Need Some Advice on Potty Training a 2 1/2 Yr Old Boy

First, he needs to be making a whole sentence. Boys are harder to train than girls. When he is ready, let him pee in a can (it makes noise and is fun to them to see and hear). Last, but not least, let him pee outside when he has to go, (at home). You have to break him of THAT before he is old enough to be considered an exhibitionist. ;)

Please don't worry too much. Actually, my step son did not go to the potty until he was a little over three-sorry if that does not make you feel better. Keep working with him and he will do it in his time.

I am also working on potty training a "strong willed" 2 1/2 year old boy. I know that this sounds really awful, but the only way I can get him to go in the potty is when he has nothing on from the waist down. The first couple of times he made a mess I just sat him on the potty while I cleaned up the mess, and told him that it is a "no-no" to potty on the floor. Now he is really good about going. He still goes in the diaper if it is on, so if you have any good ideas please share.

My son Zachary is now seven years old. I too, tried to potty train him at 2 1/2. Even called our pediatrian who stated that he probably was not ready to learn. Of course, Zachary was not ready until he was 3 and that was only during the day. He was not fully trained until he was 3 1/2. Each boy will usually learn in their own time.

I had the same problem with both of my boys. We tried everything too, yes even bribery, so don't feel bad. Then an older mom of 7 told me that boys are different and that I was wasting my time until they turned 3. She said to back off and leave them alone and sure enough both of them were trained right after they turned 3. Another good tip that some might have a problem with is to let them pee in the back yard. I know its gross, but they love it and will go on their own just to be able to do it. Good luck!

Hi M.,

Hurray for the wise moms who responded!

Your son is turning this into a power struggle. He senses that you want him potty trained WAY MORE than he does.

Back off and put him back in whatever baby diapers you used in the past. He has to earn the right to Pullups and training pants, but only when he is ready and WILLING to try. As many moms have indicated, the average age for a boy to potty train is around 3 years old. I've mentioned in a previous post that my sons all did so at around 3 years with relative ease and few accidents. My friend, on the other hand, started working with her son when he was less than 2-1/2 years old. He was "potty training" for several months, with many, many accidents and much frustration for all.

Which scenario do you want?

When your son is ready, realize that most kids potty train in stages. They usually learn to pee in the pot first and then poop in the pot. They also usually need pullups for nights for a bit longer than in the daytime.

You and your son will be fine. It sounds like you have a lot of great ideas to use when he is ready. Relax and enjoy him right where he is. He'll be through this soon enough.

Good Luck,
J. B
Parent Coach

I have to agree w/ Michelle. My son didn't even try until I let him pick out some real underwear. It had Scooby Doo or something and he didn't want to mess them up. Pull-ups were a total waste and felt/worked just like diapers so he didn't have the uncomfortable feeling of actually wetting himself. It takes just once or twice and they figure it out. The other thing was a friend told me her son started telling her he had to go when she told him he could go outside. Weird but took all of one day and he was potty trained. ?? Good Luck!

M.,
My son (now 5) potty trained on his own. Right after his 3rd birthday, he told me he was ready to wear big boy underwear... And we started right then. He only had 2 accidents.

My advice is don't push. Wait until he is ready. Boys are much slower at it than girls.

Good luck... When he is 5 you will miss the diaper days. :)

I know that potty training can be frustrating so my advise... take a breath and be patient. Though I started potty training when my daughter was 2 1/2 she wasnt completely potty trained until she was almost 3 1/2 to 4. It takes real time for some kids so I wouldn't get so stressed about it. Use pull ups and allow your son to go to the restroom with you and your husband. That helped my daughter. Sometimes while I was getting dressed I would invite her to come in and play while I was doing the things I needed to do. Also one other thing you might try... My daughter is a daycare kid, I found that as she got older she actually want to go to the bathroom, some say its because other kids were doing it too.

Hope this helps
S.

Boys are not easy! I tried EVERYTHING to get our now 3 1/2 year old to want to go potty. Nothing worked! A couple of months ago some friends bought him a petter potty, a little stand up urnal. He loved it and is now using it. He still wont poop in the potty but we talk about it all the time. I just tell him I know he can do it. One day he will. For a reward we do the "potty dance". He loves being silly with us and it works better than candy...you always have a dance on hand. WARNING: this can be very embaraasing in public restrooms...lol.

