Potty Training Boys - Hamilton, OH

My neighbors used a potty watch or timer. When the timer went off he had to go sit on the potty and try. She said that they used these potty timers at a day care that he was in in the past. It seems to be working. Good luck!

Have you tried the cheerios in the toilet?

Hi Colleen,

I have a few questions that might make it easier for us to give advice.

Is he the older of your two boys?
Does he have any friends his age who he regularly interacts with?
Does he get any one-on-one time with his father?
How does he feel about going to pre-school? Has he been there before?

my daughter came up with cherrios. Her son gets to "play" sink the cherrios while peeing. Where was this idea when i had two boys!? Granted, for a while they go in there to play but hey... better than being strapped to the toilet like i was!!!!

No matter what, STAY POSITIVE!!! When he has an accident say "OOPS! Next time we'll go on the potty." Then do practice runs from where ever he was when he had the accident. Have him practice saying something like "Mommy! Pee pee!" and running to the potty. Or if he doesn't need your help at all, he doesn't need to tell you, and just have him practice going to the bathroom. 4-5 times every accident will help pretty quickly.
Quick with the treats. They won't use them at school, so you don't want to teach him he gets a treat every time or he will expect them from the teachers. Try weaning away from them by only giving them at the end of dry days. Or go to a sticker chart instead.
Stop using diapers. He knows he can go in them, he will keep doing so. Once you switch to underwear, you need to stick to them. Pull-ups for naps and bedtime are ok, but that's it.
Most kids revert to going in their pants when they train naked. They learn to hold it so it doesn't run down their leg, but as soon as you put something on them, they go again, it's not just your son, so don't stress about that :) Spend a weekend in underwear and a shirt and have him practice sitting on the potty every 30 minutes or so. Keep him fed and hydrated so he has as many chances to succeed as possible. Have him help clean up messes, but don't make a big deal about them.
He'll catch on:)

Hi C., Don't wear yourself and your son out. He will train when his body tells him to. My two granddaughters started preschool wearing throw away diapers. They live in California and if you don't get them into preschool by age two you are left out. They never seem to have had any problems with their teachers with not being potty trained. When our sons were little I put a dot of bright red nail polish in the stool and they would aim at it and it was fun for them to see if they could hit it. Our oldest son wasn't potty trained much before he went to kindgarden but at that time pre school wasn't an option. Good Luck and hang it there it will happen.

Well, I hate to say this but, you already answered all your problems....You've gone back and forth with this, you reacted badly, you've let him run naked, making deals about going, etc., etc. This is something they do have the control over and you've now made it a control battle among you all. There are alot of books out there about how to do it in a matter of days. Also I understand it's hard for you to be structured, but at this point you've got to stay at home for a few days, put him in underwear and DO NOT GO BACK!!!! Don't get mad when there are accidents and move on. If you don't get some kind of structure and consistency with this you are looking at a battle that's not going to end any time soon. Goodluck

We had the same problem that we had to have our son potty trained before preschool. He was also 3 1/2 too. We tried and tried. He would go pee in the potty but not poop. We talked about him being a big boy wearing underwear like other big boys but not a baby wearing "baby diapers or baby underwear (pullups)". This seemed to help too. 2 weeks before preschool, we just went cold turkey into underwear (we were out of town visiting grandma who had 2 boys) and surprisingly didn't have problems. I think there was only 1 accident but he pooped in the potty too. Somehow it worked out and he only had 1 accident at preschool on the first day, but no more accidents.

I know that everyone says it, but try not to get you or your son too frustrated. Somehow things will work out. If it comes down to it, just send him to preschool with underwear (and a change of clothes, include socks and shoes too). Let his teachers know his situation and hopefully, everything works out.

Good luck!

Have you thought about getting Dad involved? Let him take your son to the bathroom and put Cheerios in the toliet and tell him to try and sink them.

Hey C.! This is a tough one! I have a 3 1/2 year-old son also, and he just recently potty trained. Partially taking the advice of a friend's pediatrician, I used a little bit of reverse psychology. I told my son that he could be a baby as long as he'd like. BUT, he would have to GIVE ME one of his big boy toys every time he pooped or peed in his pants like a baby. For my son, it was his Thomas trains. One at a time, I eventually almost earned all of his trains. Sometimes he wouldn't willingly give me a toy....so, I took it myself and showed him what I took. I did not give him back any toys for going on the potty. I told him that after he was a big boy going on the potty for a while (for him, I gave it 5 days straight of dry/clean days), I would give ALL of the toys back to him PLUS a new toy of his choice. In the mean time, I gave him gummy bears for pooping and peeing on the potty. I just kept telling him that when he wanted to be a big boy he would get his big boy toys back. And, I said, it didn't matter to me...he could stay a baby as long as he wanted to. I was just going to be having fun with his big boy toys in the meantime. Also, I kept the toys I took away in plain view where he could see them (above the refrigerator).....which was easy since they were small toys.

This process probably took me about 6 weeks. Good luck with your little challenge!

A.

Giving him complete control is key and finding out why he doesn't go or want to go would help. If he is looking forward to preschool you could tell him that he can't go if he isn't potty-trained or as a previous poster suggested, compare him to other kids his age so that he realizes it's time. Before leaving home to go somewhere he wants to go, tell him you can't leave until he goes potty- would an accident in a public place with other kids help motivate him via embarassment? Like a park? I don't mean to traumatize him- you know your kid best- but if he sees other kids his age not wearing diapers and stopping play to use the bathroom but he doesn't, maybe that would be the thing to help him over the hump.
Don't let it bother you, or at least don't show him that it bothers you, when/if he has setbacks, accidents or lack of interest. It's all him. He can do it but if it's a power struggle, he'll always win this one.

First of all dont stress about the pre school deadline, just making it harder on yourself. He will be fine ;) You just send extra clothes for accidents - they deal with this all the time, even the best potty trained kids have accidents. Also, I know the mess is very frustrating but putting a diaper back on him isn't helping either - he isn't uncomfortable when he goes in the diaper so will not feel the need to take time out to go sit on the potty. I think the best thing is to take some time to stay at home and just do the training. Endless liquids with scheduled trips to the potty - I just go at the same time. I say ok, I need to go potty - let's go - and we go in and I read a book about going potty while we are both in there. It isn't a question - it is what we are doing next, just like let's go to the park and play. Now that the children I care for are doing better, I suggest it frequently and give them their own book once they have their seat- they are so excited about getting to read a special book (because I make it sound like the most exciting thing in the world ;) and they get the praise when they are done. Sometimes we are in the bathroom a very long time so be patient - good opportunity to clean it while they are busy - ha ha. I hope this is helpful, I know it is frustrating cleaning up the mess of accidents but will be worth it when you aren't changing diapers anymore! Also fun with boys to pee on the car tire when no potty is available ;)

With my son, I just stopped trying couple months he turned 3. I said fine, if you don't want to potty train you don't have too. You can wear diapers (not pull ups, diapers), you can lay down to have your diaper changed and I won't say anything about the potty. Your best friend wears underwear, and will probably make fun of you for wearing a diaper, but that's your choice.
Within a week, he was in underwear on his own with very few accidents. Don't let it be a power struggle because they will keep it going. Don't let it bother you, and it will bother them that they aren't getting that attention.
After talking to him I did find out that he liked to be changed b/c it was getting one on one attention with me. So when he did start peeing on the potty I made sure for a minute or two after wards I gave him all my attention if he so wanted it. It was the best reward around.