Potty training...boys Vs. Girls

Updated on June 14, 2012
A.T. asks from Loris, SC
8 answers

I asked this question a long time ago about my daughter, but at that time it was just how to get her trained. Now my son is totally hit and miss with the potty training. He will be 3 next week and he only sometimes tells me that he has to pee. He is wearing pull ups and i am truly tired of putting out the money for them. You moms told me to put my daughter in panties and she would basically train herself. Is it the same for boys? And what about sitting vs. standing to pee? Right now, i have him sit. He has never pooped in the potty for me either. Please help. I would love to have this done within a month or two.

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J.G.

answers from Chicago on

My son was easier than my daughter. I don't think it is a boy vs. girl thing, it's a temperament thing.

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T.S.

answers from San Francisco on

You TRAIN him to go by taking him all the time. You don't ASK if he needs to go, you just say "it's time to go potty now!" If he actually goes, great, if not, no biggie. I started my son at 22 months so we went every half hour the first day or two, then every hour for several days. They get the hang of it. He preferred to stand and aiming at a cheerio helps. And burn the pull ups! He may as well be wearing a diaper :(

3 moms found this helpful

S.L.

answers from Kansas City on

Same as with girls. Put him in underwear, no pull ups, take him at regular times, set a timer to remind him ( and you ) and take him and if he doesn't go take him again when the timer goes off. If he has an accident tell him next time he'll do better. Reward if you chose to and use toys, stickers, small treat of food or whatever he likes and you decide on for a short time. The reward is usually not needed for long at all. Praise him when he goes. I don't think boys are ready to stand at first and so have him sit and be sure there is a guard on the potty or stool seat or it will go all over. Our 3 year old grandsons have been potty trained for some time now and just now are wanting to stand more to go. Usually they start out with the urine first and then move to bowels so be patient on that end but tell him he needs to do both and keep and eye on him to try to catch him. No pull ups though. I think most kids need to sit a bit to go 'poop'.

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E.G.

answers from Atlanta on

If you want to get potty traing done fast look up 3 day potty training. Basic steps are 1. Take him to the store and let him pick his own underware
2. Big show of throwing away the diapers (needs to know they are not an option) 3. Keep him in only teeshirt and underware. Keep close attention and as soon as you see him start to go rush him to the toilet doesn't matter if only one drop go into the toilet. He will start to understand that is where you go potty at.
Yes it's messy, a ton of laundry, you will get nothing done in your house while this is happening, but it will work. I could not do it in 3 days, but I did in a week.

I started the oldest on the toilet and when he was ready he started standing on his own. I think preschool helped with this, you know all the other boys stand, ect ect ect. The younger one never wanted to pee while sitting so I got him step and he just started doing it. Pooping in the toilet took a little longer to get completely done but it did. Good luck!

R.R.

answers from Los Angeles on

Doesn't matter if the child is a boy or girl, it just depends on the child, period.

No more pull-ups, they're pull up diapers. Kids love the comfort of going in them, they wick the wet away so no problem...for them, and if they poop, yuk :-/

Don't ask him, take him to the potty, every 30 minutes (or less if you choose) all day and evening long. Once you know his "schedule" of going you can make sure to get him on the potty at those times every day, for pee and poop. He will eventually start going on the potty sometimes and will start to make the connection of needing to go. My guy trained at 27 months, he has never been one to TELL me he needed to go, even now at a little over 3, unless we are out and about and we need to find a bathroom, he just goes and does his thing. I taught him to wipe from the get-go, I still check but he does a pretty darn good job, he washes his hands or asks for help if he needs it, I love his independence!

If you don't mind have him go bottomless a few days, do it so it's easier for him to get to the potty, loose shorts and underwear after that so as not to hinder his efforts.

Sitting vs standing to pee is no big deal, they will "get it" when they see Dad or other boys at preschool doing it. My Dad who passed away in February told me that he peed sitting down his entire life when he had the option, he preferred it, he was 86.5 when he passed.

Night training is a misnomer, there isn't any such thing. Put him in Gerber trainers (I doubled them) and plastic/rubber pants at night. It may take years for him to stay dry, or he may be like my guy and figure "If I don't wet my undies in the daytime I don't wet them at night, either." I didn't have a problem with him wetting at night, but he got up from the beginning on his own to go pee at night, so I kept a potty in his room a couple of months. His ped praised him profusely when she found out he stays dry all day and night at his 3 year check-up, but it isn't a problem until a child is 7 or 8 if they're not dry at night.

Be consistent in your efforts to train him, tell him he's a big boy now and doesn't wear diapers/pull-ups anymore, encourage him for his efforts and successes, and expect him to do it. Your attitude and actions will speak volumes to him.

Oh, and the average length of time to train completely (barring night training) is 3 to 6 months, but if he's ready it will click and hopefully be done in your timeframe ; )

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Y.B.

answers from Seattle on

My son will be 4 in August. I started to potty train him right after he turned 3, he would pee on occasion and never pooped. He got sick and then refused to pee. I talked to the pediatrician and she said to wait for 3 months and try again. In February we started again and he took to peeing really quickly and just would pee on his own, I never had to remind him to pee he just did it just not the pooping. We use cloth diapers and his grandparents were watching him, I told him when he had to poop he had to ask to have his diaper put on and he was doing that for about a month. Then one day he peed in his diaper instead of pooping and when he wanted a diaper to poop I told him I was sorry but he had peed in the diaper that was meant for pooping and I didn't have anymore. A few minutes later he was yelling that he had pooped in the potty, wooohhoooo high fives for everyone. We also had some incentives, he loves loves gloves. All gloves and he wanted some more so we said when you poop in the potty you can get some new ones. I think he got about 10 new pairs and then we were done and he just goes on his own. He still sits to pee in the house on his little potty. If we are out he stands. My advice is to give it a break and it will happen really seamlessly. I wouldn't do pullups either since they are just like diapers, if you can try cloth diapers for a bit and see how that works. My son still wears diapers at night because he is still peeing but we are ok with that. I have read it can take kids until they are 6 to have control over their bladder at night.

K.I.

answers from Los Angeles on

All underwear, all the time...let him stand to pee and throw in some Cheerios or Fruitloops and ask him to sink them for you...reward him with loud clapping and maybe some candy? (I did Dum-Dum suckers, they are the perfect size) and you will be done in no time!

~My one trick was waiting till my kids woke up completely dry in the mornings..that was my que that their bladders could hold it for a good long while! I have 2 boys and 1 girl and all were completely potty trained (night and day) right around their 2nd b-days!

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C.G.

answers from Atlanta on

It's not uncommon for boys to be way past 3 years old before figuring it out.
My advice: If you push it before he's ready, you'll be dealing with a lot more accidents down the road. Just my opinion in noticing kids who were supposedly "trained" early.

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