I think they have to want to do it. It cant be forced.

I don't know about anyone else, but I did everything you did and my son was almost 3 1/2 before he was potty trained. I was lucky though, my mom took him for a weekend and refused to take his pullups. So I sent his underwear that we had bought when he was almost 2 and he came back fully potty trained. He didn't like the way it felt when he had an accident and never had another one. The biggest thing I can say is "don't fight him on it", he will be ready in his own time and the more you fight him the more he will hide or throw a fit when you take him. Then you just get upset with him and he can sense that and it could make it worse. I hated having to wait with him, since my daughter was fully trained after a year and a half. I didn't ever think it would work to get my son trained the way my mother wanted to do it, but I guess by that point he was just ready. After that I would let him pee on the tree in the back yard if he was playing and needed to go. It kept him from having an accident. Something about peeing outside is interesting to little boys. The doctor told me not to rush him he would be ready in his own time and I guess that is what it took. Hope that helps.

Hi M., I have 2 boys and what helped me was having them potty outside.Once they started pottying they didn't want their diaper anymore. I would have him in his unerwear when we would go outside to play and every 20 min or so I would have him try to potty in the grass. In the house we would have him in pull ups and eventually he did not want his pull up anymore. We made it his choice and he felt like a real big boy. Also it helped when he would get up in the morning we would bring him straight to the potty when you know he will for sure need to go!

Hi M.,

I have 3 boys. My youngest turned 3 in Jan. I think you have to follow his lead! Does he tell you he is wet or so some sign of wanting to get out of diapers?

My advice - DON'T PUSH! I pushed with my 2nd and it was a nightmare. Keep offering and giving him an oppurtunity to go on the big potty. Does he have his own potty? SOmetime the toilets in our houses can be a little scary for a little guy. go to the store an let him pick out his own potty. have a sticker chart and for so many stickers (times going on the big potty) he gets X. I personally don't see it at bribing- I see it more and giving an incentive bonus!!! LOL

Hang in there and know he will not be graduating high school in diapers.

K.

I have 3 boys 10,7,and 4 and all of them were potty trained before they turned 2. They all were in underwear at there 2nd birthday. They didn't have accidents either after they were completely trained. I started as soon as they could walk and start taking off their diapers. I put them on the potty whether they wanted to be there or not every time I went, and my husband did the same. With my younger two they went on the potty everytime there brother/brothers did also. They each got to go to the store and pick out there own special underwear. And if they made a mess in them they had to help clean them. They did not like this, so they tried there darndest not to make a mess. I never bribed them, they never got candy or toys, and we never did the cheerios thing. We taught them to pee sitting down first. Then when they were tall enough to reach the big toilet they learned to pee standing up. And I didn't use pull ups. Pullups are just diapers and confuse them. When my oldest son went to a new day care and was in the 2's room they were completely amazed. He was the only child potty trained, and he never had an accident. The teachers couldn't believe it was possible. It is. You just have to be consistent. If it's easier make a time schedule like they do at the daycares. Most daycares take the kids at specific times everyday. Usually about 40 minutes to an hour apart, then after lunch and after nap. It really does work.

M.,
My daughter was the same. She is now 3 and 3 months and is potty trained.....and I used bribes.

I had to find the right bribes andbe patient!!!! At 3 she suddenly fell in love with princesses. So, I told her she could have princess underwear if she went potty. AND she would get a piece of candy everytimeshe went potty.

Over time, she has been forgetting the candy. So she only gets a tiny sweet tart candy and she only remembers about 1/2 the time now, and this is 3 months into it.

So, here is my overall advice. Wait. leave it alone. Then try again in a month or 2 with something else. I absolutely hate pull ups. I think they confuse the issue. it is diapers or big boy underwear!

Find underwear that are his favourite and bribe away!!! Once it becomes routine to go to the potty, he will forget the bribes.

K.

M. potty training is a very difficult thing for a little boy.I started my sons off by waking them up in the morning instead of waiting until they get up then you put him on the potty because you know that everyone has to go potty when we get up in the morning.Let him sit there for a while and he will use it,feed him some oatmeal and give him more liquid,about 30 minutes after that put him back on the potty because the oatmeal will make him use the potty.You as the mother need to stay at home for at least 1-2 weeks and be at a steady pace putting him on the potty everyday at the same time.When you have more than one person trying to potty train a child its hard.Good Luck on the potty training.B. F.

