Potty Training - Cedar Park, TX

Ditch the pullups. I have twin boys age 3 1/2 and are both fully potty trained. We ditched the pull-ups and went straight underwear. Yes we did have accidents here and there, but it really helped them become more efficient on the potty. If he is successful without bottoms on, well then let him run around the house naked. Whatever works. Eventually it will just click. I was told this advice, and really didn't think we would ever get past the potty phase, but one day I just realized we were there. Hang in there. And as they all say, this to shall pass.

My son is already 10 but when he was potty training he had some problems too. What I did was take him to the store and let him pick out his undies. He chose character ones that he really liked and then I bought some white ones. If he had an accident he would have to wear the white ones. I toldhim that "big boys" that used the potty used big boy undies... (the ones with characters) it took about a week and a half and he was VERY cautious to use the potty. He LOVED Power Rangers good thing for me ;)

stop using pull ups except for at night when you want him to sleep and stay dry. explain to him that he is a big boy and you are only going to use them for night- night time. you say he will change his own pull ups and underwear? Then buy plenty of underwear and let him change them, it sounds like he is doing great, you have to remember it's hard to have to learn to control a muscle that you never consciously had to control before.I say it takes at least 6 months to potty train a child before they actually get it. keep reminding him where to go and praise him to high heaven when he does. do the pee-pee in the potty dance. kids love that.

Give him time. It's not important to him yet. He's not going to go to kindergarten in pull ups.

Mom, you will just have to be brave and go cold turkey. We did this with out twins, we started with small outings, running to get groceries, or to walgreens etc, then slowly added longer outings, and no pull ups. Pull ups were a waste of money, my twins would just pee in their pull ups, easier I guess. We went cold turkey and had very few accidents, in fact none in public. Did the same thing in regarding to night time. They kept peeing in the pull up overnight, went cold turkey and did not have one accident.

Tips: we always take them to the potty went we enter a store, or go visit somewhere. We also carry a small potty in the back of the SUV, just in case we have been somewhere without a potty, and I feel like they might need to go.

Be brave, it will pay off!

First, the pull up is too much like a diaper. It is not that uncomfortable to them when wet. Keep pull ups for night time, that's another issue. I took my son to let him pick out his own big boy underwear. Then I took him potty every 20 to 30 minutes throughout the day. This only takes 2 or 3 days. You have to be home and be consistent. I also went to the dollar store and got prizes, m&m's, stickers. Even if he sat for a little while he would earn something. Saved bigger prizes for having a BM.

Hi A.,
Little boys can be hard at times. I would suggest keep on doing what you are doing- except during the day I would only put him in his undies- use the nitetime pull ups at nite. he will eventually catch on- just keep reminding him to d like "daddy" and show him the other little boys don't pee in their undies. He will b fine. Some boys just take longer than others to "catch on"
good luck and blessings

Reward system did it for us. I started with balloons for tee tee and then graduated up to candy for poopoo. Now we're decreasing the candy. He even goes on the potty to go now and most the time forgets about the candy.

Get rid of the pull ups. My day care wouldn't even allow it. Put him in underwear in the mornings and be ready to change his clothes. I'd just remind mine, "You could have gotten a balloon or candy if you would have gone in the potty. Next time, run to the potty and you can get one."

Good luck!

Like other moms have said, pull-ups are not helping your cause. Put him in underwear except for nighttime. I wanted to add that I kept my kids in pull-ups at night until they announced to me that they didn't want to wear them anymore. I know my son was about 3 1/2 (and had just potty-trained at 3), and I think my daughter was about the same age (somehow can't remember exactly), though she had potty-trained earlier. They have each had occasional accidents, but not many.

Hi A.,
My son just turned 3 yesterday and we are finally fully potty trained, however it has been a battle. My suggestion to you is to get rid of the pull-ups they are too much like a diaper. Just let him do underwear. Also, he may not be ready yet, I started trying with my son in Novemeber and he would pee on himself as well, I left it alone and started trying again in March, he was ready then and it was so easy. Don't push, he will get it when he is ready! Good Luck!

Stop putting pull ups on him, stick strictly to underwear.

A.,

I think your son is confused. I am just by reading about it. If you are potty training you should be consistent. If you're training with pull-ups use only pull-ups. If you're training with underwear use underwear. For me, I felt like the pull-up was too similar to a diaper and I opted for underwear. Consistency is key when teaching anything.

I would ditch the pullups. They're basically very expensive diapers. Go with underwear or naked only for a bit and use a reward system. Since he's not even three yet, it sounds like you are doing a fantastic job!

I agree with the above responses, find out what motivates him as a reward. For my son it's marshmallows. For my daughter it was stickers.

He's obviously aware of when he's going pee and changing his pants. He's doing GREAT for going on three. Keep in underpants as much as possible and give him time. He'll get it.

There are kids who potty train themselves. An online friend of mine did NOTHING to potty train her fourth child, he just got the idea himself.

As I used to say to people who expressed concern that my daughter was still not fully potty trained at four "Well, if she's still in diapers when she goes to college she'll be changing herself so I won't be dealing with it anyway."

Ditch the pull ups. They are glorified diapers. He doesn't feel as wet in them. He feels secure enough to do his business in them. If you are tired of diapers don't use pull ups.

Naked time is important to potty learning, in my opinion. I also think LOTS of reminders are necessary when they're learning.

I also used Potty Scotty training undies. We use cloth diapers and I didn't want to use pull ups and found these. There is an absorbent pad that will keep you from cleaning floors but he will still feel all the wetness. They are loose enough that toddlers can pull them up and down by themselves. When I put my son in undies he couldn't pull them up and down fast enough.

