Potty Training - Edinburgh,IN

Hello J.,

I don't know if this will help any but I too kept trying to potty train my son (who will be 3 next week) at 2 1/2 years but to no avail. I learned from other parents that with boys especially you can't start training them till they are ready. My son started a few weeks ago wanting to go in the potty all by himself and one "trick" that works for him is that every time he goes potty I let him put a few drops of food coloring in the toilet. I bought a pack of 4 cheap food colorings so he even gets to pick the color. This has worked great for him.

Best of luck!
Katrina

My son didn't start showing a serious interest until he was 3 1/2 - we always kept the potty out and ready for him to use but never made a big deal out of it - they will tell you when they are ready, but if you force it, it will be harder on both of you.

J.,
Congratulations on your new baby! I don't think right now is the time to introduce the potty because your older son is still getting used to sharing mommy and daddy with the new brother! The best way to introduce the potty though is to begin talking to him about being a big boy and what big brothers are supposed to do, etc. Don't forget to get some books about potty training because that will help a ton as well. Once you have talked about the potty for a few weeks or maybe a month, start asking him to sit on the potty before his bath and before bed. He might not do anything, but he might, especially with the bathwater running. Anyway, once he does it, make a really big deal out of it! High fives, anything to reward him for his behavior. After he starts going a few times, then introduce some sort of rewards system. I used stickers and explained every time he goes, he gets a new sticker. Once the sticker page is full, you get to go to Toys R Us or somewhere to pick out something special. My sister didn't have any success with stickers, but went to the dollar store and picked up about $30 in toys so every time he would go, she would pull out another toy. She said that her son didn't understand the stickers becoming toys, but it worked for me. My sister-in-law did little sugar free candy when her son would go on the potty. When you begin the rewards program, is when you need to introduce the pull ups to him and explain that he is getting bigger and why he needs to wear them. Now, my son didn't like pull ups at all, so I immediately went to underwear and he had the potty thing down in no time. It all depends on how many times you put him on the potty, etc. My son would drink something, and I just knew in 10 minutes, it was potty time.
Hope this helps and good luck!

Hi J. =)

I have 4 boys ~ potty trained 3 of them (including twins), and my last one isn't quite 2 yet, so we have some time to wait for him. It sounds like you've had some good adivce so far. It's true, with boys, you really have to wait until they're ready. I started my oldest a month or so before his 3rd birthday. Trust me, I know it's tempting to try when they're younger when you have more than one in diapers... I had 3 in diapers for a full year! My twins I waited until they were just a little past 3.

One "trick" that worked great for me, is when we were just hanging around the house, I would leave my boys in just a shirt and socks... no pants, underwear, or pullups. For some reason, when they don't have bottoms on, they are more aware of their senses. With pullups, or even underwear, in the beginning they tend to forget they aren't wearing a diaper and will go in their pants. And of course you have to take them to the potty every 20 to 30 minutes to try. I borrowed several potty books from the library for us to read while they were sitting on the potty. We would also sing songs when the boys would start to get bored.

I rewarded two mini M&M's for going potty, and when they would go poop (which came much later) I would reward with a bite sized snickers. My boys never responded well to sticker charts for anything... except to peel off the stickers and put them all over the house lol.

Another fun thing to do is when they are old enough to stand up while going potty in the big toilet, I would put a cheerio or two in the water, and they would try to "sink the cheerio." The boys thought that was just great! LOL!

Good luck to you!

S.

There are many different things to try. Go to your library (cheaper than buying) and get the books and videos on potty training. For some kids these work great.
They will make you laugh, and you will think they are the stupidest thing around, but for some they work.
The one book I can think of talks about what belongs in the toilet and what doesn't, and then where you should put your poop and pee and where not to.

Just because something works for one, doesn't mean it will work for all. Your two children will probably be very different on that.

I know you've gotten lots of advice, but I've trained two kids the same way at about 2 1/2 years old, and the boy was easier than the girl. :)

I got the book, "Toilet Training in Less Than a Day" (Amazon has it or you can borrow it from the library) because it was recommended to my by a friend who was using that method with their second child because it had worked so well for their first. I read through it, and so did my husband. My husband followed the instructions with our son, who was older because I was nursing and couldn't dedicate hours to training him. I trained our daughter.

We didn't train in a day, but we used the method for about 4 hours with each one. We were confident they understood the concept, but weren't ready to do it. We shelved potty training for a while (a month or two) and stuck with diapers, but would occasionally ask if they wanted to wear big boy/girl underwear. Then, once they said yes, we went back at the training. Both were trained the first morning of the second round. We didn't start the method described in the book over, we skiped to doing dry-pants checks with treats. I'll admit we'd also ask if they needed to go potty, which is technically the step before that. But anyway, they both had a few (maybe 4 or 5) accidents the first couple days, but that was it for potty. We struggled a little with pooping, but they both had that within a month (it was more of not wanting to stop and go than anything). Our daughter stayed dry at night from day one, but our son took a few months before he was consistently dry at night (he'd be dry for 2 weeks, then wet his diaper, then dry 2 weeks, wet his diaper....)