I have heard from may mothers of boys that they don't potty train this early. If this is true, stop kicking yourself and just enjoy him and change his diapers. He really is still a baby and you will only get this time of his life with him once. Enjoy the good and realize he will be potty trained before he goes to college. Our daughter turned 2 in Dec. and it potty training herself, she says "need to go potty" or just takes off her diaper and goes to the bathroom in the pasture - very lady like, uhg! However, at least she does not want it in her diaper :)>

Boys just take longer to potty train. Just stop trying to train him. I learned many years ago that age 3 is the perfect time for this. A friend once told me that not to worry about what age you child is. My hushband and I would just laught at a relative that bragged how yound their toddler potty train. However, she had lots of accidents, that child was not potty train at all and it was about 1 yr later before she really was trained. Anyway, I waited until my children was three and it was overnight training. When they want to go to the potty they will. And never punish a child for wetting the bed, they never want to do that anyway, but that can happened even up to 12 yrs old.(that was just a little extra advice)

Hi M., does he have any young cousins around. I tried the method of having my then seven year old Nephew who's 10 now, take my son when he was two years old, who's five now to the bathroom to mimic him, and from then on he's been going by himself. Not sure if this works for everyone but its worth a try.

Your son is too young to be potty trained! You should back off or this will become a stand off that he will win!!!! Respect your child's needs and let him take the lead on this one.

Both of our kids were potty trained the same way. My daughter was done by the time she was 2, my son by the time he was 2 1/2. This is what we did...while at home w/ no company over they went without wearing underwear. We had a little potty chair in the living room and made/asked them to sit on the potty chair every 10-15 minutes. If we saw them kinda dancing around they were immediatly put on the potty. After a couple of weeks of this they got to know the feeling and would sit on the potty by themselves. Somtimes they would go other times they just sat there. They would even just sit on the potty and watch TV or look at a book. Now we did have a few accidents on the ground, but it was worth it. It only took about a month or so for them to start wearing underwear and doing the same time. We also had them clean themselves up if they had an accident in thier underwear or on the floor. Some people dont agree, but it worked for both of mine. It is also good to have someone else work with them also, like your mother or the caregiver. It shows them that everyone cares about them becoming a big kid. Dont worry about the bribbing, we used skittles or m&ms then weaned them off of them. Hope this helps a little.

I would suggest that you quit trying. He's clearly picked up on the fact that this is something that you want, and it's become a power struggle between you. I know it's frustrating, but he will tire of the feeling of messy pants and want to feel like a big boy when HE'S ready. Tell him that you're not going to try to make him go in the big boy potty anymore, and do your best not to cluck or fuss when you have to change his diapers. It has to be his idea -- not yours!

I have a friend who had this issue, and she worked with Claire Flynn at For Kids' Sake and it worked. If you really can't take it anymore, they'd probably be a good resource for specific strategies.

Good luck! And remember -- nobody is still wearing diapers in elementary school! He WILL get there!

M. don't feel bad. my son just turned 3 and i tried all the same things you have. the week before his 3rd birthday he just decided on his own to go to the potty. (although i hate to tell you he still won't poop in the potty) so just be patient and continue to encourage him.

good luck. - ar

I suppose the decision I made with my 2nd son was to just wait him out.

I started my first son at 19mos when he was interested but it was so much stress and mistakes and frustration that I decided not to do that this time around with #2. He was interested at that age but I told him not yet.

We tried a few times after he was 2 but when he was ready (i.e knew what he was doing in his diaper) I tried and he didn't want to so I just stopped and left him in diapers (I was expecting #3 so him in diapers a little longer was just easier at the time).

When he got closer to 3 about 2 or 3 mos away from it. He was interested and went into big boy pants. He is pretty dependable now except for the rare accident and he still poops in a diaper (work in progress).

Of course everyone makes their own decisions based on their lives and what works for their family. This is what worked for us. I hope you find something that works for you.

Good Luck with PT'ing
J.

When I had problems with my son, my husband took him into the bathroom with him to show him how to use it. After about two weeks of them going together, my son started going to the bathroom.

