Potty Training - Chatham,IL

I tried this with my son in the last month or so... he'll "tinkle" on the potty if we put him on it, but when we put the potty in "daddy's bathroom" along with undies and a few books he completely freaked out. So... we put the "stuff" away and left the potty available b/c he wasn't ready to get started.

We'll try again in a few weeks- the best advice I've gotten about this was from my MIL who reminded us to offer it, but don't force it... he'll potty when he's ready and not a minute sooner!

Potty training isn't about you being ready ("I am wanting to start potty training"). If that were the case and were successful, I'd potty train about 2 weeks after the baby was born haha! Potty training is about your child being ready, knowing the urge to urinate or defecate and coordinating the muscular movement.

Continue encouraging him, inviting him to use the potty, praising successful attempts, but pushing him will most likely backfire on you. You can make this a stressful battle with lots of tears, frustration, and accidents or you can follow his lead.

I never believed it when people said "Back off and he'll just do it", but once I realized this with my son, he simply came to me one day and said "I'm not going to poop in my diaper anymore" and that was it. People have horror stories of accidents and ruined clothes. Not this family! Our son told us when he was ready and that was that.

I don't ever think you should "push" too early. It seems #2 training always comes after #1, so that's normal, but only you can determine if he's ready. Good luck!

I've heard a lot of kids hide the poop issue, they hide behind couches, refuse to tell you when they need to or have done it. My own 2 year old will completely deny when she's pooped! I think it's that they're aware of the pooping now– the need and the act, and they're embarrassed a little. I recommend the book "Everyone Poops" by Taro Gomi, "The Gas We Pass", "The Potty Book", and a few other classics. We're trying that tactic next, because she seems to really enjoy us reading to her about the potty. We're trying an education first, combined with entertaining her interest in using the potty (she has begun to ask to sit on it, and has even peed a few times), looking for the signs she needs to use it, and a no pressure approach where we just talk about it casually when the topic comes up.

I say go for it! We used the method at www.3daypottytraining.com.It covers every aspect of the process and worked like a charm. My daughter day and night trained all at once two months before she turned 3 in about a week. What we do for her is limit fluids after 6:00 pm ( her bedtime is 8:00pm), basically a couple sips of water when she brushes her teeth and about 2 oz of milk with stories before that. My husband takes her down to bed and has her go potty. Before we go to bed (10 or 11) he takes her to the potty again. She barely wakes up and goes right back to sleep. She then makes it all the way until she wakes up (7:30 am). We had a few accidents in the beginning, but I honestly don't remember the last time she had an accident. It has been about a year now for her and she is doing great. In the beginning we also put a plastic cover on her mattress so at least the mattress wouldn't get wet and if it was a small accident just covered it with a big towel until morning. Hope this helps!

C.

K.,

Like everyone else said, he will use the bathroom when he is ready. I was a professional nanny for twenty years and I had to train several kids. Each one potty trained themselves when they were ready. I had kids who did #2 on the potty everyday, but would not pee in the potty. If you push a kid into potty training, they will regress at some point, whether it is peeing in bed at night or peeing in their clothes for a week. Follow your sons clues, instead of him wearing them does he have a special stuffed animal friend that you could put them on to show him. leave them out and let him play with the underpants. Let your son know that the potty is there anytime he wants to use it. If you are set on potty training him, let him run around with no pants and no diaper and see what happens, maybe he will sit down on the potty to do both, and maybe not. Potty training shoud be done in small steps, who cares what "standards" each child makes their milestones when they are ready, no one needs that much pressure to make a child use the potty. It happens when it happens. There is nothing wrong with having the idea around the house. Have a little potty seat for him in the bathroom, make a bathroom potty chart, and use stickers, stamps or whatever works for him. Let him get use to oh potty chart, seeing a potty seat, seeing underpants. Read some books that talk about using the potty seat or wearing underpants. Let him get use to the idea that one day he will be a super big boy, because he uses the potty. Hang in there, it will happen.

I just finished training with my 3 y/o daughter, and honestly, it was quite easy, I think in part to her age. At 2 I tried & she'd scream at the top of her lungs. I approached it again at 2 1/2, same thing, wanted nothing to do with it. Right after the holidays, I just put her in underwear, explained that this is what the big girls wear, and she did really well! So... I'd advise backing off for a few weeks & approaching it again. Keep triing until he doesn't resist it. My daughter is VERY stubborn, but she didn't resist using her potty when we tried at 3. Also, I'd take him underwear shopping and let him pick out ones he likes. Bribing is good, if you can find something that works. My daughter likes presents (what kid doesn't?), so I invested in some very small Dollar Store toys & wrapped them. We phased this out after one week. Now.. it's animal cracker for pee'ing (sometimes if she asks), and m & m's for pooping. Pooping does take longer, once they figure it out. I'd stick with ONLY underwear during the day, diaper/pull-up at night. If he goes poop in the underwear, I would dump into the potty and explain thats where it goes (gross I know, but the visual helps them). Good luck to you!!!

My daughter was going back and forth between diapers and potty chair for a year (starting around age 2) - I asked but never pushed. A few weeks before her third birthday she wanted underwear, the potty and that was it! I'll do the same with my son when it's time.

# 2 comes after they figure out #1...mine was great at #1 and it took about another month to understand #2...then she got constipated and regressed back to diapers for about a week (frustrating)
I bribed my kid...if she put on the big girl panties, she got 1 m&m...if she went potty 2 m&ms and for Poopies she got 5. Not wanting to wear them doesnt really mean he is NOT ready...just means that he is not intersted in them. you should point out that "daddy' wears big boy underwear and stress whenever possible "bye bye diapers"...Daddy adn I always brought her in the bathroom when we had to go and (TMI) would talk and show her what big people do....then we flush and sing "bye bye potty or bye bye poopies" and dance...
I also let her run around nakid...Its easier to do when the weather is nice and they can have the accident "outside"..you may want to contain him in the kitchen (or non carpeted) area and see if he wants to use the potty.
good luck.