Potty Training - Mobile,AL

Hi K.,
Just tell the PreK people that he is potty trained. When he gets there he will either do exactly like the other kids do, or you can blame the new environment for his accidents! :) Just a thought...

M.

My sister-in-law put cheerios in the toilet and had her boys aim at them when going to the bathroom. If they went to the bathroom in the toilet, they got a treat - M&Ms or something that they really like but don't get all of the time. I guess it's worth a try! Good Luck!!!

My son wasn't truely, totally, potty trained until he was older too. We tried everything. He wanted a Buzz Lightyear. He bought one and put it in his bathroom. He could only see it, not play until he was totally potty trained. He could show it to grandparents & great grandparents when they came to visit. It worked amazingly well. It took a month, if that long. He also didn't know what poop was. After his first poop in the potty he told me he had to get the "snakes" out.

Potty training is difficult. Especially with boys. Pull-ups, I feel, hender children. They are just like diapers and they feel they can treat them like diapers. I suggest that you get some underwear and the pastic pants to go over them so there won't be a lot of mess if he does go in them and take a few day to use the underwear/plastic pants for training.

Try this it worked with my two kids. Start putting underware on your son at night and before you go to bed take him to the bathroom. During the day just keep the underware on, he might have some accidented the first couple of days but he will get used to wearing underware all the time, and going to the bathroom on his own.

Hi K.,

My name is L.. I have 3 year old (turned 3 Aug 30th). We started the potty training at 2, he kind of took to it well in the very beginning then just was completely turned off. We noticed he started telling us when he was wet more and more often so we just started "sneaking" in underwear and visits to the potty. We did all the usual, buying his favorite characters on the underwear and calling them big boy underwear. We also started asking if he had to go, to which of course the answer was no, but we would sit him on the little potty until he went. We would do the song and dance and he loves to flush. That just started becoming habit and he has finally gotten the hang of it. I know it may be hard and frustrating to deal with but my biggest suggestion is to ONLY wear underwear at home. No pull ups, no diapers except bed time or trips out. This way he gets the feel of actually being wet. Works the nerves a little bit but after 15-20 minutes of drinking, place him on the potty until he goes. I gave my son books and we read them to pass the time. Honestly the more we force the more they resist. Just try to make it not seem like a big deal until they actually pee in the potty then its a glorious act!

Long winded, hope that helps.

L.

Hi K.,

My first child, a girl, was potty trained by 2 1/2 I used M&M's and jelly beans and it worked like a charm. My 2nd, a boy, wasn't trained till 2 weeks shy of his 3rd b-day but he did that all on his own. I did keep a potty chair out the time from when they were 2 till they trained. Now my 3rd has no desire to potty train and she is 2 1/2. I did learn to not push them but if you can offer him his favorite snack or candy he only gets every now and then, every time he potty's he might do it also tell him that if he does use the potty he can wear big boy underwear. I have also learned that Pull ups feel just like a diaper to kids so naturally it won't work. Now my little girl will pee or poop in the potty every now and then but just hasn't gotten it down for every time. Good Luck!!!

N.

what amy is saying in her response is true. my first son is almost four and he has been potty trained since he was two.

I have 3 1/2 yr old twin (boy and girl) step children that we have on the weekends. The girl started pottying at age 2, no problems, but the boy is just getting the hang of it. There is no consistancy at their mother's house, which is the key to potty training. Pull ups did not work alone for us, but we put 'big boy underware' on him, then a pull up on top instead of the plastic pants(which he hated), and he did not like the feel of the wet cloth, even though the pull ups absorbed all the mess.

I would put him in big boy underwear. Its not comfortable when they get messy and it didnt take anytime at all to train my two year old this way. It means your cleaning u some messes but it wont take long. Sounds like he is just being stubborn anyway, why make the effort to go potty if someone will keep cleaning you up with a diaper on.

