Potty Training Stand Still

Updated on October 02, 2011
S.N. asks from Exeter, NH
6 answers

My son is 2, he'll be 3 in January. For the most part he is doing well with potty training, but as of right now we have 2 big issues preventing us from moving on to the next step!
1st) We've been letting him run around naked so he can freely use the potty, which has worked well (for peeing) for the last almost 6 months, but now that its starting to get cooler, he wont go at all when he is dressed, or even just has a pull up on. it's almost like he feels like he only needs to use the potty when he's naked, and now I don't know make him understand he needs to use the potty all the time, even when he's dressed. Also he only poops in it sometimes, mostly he runs and hides and poops on the floor!
2nd) He's been starting to pee on the floor in his room! This is becoming very frustrating because he has a potty chair in his room! He has a rug, and it's starting to smell. He never had this issue before, he liked using his potty and loved the praise. We just don't know what to do as it seems we're at a stand still and can't move forward, and may be even going backwards.
PLEASE HELP ME

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G.B.

answers from Oklahoma City on

It's time to decide what you want to happen. Do you want to have to clean the carpet every week to stop the urine from soaking the wood under the carpet or do you want to spend hours doing extra laundry. I think it's time to go to pull ups and make it easier on your self. Yes, he's old enough to know that his behavior is wrong. He is getting attention for doing it and secretly is happy about it...lol.

I say wait until Spring to start wearing underwear again and just do the pullups with him knowing he is wearing them because he is not going to the bathroom. We got through to him using jelly beans...1 for pee in the potty and 2 for pooh in the potty.

3 moms found this helpful
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S.L.

answers from Philadelphia on

We only did one naked day with my son when we potty trained, but then we did a few weeks of just sweatpants. They are easy up and down and we didn't use underwear because it's tough for their little hands to get them down. It also feels much grosser to pee in your pants without underwear and I found that he was a little confused about the underwear because it felt too much like a diaper (so you can probably guess we never used pull ups).

If you've been letting him run around naked all summer then you basically have to re-train him with clothes on and recognize that their brains have a harder time with multiple-step tasks. When you are 2 it's much easier to just sit and pee than to get your pants down and then sit and pee. I would guess the other issues are related to the clothes. I don't think you are moving backwards, you just put off tackling this issue and it will take a little while to adjust. Good luck!

1 mom found this helpful
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A.H.

answers from Los Angeles on

We tried naked days and he just peed on the floor. We stayed away from pull ups b/c we didn't think there was enough of a difference from diapers. We uswd a reward system at first, but eventually he didn't even ask.

We also had another baby before he was fully trained and that halted our efforts as he wanted to be like baby.

The thing that finally worked was putting him in big boy underwear and giving lots of praise when he went on the potty. It makes a little more laundry and takes a bit of patience, but eventually he was asking if we were proud of him and he would tell us he was proud whenever we went. (You haven't lived until a two-yr old applauds your potty efforts!) he was fully potty trained right before his third birthday, and rarely even has an accident.

Whatever you do though, please don't make him feel guilty or bad for having accidents. I was at a birthday party and a 4 yr old had an accident and the mom made him sit in it. :( We always made a point not to shame him; he's learning and one day it will click. He won't go to college in diapers, I promise!

1 mom found this helpful

M.M.

answers from San Francisco on

Hi, my son is 25 months has been potty training for 3 weeks now, and he's really good when we are at home. Before we leave the house, I put a diaper on him and Im so amazed as to how long he has learned to hold his urine.
We started potty training when we had hot weather. We started using the underwears right away, I never used pull ups because I believe that it can confuse them. So I talked to him about how he was becoming a big boy and that we shoild start using the big boy potty. That whenever he felt the urge to go, to let me know or come running to the potty. Its ok if you dont make it on time, accidents happens and we are just learning to use this. Now the whole time I was talking to him, I was looking into his eyes. We started with m&ms' 1 for pee and 2 for poop. After he finally got the hang of it, instead of treats, I applaud him, danced and tell him straight in the eye that I was very proud of him ,and that he was becoming a big boy just like Caillou. And sometimes Put some youtube videos of kids using the potty just like him. I think almst every kid, love that great attention of their parents, specially to tell him that he's doing a great job. And sometimes he'll ask me for a treat but I tell him that we dont have any more but that Im extremely happy for him and throw him in the air, and let me tell you that he prefers that than a candy.
Conclusion, talk to him, have eye contact with him, but most important thing of all, make sure that YOU feel confident in him and that YOU feel happy for him. Because as you know, kids sense evrything from you.
Good luck and maybe stop using the pull ups, and maybe l let him be wet for a bit, maybe he'll learn that he doesnt like that feeling. If you do that, ask him how he feels, and hoping that he'll say "uncomfortable" than explain to him the reason why we need to run to the potty when our brain tells us to. Tell him that you were just like thT when u were a kid and felt very cold too....etc...

1 mom found this helpful
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C.J.

answers from Milwaukee on

He's still pretty young and that's great how well he's doing.

I think going to underware (maybe two pair on at once) will help. If anything less urine to deal with on the floor.

BELIEVE ME...he will get it! It can happen overnight, when you LEAST expect it. That's what happpened with our son.

Good luck!

C.B.

answers from Kansas City on

wow...i am impressed by your fortitude. 6 months of going naked and he still doesn't have it? he's not ready. no offense. i can tell you have worked REALLY hard to get to this point. honestly i don't think it should be this hard. and i sure wouldn't be down for cleaning up all those messes...yikes! my son was past 3 before he was ready...i would start him and try it for a few weeks, then stop because he obviously wasn't ready. when he was really ready it only took a couple of weeks and he had it down. although at this point i think backtracking TOO much might confuse him. i kind of feel like your only options are either pullups, or some kind of heavy training underwear...and just start taking him all the time. honestly i would have been over the whole peeing on the floor thing long ago. that's not okay in my book. good luck!

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