There really was very little stress using this method (and we altered it a little to take into account each child and updating it 30 years - for example our son hated "practice" but our daughter loved it so she did more than he did). And the best part was that our kids told us when they needed to go. We never had to ask if they needed to go to make sure they didn't have accidents. We took them on 6 hour car rides shortly after training, and they did fine.

Each kid was a little different, though. Don't expect any method you choose to work exactly as described, and try not to stess, because your son will pick up on that and stress, too. I hope you find an easy method that works great for you!

We are fortunate to have a very successful potty-training experience (so far), so here is what we did. We noticed about 9 months ago, when he was 26 months, that our son would always pee in the bathtub at night. So, I put the potty chair in his bathroom and slowly but surely convinced him to sit on it for about 10 minutes each night before his bath. At first he wanted nothing to do with it, so I didn't push but I didn't put it away. About once a week we'd ask again if he wanted to try sitting on it. Also, since we was able to follow me I've let him come into the bathroom with me while I've gone to the bathroom so I think he understood that we go potty in the bathroom. Anyway, one day he agreed to sit. A while later, we "caught it" and coincidentally, he peed while he was sitting on the potty. We were ecstatic! The look on his face was priceless, he was so shocked and excited. So we took him to the kitchen for a reward (we use M & M's).

Each night afterwards, we would continue the routine of sitting on the potty before his bath. We also read "Elmo's Potty Time" and "The Potty Book for Boys". At this point, I would never suggest during the day that we try to go potty. I felt it was too early, and I just didn't have the time or patience to get him to sit for upwards of 30 minutes, waiting for pee. He would never sit still for that long, anyway. So this went on for a few months, and he'd pee maybe once a week or once every two weeks, and we would clap and call Grandma and give M & M's. It was really fun. By about July, he began to tell us that he had to go potty at various points during the day, maybe once or twice a week. We would drop everything and rush to the potty, and lo and behold, he would go! I still had him in diapers, though, because to me, we weren't "potty training". And, if I went to change his diaper and noticed it was dry, I'd ask him if he wanted to try but again, no pushing. We were just laying the groundwork.

So this continued for about another month, but now since he'd begun to recognize the sensation of having to go, I began to ask him a few times a day if he wanted to try to go potty. Sometimes he'd say yes, and sometimes no. Sometimes he'd go and sometimes not. But as he began to tell us more frequently that he had to go, and as he began to wake up dry in the morning, I decided to get pull-ups for him to make it easier to get them on and off when he would try. We aren't doing underpants (although we do use them occasionally) because he is taking Miralax and his bm's are really messy and mostly uncontrollable, poor kid. He was really excited about wearing "big boy pull-ups", and you could tell that his pride was growing and growing every time he would have success.

So this brings us to the end of August. We were home visiting my mom, who had thankfully just bought a potty chair for her house the night before. The next morning, she was in the shower and I was still in bed. My son ran into me, naked from the waist down, saying "I used the potty chair and get an M & M!" I went to the chair and there was pee in it! He had done it completely by himself. And since that day, he has only had a half a dozen "accidents". He's even started pooping in the toilet, too, when he is able to. I would have him in underwear now if it weren't for the Miralax.

Now I realize that it is rare for a child to more or less wake up potty trained, and it's taken a lot of patience to get to where we are, but I am proud of the way we did it and I plan to take this approach when our daughter is older. I don't necessarily agree with the notion that a child is "old enough", so therefore it's time to start potty training. Our philosophy was this: This is what potty is. This is where we put it. We celebrate when it happens, and certainly don't get mad or frustrated if it doesn't. Let's follow his lead and try when he wants, and if we give him the tools and set the example, he will try it for himself when he's ready. He trained us, in a way, and I'm more than pleased with the results. And so you know, our daughter was about 8 weeks old when our son started to catch on and we had just moved from another state, so despite the challenges on our part, it can be done if your son is ready. But that's the most important part - he needs to be ready. Make the process available to him and shower him with praise. Congratulations on the birth of your new son! And good luck with everything :)

you have recieved a lot of great advice.... one question... does Dad pee on front of him? Because if Dad says come onbig man lets pee together.... and they do or at least try STANDING UP ... he may respond better and when dad has to go number 2 bring him with him to talk about how that is done.... my hubby did that with my son and he potty trained in about a day to be a big man like his dad... he never sat to pee except when having a bowle movement and they GUYS had soem bonding time.

Hello J.!

