Potty Training a Boy - Saint Charles, IL

Dear M.,
I have a 4yr. old son that was difficult to potty train. He was about 3 1/2 yrs. old when he finally got it. I had signed him up for 3 yr. old pre school and I told him he had to go on the potty in order to go to school. He really wanted to go to school. I think it was what helped him because he saw other boys and girls his age going on the potty.
Good Luck,
S.

My son will be 4 next week and we used the "potty party" for him. When he needed to go or we saw him hide, we took him to the bathroom and let him do his business and then we dance and sing. "Your sons name went to the potty, we are going to have a party", all the kids were involved and then we did high fives. He loved it and he had the attention of everyone for at least 5 minutes.
I do agree, having dad or another friend that is potty trained bring your son in with him so he can see other go is a great idea too.
If you have questions about the party let me know!

Hi M.,

I'm not sure on how boys/girls differ in how soon they learn, but here's what my daughter's daycare teacher told us - which worked us (and worked with her son, who learned under 2!).

She said to just devote one solid weekend to them. Let them wear only underwear, no diapers. And whenever they have an accident, just remark how it doesn't feel good, feels yucky, etc. And you're right to continue praising. I was checking her every 30 minutes, but my mom told me not to do that cause your child won't HAVE TO go every 30 mins. Someone told me to just ask your child if they have to go, or just go with them, to the bathroom, 30-60 mins after they eat. I got frustrated with my daughter during most of that Saturday, but by Saturday evening, she was trained. And all of Sunday she was trained! Hope this helps!!!

-Jackie

A friend of mine told me how she potty trained her son was to put a bit of dish soap in the toilet. Then, the boy's father would pee and make bubbles. This greatly impressed her son, and he wanted to try. That did the trick. My daughter, who just turned three, used to get diaper rashes that would not go away and her pediatrician said the only thing that would cure them was not wearing diapers. So, we would spend a lot of time playing with her on a big mattress cover so she wouldn't need to wear diapers, but any mess would be easy to clean. Without much effort, she learned to use the toilet in this way. But I do think patience is the key. One day, he will just be ready and want to use the toilet. Also, with my daugher, she never liked the training potty we bought for her. She wanted to climb onto the big toilet that we used. (Even after she fell in one time!)

M.,

I am currently potty training my son who is 2 1/2. We would make him sit on the potty and though he understands what peeing is, he would sit on it for 1/2 hour or more sometimes and not do anything. Nothing was happening. He was just so used to peeing in a diaper that it felt weird going without it. Anyways, we just persisted and would keep going back to him every couple of minutes while he was on the potty. A few times he would do a bit and then jump up and say YAY!! YAY!! but never COMPLETELY empty is bladder. Well, one day I caught him in the process of releasing a bit of pee and i jumped up and down and said yay!! dont stop keep going.. go go go.. dont stop! and he did a bit more and I kept saying excitedly dont stop(note do not get worked up here - it'll just scare him) and bribed him with candy. And he kept peeing. We did this a few times and now he will pee EVERY time I take him to the potty. Ofcourse, he is not trained completely and still pees in his diaper. He has come and told me just a handful of times that he needs to go. Now I am going to switch him to underwear to finish the process. I would also try this first ONCE a day! We did it at night before his bath (plan for 1/2 hour atleast before bathtime). I would take him other times during the day, but night time before bath we would be the most consistent. If you fret every single time you have to take him, it just gets frustrating for everyone.

Hope this helps.

Aarti.

Even though your children are twins they are still individuals, even more so when they are opposite sex. Boys tend to be slower than girls when it comes to potty training, be patient. You are doing all the right things just stay with it!
I have a twin brother and I remember that I was ALWAYS helping him, which made him furious, hehe.
We tend to want to rush our kids into things, believe me you will look back 10 years from now and wonder what all the fuss was about. =)
Keep a good book in the bathroom for both you, the sister and the brother and have "reading" time. Hopefully he will relax enough to go.
Good luck!
H.
H.

I don't have any experience with this, but I'm trying to remember a show I watched where this professional claimed he could potty train a child in a day. I seem to remember that they had some sort of 'potty party' where the child would try to teach a doll to do it, and somehow, I think when the child would demonstrate for the doll, he/she would accomplish it themselves. Make sense? I make no guarantees. My momory of the show is a little foggy. Good luck!

Hi M.,

Have you tried putting him in big boy underwear all day? I also recommend setting the potty chair in the room where he spends more time in or in front of the tv, so that he can watch his TV shows while he sits on the potty.

This is what worked for me with my 3 years-old boy. :-)

Good luck!

I have three boys and I can tell you that boys for the most part are a little bit more delayed than girls. Give him some time, and continue doing positive praises. I guarantee he will come around. But one idea that I used with my 2- 1/2 year old (not fully potty trained just yet but is understanding the concept)is that he was encouraged by my oldest son who is 7 and dad. So maybe an older sibling or dad might help.