Potty Training "Plateau"?

It's very common that a child will not tell you when they need to go until they are quite a bit older. That doesn't mean they aren't "potty trained", just that you will have to remind them at intervals (longer than every 30 min :-) to go to the bathroom. Training is a process that takes several months (in my experience) so please be patient and keep at it. 2 is not too young to start, I started with my daughter at 14 months and she was trained at 26 months.

I know potty training is hard... I'm doing it right now w/ twins. That being said I think you need to reevaluate the following statement: "but I'm not willing to quit now and start over again in the future." as it's not about us.... it's about when the child is really ready to be potty trained. A bummer I know, but less stressful and probably more successful for everyone involved. Good luck!

We used pull-ups from roughly 2-2 1/2 years old. We encouraged going to the potty and often when we were "out" because of the new atmosphere going to the bathroom was almost a game. Honestly we never pushed it, but kept encouraging it. There were still regular "accidents" (2-3 times a day).

One day we went shopping and picked out "big boy" underwear (Thomas the Train) and I told my son he could ONLY wear them if he went potty on the toilet. We only had a handful of accident (no BM accidents)after that. After the first couple of accidents we put him back in a pull-up for the day (he HATED that) and could only go back to undies if there were no accidents.

Our son is now 3 years old and still uses pull-ups at nap & bedtime, but otherwise no accidents. And we don't have to remind him at all about going.

Give it time. It will happen before you know it.

my son is 3 1/2 and we are expecting our 3rd child in a few wks.He kept telling us he was going to wait until the baby came to go potty on the toilet. ! But what I did was I got a piggy bank and cherrios. So every time he went potty he got a dime and with the cereal he got to shoot them in the toilet. He thought that was cool. It took a few wks for him to go #2 though . But I think now he's got it down. Cuz after a couple wks of him getting $$ for going pee. I stopped that and said now you will get $$ for going #2 !! It worked

Hello! I started potty-training my twin sons at 5 months old (I KNOW!). They both progressed along well. Now they are 27 months old. One is completely potty-trained, and always tells me when he needs to go. He has been potty-trained for about 2 months. He was at a plateau, and then, one day, seemed to progress all on his own. My other son will tell me (sometimes) when he has to go #1, but it is after he has already gone. He will tell me for #2, so I am lucky there, but it is taking him FOREVER to reach the same point as his brother. My point is, I am learning first hand that kids DO go at their own pace, and the best you can do is support them, give them potty training language, and praise the heck out of them when they are dry, or go on the potty. A few more tips. Really watch your son when you can, and try and learn his "signals" for when he needs to go #2. Does he turn red in the face? Does he stand in a corner? Does he stop playing, and get really silent all of the sudden? One of my sons does what I call a "potty dance" when he needs to go #2. This will help you catch him and put him on the potty, even if it is in the middle of a BM. Also, try and let him walk around with a bare bottom as much as possible. My son who is not fully potty-trained will never go when he is naked, only when I put a diaper on him! If you have carpeting, this might not be practical, as you can expect some accidents at first. But if you have hardwood floors, try it out! It works great. Thirdly, big boy underwear is a huge incentive in my house. get some fun underwear, and explain that he can wear it when he goes on the potty. Hope some of this helps!

Give him time. it seems like everyone goes through the same thing. He will be trained when he is ready, as long as you are providing the guidence. Don't pressure him or yourself, it will just make it take longer.

Have you tried giving him something when he tells you he needs to go (and actually goes on the potty)? I don't mean candy but what we did was find something my son loves and we call them 'treats', lol even though his 'treat' is good for him and he really can eat them when he wants this still worked for me. His 'treats' are small tomatoes, good for him and he LOVES them. Also, we did the, if he didn't have any accidents during the day he could watch a favorite episode of a tv show (his fav's are Bernstein Bears, Corduroy, things like that that teach him good things and are pretty short (like 20 minutes). Worked great, he is now 3 and has never had an accident in the middle of the night and has had I think 2, maybe 3 accidents since he turned 2!

I am potty training my daughter now- she is 2 years 4 months( I potty tained my son at 2.5 months with hardly a problem) I tried to potty tain her 3 months ago- but it was such a struggle that I thought it was not worth it. I was so determined because it felt like she was ready and I felt like if I stopped that I was a failure. But I did and bought a new box of diapers at Costcos and when that box was done we would try again. Wow how much a couple of months makes sucha different . She tells me when she needs to go - she goes on her own and she can hold her pee for hours. She can also poo in their just fine.
I haven't done the reward system like I did with my son but if I really need her to go cause she hasn't gone in a while then I will. I also checked out a bunch of books at the library on potty training and that seemed to help.
Good luck
Oh and I take away the diaper at nap/bedtime when it is dry for one week.

You are doing well, keep going. He feels when he has to urinate and that is shown by his saying so in public and bedtime. The rest of the time you are taking him and not giving him time to feel it and say he has to go. I would also watch about when during the day he has his bm and then mention it before he goes in his pants. It might also help to tell him how he can feel he has to go pooh in his lower tummy. He is getting it. Even if you did start earlier then some think you should have, he seems to be doing well with it and not fighting it, so keep it going.

I can understand how you feel about not wanting to stop the process, but I would agree that it's not your timing that counts. If he's not ready it's not worth the stress. It will drive you nuts. My daughter was regularily pooping on the potty at 25 months and she would pee sometimes but only if we asked her to go. That lasted about a month or so and then it was like that never happened. It was VERY frustrating but after a month or two of struggling with her, I just let it go for a while. We started trying again around 30 months. I was like you, taking her about every 30 minutes and that seemed to work for a while but if I didn't ask her she just peed in her pull-up or diaper. We tried bribing with marshmellows, M&Ms, etc that only worked for a short amount of time. I let her go to the store and pick out some undies and told her that she could wear them if she didn't pee in her pull-up or diaper. That didn't work either. What did finally work was the combination of taking her to the potty every 30 min or so in combination with putting her in underwear. We chose a day to start the underwear and didn't turn back. The only times we allowed a pullup was for naps and if we were going to be in the car for more than 30 minutes. I am convinced that was the right way to do it for her but that it also was because she was finally ready.

Good luck!