Well, I am by NO means an expert.......only a mommy of an almost 3 year old who is almost completely potty trained. My son has a very STRONG will. I always thought I would not force my child to sit on the potty, but would let him come around on his own.......but, he was staying dry but refused to sit on the potty. So, we started making him sit on it in the mornings because his pull-up was dry. He fought us for several days, but eventually it just became a routine. And he finally (I think by accident) peed in the potty. Then, he started doing it more often. Now he is staying dry, but we have to take him. He only sometimes tells us when he needs to go. In my opinion, you just have to make them sometimes do stuff they don't want to do. We also used rewards, especially when he pooped in the potty. Good luck! Keep us posted :)

I think that some boys just take a little more time. My son started potty training before 2 1/2 and then lost interest until right around the time he turned 3. I just kept offering him the potty and not making a bid deal about it. Trying to get him on a potty schedule (every 30 minutes or so) did not work for him at all end always ended in tears. We would get up on the weekends and put big boy pants on and celebrate the length of time we could keep the big boy pants on. Finally one Saturday he kept them on all day and he's been good to go ever since.

My advice is going to sound strange, but it's "poo poo popcorn." My daughter has been potty trained since 15 months. We started early because she would tell me when she was going to go, so I figured, why not have her go in the potty? But she was TERRIFIED of the potty. So we popped a bag of popcorn and told her she could have as much as she wanted while she sat on the potty. She got over her aversion to the potty pretty fast! We just keep a ziplock bag of popcorn next to the potty, although she doesn't care as much about the popcorn now. Now all she wants is to wipe herself! If popcorn isn't your son's thing, I'd find some other special occasion treat to make sitting on the potty special. Sit there for a couple minutes and something is bound to happen! Good luck.

I have a child with cerebral palsy whom doctors said would not walk, talk, or potty train until he was about 5 or 6 years old. We started working with him just after he turned 2 by getting him on the potty as soon as he woke up and tokk him back every few hours and he had a snack while sitting and looking at a book or playing with a musical toy. He was potty trained in about 3 months. He is now almost four and going to school and goes potty on his own. Just be patient.

I read that the best time for boys is 33months. I am a mother of 3 boys..... my first two used the potty by 26 months. My third one is now 26 months and clueless and stubborn. I think I will worry about it again until the summer and then at 33 months... I just keep telling myself he will not go to kindergarten wearing diapers, I am sure of that.

When you find out, please let me know!!! My little girl is 2 1/2 too, and is not interested either. She's gone to the potty several times, but she is no where near being consistent. Don't feel bad about bribes...bribery can be a wonderful tool sometimes! Good luck!

M. - I didn't have a boy but my daughter at that age was impossible to train! I was ready to commit one of us to an institution and then, two things happened: my pediatrician ( a very wise and venerable man ) told me that he'd never, in 25 years of practice, seen a child start kindergarten in diapers and my child wouldn't be the first. The second thing that happened was my daughter went to visit her grandparents for a week and came home potty trained. Apparently, since they weren't concerned about it and didn't make an issue of it, she relaxed and started to use the potty. I guess the main idea of all this is, we have to relax in order to expect our children to do so.

MONEY!!! Both my girls (now 14 and 10) had the same "stubborness". I got a roll of nickels and would "bribe" them every time they went in the potty.

The funny part was the time I had no cash on hand. I actually tried to pay her with a dollar bill, and she cried "NOOOO!!!! I want **real** money!!"

Didn't take much more than a roll of nickels to break the cycle.

GOOD LUCK!!!

I can fully understand your frustration. I had 3 girls who all were potty trained by 2 1/2 years. Then came my son. Your son sounds like whaat I went through and absolutely nothing I did made any difference. I finally just gave up and figured we try again later. When he was just over 3, one day he went and used the potty by himself and has only ever had one accident. I think the boys do train slower and that when your son is ready he will do just fine. It sure was nice to not have all the accidents to clean up!

I agree with taking a break for a bit. He will be ready soon enough.

M.-
I was when my son was about two years old, I had my son go to the restroom with my husband so that he will learn the proper was to go. He sees me go and thinks that he can sit down. I tried to get him to go and he is also very stubborn. I was told not to rush into potty training that he will soon try to go himself. I have started to watch little ones and this really inspired him and he would go into the restroon with the other children. He now wears underpants and it has been only about two months since we have older children in our home. He will be three in a week!
Hope this gives you some encouragement and hope you find some that works for you and your little boy.
J.

