing, isn't it"?

Um, so I am responding without reading the other posts...just because I am going thru this with my twin 3 1/2 year old boys. I tried them a year ago at this time and they were just not ready. I finally realized that they were ready about a month ago. I told them that there were no more diapers left except for nap and night time (selfish on my part!). I put the potty in the family room in front of the tv and by all of their toys, i have them in evey bathroom and MOST important, I have one in the car so when they have to pee, they are learning to hold it until I can pull over in a safe place. I will tell you, they are NOT ready until THEY ARE READY! They are not being lazy, or naughty, they just are NOT READY. When they are, they will pee on the potty, poop on the potty and, when driving, tell you when they need to pee and to pull over.
Good Luck! Everyone told me "it will happen when they are ready", and I was thinking "whatev, it will never happen, they just don't listen to me". Two weeks later I was proven wrong :)

I agree no toys and move the potty to the bathroom :) I have a son 2 1/2 who's been 'in training' for a month now. The first day he went thru 7 pairs of undies and less and less each day. I had a bag of dum dum suckers as an incentive :) I also take a portable potty w/ me to the store and a lil' pack of 3 undies in my purse as well. We go potty prior to going anywhere, when we get there, before we leave and when we got home!! But right now, not as much b/c he pretty much tells me. I would buy cool books for him to read on the potty so he could relax to poop. OH and I set the timer for every 15 minutes and told him "let's go potty" even if he didn't want too. It wasn't necessarily a choice, I know their bladders are small and 99% of the time he went, he just didn't know that he had to go!! But now he's got the sensation down and he doesn't have pull-ups on at nap and/or bedtime (unless we stay at someones house) but you have to be ready to potty train!! I personally prefer the summer b/c they can run around in undies and you don't have to carry a whole outfit change for them. Good luck, I know it can be a pain but at the age of 3, I'm sure he's ready just not necessarily willing..lol
M.

It sounds like a typical first day of potty training. What worked with my daughter at 3 was, she was in underwear ALL day. I had the potty in the room where we were in the house, doing our usual stuff. After the first few accidents, she started getting the idea. We made it a 'celebration', because it is! I bought $20.00 worth of very small toys at the Dollar Store & wrapped them in tissue paper. I also put balloons on her little potty. Each time she 'stayed dry', and used the potty, she got to pick a prize. She caught on quickly! The prizes lasted a few days, then we switched to small animal cookies for pee & 2 M&M's for poop. After about 2 weeks she was trained. She did use a diaper at bedtime for about 3 months since day training, and now at 3 3/4 of age, she's night time trained. We have the occasional accidents, which is quite normal. I'd give it a week and see how he does. If he is really fighting you on it, or just doesn't get it, give it a rest for a few weeks and try again. Good luck!!

If you are willing to do the tv thing it will kick in eventually. You are right he doesn't have the control yet. He needs to learn how it feels. But letting him pee on the floor is just gross. I honestly believe you need to have him sit there ALL the time he's not wearing a pull-up. It's a terrible idea to allow things to be so unsanitary and people are just wrong about pull-ups not working.

At 37mos, my son's first day was me taking him every 20-30mins while cutting back his water intake (he loooooves water and would easily drink 40oz before lunch). We went thru all 20 pairs of underwear. The second day, he got sick of always having to go, so marshmallows were introduced as incentive, we went thru about 16 pairs. The third day he decreased his water intake on his own, was fascinated by the poop "shooting out" into the toilet and did so well, we left the house for an hour w/out an accident. He also got sick of marshmallows, so we went to Tootsie Rolls.

By the start of the second week, he was SO much better at determining when he needed to stop what he was doing. He had 1 accident at a play center, which was my fault because I was 2mins late in getting to him to take him to the bathroom. We introduced the 'trunk potty' and he got a Hershey Kiss whenever he used it. He was down to 2 pairs/day and no other treats/incentives.

By the third week, he was in control about 95% of the time, determining when he was going to go. I had to prompt him maybe once or twice during the day, but it seemed to have 'clicked'. And he was waking up from naps dry. There were a few days in between those 3wks where he would only pee enough to kind of take the edge off, and I had to come up with creative ways to keep him on (counting to see if he could pee longer than before, introducing new interactive books, etc). He was down to 1pair/day.

At 28mos, my son insisted on no more diapers - he'd been peeing in the potty before bathtime for almost a year, he'd been watching his friends go potty and sometimes being their cheerleaders. We tried it, but his water intake was causing him to go every 15mins and he was ready for the diapers after 2 days. I figured I'd just wait until he was 3yo, until the summer/warmer climate with less clothes, and earnestly try then. It seems to be working, but I don't want to jinx myself :)

Also, he didn't always need changed because of an accident - I changed him any time there was wetness, maybe from him grabbing 'it' so much, maybe from a drop falling when he stood up from the potty.

I also followed other moms' advice by never asking him "do you want to go potty?", but by just directing him "its time to go potty".

Good luck!

yeah, every 30 minutes on the potty.
Probably for at least 3 days, you can't go anywhere but it works.

It takes time, but it works!

completely normal! All the late trainers seem to do this in my experience.

Take the toys away for a week.

Put the toilet in the bathroom unless you want him peeing on the floors.

Give him 15 minute reminders: "Son, do you have to pee or poop? If you do let's go potty- you don't want to make a mess of yourself, or the floor."
If he messes your floors- have him help you clean it. He's old enough to get it.

I wouldn't park the potty in front of the tv, personally. It makes pottying a passive "accidental" thing that he's doing instead of an intentional process that requires his awareness.

If he's playing and peeing all over- you might want to fall back and re-group for a week or two and then try again.

Best wishes

I don't know about the peeing all day, but maybe being naked just made him feel the urge more? What worked for us was to put some cool underwear out on the counter. Of course he would ask about it and I would just tell him that when he was ready to use the potty he could have it. One day he said he was ready so I told him that if he stayed dry for a whole day in the thicker cloth training underwear, he could switch to the cool underwear. He did it in three days and we have never looked back and that was a year ago. Good luck!!

He may be learning what it feels like when he pees, and that might quickly translate into knowing before he pees that he needs to pee. I'd keep at it for a few days to see if he starts making the connection. If he doesn't seem to be getting it in a couple of days, I'd put the diapers back on for another month or two and then try again.