Potty Training 2Year 9 Month Boy

Updated on September 04, 2012
T.H. asks from Midland, MI
6 answers

Well my son is 2years and 9months old. we have been trying to potty train him for almost a year now. I new it would take time and I didn't want to push and make it scary for him. he has a potty seat in the living room and will sit on it every once and a while. Lately he hasn't been wanting to sit at all and its almost a force to make him sit on it. If we catch him at the right time (right after he wakes up, and after nap) he will go on the potty. Other times during the day he will sit there for ever and not go... as soon as he gets up and goes back to playing he pee's. we have tried treats, big boy underwear, toys everything. he just doesn't seem to want to go on the potty. and the accidents don't seem to phase him. does anyone have any advice on how to make this start to work? It is very frustrating because my SD was potty trained by 18mos. any advice will be great thanks!

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M.B.

answers from Austin on

I think one of the problems is that it has gone on so long, he doesn't think it really matters.

He apparently knows what to do... he just doesn't have the incentive to do it.....

One person in a previous potty-training post found a toy that she knew her son would want... bought it, and put it up on the fridge where it was visible all the time... she explained to her son that after he had been dry for x amount of time, he could have the toy. It didn't take long after that for him to realize what he really needed to do.

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R.M.

answers from San Francisco on

My first two potty trained very quick by 2 yrs however my third did not potty train till 4yrs, but he did potty train in two weeks, I tried everything and found what worked was the potty dance video from Pullups ( it can be down loaded) that and we got him a sticker chart and told him everytime he went pee in the potty he would get a sticker. Bribing him with toys and food never worked but once he watched the vidio. it happened quick. He has to be ready though if you push too soon he will take lnger.

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V.T.

answers from Washington DC on

My daughter is your son. I eventually took a break from potty training right around the same age as your boy. It was an extended break because I ended up on bedrest and then we moved. A month after her 3rd birthday we started. I put the potty in the bathroom. I went straight to underwear and made her go potty every 10 minutes, than slowly spaced it out. When we got to every 30 minutes, I got a potty watch that played music every 30 minutes, it worked great for her. It bothered her a lot that she had accidents, I think that is a big sign that they are ready. She had 3 accidents the first day, and by day 3 there were no accidents. During nap and sleep she wore a pullup, after 2 weeks of no accidents, no pullup at nap time. Next week, after 3 months of no accidents, we are going no pull up at night. I was so frustrated and h*** o* myself. I had to get over it. I think because I waited so long, and let her have some control, especially with the potty watch. Potty training was easy. I know don't even have to ask her to go, she'll go all on her own. We had some trouble with pooping on the potty, but that's been going well for almost 3 weeks. We started training in late April. There have been a few accidents here and there, but I can't remember the last pee pee accident. I used stickers when she went, I used Huggies website to create a sticker chart, and prize bag for going poop. My sister wrapped a present up and put it on the toilet and when my niece went potty with no accidents for a week, she got to open the present. It was small stuff from the dollar store, but my nieced loved opening a present.

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B.B.

answers from New York on

Every child is different and potty training should never take more than a few weeks. A year??!! Did you try to train him at 18 months because that other child was trained at that age, which by the way, is ridiculously young by American standards. You need to put the potty away, put the diapers back on and wait a couple weeks/months. When he is showing signs of readiness then take 1 week to properly train him with consistency. Then he will be trained.

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D.M.

answers from Denver on

I think he's just not ready yet. My daughter was trained at 22 mos. Son at 37 mos.... when he decide to put on his big boy undies - he had two accidents that night - and that was it (he's 4.5 now!). I do think they are all different and boys may be slower than girls... I wouldn't push him

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C.H.

answers from Detroit on

A friend of mine posted this link today, so I came back here to share with you:

http://www.babyzone.com/kids/potty-training/10-signs-chil...|

Even though the article is a joke, a lot of it is true! There is a difference between conditioning a child to go on the potty (what a lot of other cultures do to have a 1 year old going on the toilet) vs. Potty-training. In potty-training, the kid has to show the signs of readiness (and therefore, "want" to do it)

I learned this the hard way with my daughter. Like you said, I said that I had been "potty-training" her for a year...I had the potty out for her to use, and she used it once inawhile (in particular when I could tell she was about to go). But she wasn't truly "potty-trained" until the month she turned 3. I said that was it, no more diapers, and she was accident-free in about 10 days. A pain in the butt? Yes. Sick of cleaning up accidents? Yes. But at that point, she had all the signs, so I just made her wear underwear.

My son now is 2 years 8 months, but he is content to sit in his messy diaper, and could care less that I offer him incentives. So, he's not ready. I'll wait another month or two and re-evaluate. My advice to you is to do the same.

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