It has been awhile since I potty trained but I do remember thinking it would be sooooooo hard. I waited until he was 3 -- took him to the library and got "Winston's Potty Chair" -- the movie, and he watched the movie and got it within the first 2-3 days. I remember we took a trip to Cincinnati and he refused to go all day because the potties were too big in the bathrooms, but he didn't want to go in his "big boy Thomas the Train pants" either. I felt bad because he held it all day -- but went as soon as he went home and so it was really very easy because we waited until 3 when he could understand some things...and the movie helped A LOT! - A.

Hi J.,
First off I want to let you know I am the mother of 5 children 2 boys and 3 girls and have also potty trained 2 grandchildren
Boys will train when they are ready. I know diapers cost a lot and it would be nice to not have to pay for them, but pushing him is not training him it's training you. My sons were around 3 when they really wanted to use the potty and it took 3 or 4 days and no accidents during the day night time took longer but not too long. It was the same for my grandson.
Just relax and it will take it's course
Good Luck
M.

Hi J.,
I was watching the "Today Show" one morning and happened to see a lady on there talking about potty training in just 4 hours. So of course my eyes were glued to the TV. It was called "Botty Camp" (you can look it up online.) Anyway, what she does is have this camp at her house and the parents bring their child and the potty chair. She has the child wear underwear, no pull-ups. She feeds them junk food, which will make them drink more and hopefully have to use the potty more often. If the child had an accident she would make the child clean it up. It was teaching them that they were responsible for their own body. She would not ask the child if they had to go potty, she wanted the child to make that decision. It's about making the child be in control of their own body. So most parents reported that after attending this camp, their child was potty trained by the end of the day or the very next day. I was amazed! I decided to try it, but only at my own home. My son was two months shy of his 3rd birthday. I let him run around naked at first and whenever he had an accident he had to clean it up (with my help of course.) By the end of the first day, he was going in the potty. I started to put underwear on him the next day and he had some accidents and again he cleaned it up. I never asked him to go potty, he was the one in control. Within 4 days he was completely potty trained (pee and poo.) I was absolutley amazed at how well this method worked for my son!! I would highly recommed trying it. Oh, my son did not eat much junk food either. He just caught on quickly. I hope this was helpful and good luck!!

I would:

Wait until at least November when he will be three.

Have your husband do it as there is no way you can devote all your attention to your potty training son with a newborn around. Potty training day will be a full day of learning the potty. If you can't get your husband, someone else that is very important to your son that could devote the day. Grandpa, Uncle.....

Leave the house for that day.

Get a book on potty training in a day. I used the original 1960's one, but there are many to choose from. I think they all have you doing the same thing.

Every child shows interest at a different age. If some of his little friends are potty trained or being potty trained that might encourage him to try. It may just take time although I can understand your wanting him out of diapers. Try reading books to him about going to the potty and maybe talk about big boy pants...

Hey J.... I had my son potty trained @ 2 1/2. I would sit him on the potty.. but u have to remember that sitting there is when they actually get 'relaxed' so every 20 minutes I would put my son on the potty.. I guess it's more of a question of when ur ready to be crazy bout it. I started him after my daughter was born & she was bout 3 months. He was going to be 3 in October.. So the summer months definetly helped b/c we could go out in just underpants and a t-shirt. It a matter of setting a timer and being there little brain. It's hard not going to lie, but I think if your persistant enough it'll be okay and crazy, but okay..lol! If you really want to get out of diapers I would start now. Give him a special 'potty' book only for potty to read and perhaps sit with him and read that's what I did. I also would reward with a little dum dum sucker, if he pooped. I guess it does to an extent rely on the child, if they're ready.. but 1st and foremost I would say it really relies on the mother and father and if they are ready to deal and clean up messes. Good Luck!

I would suggest the following, and believe it me it will be a lot of work for you and consistancy on your part and that of your spouse!
Half an hour is way to long to leave a child on the potty seat in my opinion. Both of my children were potty trained by 15 months, totally. This is what I did:
I would put them on the potty for about 3 to 5 minutes every 45 minutes to an hour the whole time they were up starting with when they woke up in the morning. If they used the potty seat there was applause, hugs, kisses, lots of praise and a treat. If not nothing was said about it and they were diapered. If they went in the diaper they were changed asap and some disappointment was verbalized about it.
Potty time was also a short story, pattycake, whatever and the water running on low.
He is old enough to have to clean up the mess if he uses the dog cage or the floor and should be scolded for doing so. Naturally you will have to supervise and complete the clean up but he needs to be responsible for it.
Good luck.