Ditch the pull ups and make sure he can go while naked. If he's having no problems going while naked (i.e., going all the time for both 1 and 2) then he sounds ready. google potty scotty. I got a 3 pack of the non-PUL ones and was so happy I did.

A.- I too am the mother of 3 WILD boys! I had to make a game out of it. I, not the norm< cut a hole in the bottom of a flower pot and let it float in the toliet. THEY LOVED IT! And i gave my boys some sugar free candy if they went and did not use thier underpants.

My son was 3 in January and he will poop in the potty but refuses to pee in the potty. He'll run around in a wet pull-up and it doesn't seem to bother him. We have tried several very creative ideas such as peeing on the Cheerios to sink them, rewards, big boy underwear and he isn't interested. He'll tell me to put a diaper on him. So while I have no advice I can tell you we are there right along with you! Maybe you'll get some good advice! With my older kiddos my son was much harder to potty train.

well, I think we are in the same boat....but what has helped a little is making a promise to someone that is not around alot...also my mother-in-law...she did a ritual with him..took him to get underwear and had a real heart to heart with him and helped him to understand what the underwear was for and that he was going to be that much closer to going to school...hope this helps and good luck...we are going to make it

It sounds like he is doing very well =) Have you tried a reward system? That is what I'm doing for my daughter (also almost 3) and it works great! Every time she goes potty, she gets a small piece of candy (like an M&M) and a sticker for her potty chart. When she gets 10 stickers, she gets a small prize (play-doh, crayons, pencil, bubbles, chalk, etc.) We are about to make her chart bigger because she is now going potty 10x in a little over a day! I think I'll make it 15 or 20 times for the next chart. She is to the point where she will go all on her own without me even having to remind her. She still will not poop in the potty, but that is a much harder thing for some kids. My older daughter was not fully potty-trained until 4 yrs old. (fully as in no pull-ups, no accidents except maybe once a week)
Try not to put too much pressure on going potty, make it more his idea than yours. His bladder muscles might not be fully developed yet, therefore making it impossible to get to the potty in time every time. Another thing my daughter loves is she made up her own little potty song and dance LOL it's so cute! And to celebrate I will do the little dance with her! And we give lots of hi-fives, too!
Good luck!

Hi A.,
I really think it is just a matter of time. He just isn't quite 'there' yet. My daughters were 2 yrs. 9 mos., 2 1/2 years, and 2 years 11 months when they each became potty trained. It was somewhat frustrating, knowing that they were physically capable and just not cooperating! The problem is that they have to be both physically and mentally ready. As you have realized, sometimes he gets both 'readiness' realms synchronized, but other times not. Boys notoriously take a bit longer than girls, so I would think perhaps sometime just after his 3rd birthday you will find him using the potty regularly. He may make a sudden announcement to you about it (all 3 of my girls did this), or he may just start doing it. I know a lot of moms are against pull-ups, but I honestly don't think they make much difference one way or another to the child, and they are helpful to us moms b/c they are a lot easier to clean up than wet underwear! If you feel they could be interfering then by all means stop using them, but the most important thing is not to put pressure on your son. If he wets his pullup or underpants and changes them, don't make a big deal about it--don't even mention it if you can help it. He will get there eventually. You just have to be patient and wait for him to be completely ready! Hang in there. :-)

Give up the pullups. They give him the security to not have to worry about the potty. Our pediatrician (and my daughter's teachers) recommended avoiding the pullups because they become a crutch for the child.

One weekend with my daughter in underwear and she was essentially, fully potty trained. Yes, there were accidents that weekend (you have to be prepared for a lot of laundry and cleaning), but it was well worth it.

If he knows how to use the potty and has interest in it, then you are doing him a disservice by keeping him in pullups, which are essentially diapers.

Potty training all depends on whether your son is interested or not. You can try some different techniques and see if it will guide him into wanting to go on the potty. But he is the one that has to make it happen.
Bribes may be in order. Does he have a favorite activity? Or a favorite place to go? Maybe tell him if he can go for 3 days without a wet pair of underwear, you will take him.

No more pull ups. Only big boy underwear. Do not have them available for him to change them.. If you do continue with pullups, do not let him know where they are stored. He will have to ask you for a change of underwear. You may even tell him, "oops, we only had that pair for the day, I guess you will need to go the rest of the day wet or with your bottom naked."

Give him lots to drink and encourage a full bladder, when you see that potty dance or that expression, remind him not to get that one pair of underwear wet. Remind him to go quickly to the potty.

My aunt said she would have her boys watch cartoons while sitting on the potty chair at the time of day they usually went potty in their diapers. She said they would get excited when they went in the chair and started to understand "the feeling".

Have him watch your husband go potty, doing both pee and poo. Your son may want to try peeing while sitting facing the back of the toilet.

I know this is frustrating. He has to have a brain ready to process the whole potty thing, sometimes, it just takes a while to figure it out.

A. I have a 3 year old as well and he was doing the same thing I was getting so frustrated. So I started doing a reward system. If he pee peed in the potty he got a sticker and if he pooped in the potty he could pick a snack or a candy reward like fruit snacks or sometimes depending on the sugar intake of the day a lil hershey kiss or the mini box of nerds or pix stix... you get the picture. I also tried to make potty time fun by placing a few cheerios or fruit loops in the potty and having him aim and try to shoot em. LOL it sounds silly but he loved it. We also completely stopped w/ the pull-ups during the day and he only wore underwear and pull-ups at night. He turned 3 in december of 2008 and is now fully potty trained it only took like 2 months. I hope this helps. Please let me know if any of these work for you. Goodluck!

I have heard the trick is to tell them its potty time every 20 or thirty mins. This way he never gets a chance for an accident. Also stickers seem to do the trick. I am not looking forward to the battle of the potty with our son. Best of luck.