Potty Training - Saint Louis,MO

I agree with Julie, they will let you know when they are ready. If you force it before that it is just hard on both of you and very frustrating. If you limit his liquid intake after dinner and if he wakes up dry a few times from nap or nitetime, that is a good time to start. If he's not ready, he will only get frustrated trying to please you and quit trying altogether. Good luck.

My son is twelve and we tried everything with him when he was little. Nothing seemed to work. Being a single mom, I was so very frustrated and even resorted to punishment. My babysitter's husband got upset after seeing her punish him for wetting his pants, so he took him to the bathroom and showed him that when he (the husband) peed in the toilet it made bubbles in the water. then he told Corey to try it. Corey thought it was neat to make bubbles. After that he would come in and tell us the he wanted to make bubbles. We took him to the bathroom and he eventually learned how to do it alone.

His main thing was being scared of sitting on the toilet and I could not show him how to do it standing up. Once my friend showed him, history was made.

I feel pretty sure that you may get a lot of responses similar to mine but I am going to go ahead and try to give my best advice. My son was the same way......he is now 5, but wasn't fully potty trained until almost 3. They just do it in their own time, thats all I can tell you. He, one day, will care about wearing a diaper or a pull up. Just keep up what you are doing. I promise your hard work and love will eventually out of the blue pay off :-). Best of luck to you.

C.

I personally believe that kids will let you know when they are ready to potty train. My son was completely potty trained by 2 years and 10 months. We didn't even have accidents at night. Our philosophy was not to push it. We always asked him if he had to go and offered the potty to him. Especially before bath. If he sat okay and if he didn't ok. We also said to heck with the pull on type diapers because he never realized he was wet. Instead we went straight to underware and told him to try really hard not to get the characters wet. He never wanted to get them wet so he always would try to go on the potty. Good luck.

My 5 1/2 year old son let us know when he was ready. We had the potty in the living room and he started wanting to sit on it himself. We let him run around in the am after waking up without a diaper on, and continued from there. It was easier if we left him without any pants on, less to worry about when he had to potty. He's still young enough that I wouldn't worry, so just take your cues from him. Good luck!

He will let you know when he is ready.. I was worried about my son, he had seemed to be ready last october- about 75% of the time he was going on the potty, then he got sick and didn't go at all for a week and it was like he "lost" the ability.. He turned 3 in December and was still not having any interest in going to the bathroom on the toilet.. I would ask him and he would sit there and after doing nothing and telling me he wanted to get off, he would go in his pants.. We tried putting him in regular underpants to see if that helped, nope he would just go somewhere wet his pants and then hopefully tell us.. Finally in March of this year, he looks at me one morning and says Mommy I don't want to go potty in my pants anymore and within a week he was having no accidents and was completely trained.. I guess what I learned from this is let them do it on their own schedule. I didn't want to force it because I didn't want a negative response which would have made it harder.. I really wanted it to happen quick because I still have my daughter in diapers( she is in the early stages of training) but realized he has to be the one to be ready, doesn't matter about me... I am trying to be as patient with my daughter.. Good Luck

I have a 3 year old boy and have been working on potty training for a while now. Some tricks that have helped a little, we are still working on some of the finer datails.

I put a drop of blue food color in the toliet and had him try to "turn the color green by putting some pee-pee in the potty." Since it was turned into a game- it worked really well.

Also, you need to give hime some privacy and check on him. In addition, consider if you are using the small potty for toddlers or the big toliet with the child seat. My child doesn't like the little potty. If he doesn't care about going in his pants, switch him to the pull up that turn cold when wet- my child hated that feeling.

Also be patient. It is a process. We have been working with my son for about 6 months. He is good about number 1 as long as we take him frequently, but number 2 he still wants to do in his pants. Try to remain calm and reward him when he goes potty. I also did a "potty dance" and song when he went- which my son thought was really funny.

I hope that helps!

i don't have experience potty training boys (do they sit at first?). But my daughter wasn't very interested either. I tried running water. We did a potty chart (she would get a sticker on it when she used the potty and it was out where all could see - to show off.) I think my main problem was that i couldn't keep her on the pot long enough for anything to happen. So i started to stay with her and we would sing nursery rhymes (this was interesting in public bathrooms! LOL). She would stay on and eventually do her business.
but the best advice is like everyone else's, relax and he'll do it when he's ready.

