Potty Training - Chatham,IL

I got a potty and showed my son how to use it Then he stayed in pull ups another year or 18 months before he was ready for underwear between 3.5 and 4. He was at the stage where he would pee in the potty when asked but wouldn't stay dry on his own. He might have been ready sooner but I was pregnant and busy with a new baby. It kind of depends how much effort you want to put into potty training and reminding and supervising him while he is in underwear.

you didnt really explain what you are doing? do you have a reward system or plan or are you just seeing how it goes?
I did M&M's ....1 for sitting, 3 for peeing on the potty and 5 for pooping.

My first day of training for my daughter went TERRIBLE. I had her diaperless ALL day and let her pee on herself alot...she noticed it running down her legs vs soaking up with pants on (the notice it less hence not making the connection)
Also has he shown interst in the potty? I ALWAYS took my daughter in with me and talked her "MOMMY has to go potty and MOMMY gets candy"..I would show her what I did and then I got all excited because I got to flush the toilet becaues I was a BIG girl...(and I would not let my daughter do any of it until she went on the potty herself)
I started my training on a friday...but sunday afternoon it was ALOT better..the connection was made but we still have accidents periodically (about once a week)...but I havent had daytime diapers since Jan..WOO HOO

I think if he shows interest to use the toilet let him...but it sounds like he has a ways to go. Encourage and praise him when he uses the potty but let him wear his pull ups and diapers in the meantime.. You'll just get frustrated with all of the accidents. You'll know when he's ready. The light goes on and that's it. My son trained himself a month after he turned three and we haven't looked back. Good luck.

Well there are those kids that get potty trained in 1 day but that isn't all kids. So just cause this first day is kinda tough it doesn't mean he won't get it. My first daughter was like your son. I potty trained her right at 2 and for the first week she was peeing in her underwear like 5 to 6 times a day! It was hard! but after a week or so she started doing better. She was understanding what to do and she got potty trained. With my second who has only been potty trained now for about a week and a half (she just turned 2 in Jan) she was much easier. I again told myself I would give it a good try for 1 week to see if she can get it. The first few days she would just hold her pee as long as possible and then wet her pants. So she didn't have as many accidents but she wasn't really getting it. But after about 4 days she was potty trained. She tells me when she has to go and hasn't had an accident in a week. So just keep at it for at least a week. Make sure you keep him in undies all day. Put him on the potty every 15 minutes so you can catch the next time he needs to pee and then once he goes in the potty make a huge deal about it. Give him candy or a sticker etc. explain how nice it feels to still have dry undies on. then just keep at it.

I would say he's not ready. Try again in a few months and save yourself all that laundry. :-)

Once he's ready, it should be much easier.

Hi K. O Just take it one day at a time. He is still very young. He'll have his good days and bad ones. Just don't get upset when he has a bad one. This would only confuse him. As a rule I've been told that boys are harding to train then girls. So be patient he catch on as time gos by.

If you're potty training because you decided to do it now, that's a very different situation than training because the child shows signs of readiness. And it will take longer if he's not interested yet, perhaps only a few weeks if your son is "almost" there, or maybe a year or more.

When a child is truly ready, meaning the bladder and bowel control are developed enough, the nervous system keyed in well enough to recognize the signals in time during play or other distractions, and the emotions are mature enough to accept the ongoing obligation, then a child can often decide for himself he wants to be out of diapers and is successfully trained in a matter of a few days. For most children, this will happen somewhere between 2.5 and 4.5, with boys tending to be somewhat later than girls. When a child is really ready, success itself is the reward and no charts or bribes are needed. They are as excited about it as when they learned to walk.

At this site (http://www.parentingscience.com/toilet-training-readiness...) you'll find some helpful readiness checklists. There are also discussions of different approaches to potty training, the optimal ages, the pluses and minuses of each approach. You might see your son and your parenting style well represented in one of those systems.

Good luck!

Having a lot of accidents on the first day is completely normal. My youngest, who's 3 yo, took 3 days before he finally went in the potty. That was 3 full days of wet pants and puddles on the floor. :-( Hopefully your little guy catches on faster than that though. My oldest was literally potty trained in 1 day and never had an accident after that. My middle child took about a week. All kids are different obviously. Keep at it for a few more days, don't give up too soon or it give him the wrong idea. Good luck!

If he has gone in the toilet you are probably doing fine. Just stick with it. We trained DS at 25 months. We did not use rewards (stickers, candy, chart) or punishments. Just told him that pee and poop go in the toilet. He had a lot of accidents for 2 or 3 days. A few more over the next week and then 2 or 3 more over the next 6 months (the last were predictable, he had been playing a long time without a potty break). When kids wore cloth diapers, 95% of American kids were trained by 18 months.

The first day I try to make it fun and try to go about every hour. Now he's starting to tell me on his own and usually has accidents just for #2.

It may take him a little while before he "gets it". Just be consistent and patient. If you start losing patience or he doesn't seem to improve I would take a break from the training for a while and then return back to it. It's hard to really tell the first day, it's a huge new concept for him to grasp all at once. It took a few months to potty train both of my children. And I would say my 29 month old is still a work in progress, GL!

I just trained my almost 3 year old this week. The first day we had 6 accidents. I would put her on the potty after and clean up. The 2nd day, I would make her sit on the potty, and she pooped by herself 1 accident. 3rd day same thing. She was dry all through naps and nightime. The 4th day 2 accidents in the morning- I was thinking she doesn't get it. Then, the rest of the she went all by herself. I was ready to give up. I say give it a week. If it doesn't work, he's not ready :) Best wishes!

I would probably give it up for a few months. How wet is she in the morning when she wakes up? I thought that it was a sign they were ready when they woke up dry? i could be wrong.

Hi,

I haven't read the other answers, but I do know that some of the potty training sources I have read say that bowel control comes before bladder control because your body gives you more warning before a bowel movement. So, I don't think that it means that he is not ready overall, just that he might be more in tune for his need to have a bowel movement rather than urination. Keep trying and good luck!