First off, where is this Mom's DAY out...I need to send my son there so I can go job hunting! Secondly, boys take longer. My son just turned 3 and is pretty close to fully trained. We are down to only 1 or 2 accidents every couple days. I do put him in a pull up at night because if I wake him to go at 10 or 11 he will be up for the rest of the night! Here is what I did to potty train.

We went to the store and I let him pick out his favorite candy which turned out to be the infamous Dum Dum Lollipop. I bought the biggest bag I could find and bought a six-pack of whitey tighty underwear...you will need 'em! I then made my son an offer...if he peed in the potty (for the first few days ONLY) he would get one sucker and if he pooped in the potty he would get TWO. He did a lot of peeing but no pooping. As a matter of fact, I had to cut his suckers down to every 5 pees. Finally, one day he said he had to poop...which was just the beginning of this week and earned his first double sucker! Now he only gets a sucker for pooping which turned out to be a great benefit. It may work for your child, it may not, but it is always worth the try to bribe him! Boys, like men, work better when you bribe them! HAHA!

Good Luck and be patient!

Pull ups are not good when trying to potty train. My little girl did the same thing, the whole they go on like real underwear doesn't seem to faze them. I was like you frazzled, knowing she would need to be ready for k4 and that she was not potty trained. I found a product called PODs on www.pottytrainingsolutions.com. They are fantastic, my daughter went from going whenever in her pull up to being fully potty trained wearing underwear, even to bed, within a month. and when I say no accidents I mean none. She has been fully potty trained for 2 years now and to date no accidents. I wholeheartedly recommend them.

We have five children (four boys & one girl) and I totally believe in the you have to go all the way. NO PULL UPS, put some underwear on him and just go with it (including nap and night time). I took mine every twenty minutes then gradually went up every day, it's a reminder for them to go to the bathroom, not because of bladder control, boys tend to be busy playing. I just potty trained our twin boys recently and we went out, they picked the underwear and we put them on and that was the end of diapers. I did buy a bed cover (plastic on bottom, layer of material on top) for their beds in case of accidents, it was almost $20 @ the Walmart for a twin size. I don't give them a drink after 7 pm and they are in bed @ 8 pm, I do take them again around 11pm before I go to bed and they are dry every morning. Consistency is the key factor in Potty Training, I know how frustrating it can be to clean up and have a little one also, you just have to stay strong and both of you will get through it. With the whole Moms Day Out, start potty training on the last day of the week you have your group as soon as you get home, this way you have all weekend. I stayed consistent with all four of my boys and all of them caught on by the third day. Enough for us to go places and not have accidents. I do wish you the best and you can do it!!! Good Luck!

I was mean to my oldest. He would just wait until I put a diaper on him to go. Finally, I just let him run naked and if he had an accident I made HIM clean it up. Of course, afterwards I had to clean up. A lot of work, but no one said it would be easy. Another thing, ask him if he needs to go. I found that if you remind him every 30 min. or so he thinks about it. Another thing I did when we had to start putting underwear on him, he picked them out ( by the way, it was DORA panties!!! Should have seen the hubbies face!!!) I asked him if he liked to be peed on, (NO!) and said well, Dora doesn't like to peed on or pooped on either! HE NEVER PEED OR POOPED ON HER!!!! Bribery worked a little for me. It started him pooping in the potty and when he forgot to ask for them I didn't give him one. Good luck!! By the way, he was completly potty trained by 3 and my youngest boy is almost potty trained and he is almost 2. He does everything without bribery just because big brother does it!!! EASY!!!!

Hi K.,

I would think at this age the only reason he is not going on the potty is b/c he does not want to. The muscles children need to control their bladder are fully developed by 3. He should know what it feels like to have to go.

First off, pull ups are diapers that can be pulled up. They are absolutely NO different then a diaper and do nothing to help with potty training.

