Potty Training - Fuquay Varina, NC

Hi! I am at about the same point you are with my 23 month old. One thing that my LO is very excited about is I recently let him pick out some Elmo and Thomas underpants at the store. He knows that he needs to go in the potty if he wants to wear them. He is also learning that when he wets in them, he has to take them off - I don't say it in a negative way, just that oops, they are dirty now, and I have him put them in the hamper - so it's a very gentle negative consequence. Maybe something like this can be the next step for you?

Good luck to both of us!

If he went 5 times in one day, you are already past the interested stage. Have him sit on the potty every hour while he is awake and then before and after nap/sleep times. My daughter was 18 months when she started telling us she needed to be trained and she is well on her way to being potty trained. I would suggest if you haven't already, that he get a treat or a prize/sticker after he goes so it becomes fun for him. Soon enough he will out of diapers and you will be happy!!

Hi M.~
I recommend that you do not expect your son not to pee in his diaper anymore. These little ones will continue to have "accidents" for some time. However, it is possible to encourage them in certain ways. Examples: praise and a sticker or m&m each time they go, cloth diapers so they feel when they're wet, books for them to read while they're waiting. I hope this helps!
~C.

To get the point across that we pee in the potty and not in our diaper, take off the diapers. If there is no diaper, he can't pee in it. If you are ready to make the commitment, you really need to just dive right in. Switch to underwear full time. There will be accidents, so you need to be prepared. We used a reward system for when he went pee. Each time he successfully peed on the potty, whether we prompted it or he did, he would get a jelly bean. Be consistent and give the treat every single time. For pooping the prize is bigger, a matchbox car or a small animal toy from Target (they come in a tube of 16 or so for something like $3). He is doing great with our system. At 28-29 months was when we started.

Hi M.

Put him in undies! The only way he will learn not to go in the diapers is to be wearing the undies. He most likely will not like peeing in the undies if he is truly ready to train. If he continues to have success with the potty it should be an improvement daily. You can use some reward system when he goes to keep him motivated. My son got 1 M&M everytime he peed on the potty. He still does occassionally when he asks for one, I figure why not if he stays on track. I never made a big fuss when he had an accident, I would just tell him next time make sure you tell Mommy and we'll get to the potty and then just change him in the bathroom. Pooping on the potty - unfortunately I have no advice there b/c my son refuses still to poop on the potty. Oh, and I still do use pull ups for naps and bed time only.

Just keep talking to him about the potty. Tell him about going pee and poop in the potty. Read him stories about going potty. There are also some videos out there that he can watch that talks about going potty. Also, continue to take him back to the potty and let him sit on the potty. In time, he will understand and then the really potty training will begin on its own. It takes a long to for the entire process to be complete. Relax and just let it happen. When he is really ready, he will start to understand.

Just continue to encourage him when he uses the potty. You might want to purchase some "big boy" undies for him to wear during the daytime when you are at home and just let him wear them without pants around the house now that warmer weather will be here. Try not to get upset when he makes a mess. It is a learning process, just like crawling and walking, and he will get there in his own time.

That's awesome that your son is taking an interest in the potty! Now, my son is only 7 months old, but I did work at a daycare in the 2-year old room, so I had experience with potty training. I think you already are actually potty training...so now you can just be more consistent to get him to do it more. Some of the things the kids did at the daycare...start a potty book. Every time he goes on the potty, he gets to put a sticker in a book (you mark the date and times...or just put the date on one page and see how many stickers he can put on in a day.) Another thing that some Mothers did (at home...and the kids thought this was really cool)...was to put blue food dye into the toilet so then when they went to the bathroom it would turn a different color (green.) We would just also really play up being a "big boy" for going in the potty and say how proud we were of them. Maybe you want to introduce pull-ups and try to explain that if you go potty, you get to wear pull-ups like big boys. Hope these ideas may help. Good luck with potty training!!!

You might have to make a break with the diapers at this point. Buy some very absorbent training pants & get ready for a bit of a mess. I would still use a pull-up at night though. Also, my son loved the book "Once Upon a Potty" (for boys version) It really seemed to all click for him after that book. Good Luck.

It sounds like he's catching on - the next step I did was just not put on a diaper! Simple as that - since you may want to use them a little longer at bedtime, when he is awake take it off!

I would just talk to him about using the toilet and talk to him about how big boys and mums and dads use the potty. I wouldn't make it a big deal or force the issue. I think it all works a lot easier when the child has some say and responsibility in the process. When he's ready he'll make the transition all by himself. I gave my son the choice of diapers, cloth diapers or training pants, every day when he started showing an interest. I didn't make a big deal about the choice he made and didn't make a big deal about cleaning up accidents. I just talked to him about using the potty or not. One day he said he didn't want to wear diapers anymore because he was a big boy, and that was the end of it... no diapers even at night! and in 3 months we've probably had 3 accidents on very cold mornings (I didn't want to get out of bed either). So just go gently he'll grow up fast enough!

Dear M.,
Sounds like you've already gotten some GREAT advice! Please just bear in mind your son's age. It is wonderful that he's headed in the right direction. However, he may not fully potty-train until around 3 or possibly even 4, so try to be aware of that, and know that just because he's saying the words, "might" not necessarily indicate that he understands how the actions relate to him personally. Again, reemmber his age. I saw a post that talked about not saying it's bad to go in the diaper - which is good advice, since at this age he probably has very little true control over it. God Bless ~ I'll be praying for both of you!

Good for you/him on the successful voyage to the potty - 5X's. My son is also going to be 22 months (birthdate is Aug 23) and has gone in the potty a few times, but not consistant and he loves to say pee-pee in potty. He comes in with me and my husband when we go and he says mommy pee-pee or bye-bye pee-pee/poopy so I think he knows whats going on b/c he says pee-pee or poopy when he goes in his diaper and the few occassions he goes in his potty. I really act excited whenever he gets anything related to the potty correct... but not so excited when cleaning diapers recently. I don't yell or say its bad to go in diapers, but I guess I am not too thrilled.

Do you think we're expecting too much since they're still under 2?

Does your son go to daycare? Because I'm afraid that if I get him going on the potty then daycare won't have time for it.

I'm also afraid if I start too early then he'll totally revolt and it will back it up into 3yo (that's what my Pediatrician said could happen).

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