I just let my son run around naked in the back yard. It took about a week before he became really aware of his bodily functions. Then we went and bought undies with his then fav Bob the Builder, and he really didn't want to pee or poo on Bob. It really worked for us. The key was him becoming aware of his body .

Well I started the whole potty training when my boy turned 1. I didn't bother buying the pull ups just went straight to using the cotton underwear.I would ask him like every 5 minutes if he needed to go potty. I know it's hard for them to realize when they need to go so I would try and make it into a game. We would run to the restroom into his potty and let him do his thing,until he learned to recognize the feeling when he has to go. We ha a couple of indcidents where he would pee his pants, but soon he reealized that it wasn't a good feeling. Hope it helps

He doesn't sound ready to be trained or maybe he's a little worn out about the whole idea. Instead of thinking about when *you* want him to be trained, wait until *he* wants to be trained. It will save a lot of frustration to just take cues from your son. Besides, boys usually take longer to be ready anyway.

Take the cheerios and put in the toliet and have your son "aim" for them. Or remove his diaper and let him soil his body. A friend of mine got her son trained doing the later. The child had had surgery and could not wear a diaper because it rubbed on the incision... so he had to wear "big" boy pants. Good luck.

I never had to potty train a boy, but I clearly remember my mother potty training my reluctant little brother. She would take a tissue and throw it into the toilet and say, "Hit it David!" It worked...he eventually got a PhD, fully potty trained.

Hi M. -

Boys do usually take longer to potty train. I would not push him as this creates major issues on children in later years. Why do you want him potty trained so badly right now? I think it's important to ask yourself this - don't get me wrong, I know it's all about convenience for us moms but we all tend to get so impatient - the more we push, they tend to resist. Give him more time - good luck.
Alli

M.,

Your situation sounds very familiar. My son is a couple of months from six now but he was very difficult to potty train. From experience and articles I have read, he will potty train only when he is ready. Stop putting stress on yourself and him. When he is ready he will do it. Until then, just try him about once a week and soon he will catch on. Much of the time it is a control issue and he will not let go of his control until he is ready. Good luck and God bless.

K. (mom of 7 y.o. daughter and 5 y.o. boy/girl twins)

Try again in 6 mos. And or........Houston's summer's are wonderfully long. I let mine run butt naked in the back yard, which gave him a better connection of what was going on and when. Here is the bad news!!!!!!!!!!He still did not fully get it until 3 1/2 years of age. Boys are sometimes like that. In the mean time, try not to stress him out about it. Let him take a break from it.
Best wishes in the potty department! M.

Bluntly, he's not ready. My youngest is the same age, and we're just starting to think about it. I beat myself up over it with my first and swore I wouldn't do the same with tis one. He's just gotten to the point where he's comnig to tell me he needs a clean diaper, and he loves to flush for me and my husband when we go. He'll get up on the potty and look very proud of himself, but won't relieve himself yet. Once he figures out what "the urge" feels like, he'll let me know. Make a big production of it and it becomes a chore----wait for it to present itself and it comes to them......

I personally do not think at this young of an age - bribery is a bad thing. We bribed our daughter which then turned into rewards!

As for the potty training, just keep asking and trying... he may just not be ready yet. I would keep with the small bribes and praise and REWARD like crazy when he does it right! Just keep the same message about big boys. Is there something that he sees big boys getting do do/have that he would like?

Good luck, our daughter decided she would go potty 2 weeks before her 3rd birthday and has ever since!

Hi M. - I have two kids and both are now potty trained...our youngest just turned 3. I recently did a post on my blog about potty training that might be helpful: http://www.entrepremusings.com/index.php/2008/03/20/5-pot....