I think I would take a couple of days to stay home and put him in underware. If you want something a little more absorbent buy some cheap cloth dipes. You could even put the cloth diaper covers over them so it doesnt make such a mess if he goes in them..... point being he will now know when he goes IMMIDIATELY after going and hopefully not like it. Plus YOU will know right when he goes and TELL HIM, "You went peepee, lets sit on the potty and then put on some dry clothes" and then sit him on the potty. Even if it's too late, I would sit him there and say "this is where we go peepee." Encourage him to go on the potty. Everytime he goes sit him on the potty. Let him see mommy and daddy use the potty, and make a big deal out of it.

DO NOT SIT HIM ON THE POTTY EVERY 30MIN AND THINK THAT IS POTTY TRAINED-- ITS NOT!!!

I think he just needs encouragment.

Hell, if you want try bribery. Do all the above (that is if you want) and put some M&Ms in a see through dish on the back of the potty (with a lid), when he goes on the potty let him get one. If he goes poop let him get two! This is what I did with my daughter and she loved it!

I wouldnt stress over him going poop in the potty right away- a lot of kids take longer with this- but if you notice him going, try to sit him on the potty before he is done so he can finish there.

You have to be consistent, even if it means missing mom's day out.

I also have a 3 year old son.His birthday is oct. 28 so he will be 3 then. It only took us about 2 weeks of constent staying on him about going to the bathroom. He started going to preschool last week and is doing great. Hes only had 2 accidents at night.Hope everything works out for you.

Hi K.! I feel your pain. I too, had a son who just couldn't seem to potty train. I too, potty trained him right up until he was almost four. I thought we'd never get him out of pull-ups! However, don't despair. In most cases, boys, do take longer. But honestly, it just depends on the child. I would do the following:

Take him to the store and have him pick out his big boy pants. Even if you have already done this, scrap that and do it again. Explain to him what we are going to do with these big boy pants!

Next, find the most comfortable place for him to use the potty. Sitting down, standing up, whatever is best for him. Teach him to "aim for the hole!" Throw some paper in there and ask him to "tee" on it. (Whatever works!!!) We ended up putting a seat on top of the potty for my twins to use. (I have a boy and a girl.) Don't forget to put a potty in the car! Once you start, you can't stop! And you never know when you will find yourself in a bad place to stop! Walmart carries a great one...it has the inner "potty" part that just pulls right out. Sometimes, I even just let my son just go tee-tee holding the cup! It is only 10.00, worth every penny, and fits under most mini-van seats!

Now, set a timer the first two weeks. Set aside some time that you know you can be home. Have him go to the potty every hour. But keep on those big boy pants!!! No pull-ups! When he starts to show that he can go for a couple hours without wetting his pants, take him to the dollar store or a short outing in his big boy pants. (I wouldn't go out without them until the he really started to go a couple hours. It is only going to be stressful on you because you do have another child!) Give him a treat for going on this outing. Its big stuff and he will strive to work harder at "being a big boy!"

Lastly, the worst thing you can do is shame him and make him clean himself up. Help him through the clean-up process and talk to him saying "what did we forget to do?" and "lets remember to go to the potty so we don't have to get all yucky!" Although a lot of parents make their kids clean themselves, I feel it is mean and humiliating. Accidents will happen at the age of four. Its only normal! Be patient. It will come in due time.

***One question, does he have a late summer birthday? Or a summer birthday? This was my son's case. I considered keeping him back and I will decide at the end of this year if I will or not. You might want to consider, closer to time, he may not be ready for Pre-K when he is actually eligible if potty training is still an issue. Some kids do much better when they have had the extra year to grow. Especially boys, as they tend to mature slower than girls. And it will boost his confidence to see how well he can do. Just a thought!***

I hope I've been helpful. Potty training can be so stressful. I wish you all the best. Please feel free to e-mail me! Take care! ~Lee

***Edit: By the way...regarding night time potty training, I wouldn't do it all at once. When they are still three or four, a pull-up at night is nothing to be ashamed of. Most children need them. I would take care of the pottytraining during the day first, then conquer pottytraining at night when he is ready.***