I really liked a book called "Diaper Free Before 3". I got it from the local libary. It takes a more holistic approach to toliet training. It explains that in genral, kids used to be potty trained earlier than now b/c of cloth diapers. She talks about using a schedule to help get your child to go on the potty, and using training pants so you are aware when they potty as soon as they do it. It has been working for us. My daughter is 2, and at first she wasn't doing anything on the potty. But know when know her body's schedule, and we can usually anticipate when she needs to go and can put her on the potty....she is even starting to ask to sit on the potty now. We are doing well...she will go on the potty a couple times a day. I really liked the book, and I feel it really helped me.

Good luck!

E.

My mom in law has suggested putting a cheerio in the toilet.. and have him aim for it.. let him stand.. you can get a cute little stool he can use to stand up to the toilet and use at the sink to reach the faucet. Good Luck

Try putting fruit loops in the toilet bowl and having him try and hit them. It worked for my brother.

My lil boy is 2 and he goes pee on the potty but hasn't figured out the poop deal. We just kept putting him on the potty sooner or later he'll figure it out. I keep hearing from everyone that they don't usually become potty trained until they are 3.

Hi, A.! I just wanna say Don't Pressure Him! Sounds like my son (now almost 5 and in preschool). I introduced the potty training like you and just waited till he responded, if that makes sense. There is no right or wrong way and always remember EVERY child is different. My daughter responded to the new underwear idea ( she was 3 ). She is 18 now. My son, like yours, could care less. Good luck.

Nothing "helpful" here except to say, relax he'll do it when he's ready. My daughter was the same way. I tried everything including bribery :)!! For nearly a year I felt like pulling my hair out, and embarrasment when all the other little ones were potty training quite successfully, but my daughter just had NO interest. Finally, at 3 1/2 she decided she wanted to use the potty and within ONE WEEK she was totally potty trained! Even at night! No accidents, nothing! Looking back I wish I'd just relaxed and not been so concerned, but that's easier said than done I know! So, sorry I can't be of more HELP except to say don't worry about it, he won't be going to kindergarten in diapers :)

I have a little girl that will be three Christmas Eve. I have had her completely potty trained for about a month and a half now. What I used was a chart with a lot of boxes on it. I placed it on a wall in the bathroom.I picked up some little stickers, smiley faces. Everytime she went potty, she got to put a sticker on the chart. When it was full she got a little potty present.If she went in her pants she wouldn't get a sticker and I reminded her that it would take longer to get her potty present.I would remove a sticker for each time she went in her pants,except while sleeping of course.When chart was full we started over, for another present.Just make sure you take him to the potty often.Don't ask him if he wants to go,most likely he will say no. Tell him it is time to try and go potty.When he does go, cheer for him and make a big deal. Tell him he gets a sticker because he was a big boy and went potty. Hopefully before you know it he will start going on his own because he wants the reward.When at home put him in underwear, instead of pullups.Let him pick them out.I hope that this will help.Good luck!It can be a frustrating adventure,but when you start seeing the results and money you save, it is well worth all the frustrations!

sometimes running water helps and maybe try those diaper/pullups that let him feel wet when he starts to go so he knows that its time to go to the bathroom

I have 2 children and something different worked on each of them. My son liked the ninja turtles, so I bought him some ninja turtles underware and told him if he went in them we would have to throw them away he did so I threw then away in front of him and told him now you are down to 2 pair. It worked! I have also heard of letting boys try and aim at marshmellows in the toliet. I have girlfriends that this worked for. My daughter we would do something I called the pee pee dance. Basically I picked her up and we danced around the room acting very excited and silly. That worked for her. I forgot to tell my sitter and she called me at work asking me what is the pee pee dance? It was funny! Other ideas are a sticker reward chart or some kind of treat like 1 M&M when they go. Good luck! Keep trying! I found that all children are different and something that works for one doenst work for another. You know your child best thinl about it and maybe you will come up with something that will work.

My little one was the same way. What I did was put him in underware its a little messy at first but within three days he was using the potty. He just didn't like the way it felt and unlike pullups it didnt soak it up like a diaper so he got the full effect.

Two and a half might just be too soon to start potty training with your son believe it or not. Boys tend to be much slower at this process. My oldest son (now 5) wasn't trained until he just turned 4. Since then he's only had maybe two accidents at night. I was stressed out about it when he wasn't showing any progress or interest at 3 so I just stopped and waited for his cues. He would still follow us into the bathroom and watch and learn. When he was about three months away from being 4 we bought him big boy Batman underware and that was the trick. Don't be stressed out if other mom's say their boys were trained at 2, 2.5, 3...your son will get there in no time!! So, I would wait until he is a little older to try the things you are trying now. Good Luck!