Hi, it can be interesting to train a boy when daddy is gone a lot. But it can be done! First, my son thought the potty chair was a toy (thanks Grandma). He was afraid of the big potty, afraid he would fall in. So I showed him how to climb on facing the tank, that way he felt he had more control and
since he was leaning forward and holding on to the seat...
his "aim" was down. Daddy wasn't so happy when he came in from the field.... but he got over it!! My son quickly got the hang "things", (the big boy undies with his favorite character on them helped!) and moved up to the big boy way of doing things (even if it was with a stool to make him tall
enough). He was nearly 3.

Hello J.. In all honesty, my now 5 yo was past three when she finally got it. What worked best for me was NOT To mention using the Toilet at all. Then one day she ran around naked and used the toilet. With my younger brother, we used Cheerios. We put a few cheerios in the toilet and he stood to pee and he was a firefighter and he used his 'hose' to put out the fire which was the Cheerios. Now, he was REALLY into firefighters at the time so it worked great. You might be able to alter the firefighter part for your little man and use the same concept. I would like to add that forcing him to sit on the toilet for 30 min probably won't aid you in your quest to eliminate diapers. I would do my best to make it fun (eventhough I completly understand the frustration). If he isn't able to see his dad use the toilet, maybe some friends who use the toilet could come over and you could add the 'peer pressure' or 'peer joy' to the other tactics you are using. For our son, Hot Wheels did the trick, if he used the toilet he got to pick out a Hot Wheel. Congrats on a new Baby and Thank you to you and your family for your sacrifices for my freedom!

I agree - with boys you really have to wait until they are ready. My son wasn't trained until after he was 3, and that was only the p-p part. The poo part came later. My best friend's little boy is just now potty trained after a year of "training" on and off, and he'll be 4 in December. The most important thing, I feel, is not pushing the issue. When he's ready the training will go easily.

We're not there yet, but I did just see this on cincymoms:
You can get a free potty training kit at www.letstalkpottytraining.com Hope that helps!

Hi there J....I too had a hard time getting my son to use the potty...I started trying to train him when he turned 2 but the was a waste of time and energy...everyone I spoke with said he will when he is ready...so I took their advice and I gradually put him on the potty...like in the morning when he woke up, before and after nap time, and also before bath time and bed time. He got the peeing part down and I was able to put underware on him but the pooping part was the hard part! He pooped in his underwear 2 times and after the second time I told him that from now on I was going to throw his BIG BOY pants in the trash if he pooped in them and eventually he would have no more and that he would be the only one to go to school wearing diapers! Something must have clicked! Also my son is really into sports and he loves bubble gum so I found a baseball bubble gum machine and everytime he poops he gets a piece of gum. He was potty trained one month before he turned 3 and has not had a accident yet!!! Good Luck!!

Hi J.,
My son is 5 now and has been potty trained since 3.75-4. He showed a little interest in it when he was around 2.5 but he wasn't really trying to use the potty even though it happened by accident one time - boy, was he suprised!
I began to panic a little after he turned 3 and still hadn't began to really try. The pediatrician recommeded putting him in pullups to start the process (I think it helped a little). I asked the babysitter (who I love) for advice and she said to try not to worry and he'd let us know when he was ready. So we just stuck to the pullups and would ask if he wanted to try the potty (just asked, though - no pressure - if he said no, we let it go) and also purchased "Potty Power" on dvd and began watching it.
I'm not exactly sure what the kicker was but he decided to use the potty one day and never looked back. I admit I was suprised but it was just like something clicked and he's been trained ever since. No nightime accidents either (though we did continue with pullups at night for a while) and only 2 daytime accidents that happened because the adult he was with at the time couldn't get him to the bathroom fast enough. (There isn't much of a grace period when they say they have to go :-(
Of course, it'll probably be a completely different experience when its time to potty train our daughter, LOL!
Do what works for you and him and Good Luck with it and the new baby!
Dawn
P.s. I think a lot of boys start out sitting down which I think is good to start (just in case!) but I think seeing Dad and other boys go is a HUGE deal for them to learn to do it standing up!

My daughter is almost 3 and had no interest in the potty at all! We bought the Elmo's Potty Time dvd (its $9 at walmart) and gave her a potty when she watched the dvd and she is using potty words, and loves her potty. We are getting cloth training pants soon! Good luck-but dont force him, just encourage it!

J.,
When we started training, we bought big girl undies, a kitchen timer and some M&M's or stickers. We'd put undies on the girls and start the clock and called it the potty clock. Every 1/2 hour the clock would ring and the girls would say "potty time" with such excitement. Then, if they went, we'd give them an M&M or a sticker. Although they aren't potty trained completely yet, we've now gone since Sunday without pull-ups (except when sleeping), and this method was a good start. Good luck.

We also bought the fun hand soap that has a hippo head as the pump (johnson's or kandoo?) and it lights/blinks until they should stop washing - my girls loved that if they went pee they got to use that soap. Also, we bought poopy wipes (kandoo flushable wipes) that we only use when they poop on the potty. Both things made them excited about what they were doing.