Don't think of it as bribing...think of it as providing incentives. :-)

Your son is still young so I wouldn't worry too much about it yet. I am told many boys do not potty train until they are between the ages of 3 and 4. Anyway, I was in the same boat as you until these last 2 months. My 3 and a half year old STRONGWILLED son refused to use the potty. He would really fight me on it! I tried everything under the sun, as you have. I finally hid the diapers and said they were gone. We were out and the store didn't have anymore! He still wears them at night and in the beginning, he would fight me when trying to take off the dirty diaper in the morning....he knew he wasn't going to get a new one. He peed through 6 pairs of pants the first day. By the second day, he was peeing in the yard. Anywhere other than the toilet! Stubborn, I tell you! I would even put him down for naps without a diaper. He would pee through of course. I was washing a lot of sheets for a few days (I finally learned to put one of my baby's waterproof lap-pads under him at naptime). After about 3 days, he would finally agree to put on the big boy underwear because he realized I wasn't going to give (the first day or two, he REFUSED to put the undies on). He is doing fairly well now. He never has accidents at school or when we are out and about. He still sometimes pees in his pants at home because he's "too busy." I have to remind him to go at home and he still puts up a fight sometimes. Pooping in the potty is still a battle too. I have to catch him in the act and bribe him to get in the bathroom. We hardly ever make it but we are making progress. I still put him down for naps in undies. After a month, the naptime wettings stopped completely! Good luck to you!

I just got done potty training my son who is the exact same age. My son is stubborn and set in his ways but the simple fact is if he is able to communicate he is able to be potty trained. I took all diapers away simply put him in a pair of daddy's socks and big brother's t shirt with nothing under. It took 2 days of fighting it and cleaning an accident or two but if you are really wanting this for your child just be patient and watch his cues. I would sit him on the potty once every hour and read a story and the first day even gave his juice to him while he was sitting on the potty. After his first accident free day he wore his big boy undies and for two months has been accident free. Be patient and you will know when he ready.

Do not use pull ups. They feel like a diaper to the child.
Use 'big boy' pants, when they soil them it does not feel good and they get the idea very quickly. Stay with a reward after they go in the toilet. Much verbal praise when they do use it. Get lots of underpants and plan to wash his clothes often, as there will be accidents.
PS Boys do potty train later than girls. BUT, 2 & 1/2 years is extremely appropriate time for them. Other countries potty train boys at 2 years.

He's not ready and forcing him will only make it harder to potty train him. Boys take longer to ready to be trained. Hang in there!

I disagree with most of the advice you've been given. My son was fully in underwear during the day at 21 months. My simplest advice is take him out of diapers! He will never learn to use the potty wearing a diaper. Underwear is the way to go. Pull ups are a waste of money and just a more expensive diaper! You may have to clean up a few times...get him to help you! But that will likely be the end of that.

Boys love to pee in the grass and aim at things! Make it fun and do much celebrating of his successes! Do not criticize with accidents...just say uh oh and now WE need to clean this up.

Good luck!
M.

The best advice I can give is to wait until he is truly ready. I did not force anything on my son, just got him familiar with the potty, and the week before his 3rd birthday he got on the potty and never looked back. Within 1 month he was in underwear at night also. Everyone that I knew that started before their child was truly ready had issues at bedtime and during the day for at least a year. Good luck!

I have two boys so I totally understand your frustration. I learned that they will go when they are ready. The less I made a fuss, especially with my stubborn one, the more he was willing to try. I would just tell them what the reward was if they use the potty(nothing wrong with bribary here haha) but don't preasure him to use the potty. I would also ask them if they wanted to try. If they said no, I just left them alone. Both of my boys were almost 3 when they decided to "be big boys". It will happen, but it just needs to be on their time.

My son was almost 4 before we got him potty trained. Like you said the stubborn type. The best thing for me was to forget about the rewards.(he made that a game) I just had to be more stubborn then him.(don't give in) I stuck to hime like glue (That ment cutting back on doing almost everything until my husband got home. Then he took over so I could get somethings done.) every time he showed a sign that he had to go off to the bathroom we went.It took me about 2 weeks and then just like that he was both day and night trained.

My daughter was the same way until she went to church and I pointed out that her best friends were already potty trained and that she was still going in a diaper like her best friends baby brother. One week was all it took after that.

I went thru this with my oldest....and it is true that no matter what you do little boys will go to the potty only when they are ready! Don't get too discouraged! I tried making some blue ice cubes and throwing them in the toilet that way when he peed on them they would turn green! It worked for about a minute! I also was lucky enough to live in a rural area and would just let him run around necked! When he did have to go to the potty He had no choice but to tell me! Don't give up potty training is usually one of the most difficult things we will have to do as mothers! Good Luck!

Hi there! I have 4 kiddos and they each potty trained when they were ready. Everyone may not completely agree with me, but my kids did it when they were ready. I have a 2 1/2 year old boy as well and one thing that has helped is that he went with us to the store and bought some big boy underwear. He's a huge fan of cars & trains, so he picked those out and was THRILLED. He goes on the potty every now and then, but not consistently.

But, think of this -- have you ever seen an adult walking around that's not potty trained? :) It will come... A lot of it for your son could just be the 'twos' when they are showing their independence. :)

Hi M.,
I have two boys, 4.5 yrs and 3.5 years. The first one is autistic so he was not toilet trained until he was nearly 4, but the other one who is really bright took until he was 3. It is not something that you can really rush in my experience. I kept putting little boy undies on the youngest one occassionally in the afternoon to run around in. I was not too worried if he had an accident. A few months before he turned 3 I told him that when he turned 3 we would do his toilet training. Two days after he turned 3 we started his toilet training. It took one day! He was ready. He was able to do it then and was very proud of himself.
Good luck.

Wwendy

We got a cute little gum ball machine and filled it with my sons favorite candy M&M's. Then put a jar of pennys by the potty. Everytime he went potty he got a penny and then got to get some candy. He was always so excited to get the penny and he was fully potty trained in a week with zero accidents. I have 3 little boys and it so far has worked on two. One is only 17 months and isn't ready yet,but everyone I've told to try this it has worked.
Good luck.

I got the gum ball macine on E-bay. It was plastic so my son could do it himself and I wouldn't worry about it falling and breaking.

Try making it a game, aiming for certain colored fruit loops in the toilet, or put soap in the toilet and have him make bubbles.....we live in the country, my son's break through was peeing on a tree outside, then I was able to convince him to move to the toilet....They will do it when they are ready

I have always heard that it is easier to potty train a boy the summer after their second birthday. Which worked for me. I started with my son by putting him in real underwear and letting him pee on trees and things outside. I know it sounds crazy but it worked then when he saw that was neat then I brought him inside and let him stand and hold the back of the potty and he thought he was so big. My son never wanted to sit down on the potty. Hope this helps some. One more piece of advise is only put a pull up on a nap time and bed time and take it off a soon as he gets up. Good Luck!

I have found sometimes that wanting something from my son is the quickest way to ensure that I won't get it. I've heard so many moms talk about their boys being much older than 2.5 when they potty train, & so many moms say they worked on it for months & months & months. You might want to consider throwing in the towel for a month or more. My son peed on the potty the first time we sat him on one at 17 months. At 2.75 he is not yet potty trained, and recently he went through a period when he wasn't even remotely interested in the potty. Maybe if your son doesn't associate the potty with something Mommy wants, but becomes interested in it on his own (especially by seeing Mommy & Daddy & even older kids) use it, he'd be more inclined to potty train.

If you don't want to try that, I'm sure you'll get lots of great advice here. My only suggestion is to try cloth diapers or even just letting him run around naked, so he's more aware.

Good luck!
K.,
Mama to Milo

No worries, girl! My first daughter did not potty train till 3. My pediatrician actually told me that potty training begins at 2.5. But here are some pointers: no diapers, pull-ups, undies. Potties all around the house (I know, kinda gross). I'm sure you've read him books about it. Here's my last bit: let go and relax about it & he will, too. It may take another year, but it WILL happen!

hello M.! It also took my son forever to be potty trained he is now 4 and only wears pull ups at night since he is a deep sleeper and doesnt wake up to go potty. I also had tried everything from giving him stickers to putting soak in the toliet so when he potty it would make bubbles but that didnt work. i was also told that a kid will be potty trained when they were ready to but at some point it gets gross changing a 3 year olds diaper. So basically what worked for us was i asked my husband to let our son watch him potty ever time he had to go since most kids wants to copy everything their daddy does well at least boys do and it seem to work even though my husband was hesitant at first. So i would try that if u havent already. i wish u the best of luck

My advice would be to wait another three months and then try again. One of my sons was very stubborn about potty training. I spent quite a while feeling very frustrated. Too much negative energy. I was ready for him to potty train, but he wasn't. He potty trained about three months before he turned three. It was on his time, he was motivated,and things went great.

When my son was 2 years old, I asked him if he wanted big boy pants and he said yes. I took him to the store and let him pick them out himself and told him he could not make a mess in them. He only had a couple of accidents.